Year: <span>2012</span>

Winter Bike Expo, Freewheel Bike Winter Bike Expo, Freewheel Bike Winter Bike Expo, Freewheel Bike  
Freewheel Bike held their 2nd annual Winter Bike Expo ("the world headquarters of winter riding fanatics") yesterday at their Midtown Bike Center. The fat bikes were everywhere (Surly and Salsa each had a big presence) and since I’m doing some work on the 2nd Annual Fat Bike Winter Summit & Festival coming up in January, the Expo gave me a picture of how much enthusiasm there is here in Minnesota for fat biking.

Griff Wigley being influenced by Aaron Hautala Joe Meiser and John Gaddo, QBP Hansi Johnson and Aaron Hautala Aaron Hautala's Cuyuna Series G Surly Moonlander
I hadn’t planned on going but on Friday night, I had dinner with Aaron Hautala, president of the Cuyuna Lakes Mountain Bike Crew and while I was under the influence, he influenced me to go. I got to chew the fat (heh) again with former Northfielder John Gaddo, Outside Sales Rep at QBP (Quality Bicycle Products). He introduced me to Joe Meiser, Q’s Product Design Manager who, just a few days ago, had sent me all his photos from the 1st Annual Fat Bike Summit for posting on the site. I also got to talk fat bike advocacy with IMBA Midwest Regional Director Hansi Johnson.

I took a photo of Hansi and Aaron, two guys who, unlike me,  actually  know what they’re doing with a camera.  (See some of Aaron’s photos on his Sweet Cuyuna Living’ blog; see some of Hansi’s photos on his Universal Klister blog.) Alas, I was laughing when I took their photo and ended up with a very blurry image. So I’ve covered up my mistake with a stylized version of it. My choice of red was influenced by red accent that Aaron has used all over his Cuyuna Series G Surly Moonlander, which he had just outfitted with monster 4.8" Bud and Lou tires from Surly, complete with red valve stem caps.

See my large slideshow of 56 photos (recommended) or SLOW CLICK this small slideshow:

Events Photo album

2012 MN High School Cycling League season awards party 2012 MN High School Cycling League season awards party 2012 MN High School Cycling League - staff Gary Sjoquist and Steve Flagg
The MN High School Cycling League held their inaugural season awards party yesterday at QBP headquarters in Bloomington.  League director and QBP Director of Advocacy Gary Sjoquist and his talented team put on quite a show. Steve Flagg, founder and president of QBP, was on hand to make sure Gary wasn’t goofing off.

16 teams and 146 student mountain bikers competed during the season (official results here). In the team competition (combined boys and girls):

  1. Burnsville/Lakeville Composite
  2. Roseville Area Composite
  3. Rochester Composite

See the large slideshow of 135 photos (recommended) or SLOW CLICK this small slideshow:

Organizations Photo album

PressRelease-2013FatBikeSummit 10.29.12QBP and Fitzgerald’s Bicycles are teaming up to host the 2nd Annual Fat Bike Winter Summit & Festival, Jan. 25-27 in Island Park, Idaho. The Summit (Friday) is for land managers, parks staff, and policy makers to learn more about fat biking in winter and to discuss possible changes in policies. The Festival (Sat/Sun) is for anyone.

I’m part of the team working on this event, helping with the blog, Twitter, webinars, Facebook, etc. And if all goes as planned, I’ll be at the event posting updates throughout… and hopefully doing a fair amount of fat biking in between.

We started started sending out this media release today and we’re starting to do a little online promo.

If you’ve got suggestions or questions, fire away.

Events

MN High School mountain bike race at Buck Hill MN High School mountain bike race at Buck Hill MN High School mountain bike race at Buck Hill MN High School mountain bike race at Buck Hill
The Minnesota High School Cycling League held its final mountain bike race of the season today at Buck Hill in Burnsville.  I volunteered to take photos primarily of volunteers, teams, sponsors, and whatever else I could find of interest in and around the pit and start/finish areas.  I got a few action shots but there were other photographers assigned to taking those. I’ll add links to or embed their photo albums here as soon as they get them published.  Alas, I burned through two batteries on my camera taking 500+ photos and didn’t have enough juice left to take podium photos. Hopefully someone else did.

Update 11:20 pm:

Update 10/29 10:45 PM:

See the large slideshow of 155 photos (recommended) or SLOW CLICK this small slideshow:

Events Organizations Photo album

Mammoth_Trail_MapI began contacting a few guys individually about the Mammoth trail in Chaska over a year ago. Much of the information about it on the MORC site had been removed, as it’s not a MORC trail and some portions of it go across private property. We saw some ‘no trespassing’ signs and in a few places, tree branches had been deliberately placed across the trail. Neither the Mammoth page on MTBR nor the Mammoth page on Singletracks provide much in the way of current information.

