happy new year

not much going on for me.I think most of my post start this way for some reason. Ben out enjoying the snow so far this winter. Didn't know if I wanted to stud up some tires this year but that rain storm a week ago made up my mind for me. I took my kenda tire and put some sheet metal screws in it. It makes it fun to ride on ice. Think I'm still going to big sky country in January for work. Might be out there for a little bit longer this time.
made another video of me feeding my fish.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihf2cb8dNSU

trail video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGntur6ifZw
some video of the trails down below boy scout bridge. took forever to upload.

new trails

Been working on some kinda new trails on this side of town(north side). Thought it was a good spot but somebody seems to like ripping stuff apart. Its a small area but there is some room to put in some fun stuff to ride. So far I got a few log piles and a couple small features.

some new cleared trail with a log pile. It rolls nice before it gets ripped up every other day.

this is a big ass log I want to make into a rideable skinny type of something.I want to build a ramp up it at the base on the bottom left and ride the length of it and off the other end to the left.

Kinda hard to see in the pics but I think it will be fun. Still got some branches to remove but I like it so far. Got another short trail cleared out and got a little log pile on it. The buck thorn tore my hands up a little. These trail ain't too much of a secret spot any one who grew up in cloud town. most locals should be able to tell where these trails are if not I might tell ya. went out to the jail trail to enjoy some nice weather and some fog looked cool to me.

hillside

Not much going on for me the last few weeks. Went to hillside down in elk river last Saturday with a buddy. Never been there before but it was a lot of fun. Lots of hills towards the end. I liked all the man made bridges and skinny's. rode a full lap then went to sonic drive in and went back for a few laps around the first 2 sections of trail. The weather was all most too nice for November, shorts and a tee shirt. Seen nothing but top end bikes in the parking lot and on the trails. Lots of people where out there enjoying the nice weather and the trail. There was a race there a week earlier so the trail was cleared of leaves in most places. got a few pics and some short vids that I put into one clip on the tube. Starting to get better at editing videos, what you think?


Speaking of trails, me and a Friend have been working on a small set of trails in town. Can't say where but might have some pics soon.

trail work

some pics from the trail work Sunday. a lot of small bridges that came together nice in the end. Still working on getting my video up on u-tube

hmmmm Monday night, what to do?

bs rain

Yep now it's raining outside. The weather has kinda sucked the last few weeks. Not much going on with me lately, just working and riding. I have been having lots of fun doing the Monday night rides lately. Haven't crushed my jewels or hit a tree. Last Monday I was having a good time but my ghetto light died in 45 minutes. Well not the light but the battery. Got too figure something out for a better battery only being able to do one lap with the light sucks. I also figured out a way to mount my camera to my bars and get some videos of the local trails. Was at quarry park trying to get some good shots but my tire sprung a leak so I bailed out. Speaking of that my cassette on my bike is wore out AGAIN. Just got a new one earlier this year. It all ready skips when I pedal too hard. Not handy when trying to keep up with people.

Went to a fish auction in bloomington last weekend. Didn't get any fish but I got a small tank and a rare plant for my planted tank.

It's kinda hard to see in the pic but its a cool plant. Its called a Madagascar lace leaf plant. One of the rarest plant in the trade.

seen a snake a week or two ago at the jail trail. Kinda late in the year for a snake
A good way to get ride of the scratches on my bike new paint job. I like the white but a black fork would look better

bs snow

Its way to early for snow. But this is Minnesota and anything is possible. Its Monday and I'm thinking about doing the Monday night ride, but not sure. I don't seem to have much fun going fast as hell through the woods at night. But its always a good challenge to keep up with some of the people that show up.

Went out to st. johns to ride some trails last Tuesday. Haven't been out there in a long time. the trail were fast and flowing but there was a lot of big sticks on the trail trying to get up in my spokes and break something. Didn't break a spoke but did pick up a micro thorn that took me awhile to find in the tire. lucky for me it was a slow leek cause I dint bring a pump or a patch. It was a fun ride, didn't bring my camera either. Was getting a little hungry at the end and then I spotted a big apple tree on campus. Them were some good apples.

I also maneged to break my seat post clamp trying to tighten it. It was the bolt that sheered off in the clamp. I some how maneged to get the rest of the bolt out. Ace hardware had a replacement for 90cents.

I go to go try to get my ghetto lite working for later.

down but not out(seat post clamp)
a ninner with a lefty hmmm, kinda sweet

some pics

couple shots of my tanks. All live plants , a bunch of angel fish and some others.

mike in the cx race

kiya winning the women's race.

was a fun weekend took 6th in my race but had a good time. Started off strong made a few moves in the first lap and caught up to crash white and followed him for most of the race. He might be older but he can ride like a champ. I don't think anyone passed me the whole race, so I think I did good. was gonna try out the cx race but didn't. Don't think I would have done too good.

summer

Not much going on this summer for me did some camping, did some fishing and rode my bike alot. spent a weekend on the st. croix with some Friends didn't do much fishing there but jumped some waves in my buddies speedboat.

