Jay Richards

Deb and Jonell setting up the lunch buffet for today for the Wild Foods Summit. See that blue bowl, thats beaver. I tried it and actually preferred it over the bear. We also had bison, walleye, a green salad with basswood leaves, wild violets, dandelions, and a bunch of other wild plants and stems. With the dressing on it, it tasted just like any leafy salad. They also had teas like swamp tea, ironwood tea, tamarac tea, blueberry leave tea, and some root teas. I tried as much of it as I could. Pretty amazing that all of these foods are within a stone throw of our house, really. Thats counting the bear too. We have had bear pretty close to the cabins and what not and there are beaver in the pond just behind the cabooses. Anyways, you could do this diet but if you suddenly switched from a more modern diet to a vegan or more natural diet, it would take your body some time to adjust and you would have to ease into it. I know some folks who have gone vegan or vegetarian right off the bat and they get sk or energy levels get out of whack and they bail. Anyways, I sent off the paperwork for a UCI event next May. Filled the inscription for either the first or second weekend.
The folks at USA Cycling/NORBA were very helpful. Kelli Lusk has been great to work with the past 5 years. Always answers e-mails within hours, usually minutes and never had any problems. NORBA does not suck. In 15 years I have never had a problem with them as a promoter or a racer and it bothers me when people say NORBA sucks. Put on a full scale multi-day event and you won't say it sucks. It sucks when riders whine and make excuses about gas prices and how far it is to drive blah blah blah and sponsors pull out. When a organization has a budget and sponsorship falls through, things can get ugly. Anyways, I am taking a bit of a risk blocking out two weekends in May when we might not get the nod and we could of booked some other functions. Talking to the NORBA folks, I feel pretty positive. Will know by early October once all the countries submit the inscriptions. Thanks to Bruce Adelsman, Greg Blasko, Matt Johnson and Steve Wenzel for the letters of rec. Geez, today was almost 60 degrees warmer than Sunday morning when we had frost. This sudden rise in temp makes me lethargic when your running around. If I was sitting all day with a Pacifico in my hand on the beach that would be one thing. Man is it really blowing right now. Here come the 50 mph gusts. I wonder how many trees are falling across the Laddies Loppet course right now. I better sign off, the power is bound to go off.