Horse Vs. Bike

One would think that any given day in mid-July would be spectacular for mountain biking in the Keweenaw. One would think.

Today held firmly at 58 degrees F and the air was quite lively with a strong wind that was heard rushing through the leaves. The trees swayed with more animation than I was able to muster today. It is summer. It is summer. Yes, it is summer. I keep telling myself that, but it just doesn't feel like it. It feels like spring.

I had to deliver the registration papers for the horse I sold a couple of months ago. I met the new owner at a horse show that was going on at the Houghton County Fairgrounds. I kept watching his daughter ride my horse and thinking to myself, "I really want to ride." They offered several times, and I finally hopped on when she was done showing. I gave the daughter a few tips and made plans to show up to the stable Tuesday morning with baby pictures and a desire to ride. I'll have to pack my half chaps and get my riding boots out.

It certainly is not mountain biking, but over a decade of horseback riding prepared me quite well for my new sport. Balance, strength, relaxed muscles, it is all key to both sports.

Plans Change

I was going to set out for a long ride, but thunderstorms were forecasted. Instead, I weight trained for 75 minutes - it's been a while - and I pulled up some grass where my garden was going to reside, now resides . . . yes, I know it's late. The gardening caused me to sweat bullets, even though I didn't feel hot, or even warm. Interesting.

I showered and moved on to a partial movie. I proceeded to, yes, you guessed it, KBC (Keweenaw Brewing Company for you rookies) for good times with good friends. Oh, and I knew I could pay my teammates, Chris and Tammi, for my entry to the 12 Hours of Potluck in Marquette. Yeah, you saw right through me. That was just an excuse to go drink beer.

It is the Strawberry Festival in Chassell, this weekend. If I can get the money that is owed me for the sale of my horse, I will ride out there to get it, then head on to Chassell for the festival. I will then finish the ride, shower, and proceed to KBC for good times with good friends. ;-)

Planning

My parents have been visiting this week. That's part of the reason why I haven't been riding. They're leaving bright and early, tomorrow morning. What does this mean? It means I'm riding my bike tomorrow.

My plan is to ride to Michigan Tech, do some loops, and ride back. I'm packing a lunch and plenty of water and Heed. Hopefully, it won't rain.

Weight Loss 10

I saw one of the Bridget Jones movies, today [again]. They're fun movies, and it always blows my mind how Renee Zellweger managed to gain thirty pounds, and then lose it, more than once . . . successfully.

Yes, I know she has professional everythings helping her along, but there has to be a way that I can lose my fifteen pounds. Oh, wait! There is!

It's called my ten hour rule. I must ride ten hours a week. I haven't been doing that, but I've had good weight weeks when I hit at least eight hours. I haven't ridden this week - my week starts on Monday - so I have some catching up to do. I've been splitting wood for the last couple days, and tomorrow is another wood day. Yes, winter will be here and I want dry, perfect little cuts of wood for my stove.

I plan to start riding on Friday, again. I'm going to put in a long mountain bike ride. I might even ride to Michigan Tech and do a ride there. With the return trip, I could be out four hours. I better pack a lunch for the ride home.

My Honeymoon

I feel like I just returned from my honeymoon, which is funny because I've never had a honeymoon. Just bear with me, here. Like all great honeymoons, I had one great ride . . . actually, several.

I've been riding, but more effort has been a requirement to get me out on the trail, lately. I just haven't felt like riding. I went up to Copper Harbor for the Thursday night group ride and stayed with some friends for the weekend. Three of us gals did a "B" ride while the rest of the group did the "A" ride. It wasn't so much a separation of skill levels as it was just three girls wanting to do a fun ride without feeling like we were imposing on a bunch of guys. It turns out that both groups hit some of the craziest trails. It was our little "B" group that did Paul's Plunge.


Di riding the Ma Maki trail.

Friday, I did a ride by myself. I really did not feel like riding, but felt compelled to do so when I saw all the guys leaving in different groups. I took off and set out for a challenging, technical, and fast ride. I found myself climbing quickly and confidently, and my riding was spot on. For the first time this year, I had a perfect ride. Things just felt great. I didn't feel awkward on my bike.

Saturday was a true testament to what my weekend at Copper Harbor was doing to me. I started off with a huge Harbor Haus breakfast and met some teammates for a ride. We rode for two hours and did a pretty grueling ride. It was grueling for me because I didn't get very much sleep (people screaming outside all night) and that breakfast weighed me down quite a bit.

We finished our ride after about two hours. I kept my cycling clothes on because I was going to do a road ride after lunch. My friend, Trash – yes, Trash – was chatting with me while deciding where he wanted to do a mountain bike ride. I mentioned my ride on the Kamikaze trail and he said, "That's what I'll do! I'll ride Kamikaze!"

"Seriously?" I totally took note.

