Over the October 1st weekend we had a great time at the Bear Paw Resort near Langlade/White Lake, WI for the LAMBA (Langlade Area Mountain Bike Association) fund raiser and general fun biking event.

I arrived Friday and checked in with enough time to settle in a bit before the Friday evening night ride along the Wolf River that set out right from the front door of the pub at Bear Paw. We did an out and back along the trail which meanders along the river and cuts through the area that was ravaged by the F4 tornado that tore through the resort in 2007. The path of destruction was awe inspiring! Chilling out in the almost total darkness at the turnaround spot near rapids on the Wolf was excellent.

Saturday AM I hit Bob and Joni’s Fun Spot just up the road for some breakfast to fuel up for the days ride on the Nicolet Roche trail system. The ride was a poker run with envelopes containing cards at various spots along the trails of the Nicolet Roche trail system. Best of 5. There were 7 total cards available if you rode all the available trails for the day. Our group did a goodly portion of the trails and gathered 6 cards. The trails are very nice. Lots of “features” like car-sized rocks to ride over, berms, jumps, swoopy sections, baby heads and roots. All in all the trails have a super variety and a big shout out to Charlie and the rest of the LAMBA crew for all their work on these trails over the last 7 years!

Saturday evening/night was spent bench racing, eating chow at the Bear Paw, watching MTB movies (including the winning entry on the video on test) and participating in the raffle and door prize fest. There were something like $2000 of prizes including a Shiner Bock bike, a GoPro camera, numerous handlebars, grips and biking apparel. Very nice! Oh, yeah, there was a fire or something too!

Sunday a group of riders did a Boot to Boulder ride that sounded really great but with family obligations at home I had to depart early and missed the ride. Rest assured that we will be back the the Nicolet Roche system! It is only about 2-1/2 to 3 hours from Milwaukee and really is worth the drive!

In the end I’m not sure how much was raised for LAMBA but it was substantial!

Some pix of the weekend:

Greg’s - http://www.flickr.com/photos/gasmith/sets/72157627680043005/

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The first version was a blast! So we will do it again.

Saturday, December 10 · 4:00pm - 10:00pm

December 10th is a pretty cool day for a repeat because the sun sets at 4:17PM while the moon rise begins just a few minutes later at 4:30PM.

My guess this time of the year is that if there is a wind it will be out of the north so heading that way first makes sense.

So, we’ll meet at the Lake Park Parking lot in Port Washington at 4PM for a 4:30PM departure to coincide with the rising of the FULL MOON. We will head north for approximately 8.5 miles to the beach at Harrington Beach State park where we’ll hang out for a bit and make the return trip back to Port.

This is intended to be a FatBike ride but if you have larger MTB tires on your normal rig and run low pressure you could probably do it; Candy did the last one on her SS 29′er and Dave as done past rides on his MTB.

Bring lights. The Moon does provide illumination but, as we experienced on the last trip, there are some areas that a light is helpful.

Oh, don’t worry, we will have other FatBike events before this one!

Of course there HAS to be a Facebook Page for this event so here it is:

https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=248813641806641

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Dave, Chad and I are heading to the northern reaches of Wisconsin of the Chequamegon Fat 40 event. We didn’t make it in this year so we will be doing some riding on the local trails, most likely Rock Lake and such. During the event look for us at Rosie’s Field as Dave has the dubious honor of Rosie’s Field DJ again! See ya there!

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What a whirl weekend! From the registration/pre-event at the Sand Creek Brewing Company to the scraping of the tongue Sunday morning there was non-stop action. In fact, it is hard to remember parts of some of the days but I feel confident in saying that a good time was had by all.

Here is a bit of what I remember:

Setting Up Camp

The first spot I checked out was anchored by a bunch of Gnomies from Iowa City and, with promises of revelry and bawdiness, I staked my claim on a relatively flat chunk of real estate. Owing to the fact that when I did hit the tent I was plum tuckered out, it could have been just about anywhere though. This fact was driven home both nights with several “campers” horizontal by the fire.

A lot more tents showed up in this area! It was cozy.

