Thought and Freedom

Today, Jessica and I went mountain biking in Murphy Hanrehan park with a couple of friends of mine (Samar Upadhyay and Adam Bavier). It was a great ride, just like most of the MORC trails.

Jessica rode the beginner and intermediate loops with us, and to my surprise Adam and Samar were up for the expert loop.  The total length of the trail is about 10 miles with about 60% of this being on the expert loop. You can find a copy of the map here.

Here is Jessica doing the great job she always does on these trails!

On the expert trail, there are several obstacles. Some are natural, but the most challenging ones are man-made. For example, there is an amazingly long 1 foot wide pull bridge. It curves and twists while staying about four feet off the ground for most of it. At the end, it has a teeter-totter to get you off the bridge.

I tried it first and could not ride straight enough to make it to the higher sections.

Adam Bavier had an awesome fall, which is definitely worth watching. That’s what he gets for starting in the middle.

Samar Upadhyay also tried it, and he did pretty good at it:

Finally, we saw some guys come by who must have had no fear of death or dismemberment. One of them was able to do the bridge in parts. He made it look just easy enough to encourage us to come back and try it again on another day:

Just about six miles in to the trail, I took a banked curve a little too far. When the bank ended I tried to quickly turn to follow the trail. Unfortunately, there was a slippery spot. My front tire turned sideways and I flew over my handlebars.

The next thing I knew I was on the ground spitting out blood and feeling very sore. I yelled a couple times for help, but eventually rolled off the trail and laid there until Samar came by. He was a little shocked, and came over to help (and document the moment!).

All in all, it was a fun time. I can’t wait to get back on some of the other trails around the Twin Cities in the near future.

I went out to Lebanon Hills with Pete Stopfer (Securian Financial Group) and his neighbor John McDevitt (Best Buy). We had an awesome time. Originally, I was not going to take my camera with because I thought it would be hard to keep up with these guys. However, I am glad that I did.

Pete, John, and I went cruising through the first section with no problem. This was probably the fasted I had ever taken the first part of the course. I usually get pretty tired on this part, but get a “second wind” after a few minutes. I am usually ready for almost anything after this intense warmup!

We stopped at the second intersection with the ski trails. You can see Pete cruising in below:

…and here comes John…

Here are a couple pictures of Pete Stopfer, racing around a corner…

And once again, John McDevitt is right behind. This was as we came to the intersection of the Intermediate and Difficult trails.

The only way a person can possibly take a picture like the one below is if they made it part way through the Difficult loop. If you ski/snowboard, think of this as a black diamond. We had to get some pictures since we made it this far.

We decided that we should avoid the Most difficult loop because John was already running low on water. We figured we could do the trail again, expert loop included, if we had time.

Here is a Securian Information Services picture. This was such an amazing trail. None of us had ever tried the Most Difficult section. So this was a major feat. This was the absolute most fun time I have ever had at Lebanon Hills.

The Most Difficult section came with a warning. The sign somehow reminded me of the Buffalo Goring warning signs in Yellowstone park. The fact that they put a sign up, just makes some people (mainly crazy people) want to continue down the dangerous trail. We would have except for the water shortage. Maybe next time.

Yes, I did say we skipped the Most Difficult section, but not all of it. Trail traffic was lighter today, so we were able to perfect our log jump to “professional” level.

We finished with our small part of the Most Difficult section, walked back, and continued on the Difficult trail. It eventually connected back to the main trail. If I hadn’t been going so fast on the new banked sections, I would have stopped and taken some pictures. If you have not been to Lebanon Hills since July, check out the improvements that MORC has made.

Last time I was at Lebanon Hills, I encountered a gigantic log jump. I made it up most of the pile, only to fall back and land on my cross bar coming down. This hurt a bit.

On this trip, I re-challenged the monster log pile, and it bit back pretty hard. My bike nearly cleared the top when I lost momentum and hit a bigger log. This caused me to fall backwards down the jump. Fearing a repeat of last time, I tried to come down at more of an angle. Instead of recovering gracefully, my bike tilted sideways and I fell of the edge. My metal bike pedals dug into one side of my leg, while rocks dug into the other.

John saw me wipe out and made sure I was ok. When Pete came around the corner, we analyzed the jump, and tried to figure out a way to beat it. Always ready for a challenge, John jumped on his bike and gave it a try. He protested at first since he might fall. Of course, there would always be the chance that he would succeed. I filmed, knowing that this would make for a good video either way.