"Yeah. I'm going to do it right now."

"Wait for me! I'm coming with you!" My legs felt like Jello, but who cares? This was going to be fun!

Our friend, Chuck, showed up and the three of us headed up to the top of Kamikaze for a funky, crazy ride down. We headed back home and decided to shuttle the bikes up to the Keweenaw Mountain Lodge for a ride down Garden Brook. After twenty-two miles of riding the ever-so-awesome trails of Copper Harbor, I had a couple of beers with Chuck and we called it a day.

I left the Harbor, today, with a renewed sense of enthusiasm for mountain biking. I got my groove back. I found that honeymooning with your mountain bike can do a lot to help you regain the joy, freedom, and awe that got you into this mess in the first place.

Copper Harbor fireworks as seen from my kayak.

It was such a long day, it seemed like two. I started the day off walking the dogs to Ft Wilkins State Park and back. I heard sirens toward the end of the walk indicating the fine Copper Harbor parade had begun. I rushed back, put the dogs away, and watched a parade truly in Harbor fashion.


Indian Paintbrush grows all over the Keweenaw. This was seen during my walk back from Ft Wilkins.


View of Lake Fanny Hoe from Ft Wilkins State Park.

It was a day that was difficult to settle into. I felt lazy and didn't want to do much. Many people were heading out to the trails to mountain bike, and I finally headed out myself. For the first time this year, I felt great! I didn't feel clumsy and my bike went right where I wanted it. After 90 minutes and 12 miles, I returned to town with a big smile and a great feeling. The ride was good.

We concluded the evening with a sunset kayak tour through the Keweenaw Adventure Company. The Independence Day sunset tour is special because the kayakers get to hang out at Hunter's Point and watch the fireworks. We were directly under them. It was freaky, cool, and amazing.

As usual, a few of us capped the night off with Tequila Sunrises at Zik's Bar. Life is good.


Looking out into Lake Superior from Copper Harbor.


Sun setting over Copper Harbor.


Hunter's Point.

Analyzing My Internet

It is quite frustrating when your Internet runs slowly. I have satellite DSL and it hasn't been the best, especially as of late. Within the last few weeks, I started noticing "google-analytics.com/..." in my status bar every time I loaded a web page. For example, it would show up whenever I went to MMBA.com, Google.com, even my own web site! While my blog is hosted by Google, my web site, Moronacity, is hosted on a virtual server that I pay for. I never installed Google Analytics, and I was pretty upset to find that I was loading more than the desired content every time I clicked on a link.

What did I do? I did some searching, via Google, and found a simple solution. I use Firefox. I clicked on the ABP (AdBlock Plus) icon on the upper right hand corner of my browser, and located the google-analytics urls in the window that opened at the bottom of the screen. I right-clicked on the google urls and blocked them.

Suddenly, my surfing life is faster!

From 8-Track Tapes to Banana Seat Bikes

This post is entirely Ali's, fault, because she inspired me. You see, she was kind enough to show us a pretty sweet picture of some 8-track tapes she saw at an auction. That got me thinking about the 8-track tapes I played with as a kid. It was kind of sad, really. The only two tapes I remember were Barry Manilow and Chicago - not exactly my cup of tea. Don't worry. I moved onto something more likable, like my brother's Queen record (yeah baby, vinyl!) with Another One Bites the Dust.

You're probably wondering what any of this rambling has to do with a banana seat bike. Well, nothing, really, except that this is a cycling blog and I had to tie it in somehow. ;-)

The 8-tracks, however disappointing the music, were a fond memory of my childhood. I would play with my parents' 8-track player and color, so crayons are also tied in with this memory. I had a lot of cool Crayola crayons - the big box - 64. I also had a Smurf coloring book, of which I can find no equal. I wonder what ever happened to that coloring book. Doh! I got away from the bike, again!

I had a pink, banana seat Huffy when I was a little girl. It was the bike that my dad taught me how to ride. It was my first bike without training wheels. I rode that bike all over town. My brother would hop on the back and we would head to the swings at a nearby school, or the Southside Market with the greatest candy selection, ever!

My pink, banana seat Huffy was also the first bike I would take off-road. We had some little trails around our neighborhood. There was a hill that we'd have to ride over - a little hump in the land a little higher than the bike - to get to the creek. We called this hill Snake Mountain. I'm sure the great, dangerous garter snake could be found there.

8-tracks, crayons, banana seat Huffys . . . I also had a Barbie Tonka Truck. That thing rocked.

Copper Harbor Trail Day

It wasn't just a trail day, though. It was also the annual town party at the top of Brockway Mountain. We gathered there with legal beverages and cameras in hand and watched the sunset. Well, we kind of watched the sunset as we hacky sacked.


It's not uncommon to see the residents and friends of Copper Harbor kicking around a hacky sack. Beer doesn't really help with coordination.