Sand Creek Brewing Company

Friday’s registration location was at Sand Creek Brewing Company in Black River Falls, WI. Being an early registrant, I scooped up on all the good schwag including a Gnome-Fest patch, T-Shirt and stem top-cap! Sportin’ the T-shirt as I write!

The Tap Room was, obviously, the place to be. Not only was it cooler owing to the AC but there were several tasty beverages on tap. I sampled a couple but could not tear myself away from the Badger Porter. Not knowing where or when I’d next eat, a hearty brew like the Porter seemed a good hedge against hunger pangs.

In addition to the great beer on tap, Sand Creek was filling commemorative growlers with your choice of brew for a measly $6! Yes, I brought some home. Well to the shop, actually. Stop by this evening and we’ll do them in! I can almost taste the goodness now.

As I was leaving for the event site a local band was just setting up for some music in front of the brew kettles. Sand Creek has it going on!

 The Ceremonial Tapping of the First Keg

Round about 7PM Gary and crew engaged in the tapping of the first keg, not that there hadn’t already been some imbibing. The excellent English Ale from Sand Creek helped keep the British tradition going for me. I believe the other brew was their excellent IPA. Don’t know, didn’t have it.

In the end I believe that no less than 4 kegs gave up their contents early on but at about 11:30PM or so, when Colin and some of the MKE Crew arrived, more brew from Lakefront Brewery showed up and the consumption continued ’till the wee hours.

The Fire

You’ll see the log pile in some of the pix. Suffice it to say that no log went unburned. I don’t think it was totally out all weekend. That’s 2 large pickup trucks full. I heard the local guy who brought the wood out had some good jokes. Didn’t hear any of them so I can’t pass them on.

Derby

Beer drinking, bikes, a fire…that seems to spell DERBY in these parts. They went counter-clockwise, they went clockwise, the ladies did it then it was a free for all. Someone won, I assume.

Some Shoes were burned as well.

Spinner Breaks a Bike

Remember that log pile? It comes into play again here. Note that this was when it still had most of it’s full and impressive 2-pickup-load-size mostly intact.

Apparently, that log pile just couldn’t sit there so several riders sped their mounts at the pile with varying degrees of success from simply stuffing it in the first few feet to Spinner and Jeremy coming pretty close to clearing it. In the end I think most bodies were perhaps bruised but mostly fine while Spinner’s Pug took the brunt of all that is Spinner in a vertical manner and coming out worse for the experience. If you were there and saw the ride you’d wonder how any bike, let alone Spinner his-own-self, could walk/ride away. Spinner did, his bike, alas, did not. Spinner 1, Pug 0.

Dave Arrives

I heard the distinctive exhaust note of an early ’90′s BMW before I saw it and thought, that sounds like Dave’s car. Sure nuff, there it was rolling up the drive with Dave behind the wheel. I guess Saturday AM wasn’t early enough and he made the drive from MKE after deciding that he might as well drink with his biking buddies instead of drinking on the couch and making that 3-hour drive with a hangover.

Odd thing was Dave’s timing was almost perfect. A night ride was queuing up. Well, we delayed a bit, had a beer then went for that night ride. Sand, bridges, Fatbike. Sweet!

Sleep??

I think there was a bit, like 4 hours or so in the gathering light of Saturday, very early AM.

Julio Gets a Bike

Dave, Spinner and I planned a short town trip for some local fare and a Bloody Mary or two to ease in to the day but we had a mission first. Colleen Marencik conspired with Gary and I to surprise Joe with a Schlick Cycles Northpaw Fatbike. The Matte Black beauty was built with an Alfine 11-speed internal hub, Rolling Darryls, Larrys, Avid BB7s and a compliment of Ritchey Pro components. See that look on Joe’s face? He is stunned. Speechless! To be sure, he was effusive with praise and pride later in the day but at the unveiling words could’t describe the feelings. Glad we could be there for you, man!

Bethany Too

But wait, we are not done with the gifting of bikes and the subsequent out flowing of emotions. Gary presented Bethany with a petite 13-inch Salsa Mukluk to make the lake/Raven clan a 2-FAT family. It is obvious Bethany has no problems letting those happy feelings flow!

