Mid Summer

Hard to believe we have already reached the halfway point of summer. Sometimes it seems like it has been long if you look back to May but most people say it has gone by too fast and "where has the summer gone". It's not that long to begin with and record cold temps like we had the start of this week had it feeling more like end of September! Just like in winter when season starts out slow, you never get those days or weeks back.

I thought I might swing over to  Duluth to see Jake and race in the Minnesota series race last Sunday but the timing and scheduling did't pan out. Had a nice day with Jonell, just her and I up at the lake cabin. Hasn't been many days alone there the 25 years we have been going there. Beautiful day, eerily quiet for mid July.

I rode from Maplelag to the cabin, taking some new forest roads I hadn't been on before. The total distance was around 38 miles, pretty much deep woods forest riding the entire time with no pavement, no cars and some errant critters.  

 The high water hasn't affected the trails too much other than a couple spots. You can tell from the marks, my first attempt I tried going but turned back around. Stood the bike back up on the rock and decided to go for it. The water depth was well over all the hubs and bottom bracket, over my knees but I pedaled through and no problems.

Relaxing.



Jake racing on Sunday, waving two flags. Solid top 10 finish among a solid field of 50 riders, top half strong! (Todd Bauer photo)

 Monday we took Jack to Italian camp. This will be his fourth year, this time going for a whole month. He will be in the credit program, in effort to earn a high school credit. A bit more intensive with 5 hours of class a day but some fun programs to make it interesting.

 No worries for any potential high water. The place of residence the next four months.

 Espresso machine.

 The temp struggled to get above 50 the first part of the day, nice fire going in the nurses cabin to take off the chill.

 Colorful paddles.

This week I finished a new section of singletrack off the Twin Lakes main loop singletrack. Started last fall and thankfully the temps were cool and no bugs so to speak when I worked on it this summer as I never got out in the spring like I wanted. The distance is less than a mile but has some fun flow and should be a nice addition to the main loop. The section is name "Pete's Porkie". Named after our neighbor who harvested a porcupine 350 yards away with a black powder rifle during a "drive" during deer season. The soil over there is nothing like I have seen over 650 acres at Maplelag. Really nice material with sand/gravel/clay mix. Did a bit more digging and shaping than than usual and lot of digging and spreading the material under the duff on the track.

 Super thick section, bit spongy but the gravel on top makes it more ride ready.

Think there were more days so far this month of windchill than heat index! Couple mornings wind rolling off the lake making it feel closer to the lower 40"s.

 A lot of the rocks I dug out I put on the side of a small drop for support near south twin.
This new section is a bit more tame than some of the earlier stuff. With the majority of new trail in the country being machine built with sustainability and "purpose" in mind, the thinking is new trail should be like that. But I'm still an old school guy when it come to trail. Does this make a trail "unsustainable"?  IMO, no. Actually I think the purpose built trail is more susceptible to erosion due to the added exposure. Anyways,  this article on skinnyski  I highlighted in the mtb report has some good points.

My Aunt and Uncle from NY,NY in town visiting. Came back from a morning in the woods for Jonell's kick butt brunch and a proper send off!


Tuesday was the opening night for a play (Sound of Music) my sister is directing through the Gooseberry Park Players. Great show and she did a fantastic job putting it all together with a solid support staff.