spent a few nights on the Mississippi catching lots of fish and having a few beers with Friends

new cx tire before and after

Month and a half

lol. haven't been doing anything too important. Been back from Montana for more then a month and haven't been working very much. have had some trouble getting paid for the work we did out there. I don't even wont to get in to that again. my roommate moved out the day I got back and took her modem and wireless router with her. didn't think I would mind not having the Internet at my house butt it sucks. Been out riding ALOT, think I'm destroying my bike too quick. The bb bearing are making alot of noise, think I'm gonna have to get some new ones soon. Both my hubs seem to be making some bad noises too. the north loop trail is in good condition and I've been seeing alot of people out there. The trails seem to be growing in thick this year. gonna try to make it to trail work on Wednesday help out a little. Still haven' done the teeter totter out there.(no balls)seen some huge koi in lake George

got this pic from kia, me on the parking lot toy thing

a month

It looks like its been a month since I blogged about anything. not much going on out here in Montana, just working a little riding and some fishing. My salsa is still at the lbs trying to fix my back rim that I some how I cracked in a bunch of spots. the replacement rim is taking its sweet time getting here. Ive been riding the trek out on the trails around here. there is some fun downhill sections butt a lot of steep inclines. The trek don't climb all that well.

Been out fishing everywhere around here. There is a lot of rivers and they all seem to have reservoirs on them. lots of trout and 2 carp so far. some of the dams on the smaller rivers get kinda crazy.

snow

Its the end of April and its snowing out like crazy. Its not gonna stop for a few more days. The weather report said this storm would effect livestock, wtf is that. all I know is I'm ready for summer all ready. went fro a ride the other day before it snowed out. It was the planned Wednesday night ride. Not one local showed up, it didn't help the wind was blowing at 45 mph gust. rode with the wind down the trail for a few miles down hill. yep so the way back was in to the wind and up hill the whole way. make me want to be back home more. had my rear rim trued again due to another broken nipple( #3). the lbs was busy as could be but they still got my rim fixed in 10 minutes for $10. That makes feel like I'm at rev, just some good service. Got a new rear tire while I was there, a kenda nevengal. my tires cant handle some of the loose gravel on the trails around here. also I seen a group of riders way out of town on our way to a fishing spot. must have been 10 people and they must have been 25 miles from anything. not much else for now just a few pics

a rainbow trout I cooked up

rice krispies

No I haven't been eating a bunch of cereal, its my rims. they are starting to sound like rice krispies when I roll. Snap,crackle and some popping going on. Maybe my fat ass shouldn't be riding a 29" rigid. Ive been looking at getting a new wheel set sometime soon. Any ideas? The weather out here has been nice all week. Its been at least 60 every day for the last week or so. the local group of riders started there Wednesday night ride again for the season. me and my buddy runny(nick name) have been out fishing a bunch since it warmed up. Haven't had a much luck yet. The locals all have there own way of fishing and so we keep getting different stories on how to go about catching anything. We have been hanging out with these guys from Tennessee that are staying in the same motel here. They are a hoot. They all play guitar and like there country music. they are cool shit though, not much else for now just some more pics.

work

not much going on out here, just working in some mud. Got two houses done so far. Haven't got paid for any of them yet but when we finally get paid it will be a fat check. Got my rim fixed for $12. The lbs is kinda small but they have alot of quality parts in stock. They don't seem so friendly but did fix my rim for cheap.been riding around town and on the river trails. It thin k that most of the local riders are out in moab until April sometime. the trails around here are muddy kinda like the job site in the pics above. kinda miss the jail trail, or any trails with some trees.not much else to talk about, so I will just put up some pics cause I can.



my hard hat, that trout farm(them trout are huge like 15lbs),and the belt mountains from the edge of town.

trout hatchery

went riding down by the river next to the trout hatchery on Sunday. seen some of the biggest trout I've ever seen. they had a albino one in one of the ponds also.

you can see some of the fish in this pic.

there is also the shortest river in the world next to the trout farm, its called giant's ridge river. Its fed bye a couple of springs that all come up in one pool. the water is at 54 degrees all year

the river is about 100 feet at the most

I also maneged to brake a nipple on my back rim again. hopefully the lbs don't charge me to much to fix it. my back tire all most touches the frame on the one side. this is the third try at making a post on here the Internet keeps dying on me. I'm out

group ride in montana

Got a hold of a guy out here in great falls that seems to know alot about the local trails. he had mentioned a group ride on Saturday, I had to work Saturday but he said that some people were gonna go riding on Sunday too. the trail we rode is called the north shore trail. It starts 10 miles out of town. Cameron(the guy I met online)his girl and one other guy showed up. first we rode up stream and up wind(lots of wind). It was up and down some steep ass hill that were about impossible to climb on bike. I found myself walking my bike a few times.

the way back down stream we had the wind at our backs and some crazy downhill action. No crazy drop offs or nothing but there was some crazy slimy mud. once we got back to the trail head we went down stream on another trail that was alot different. It was a sketchy single track to say the least. If you go to far left your gonna be in sum pain if you live. there were some cool boulders to go around and over. Once we got past the single track there was a big open prairie are with some trails going in a few different directions. We climbed up a slow uphill path that was covered in small rock the size of pop cans. once we got to the top and dudes girl caught up with us we turned around and went back down this trail. it was fun for about a second. After that I found myself going way to fast down a bumpy ass hill with no shocks to help a player out. Some where near the bottom the trail dips down and to the left and it was a little muddy there too. it was a little scary but fun after I made it to the bottom. The trail goes farther out but it was to muddy so we hit that single track by the river a few more times.

this is a old tnt shack that they used when they built the dam. Cameron was talking about the cactus on the trail and how they like to get in to your tire. About 100 feet away from this shack the one guys tire went completely flat. it was a good spot out of the wind to change a tire. It was fun and hopefully not the last time I get to ride out here.