Surly Bikes
A month ago, the Waconia Rotary Club asked me to give a short speech about my experiences riding the Arrowhead 135 Winter Ultramarathon race and working for Surly. I'm a graduate of Waconia High School, and the Waconia Patriot was kind enough to write an article about the race. So I thought it would be a good opportunity to give a little back to the town that shaped me in a lot of ways...for better or worse.
My speaking engagement was scheduled for 7:30am Wednesday morning. I didn't want to drive from Minneapolis to Waconia, about 55km by car, through the burbs. So I decided to ride there on my geared Pug in the same format as it was set up for the Arrowhead. The safest bike route to Waconia is about 60km. I was looking forward to at least 5 hours of travel from my house to Nancy's Landing, a marina on Lake Waconia where the Rotary Club meets. Instead of leaving home at 2am Wednesday morning, I chose to ride out to a campsite along the way (at the 48km point) on Tuesday and ride the remaining 12km to Waconia early Wednesday morning
a good reason to get out of the office for a couple of days, try out some new camping gear, and see some of my old haunts and old familiar faces while getting a good workout on the loaded big rig.
I got on the road around 3:00pm on Tuesday and rolled toward the bike trail that would get me most of the way to my campsite in Victoria. It was a beautiful day, and I was thankful to not be in the office. I took my sweet time getting to my site. I stopped several times on the ride
to talk to friends who happened to be on the trail, to have a cup of coffee, to buy snacks and refill my water bottles. I arrived at 7:00pm and set up camp as the sun was starting to disappear behind the trees.
I brought some new toys to play with
Last fall, I bought an undercover and pad (essentially an under-hammock insulation system) for my Hennessy Hammock, but I hadn't used them. They worked well and will definitely be included as part of my hammock system. I'm looking forward to some cooler evenings to find the comfort limitations of the hammock and undercover.
When I purchased my hammock a couple years ago, I bought 2 flies for it
an ultralight fly and a larger hex fly. I'd never used the ultralight fly, so I decided to try it out on this trip. It was adequate protection for Tuesday night's hour of rain, but I prefer the increased area of the heavier hex fly. The additional weight is worth the comfort and protection it provides. If the rain had been heavier or the wind stronger, the ultralight fly would have compromised my ability to stay dry while cooking my dinner underneath it.
Two weeks ago I finished sewing a 0-degree (C) Ray-way camping quilt from a kit, but I hadn't used it. The quilt worked well, but it was a little warm for the temps and humidity of Tuesday night. Maybe, I'll sew up a lighter summer quilt or cut the bottom out of my down 40-degree bag and use that as a quilt. I found the quilt system so much nicer than a sleeping bag for hammock slumber. I'm sold on the concept.
Over the weekend, I built a new alcohol stove, but it had only been tested on a cinder block in the basement. Unfortunately, the stove performance didn't impress me in the field. I built it to work with my tall, narrow 750ml cookpot, so I oriented the jets toward the center of the stove. It will burn for 20 minutes on 16ml of fuel, but it takes 12-13 minutes to boil 500ml (pint) of water. That's too slow for me. I'm going back to my 6-gram Mini Bull Design Elite side-jet alcohol stove and my low, wide ti pot. The side-jet will boil 500ml (pint) of water in 4 minutes with 18ml of fuel. So far, this small energy-drink-can stove has the best performance/efficiency/weight ratio of all the alcohol stoves I've built and purchased. Plus, the nature of its design negates the need for a pot stand. Bonus.
Tuesday night was spent stoking the campfire, cooking food, hiking the park, listening to the critters, and trying to sleep under an alarmingly-bright moon.
The 5:00am wake-up call from my dad seemed to come much too early. I could have used a little more sleep, but snoozing wasn't an option. I had to be in Waconia by 7:15am, and I didn't know exactly how long it was going to take or exactly which route I was going to ride to get there. I needed a little extra time to guarantee that I wasn't going to be late for my little speech. As the eastern horizon got lighter, I made some coffee on my too-slow stove and packed up camp.
I was on the trail at 5:56am heading west to Waconia, first on the bike trail, then onto the Hwy 5 shoulder when the trail ended. The original plan was to ride snowmobile trails along the highway, but the night rain made the trails too soft and wet for me to ride on without getting totally muddy. I opted to ride the off-camber gravel shoulder instead of taking a mud bath. No other Surly would have performed as well as the Pug on the loose, slanted shoulder. The Endomorphs rolled as easily on the gravel as they had on the pavement. I was in Waconia by 6:45 am. I brushed my teeth, changed into a clean shirt, took some photos, and watched the sun rise over Lake Waconia as I waited for my dad and the Rotary members to show up for their breakfast meeting.
The speech went fine. I was supposed to have 30 minutes to talk, but ended up cramming everything into 20 minutes due to time constraints. It wasn't my best work, but I think I got most of my points across. My audience seemed to like the Pug. It's hard not to like the Pug.
After breakfast, I took a small tour of the small town under the light blue sunny sky. A lot has changed in 20 years; a lot has stayed the same. I rode past houses of my highschool friends. Most of their parents still live there.
I headed east out of town toward Minneapolis, opting to take the more scenic, more challenging, not-on-the-Hwy-5-shoulder route until I could get back on the bike path in Victoria. This plan took me on gravel roads, over a section of the old abandoned Hwy 5, through ditches, over muddy snowmobile and horse trails, and onto paved and unpaved bike trails. Pugsley handled it all in stride.