The common refrain I’d heard: go with someone who knows the trail the first time because they aren’t marked and it can be difficult to find your way around. The map (right) was emailed to me with the caveat:

That isn’t the most updated map but it will work. Unfortunately there is not an updated map available. Skull loop has been shortened due to loss of access to some private land and Tom Thumb Loop is slightly different than shown.

Griff Wigley and Graham Wigley  Graham Wigley, Washing Machine loop, Mammoth Trail The Washing Machine loop, Mammoth Trail 
So on Wednesday, I finally went with my son Graham who’s ridden there before. And we still got turned around a few times. It was a warm, humid day, occasionally drizzling – perfect for leisurely wandering the beautiful area—so getting a bit lost wasn’t a problem. And the Original Sin loop (AKA the ‘washing machine’ loop) was every bit as fun as I’d heard. Among the many challenging technical obstacles we encountered:

Griff Wigley, Mammoth Trail1. the half log skinny (right) which, as you’ll see in the first half of the video below, rolls from side to side.  And in the middle of the log there’s a narrow ridge that runs nearly the entire length. If you ride to the right or left of the ridge, the log flips you off.  You have to ride exactly in the center, on top of the ridge.

I made it on my 4th try.

big skinny, Mammoth Trail muddy tire
2. the long downed tree skinny that slopes downhill. It’s pretty fat and has all its bark so I was confident I could ride down its complete length and maybe even up.  On my first attempt I applied both brakes to scrub off my speed after about 20 feet and my rear wheel locked up and slid off. I noticed that my tires were partially packed with damp dirt, so I mentally reasoned, Move my weight back a little further for better rear wheel traction; less rear brake and more front brake. 

You may be wondering: Why brake at all on a skinny, especially one that you can roll down?  I find it helps my balance on a skinny to keep pedaling. So on a level or downhill skinny, I apply both brakes just enough to provide resistance to the pedaling.  And this downhill tree is steep enough that you’d pick up speed quickly, making a crash a little more scary with the numerous trees around it.  Plus, the tree narrows considerably as it forks to the left around a tree at the very end. That part would seem to require a slow, delicate touch.

Alas, I never got that far. My next attempt lasted all of 3 seconds and made me glad I had on all my body armor.  More front brake was exactly NOT what was needed, as my front wheel immediately slid off, though in retrospect, I may have just applied it a little too hard when my front wheel was at a slight angle.

As the drizzle began to turn to rain, I decided it would be prudent to call it a day and make plans for a return engagement.  I’ll stay on the Original Sin loop, however, as that loop doesn’t cross any private property.

See this 90-second video clip of my four attempts of the two obstacles:

Trails Video

After narrowly escaping tearing my rotator cuff a couple months ago, I decided to shop around for some shoulder protection. When I saw that POC Sports had upper body armor called Spine VPD Tee that also included chest and spine protection, I figured it would be best to go all-out since my goal is to be doing more gravity-oriented mountain biking next year. VPD (or visco-elastic polymer dough).

Spine VPD Tee Griff Wigley with POC Sports Spine VPD Tee Griff Wigley with POC Sports Spine VPD Tee
So I ordered it from my LBS (local bike shop) and they got it the next day via QBP. There are many reviews of the Spine VPD Tee out there on the interwebs. This video provides a good overview.

Michelin-Man Jersey over Spine VPD Tee Griff Wigley, Spine VPD Tee with hydra-pack Griff Wigley, Spine VPD Tee with jacket
As I noted in my video contest submission, most of us guys don’t want to be seen as overly safety conscious, so we avoid wearing ‘too much’ protective gear.  And with upper body protection, fears of looking like the Michelin Man creep in.  So I bought a $13 light weight practice football jersey and it does a pretty good job of camouflaging the shoulder pads, more so if I wear my hydra-pack.  And if it’s cold out, my Craft Pro Zero Extreme base layer fits nicely underneath it and my red Sugoi RPM Jacket fits nicely over it.  The jacket pulls down the shoulder pads the most, providing the best camouflage.

Griff Wigley, body armor stormtrooper

Of course if it’s hot out, I’ll have to shed those outer layers.  And when I add my white and black elbow/forearm pads and knee/shin pads, I look pretty much like an Imperial Stormtrooper.  Which, if it’s Halloween, is not a bad thing.

