Jon had a tourney in Duluth over the weekend. Ended up being just Jon and I going over since Jens had a tourney in St Cloud and Jonell took him there. Jake and Jack back home on resort chores.
Friday there were two games so not much time to enjoy the nice day but we got out for a bike and blade along the waterfront in between contests.
Jon played in a couple arenas haven't been in to before. Like checking out new arenas. Need to get the arena guide book and start a check off. Also made it up to Lester park early Saturday for a mtb ride before the all day soaking rain moved in. Lester is host to the
MNMBS race, the Great Hawk chase. Little bit of light drizzle, 42 degrees and mostly tacky track with just a few muddy spots. Perfect riding. There were two outside rinks I didn't notice when there for the mtb race last year. Jon also played in Hermantown and there was 4 outside rinks there. Has to be the city with the most maintained outside rinks in the country. If not, please comment. Add the strong Duluth East and Hermantown programs and UMD national championship, fair to say hockey town/area USA right now.
The team Jon was playing with was undefeated last year and went to Duluth to play in stronger tourney. Being the first tourney of the spring/summer season for them against higher caliber teams was a big challenge but they finished strong with a third place finish and a most exciting final game. Down by 2 with 1:29 left, they scored twice than went to ot and won. They were short a coach so I ran the door in the box keeping the forwards moving which was fun and more exciting being closer to the action. Kinda like going to a bike or ski race where I can warm up, cool down (and back in the day, race) with Jake.
Every rink I go to, I try to shoot the breeze with the zamboni driver and pick their brain on the ice. Couple kids from one of the teams was yelling "Santa" when he was zoooming by, one of the boni drivers from Hermantown. Fun stuff. He was having issue with the sudden warm up on Friday which created warmer ice and going pretty heavy with the water in the back so the ice wasn't setting up too quick. Back at Hermantown on Sunday early morning and he had it dialed in and the ice was perfect. If you aren't familiar with hockey, you might think all the sheets of ice are the same with the controlled environment. But really it is the complete opposite. Almost every arena has different ice. Dew points, humidity, air temp, ice temp, floor temp, and the zamboni operator operating the controls some of the factors determining the surface players skate on. I still remember from when I played the rinks that had great fast ice and the rinks that felt like you were skating in honey. One of the first things I ask Jon is how the ice was.
Steep, tight and tech section at Lester. Roots and rocks a little slippery. Amity creek running next to. Fun ride.
High point with Lake Superior in background.
The COGGS group and other parties have done a great job building and establishing a super fun trail. The trail sees a lot of hiker traffic as well. The asphalt road that was super bumpy last year has been re-paved so if you blew out your ball joints driving up there last year, no worries, smooth ride now.
Sunday morning before heading back, called home and Jack and Jake reported snow on the ground and Jake was out skiing. Got home early afternoon so snuck out for a ride to check out the scene. You would think the track would be muddy and greasy but the air was dry and the track was frost and mostly leaf free making for a super fun ride. Decided to wait until May 2nd to try and ski because it was below freezing and the snow wasn't going to melt over night.
Before today, May 1st was the latest I have skied at Maplelag. This makes 8 months in a row on the calendar we have had snow on the ground at some point. What a wild run. I want to see things green up and be "nice" as much as the next person but when you work and live at a cross country ski resort, you have to embrace the snow anytime of the year and ski on it whenever possible, is my opinion.
Friday there were two games so not much time to enjoy the nice day but we got out for a bike and blade along the waterfront in between contests.
Jon played in a couple arenas haven't been in to before. Like checking out new arenas. Need to get the arena guide book and start a check off. Also made it up to Lester park early Saturday for a mtb ride before the all day soaking rain moved in. Lester is host to the MNMBS race, the Great Hawk chase. Little bit of light drizzle, 42 degrees and mostly tacky track with just a few muddy spots. Perfect riding. There were two outside rinks I didn't notice when there for the mtb race last year. Jon also played in Hermantown and there was 4 outside rinks there. Has to be the city with the most maintained outside rinks in the country. If not, please comment. Add the strong Duluth East and Hermantown programs and UMD national championship, fair to say hockey town/area USA right now.
The team Jon was playing with was undefeated last year and went to Duluth to play in stronger tourney. Being the first tourney of the spring/summer season for them against higher caliber teams was a big challenge but they finished strong with a third place finish and a most exciting final game. Down by 2 with 1:29 left, they scored twice than went to ot and won. They were short a coach so I ran the door in the box keeping the forwards moving which was fun and more exciting being closer to the action. Kinda like going to a bike or ski race where I can warm up, cool down (and back in the day, race) with Jake.
Every rink I go to, I try to shoot the breeze with the zamboni driver and pick their brain on the ice. Couple kids from one of the teams was yelling "Santa" when he was zoooming by, one of the boni drivers from Hermantown. Fun stuff. He was having issue with the sudden warm up on Friday which created warmer ice and going pretty heavy with the water in the back so the ice wasn't setting up too quick. Back at Hermantown on Sunday early morning and he had it dialed in and the ice was perfect. If you aren't familiar with hockey, you might think all the sheets of ice are the same with the controlled environment. But really it is the complete opposite. Almost every arena has different ice. Dew points, humidity, air temp, ice temp, floor temp, and the zamboni operator operating the controls some of the factors determining the surface players skate on. I still remember from when I played the rinks that had great fast ice and the rinks that felt like you were skating in honey. One of the first things I ask Jon is how the ice was.
Steep, tight and tech section at Lester. Roots and rocks a little slippery. Amity creek running next to. Fun ride.
High point with Lake Superior in background.
The COGGS group and other parties have done a great job building and establishing a super fun trail. The trail sees a lot of hiker traffic as well. The asphalt road that was super bumpy last year has been re-paved so if you blew out your ball joints driving up there last year, no worries, smooth ride now.
Sunday morning before heading back, called home and Jack and Jake reported snow on the ground and Jake was out skiing. Got home early afternoon so snuck out for a ride to check out the scene. You would think the track would be muddy and greasy but the air was dry and the track was frost and mostly leaf free making for a super fun ride. Decided to wait until May 2nd to try and ski because it was below freezing and the snow wasn't going to melt over night.
Before today, May 1st was the latest I have skied at Maplelag. This makes 8 months in a row on the calendar we have had snow on the ground at some point. What a wild run. I want to see things green up and be "nice" as much as the next person but when you work and live at a cross country ski resort, you have to embrace the snow anytime of the year and ski on it whenever possible, is my opinion.
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