While we were biking, we had a conversation about helmets. John and I had both never been fans of them before doing serious mountain biking. He traced his need for a helmet to the Minnesota River Bottoms trail. I said that I first realized a need for helmets at Lebanon. I remember that on my first ride, I found broken pieces of a helmet on the trail. I then knew that if I wanted to be a serious mountain biker, I would need one. My mom and my wife were also great at encouraging a helmet.

What happened next would help us all to see the importance of a helmet. John took a small jump that was by no means a tough one for him. His bike landed on the front tire, he bounced forward and landed on his face. He skidded across the ground pretty hard, scraping his legs, face, and arms.

The visor even snapped off John’s helmet. A later look at the helmet showed something more serious. His helmet actually cracked in several places. If he had not worn one, we may have made a special visit to the emergency room today.

After his fall, John said he felt Ok. His heart was beating a little faster, I can’t imagine why. When we finally finished the course, and rested in the parking lot, he said he was starting to hurt a little bit more.

My leg actually really started to hurt after leaving the park, but hopefully it will make a speedy recovery. I am up to date on my Tetanus shots, so that won’t be a factor. Fortunatly, I was able to clean my wounds with baby wipes when we got in the car.

Even though we had some pretty great battle scars, we were all pumped to do it again. Pete said he would like to get out this year yet. If the weather cooperates, I will be out there in a heart beat. That Most Difficult section is calling my name.

After leaving Lebanon Hills, Jessica, Abigail, and I headed to Walmart for some first aid stuff, then went to CiCi’s pizza buffet. It’s a great place to go if you are not on a diet. It comes to about eight dollars per person for all you can eat pizza (including deserts) and a pop.

Some people bike to save money, but I bike for other reasons. In fact, if you get serious about biking, you will probably spend more than you could save.

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Then, why do people bike? I go out on the mountain biking trails to give myself a challenge. I love the adventure. Clearing a log jump is no small feat, getting the courage to do so is even more of a challenge. Conquering an extremely steep or an unusually large hill is something to be proud of. It is something that is achieved over time, and is seldom something that comes without practice and training.

I also mountain bike for the fun. My friends and family do the same and it makes for a fun summer activity. Its great to explore new trails with people you know. Some of my most fun experiences last summer were on backwoods trails with some of my family members.

Finally, there is no disputing that mountain biking gives you quite the workout. I love the hills. In fact, without the constant hill climbs, it would not be much of a course. The constant climbs build your leg muscles and your cardiovascular strength at the same time.

About a week ago I was biking at South Valley Park in Inver Grove Heights. Even though it is a paved trail, the hills are a killer workout. Actually, they are some of the best hills I have ever seen on a paved trail.

Anyway, my derailleur had a slight problem with the hills. Eventually my chain fell off. I put it back on, but it fell off again. Then I made it out of the hills and began to bike some more. My derailleur was no longer shifting onto the correct cogs.

I called my wife. She came and picked up my bike and I. It was a good thing I brought my phone with. I had only brought my phone in case my wife went into labor, but it served another good “emergency” purpose. After picking up my bike, we went to get a bite to eat. We then went to REI and checked out new bikes.

My wife thought it would make sense for me to buy a higher quality, non-department store bike since mountain biking has become something I really enjoy. Thus began a very educational and interesting process.

I knew some features I wanted. For example, I was certain I wanted a hardtail (No rear suspension). But I needed some people with more experience to give me even better suggestions. I talked to some people at my work (Thanks Charlie Sinks and Pete Stopfer!), and they had a lot of good suggestions.

I learned that there were a few more features I really wanted on my bike. I found that a lockout suspension would greatly benefit my ride on long hills and on smooth surfaces. This was something I never thought about until Charlie said he really enjoyed his lockout on his new bike. He had a RockShox Dart 3, and it seems like a good one.

I also found out that disk breaks are awesome. I never really thought about how much breaking power you lose on a wet road. Since normal breaks work near the edge of the tires, they are more likely to be slippery. Disk breaks are in the center of the wheel, which prevents much of the wetness from ever reaching them.

My choices were greatly narrowed by the above features. I was able to begin to compare features in more detail. One big choice remaining was whether to go with a traditional 26″ rims, or to purchase a 29er. It was a tough choice.