Unlike my new full-face MIPS helmet which I’ve not yet worn, I wear my upper body armor whenever I’m trying to either push my limits on speed, or I’m pushing my limits on obstacles. I’ve crashed hard with it on several times. I don’t actually know whether it has saved me on those crashes but I don’t really need to know.

Protection

I was at the Eagan Pump and Jump Park last Wednesday for the first time in many weeks. I went straight to the beginner jumps and couldn’t do anything. I spent the next 20 minutes on the beginner pump track, got the hang of it again, THEN went back to the jumps and VOILA! I actually got close to clearing a couple of the table tops. Nothing that would be visible to anyone else but the difference in how I felt going over them was huge.

Mastering Mountain Bike SkillsWhen I got home, I grabbed the book Mastering Mountain Bike Skills by Brian Lopes and Lee McCormack (first recommended to me by Chance Glasford) and re-read Chapter 9: Jump With the Greatest of Ease.

When I first read that chapter (months ago, before I had any real interest in learning to jump), this sentence stood out (page 144):

If you can’t hop a curb, you have no business jumping.

So that’s when I decided that learning to bunny hop and learning to manual were the skills I was going to focus on this year. I learned the connection between pumping and doing a manual back in July (Learn to pump at a pump park. Singletrack flow trails will never be the same) but  I’ve not mastered the bunny hop yet so I’ve not really considered trying to learn to jump.

But on pages 140-141 of the book, there is a section titled Prerequisite Skills (“Before you take to the air, you must be smooth and consistent with these skills:”) and they list these five: 1) Attack position; 2) Hopping; 3) Dropping to flat and downslopes; 4) Pumping; and 5) Doing all this with flat pedals.

The blurb on hopping:

Hopping teaches you to load and unload your bike. The higher you can hop, the more boost you can get off jumps. It also teaches you flight skills.

The blurb on pumping:

Pumping is perhaps the holy grail of all riding skills. It teaches you to load and unload in time with the terrain, and it trains you to let your bike follow an arc while you stay centered over your pedals.

Chance Glasford pumping to jumpFor some reason, it never got through my thick skull that hopping, pumping, and jumping were all connected via the ‘load and unload’ motion. But looking at my photos of Chance riding the pump tracks (more here), I can see it now.

The connection between pumping and jumping got permanently embedded into my brain/muscle memory last week.  I’m now psyched to work at bringing bunny hopping into the mix.

Props to Chance (follow his blog here) for all the work he’s done on the Eagan Pump and Jump Park and for pestering me to buy the book, Mastering Mountain Bike Skills.  FYI, that link to the book happens to have these three image excerpts of pages 143-145 from Chapter 9: Jump With the Greatest of Ease.

how to jump, page 143how to jump, page 144 how to jump, page 145

Learning to ride

Lebanon Hills West Trailhead grand openingDespite the windy and cold conditions, a big crowd showed up for yesterday’s grand opening of Dakota County’s  Lebanon Hills West Trailhead, featuring the new mountain bike skills park (see my Aug. 7 blog post of preview photos/video of the park’s technical features). 

Willis Branning, Thomas Egan, Nancy Schouweiler, Chris Anderson ribbon-cutting, Lebanon Hills West Trailhead grand opening Amanda Scholz, Meghann Fedde 
There were dignitaries on hand, including Dakota County Commissioners Willis Branning, Thomas Egan and Nancy Schouweiler. MORC‘s 2012 Land Manager of the Year award went to Dakota County Parks and board member Chris Anderson presented the commissioners with a cool plaque, prior to the official ribbon cutting.  And board member Amanda Scholz presented Meghann Fedde with MORC’s 2012 Volunteer of the Year award.

The Blue Door Pub crew The Indeed Brewing crew mountain bikers pigging out
Crews from the Blue Door Pub and Indeed Brewing kept the crowd well-nourished.

See the large slideshow of 60 photos (recommended) or SLOW CLICK this small slideshow:

Events Organizations Photo album

Gary Sjoquist and Utah delegationI’ve blogged about QBP’s Director of Advocacy Gary Sjoquist a few times because of his involvement in various mountain bike-related activities and projects.

This week, he and his QBP colleagues hosted a group of civic leaders from Utah to share what’s been done in Minneapolis to earn it Bicycling Magazine’s #1 ranking as the best bicycling city in America for 2011 and Walk Score’s #1 ranking of the 10 most bikeable large U.S. cities. The plan:

This two-day trip will examine their recipe mix of new infrastructure, education, and advocacy that won this accolade.  Special attention will be given to how cycling is being integrated into the transit community, and look at the economic impacts of cycling within the MSP area.