I stopped at the Lowry Nature Center in Victoria, for a while, to take in some calories and revisit one of my childhood stomping grounds. I spent a lot of time there as a kid when my dad managed Carver Park and officed at the nature center. A river of memories flooded back as soon as I walked through the doors. This was just another great part of the multi-faceted journey.
The ride from there was pretty easy. I stopped in Excelsior to eat lunch, chug a Redbull, and soak my feet in Lake Minnetonka while I watched Captain Dildo bust up his too-tall yacht as he forced it under a low bridge spanning the inlet into one of the bays. One more cup of coffee in Hopkins.
I rolled into my driveway at 2:30pm, exhausted, but already looking forward to the next 24-hour adventure.
-----
I got on the road around 3:00pm on Tuesday and rolled toward the bike trail that would get me most of the way to my campsite in Victoria. It was a beautiful day, and I was thankful to not be in the office. I took my sweet time getting to my site. I stopped several times on the ride
to talk to friends who happened to be on the trail, to have a cup of coffee, to buy snacks and refill my water bottles. I arrived at 7:00pm and set up camp as the sun was starting to disappear behind the trees.
I brought some new toys to play with
Last fall, I bought an undercover and pad (essentially an under-hammock insulation system) for my Hennessy Hammock, but I hadn't used them. They worked well and will definitely be included as part of my hammock system. I'm looking forward to some cooler evenings to find the comfort limitations of the hammock and undercover.
When I purchased my hammock a couple years ago, I bought 2 flies for it
an ultralight fly and a larger hex fly. I'd never used the ultralight fly, so I decided to try it out on this trip. It was adequate protection for Tuesday night's hour of rain, but I prefer the increased area of the heavier hex fly. The additional weight is worth the comfort and protection it provides. If the rain had been heavier or the wind stronger, the ultralight fly would have compromised my ability to stay dry while cooking my dinner underneath it.
Two weeks ago I finished sewing a 0-degree (C) Ray-way camping quilt from a kit, but I hadn't used it. The quilt worked well, but it was a little warm for the temps and humidity of Tuesday night. Maybe, I'll sew up a lighter summer quilt or cut the bottom out of my down 40-degree bag and use that as a quilt. I found the quilt system so much nicer than a sleeping bag for hammock slumber. I'm sold on the concept.
Over the weekend, I built a new alcohol stove, but it had only been tested on a cinder block in the basement. Unfortunately, the stove performance didn't impress me in the field. I built it to work with my tall, narrow 750ml cookpot, so I oriented the jets toward the center of the stove. It will burn for 20 minutes on 16ml of fuel, but it takes 12-13 minutes to boil 500ml (pint) of water. That's too slow for me. I'm going back to my 6-gram Mini Bull Design Elite side-jet alcohol stove and my low, wide ti pot. The side-jet will boil 500ml (pint) of water in 4 minutes with 18ml of fuel. So far, this small energy-drink-can stove has the best performance/efficiency/weight ratio of all the alcohol stoves I've built and purchased. Plus, the nature of its design negates the need for a pot stand. Bonus.
Tuesday night was spent stoking the campfire, cooking food, hiking the park, listening to the critters, and trying to sleep under an alarmingly-bright moon.
The 5:00am wake-up call from my dad seemed to come much too early. I could have used a little more sleep, but snoozing wasn't an option. I had to be in Waconia by 7:15am, and I didn't know exactly how long it was going to take or exactly which route I was going to ride to get there. I needed a little extra time to guarantee that I wasn't going to be late for my little speech. As the eastern horizon got lighter, I made some coffee on my too-slow stove and packed up camp.
I was on the trail at 5:56am heading west to Waconia, first on the bike trail, then onto the Hwy 5 shoulder when the trail ended. The original plan was to ride snowmobile trails along the highway, but the night rain made the trails too soft and wet for me to ride on without getting totally muddy. I opted to ride the off-camber gravel shoulder instead of taking a mud bath. No other Surly would have performed as well as the Pug on the loose, slanted shoulder. The Endomorphs rolled as easily on the gravel as they had on the pavement. I was in Waconia by 6:45 am. I brushed my teeth, changed into a clean shirt, took some photos, and watched the sun rise over Lake Waconia as I waited for my dad and the Rotary members to show up for their breakfast meeting.
The speech went fine. I was supposed to have 30 minutes to talk, but ended up cramming everything into 20 minutes due to time constraints. It wasn't my best work, but I think I got most of my points across. My audience seemed to like the Pug. It's hard not to like the Pug.
After breakfast, I took a small tour of the small town under the light blue sunny sky. A lot has changed in 20 years; a lot has stayed the same. I rode past houses of my highschool friends. Most of their parents still live there.
I headed east out of town toward Minneapolis, opting to take the more scenic, more challenging, not-on-the-Hwy-5-shoulder route until I could get back on the bike path in Victoria. This plan took me on gravel roads, over a section of the old abandoned Hwy 5, through ditches, over muddy snowmobile and horse trails, and onto paved and unpaved bike trails. Pugsley handled it all in stride.
I stopped at the Lowry Nature Center in Victoria, for a while, to take in some calories and revisit one of my childhood stomping grounds. I spent a lot of time there as a kid when my dad managed Carver Park and officed at the nature center. A river of memories flooded back as soon as I walked through the doors. This was just another great part of the multi-faceted journey.
The ride from there was pretty easy. I stopped in Excelsior to eat lunch, chug a Redbull, and soak my feet in Lake Minnetonka while I watched Captain Dildo bust up his too-tall yacht as he forced it under a low bridge spanning the inlet into one of the bays. One more cup of coffee in Hopkins.
I rolled into my driveway at 2:30pm, exhausted, but already looking forward to the next 24-hour adventure.
-----