Jay Richards

No photos to post because I lost my camera somewhere in downtown MPLS. Maybe it was stolen. Either way I am pretty disgusted with myself. I am sure Bruce will say par for the course. I suppose I better get a new one quick if I am going to post new photos on the Maplelag website. Anyways, Jonell and I had a great trip east just the two of us. After a solid ride at Rollag with some high end sprints (parking lot shower #1, the hard riding continued at Spirit mountain Thursday afternoon. I did two long laps hitting all the climbs and hills/ what not at race pace. By long laps I mean the new stuff etc. to the south and the trails all the way down to the soccer fields. It was some great riding and don't know if I have ever seen it so dry. I ran some super low tire pressure since i had the hardtail and had no problems. Lot shower #2....back down to Canal park to hook up with Jonell and we ate there before heading to Spider Lake lodge that night. After a lazy breakfast the next morning Jonell went to Hayward to do some shopping and I rode part of the Cheq. 40 course from Spider/Lake Helane before hitting up the short and fat course and rode from mile 6 to the finish. When I got to Telemark I rode the Telemark Terrain park which was some nearby fun and tech. singletrack and rode to the top of Mt Telemark. Back down than did most of the Ojibwe singletrack trail before getting back on Bodecker rd. I think, and made my way to OO. I was going to ride the Birkie trail back to Hayward but I would of been pushing 5 hours ride time and Jonell was thinking 4. I called her on the cell to meet in Seeley but didn't catch her so ended up riding on the road down to Hayward. Traffic was brutal. Yikes. Day #3 of parking lot shower. Back to Spider lake , some deep tissue work that just about killed me and over to Clam Lake for supper. Sat morning was feeling real sore but Jonell said I might as well ride and meet her in Hayward again so I rode from Lake Helanish and the 40 course back to Hayward. I tried to do 10 minute intervals but couldn't get the hr up there, to be expected. I was thinking how do those guys do the TDF man. I got off course a bit and found some new singletrack that was a lot of fun. Shower #4 in the parking lot. This time the local Sr Citizens were rolling in and Jonell said I gave them a good show. I am sure they were wondering. Made for some good laughs anyways. Some grazing at New Moon, bread at the bakery for some lunch and off we went to the cities to catch Chris Isaak. We had a hour to kill and wanted to hit the lotus or some other Vietnamese eats but couldn't find it. So heading to West bank and want to turn around. I whip this u turn and all these people are waving at me at some biker bar. I said "boy, pretty friendly folks" Jonell said " You're going the wrong way down the one way and I think they are trying to tell you that". I kept on going because I didnt want to flip around again and made it back on Cedar with no troubles. Decided just to head to the Orpheum, get parked, and find something around there. Went to some Mex. place that had super super super sized portions. No wonder. Got the the concert in fine form. Packed house. Heinys in pint form. Nice. Guys says "can you bring this in there" his partner "yeah, don't you remember when we went to Wizard of Oz, I was so wasted, everything was green". Anyways, the concert was great. Shook Chris's hand afterwards. Up to Monticello for the night. Rolled out Sun morning and we had a bit of time so we stopped in St. Cloud and hung out in Riverside Park for a while. I rode a lap of the singletrack escape course. Super tight and twisty singletrack. Not much climbing. Not like Harmon. One of those courses where your bike handling better be dialed otherwise you will be hitting trees left and right. The expert section was the most fun. I ran into Lance B and he said they will get to use some of the xc trails for the race for the start, passing and fuel draws.. I inadvertently went to Graystone trails btw and had to check out the PB 200 that was sitting in the shed. Dang. Parking lot shower#5.... Back on the road and up to Pinehurst and the cabin to pick up the kids who were being watched by the Grandparents thank you very much. Jens was sleeping so I pulled weeds on the beach for almost a hour. I thought about riding around there but I was toast. Back home and a beautiful night playing with the kids. Today I was lumberjack and cut a bunch of trees on the trails that had fallen down the past week. Jake and Jens helped. Jens crahed early he was working so hard. Thats good because I am waking him up at 5am to go with my Dad to pick up rocks for the bbq. in ND tomorrow. No riding today just a little on the bmx track while Jake and Jon were peeling the jumps.. Still a little wheezy. Hope to recover in time for the big weekend coming up. I've put in the intensity with the time I had so time to cash out.