Ogden, Utah’s bicycling infrastructure is particularly  important to QBP because they opened their western distribution center, Q-West, there in 2011 (press release) and their Bike Commuting Program for employees is a big deal.

Utah delegation & Nice Ride MN bikesUtah bike delegation at Mpls City HallI joined the delegation on Thursday as they toured Minneapolis on Nice Ride MN bikes, starting out at the Holiday Inn Metrodome.

We biked down to Mpls City Hall and ate lunch while hearing from Shaun Murphy, Minneapolis Bicycle & Pedestrian Coordinator; Ethan Frawley, Bicycle Coalition of Minneapolis; and Dorian Grilley, Bicycle Alliance of Minnesota.

Utah bike delegation at Midtown Bike Center Utah bike delegation, downtown Mpls Utah bike delegation on the Stone Arch Bridge Gary Sjoquist & Utah bike delegation at Pracna on Main
We then worked our way over to Freewheel’s Midtown Bike Center on the Midtown Greeway where we heard from Bill Dossett, Executive Director of Nice Ride MN, and Soren Jensen, Executive Director of the Midtown Greenway Coalition.  From there, it was back to downtown Minneapolis during rush hour, and then across the Stone Arch Bridge to St. Anthony Main where we had dinner at Pracna on Main.

See the large slideshow of 72 photos (recommended) or SLOW CLICK this small slideshow:

Utah delegation members 
City of Ogden: Mayor Mike Caldwell
City of Ogden: Josh Jones
UTA: Matt Sibul
UTA: Darci Taylor
Bike Utah: Scott Lyttle, Executive Director
Bike Utah: Brad Woods, Board President
WFRC: Andrew Gruber, Executive Director
WFRC: Jory Johner
Salt Lake County Planning: Max Johnson
Davis County: Commissioner Louenda Downs
Utah County: Commissioner Larry Ellertson
Eagle Mtn: Mayor Heather Jackson
MAG: Shawn Seager
UDOT: Evelyn Tuddenham
SLC Transportation: Dan Bergenthal

Organizations People Photo album

I blogged about this event back in late August but since the The Blue Door Pub‘s menu was published yesterday, I thought I’d post a reminder. From the Lebanon Hills Facebook page:

Lebanon Hills West Trailhead grand openingJoin us at the West Trailhead Grand Opening event in Lebanon Hills Regional Park 12-4 PM on Saturday! Free event parking onsite and just south of the trailhead on Johnny Cake Ridge Road at the School of Environmental Studies.

Blue Door Pub menu Lebanon Hills West Trailhead grand openingBring your mountain bike to talk gear with experts from Valley Bike and Ski, Penn Cycle, REI and MORC, or borrow one to demo from Trek or Giant Bicycles. Chat about snowshoes, cross-country skis, hiking and even barefoot hiking with Midwest Mountaineering and the Barefoot Hikers of Minnesota. There’s something for everyone!

Dakota County Parks will be passing out swag bag vouchers to the first 200 people in line for the event and can be redeemed between 12:15-4 pm. Doors open at Noon!

I was up there earlier this week and took some photos of the classy new trailhead facility with my crappy smartphone camera:

Lebanon Hills West Trailhead IMAG0543 IMAG0544IMAG0545 IMAG0546 IMAG0547

Events

Trek Bikes currently has four company bloggers (see the Trek Life section of their website) and one of them is A Great Ride by John Burke, Trek president.  He’s a pretty good blogger and tweets at @JBTrek08 regularly, too.

John Burke, president, Trek BikesTwo weeks ago, he put up a video of his presentation at Interbike (I heard about it last week from Gary Sjoquist, Advocacy Director at QBP). John’s blog post is titled  Interbike advocacy address – the good, the bad, and the future. He wrote:

This week I had the honor of addressing the attendees at Interbike. I wanted to talk about the good and the bad news and the “state of the union” about what’s going on in bicycle advocacy. It was an awesome group of people capable of doing great things. Remember, the world is run by those who show up!

It’s an informative and inspiring presentation. I like his BHAG (big, hairy, audacious goal) of 5% of trips by bike by 2025.

But I think there needs to be a different metric to go along with it that involves mountain biking. Hmmm. Any ideas out there?

In the meantime, watch the video. I’ll add some notes from his presentation when I get a chance.

httpv://youtu.be/dBQt9WDwp44

Update Feb 14, 2012:

I typed up my notes on Burke’s presentation a while ago but lost track of them. Duh. Found ’em today, so here’s the 3-page PDF:


Outline - John Burke presentation at Interbike 2012

Advocacy