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The biggest weekend of cyclocross in the history of Minnesota. The 10th Anniversary of the Shimano Minnesota State Cyclocross Championships at Bassett Park in Crystal, Mn. A light rain the night before made the course nice and tacky and a bit slick in spots. The over two hundred racers that preregistered brought along a crowd of spectators. The atmosphere was great with the “stairway to hell” crowded from top to bottom.
Our Weimaraner/Black lab mix Calvin, aka Buddy Boy, aka Calvin Poo and I stopped for a little rest and a drink of water while riding Salem the other day and I was so inclined to take a photograph.
I loaded up my full kit of camera gear for an after work ride at Murphy Hanrehan tonight. It didn’t take long to realize that either a.) I’m out of shape or b.) 30 pounds of camera gear on your back can really suck it out of you. I think it is probably a little bit of both. The weather wasn’t being all the cooperative so we only really stopped once to photograph the semi-new skinny ladder ride that was built at the end of last year. I happen to run into a few of my new coworkers and was able to get this shot while doing some light tests.
Looking through some older mountain bike photos of mine got me dreaming of warm summer days. This photo was from one of the first road trips that Laura and I took together. We traveled out to Colorado and Utah to bike and camp.
In Colorado we rode the Fruita trails with my good friend Joe, who had moved out to Vail. This shot was a self portrait using a mini tripod and the timer on the trail Joe’s Ridge.
Our good friend Gabe came over to build up his new bike, a Rocky Mountain Slayer, last night and Palmer joined in on the fun a bit later. Grease was applied, beers were consumed, and parts were installed.
Tools……
and more important tools.
On September 14th I joined Pete, Mike, and April to help staff the Morc tent at the Minneapolis Bike Tour. We spread the word about the club and drank a lot of coffee. On hand at the event were the Alt bmx/street team. Seeing as how I had my camera with I snapped a few photos.
Click the next page for more pics.
Oh nose! I’ve been tagged by Pete Ryan. I’m still not sure if this is better or worse than a chain letter but it’s been a few days since I have posted anything so what the hell 
If you could have any one — and only one — bike in the world, what would it be?
This is a loaded question for a guy like me since my favorite bikes change as much as the current beer I’m drinking. Today the nod goes to a custom built Kent Eriksen Ti 29er built it up so that i could be run with or without gears.
Do you already have that coveted dream bike? If so, is it everything you hoped it would be? If not, are you working toward getting it? If you’re not working toward getting it, why not?
I went the other way on my last bike and got the bike that compliments all my other bikes. My recent build of a 29er fully suspended Ventana El Rey fits the bill perfectly to go along with my road bike, cross bike and singlespeed. As to working towards the dream I’ll just have to convince my wife that a Ti hardtail would be a great five year anniversary present :p
If you had to choose one — and only one — bike route to do every day for the rest of your life, what would it be, and why?
I have yet to ride that route but I’m guessing it is tucked away somewhere in Canada. The perfect mix of downhill and uphill, a really nice long drawn out flowing trail with a few optional lines to launch of some skinny ladder bridges. Throw in a few very small stream crossings, a mixture of shadey old growth deciduous and evergreen forests. Ooh I can almost taste it.
What kind of sick person would force another person to ride one and only one bike ride for the rest of her / his life?
I don’t know but they probably came up with prohibition at the same time.
Do you ride both road and mountain bikes? If both, which do you prefer and why? If only one or the other, why are you so narrowminded? I ride both.
I ride both but my real love is for the dirt. Riding on the road is only a method of getting from point A to point B. Point A is usually my house and point B is work.
Have you ever ridden a recumbent? If so, why? If not, describe the circumstances under which you would ride a recumbent?
Recumbents, trikes, four wheelers. You name I’ve wrenched on it and ridden it.
Have you ever raced a triathlon? If so, have you also ever tried strangling yourself with dental floss?
The closest I’ve come is signing up for a Tri and then not showing up I wish someone would do duathlons that would be just riding and swimming. Running is the worst form of transporation.
Suppose you were forced to either give up ice cream or bicycles for the rest of your life. Which would you give up, and why?
Change that question to beer and bicycles and you can get me to ponder for a moment.
What is a question you think this questionnaire should have asked, but has not? Also, answer it.
Do you drink from a boot toe up or toe down? A: I pity the fool who drinks toe up.
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Now I’ll tag the following three people who I know ride bikes and to see if they read my blog or not 
Marty from the Prairie Peddler, I like to race bikes Eric O, and fellow photographer Daniel Snow.
During the summer it is not uncommon for Laura and I to have very few weekends available. If we are not shooting a wedding then there is probably something else penciled in on the calendar. When I saw mention of the IMBA Trail Care School being offered I checked the calendar and to my amazement the weekend was free and clear.
On Friday we met at Quality Bicycle Parts for some classroom time. Kelly and Collins, the eastern regional IMBA Trail Care crew, were on hand to lead the course. The three hour session was meant to teach us the basics of how to properly design and layout a new mountain bike trail. Covering some of the basics in what needs to be done to build a trail that will be sustainable using tools such as an inclinometer to measure the angle of slope on the trail.
On Saturday we regrouped at Lebanon HIlls to put some of our new skills to work while flagging out what could possibly be a new beginner trail at the park. This new section of trail of about 1 mile in length will be built in 2010. The second half of the day was spent analyzing a newly built 1.25 mile section of intermediate trail that has been built to replace a deteriorating section of existing trail.
