It looks like this summer will go down as the first one I haven't pinned a number on for a cross country race. I was really hoping to hit up the MNMBS series race at Cuyuna, but life came up. All good. The weekend before I did get over to Duluth for the Bike Festival there that was two days of downhill, Enduro, cross country and short track cross country. Enduro has a feel of the old days of cross country racing but not the 2 hour steady suffering. The only time xc races haven't been sufferfests for me where the mud races. Those days appear to be long gone with the regulation of riding on wet trails stricter than the border patrol. I made plans to race the Enduro and it worked out to go so I went over late Friday night.
I didn't get a chance to inspect any of the courses the day before which was tough as two of the stages were gnarly rocky downhill tracks, including the techy rock face on "Calculated Risk". However, the way things worked out I was able to inspect the two super tech stages that were helpful but didn't get the confidence to try and clean the rock face on Calculated.
Wrote a recap on Skinnyski.com if interested in more details.
Talking race strategy with Jake in between stages. More like, surviving on the bike. There is a good vibe in Enduro. Not super competitive and nervous energy like the XC races can get but more a camaraderie between everyone on keeping safe, clean and smooth.
Riding clean through the upper Greenman run, crazy rock tech section, being hunted down by super fast Casey Krueger.
Jake launching off the rock face on Calculated. Jake would go on to take second to Sam Kemp who is a classic hard core fearless downhill dude.
After a full day of Enduro, we switched over to the XC bikes for the short track. I couldn't get out of the third gear but we wanted to support Mason Bacso and crew for the efforts they put forth to put on. Surprised not more STXC, especially in the cities. The Buck Hill series mimics the effort somewhat as STXC and hard to be equal to the goodness there.
Refueling at OMC Smokehouse with Anna after a full day of racing before heading home. Boy that hit the spot. Great place to check out in Duluth.
Another reason why I maybe haven't done any xc is the energy put towards trail work on the Maplelag mountain bike course. This summer has been great for trail work, especially when I get the kids to help. It is a total body workout and saps a lot of energy, especially when dew points are high like this summer. Add horrendous deerflies and mosquitoes it takes a lot out of a person but I still love working in the woods.
We've also cleared more deadfall this year than other years, again boys have been great help.
We burned a lot of firewood last year so we had a lot to replace.
Cutting deadfall, dead trees and widow makers probably more a risk than regular planned logging. We've had many close calls, of course the two accidents with my dad, and can never be to careful.
Green truck taking a hit from a birch that didn't fall as planned.
Not a bad spot to split wood.
The tops of birch trees that are dead but have good bottoms for firewood are the most dangerous. If we left alone, they would eventually fall on the ski trail.
Another fallen oak. Day before Laddies Loppet bike race. Should of been taken down earlier but missed this one. Bottom two thirds cut up into blocks, firewood for the winter.
Thanks for the great help this summer boys!
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