Ladies Ride

There was a ladies ride. I’m a guy so I didn’t go. Maybe Dave did!

Dirt Cat

Like an alley cat without the alley, the Dirt Cat was a 2-hour trail using fun fest with half a dozen or so checkpoints and shenanigans to boot. Did you say we need another derby? Yes, yes we do. After that it was find your stickers, then find the tasks, do said tasks and get back first. Someone did that. Benji was then next guy, and other followed.

The Fire

Yep, still going!

Sleep

Doh! Well, if I had any regret the whole weekend it was the timing of a short lie down just after chow time that extended a couple of hours and blasted right through one of the signature events, the Dwarf Cycle races. Bummer, but no matter, the nap just meant I could be awake that much later and, after a trip with Spinner to the Outpost, a local bar of ill repute, we closed the night down as the last two men standing.

Dwarf Cycle Races

I know it happened, I know there was tequila consumed and know how tequila can lead to the lowering of inhibitions. Didn’t witness the spectacle myself but I’m pretty sure you’ll find evidence of the event and, possibly, some winner for those that track that kind of thing.

Sunday

Yeah, that 3 hours of sleep did me good. Spinner, Dave, why don’t we go find some breakfast. I didn’t think I’d hear that trendy term something and something else infused vodka (perhaps peppers, onions and such?) this weekend but sure enough at the Gas stop/Northwoods eatery there it was for the make your own bloody bar at the bar. Dave had that. I had a Coke or 2. Spinner ate two bites of his breakfast. They had a carry out box fro him though so it was OK.

Aaaand… that about wraps it up. A ride Sunday AM sounded like a good idea but so did getting back to the family and, after striking camp, that’s what I did.

Oh, thanks to all who worked so hard at making Gnome-Fest a must do event, Gary, Joe, Steve, Marty and many others, see y’all next year, FOR SURE!

FYI, I’d planned to go to Interbike this year but with Gnome-Fest and Chequamegon bookending a trip to Vegas I decided to do the local events and put what energy I can muster there so I’ll see y’all on Friday in Cable, WI!

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RW24 2011

2011’s Riverwest 24 Hour Bike Race was one of a kind. Well, it was actually one of four kinds as this was the 4th year of the happening. I guess you could call it one of a kind though since it was considerably larger than in past years. With a feeling somewhere between a bike race and a block party, the RW24 is truly unique. The original intention, and still one of the guiding principles, is the idea of a bike powered block watch program. Community pride was rampant! As for the riders , there were some serious teams and solo riders racing while many others were just out for a good time and a day of riding through the excellent Riverwest neighborhood.

It’s hard for me to write up a event/race report for the Riverwest24 from a team perspective because so much happens over the 24-hour event that I can’t possibly remember most of it but I can say this, if you get the chance to ride the RW24, DO IT! The things you do remember will be more than enough to keep you going until it is time to do it all over again.

Here is how our Team B #2 team fared:

• 17th Overall out of 237 Teams
• 16th out 0f 103 B Teams (B was our division that was comprised of up to 6 riders on a team using whatever bike they chose to use.)

Unbelievably, I took very few pictures. The day was just so full of activity that I basically forgot. Kinda like getting married I guess, the day just flies by and you wonder what just happened but you feel very happy and fulfilled.

Schlicks ridden:

• Tony’s Smitty
• Greg’s SuperFast
• Tony’s Northpaw

For full race results check out:

http://www.riverwest24.com/leader-board

Pix:

David H – https://picasaweb.google.com/djhall3/RW242011#
my few – http://www.flickr.com/photos/gasmith/sets/72157627336409676/

Lots more on Flickr if you search RW24 or Riverwest24.

News Stories:

JSOnline – http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/126467658.html

Heros in the Night – http://heroesinthenight.blogspot.com/2011/07/riverwest-24-bonus.html

Geez, I almost forgot, Dave, Mike and I did manage to make it over to the Tour de Fat for an hour or so. Mostly laughed at people riding the Ridiculo Bikes and some of the Carnys. I sure hope they don’t run a conflict with the RW24 next year!