I really don’t know anyone who regularly rides a 29er, but Pete said he rode one at Minnesota River Bottoms in South Bloomington. He said he liked the feel, but it was a little tight on the turns. I can see how that would happen. Three inches diameter on your wheels mean a lot in tight situations.

Today I had the opportunity to compare the 26er to the 29er. I will say that they were both pretty nice bikes. I took them on the mountain bike course at the Bloomington REI. It was great, but I needed more. I found an abandoned lot next to REI and really challenged the bikes. Curbs, holes, and hills shed light on the feel and the flaws of each of them. From the lot, I moved to the road, locked out the suspension, and tested the “road-bike” feel.

The 29er won me over on everything except the sharp turns. Even there, it made up for the difference in that you could take normal turns at a higher speed. The road test was most impressive. I felt like the bike was ready to take off and fly with the acceleration I got on the 29er. Finally, the 29er survived the head-on curb test. It seriously felt like a medium bump instead of a curb.

My mind was made up. I went back inside and decided to purchase the 29er (Thanks to my wife for being so generous!). This is a bike that you can learn to love (and it does not take long). For my size, I bought the 19 inch. So here are the specs on my new 2008 Marin Alpine Trail 29er:

I know I have said this before, but I can’t get enough of Lebanon Hills Mountain Bike course. Today, my dad and brother (Trevor) went on the trail. It was great. This was Trevor‘s and my second time on the trail and it took us about one hour and ten minutes. My dad did it a little faster.

The best part was when Trevor ran into a tree. He actually cut his rear break cable and his hand in the process. He also discovered the significance of shifting gears. This was a good thing.

I think we did much better on the technical riding than last time. I went off a medium sized multiple log jump with no problem, and we all did better avoiding the rock gardens along the way. I usually could pass through these without stopping.

One thing is for certain, biking this trail on a regular basis would get you into shape pretty fast! It’s a trail that tests your skills and endurance, but when you are finished, you feel great about it!

Last week, my wife, sister, brother, dad, and myself all mountain biked the Minnesota River Bottoms Trail. This is an amazing trail, and recommended to all. My brother, Trevor, and I had a great time trying out some of the jumps and twisting around the singletrack sections of the trail and lightening speeds.

We all had fun taking the wooden rope raft across mouth of Nine Mile Creek to continue on the other side of the creek. We were also impressed by the giant old trees along the path. It was a great time.  Jessica and I plan on going out again tomorrow. We have a couple trails in mind, but I am leaning toward the Lebanon Hills trail in Dakota County.

You can check out more trails in the twin cities here.

Besides the great time that we had on the trail, I had an interesting experience. I had forgotten my water, but figured that I was not thirsty, and could survive without (first mistake). After completing the approximately 11 mile long course, we were all exhausted.

Unfortunately, our cars were all the way on the other side of South Bloomington. So, Tracey (my sister) and I volunteered to bike back along the roads and get the cars (second mistake). We biked along 106th street almost the entire way back. The street has some humongous hills and no gas stations so we had no water along the way.

Upon reaching 98th Street on the extreme west portion of Bloomington, we found a gas station and bought some gatorade. I downed the whole 32 ounce bottle in seconds (third mistake). It was refreshing.

We then got a call from my dad, saying they found a ride home, so we could just meet the rest of the group back at his place. So, no problem, Tracey and I biked the rest of the way to the parking lot. I felt a little funny by this time. I did not notice that I had not been sweating the whole second part of the bike ride (the 10 or 11 miles back to the car).

I drove back, and upon arriving at my dad’s, felt very weak. I got inside and asked for something to drink. At that point, I could not move. Jessica and Trevor must have realized that something was wrong, because they told me to lay down.

All of a sudden, Trevor said “Why is he not sweating?” and they realized I was in shock from heat stroke. So they put an ice pack on the back of my head, elevated my feet and put wet wash cloths on my head and wrists. This whole time, I was unable to talk or really move. It was scary, but at least they knew what to do (Jessica Googled “Heat Stroke”)!

I later was told that I should have drank more water in small amounts (duh!). I should have not downed the whole bottle of gatorade at once, and I probably should have gone to the hospital. But anyway, I am happy to be alive, and look forward to going on some awesome trails in the near future.