Jess and I headed down to Council Bluff this weekend for a night under the stars. The weather has been great here as of late and we had to take advantage.
Paddled the lake....
And hiked to "The Bluff"....
And in true Seagal fashion took in some Dos Primos. It really is good.
You may remember my old boat, which now belongs to someone else, was nicknamed "The Bernard". I need a nickname for the new boat. It's a bit longer than the last so I was trying to come up with a variation on the original, like Bigger Bernard. It doesn't need to follow that, but I think I like having Bernard in it.
We spent the past week up north "cooling off". The Door County area is vey beautiful and relaxing. Great paddling, road riding, and quality family time. I'll bore you with the pics if you please.
Traveling through Arkansas this past week. Ole Blue kicked my ass.
Having a blast until I got this.
Had to cut it short and do a bit of this.
Was doing some work for the local Sheriff, he let me ride along on a mission with the heli pilot and the lead diver around the local Corp of Engineers reservoir. Those things are agile. Notice the MTB United paint scheme they put on there for us.
First watch David clean and jerk 245 lbs. Yes, they call him Super. And they call me Special. Not sure that's a compliment.
Watch The Big Jump video afterward for a laugh.
The weather broke this weekend so we did our best to get out in it. Saturday I brought the boats up to Council Bluff lake.
Put the boats in and paddled two miles over to the quiet side to meet up with Jimmy and set up camp.
Ended up pulling Jess' boat as I didn't want to leave it in the parking lot overnight. It worked well as a gear hauler.
We took a few mile hike up to the top of Johnson Mountain which apparently includes the actual Council Bluff. Amazing view from up top.
Did a little feeding and hit the hammock.
Was up at 5:30 the next morning to paddle out.
Loaded up and drove over to Onondaga Cave to meet Jess. We shuttled the boats ten miles upstream to Bass. Six miles on the Courtois, 1.5 on the Huzzah, and 2.5 on the Meremac. The water was clear, crisp, and moving. No dragging, even up on the Courtois. Had an enjoyable float with picture perfect conditions.
Yep, I dumped it. High sided a bit when I slammed the log and the current jumped up over the near side and rolled me.
Howdy folks. Just throwing some pics up from this past Sunday. Rode in the first of three races in the Michaux Endurance Series. Did the 10 miler (I know I know, big boys do the 20 or 40). The day was nice, not too cold and the rain held off, but the trail was sloppy. Running water coming down the uphillls and sticky mud in all the low areas. Had to hop off several times and felt slow otherwise--finished 11th overall, 4th in my class. Fun time anyway, good food, free beer, and Lera and Bear at the finish.
Started off the race season Saturday with the Easter MTB Race at Schenectady Central Park trails. The temperature was cool (high was about 45) and wet (rained all morning). Trails were an absolute mud-fest, very slick - especially on roots and planks. A little over 30 riders total, between all classes. I placed fourth, out of 14 riders in Sport class. Hoped for a little better place, but I'm not complaining. I can come up with a number of reasons why I should have done better. But, the bottom line is, endurance. 11 miles, 1:10 total. Maybe some more pics later, if I can find some.