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The event is tonight!

Just have to finish getting the bars re-taped on the SuperFast and already have the ’96 Teesdale ready to go.

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/riverwest-24

Check out this live Ustream channel from 7PM Friday to 7PM Saturday and see if you spot anyone you know! With 600-plus riders there will be a lot going on.

Free live streaming by Ustream

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We’ll meet at the North Beach Parking lot in Port Washington at 7PM for a 7:38PM departure to coincide with the rising of the FULL MOON. We will head north for approximately 8.5 miles to the beach at Harrington Beach State park where we’ll hang out for a bit and make the return trip back to Port.

This is intended to be a FatBike ride but if you have larger MTB tires on your normal rig and run low pressure you could probably do it; Dave did the last one.

Bring lights but I expect that the trip can be made by the light of the moon which will be over the lake the whole trip!

Keep up with the event on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=223124127732521

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About 20 FatBike riders, including 3 on Schlick Northpaws, met at Terry Andre State Park on the shore of Lake Michigan for some beach riding goodness.

Starting at the beach parking lot at Terry Andre State Park, we headed south along the shore near the waterline. A light Southeast wind brought us a cooling breeze that was welcome on a day when temperatures were in the high 80′s. The group rolled out easily and rode 4-5 abreast engaging in conversations and general playful tomfoolery. The group dynamics of a beach ride is one of my favorite aspects of riding a FatBike. In fact, I’ve dubbed FatBikes “The Social Bike” in part for this reason. Because of the width of the beach riders can ride together like almost nowhere else.

The sand was fairly firm and the fat tires were rolling well. One of the fun aspects of beach riding is searching for that perfect combo of sand/water that offers the least rolling resistance. It is not always right at the water’s edge where you’d expect and can vary significantly just a few feet either side of where you are riding. I don’t know if there are as many types of sand as there of snow, another surface where FatBikes excel by the way, but you will find quite a variety.

We continued south covering about 12 miles to Harrington Beach State Park where we enjoyed an adult beverage or two and the cooling waters of Lake Michigan before the turnaround and the return trip.

Now heading north, the headwind became a tailwind and average speeds picked up a bit. The feeling on the beach whipping by at close to 20 miles an hour was great but short lived as the heat and lack of headwind made it WARM! Ratcheting the speed back down to a comfortable pace we used a couple of brief stops to enjoy the breeze and play around with tire pressure. Because of the volume of air in those huge 4.0-26″ tires a few pounds of pressure change can make a real difference in the way the bike works on soft surfaces. Tony and I ended up using about 8PSI in the front and 9PSI in the rear that offered a lot of flotation and felt almost like floating above the sand.

We plan to do another beach ride in August and will announce it on Facebook as well as the schlickcycles.com website. Come join us!

Some Pix:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/gasmith/sets/72157627098658095/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/landskywater/sets/72157627100175827/

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FTTM XXVII went off on Saturday, June 18th with great weather, about 400 cyclists, several stops, music, barrel bashing, wheelies, wrestling and some quantity of beer consumed. Already can’t wait ’till next year.

Probably best to just look at the pictures!

Greg’s Flickr Set - http://www.flickr.com/photos/gasmith/sets/72157626996602306/

If you’ve got a photoset, shoot me a URL and I’ll post it.

Here is the route I rode – http://connect.garmin.com/activity/93409817

BTW, don’t forget about the Steel is Real ride in September. More info coming on that one.

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Back from Dirt Burger in Decorah. A memorable weekend to be sure but I don’t remember all of it. I do remember the part where I gave the left ankle a twist while playing Disc Golf with Gunner at Luther. I remember the band and rain the night before. Both were fine by me. Pretty sure there was Bocce Ball playing at some point. Ward won a frame. I didn’t see the teeter-totters burning in the fire pit but I know when it happened by the hooting’ and a hollering’  There is video somewhere. Seems O’Gara’s team are the Intergalactic Bucketball Champs. Oh, yeah and rode the bikes some. More later as it comes back to me. Don’t miss the next one if you know what’s good for you.

Some pix here.

Surly Trailer video here.

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