Here is a short photo essay of the sunset view from Mt. Brockway.


Opposite the sunset, this is a view of the land through which a new ski trail will be built.


I'm guessing this is Lake Medora.


I'm guessing Lake Bailey and Agate Harbor in the distance. Lake Superior's stunning colors as the sun sets.


View of Lake Superior from Brockway Mountain Drive.


Lake Superior sunset over Isle Royale.


If you look closely, you can see Isle Royale where the sun is setting.

. . . or do I?

I know when to quit, or do I?

I spent the last two evenings experiencing the giant Houghton social scene at the Keweenaw Brewing Company. Last night, I was invited to party with my friends up in Copper Harbor, and I've decided to make a weekend of it.

If I receive a particular email prompting me to do so, I will head up tonight complete with mountain bike. I'll stay with some friends and we'll start Sunday the best way: Harbor Haus breakfast. Yum. Tomorrow also marks the first regular trail day. We'll spend about four or five hours out there and probably head to Zik's afterward. My plan is to stick around through Monday and get in some wild 'n crazy mountain biking. Oh yeah, baby! It's time to take the plunge with Paul and do some squirrelly Red Trail riding.

Oh, yes. Di will be happy.

Knowing When to Quit

Sometimes you just have to know when to quit. Tomorrow is the Ride for Glory in Ishpeming, Michigan. I never thought I would cut this race out of my schedule because it is only an hour and a half away. A large number of my team is going. I finally decided not to.

I feel a bit stretched. My car still isn't unpacked from Superior Bike Fest and I feel like I've been gone almost every weekend . . . probably because I have. I am getting a bit raced out.

Bear Meets Bear

I took the little wieners for a pre-breakfast walk to the end of the road, this morning. We turned to head home and I saw a large, black outline crossing the road ahead. At first, I thought dog, however this figure did not exhibit the movements of a large, annoying black dog left to roam freely sans owner. No, its back was rounded and its legs slowly swung forward as it made its way to my adjacent neighbor's property.

I stopped.

"That's a bear!" I thought to myself. "No, it can't be. Yet, I surely know perfectly well that it could be a bear." I decided it was a bear. It was a bear. It was a bear.

Ok, now that that was established, I turned to call my dogs toward home, but stopped as I saw Marji taking a poo and decided to simply stop and think for a moment. "Do I really want to head in that direction without a bike and with two obstinate wieners following? Not really." Then, I thought I really had no choice unless I wanted to walk for two or three more hours around my large, country block. I could've cut across the back of my property, but that was clearly where the bear was heading, and even worse, that is where millions of ticks could reside. I headed straight for home. I also stopped to look for bear tracks, but I really didn't know where the bear crossed and it was difficult to find footprints on my gravel road.

The wieners and I made it safely home and curled up on the couch together to read the other half a novel we started the night before. Actually, I read the novel. Cori and Marji just slept, barked to go outside, stared at me, and ran toward the walls whenever the vicious squirrels ran across my wood siding.

A Di Day

We live in such a society where it is beyond the understanding of many that God simply wants us to slow down. In such a society where multi-tasking, economy, efficiency, and so on are paramount to our role as citizens, we have no idea how to not do anything. Even when we are completely wasteful of our time, producing absolutely nothing besides excess fat, we consume our minds with stimuli from video games, televisions, phones, and iPods. How many people actually take the time to notice how a sunbeam on an ordinary brick wall can bring a smile to their face and allow their heart a little leap of joy?

If you haven't already noticed, I have had a very special day. I decided to make it a "Di day." Sure, I've done this in the past, but none have been quite as successful as today. Even while climbing the last, brutal hill homeward, I found myself smiling as an audible giggle slipped out. Cycling does this to me.

I set out at 2:20, with a backpack containing a pair of sandals, a long-sleeved shirt, if needed, a cycling rain jacket for the predicted scattered showers that never occurred, a phone, money, camera, and hairbrush that was never used, but already in the bag.

Like many of my fellow citizens, I am quite focused on the end and hardly ever notice the means. Today, I chose to somewhat blindly head to Houghton in search of something to do. I really didn't know what. I took my time riding to Hancock. It was very windy all day and I wasn't in the mood to fight it, so I lollygagged a little on my ride. The direction of the wind allowed me to coast through Hancock while braking because the traffic was going slower than my bike. I actually considered passing the cars, but chose to hold my course. I rode around Houghton for a while and meandered over to Michigan Tech and up Sharon Avenue in search of a twist ice cream cone at Dairy Queen. For the first time, ever, I patiently sat in front of the DQ, slowly circling my tongue around the ice cream as I ate it slowly, taking the time to taste it. I felt calm as I enjoyed the view of the sun shining against the strip mall on the green hill across the street.




Michigan Tech and Houghton from the Hancock side of the canal.

Life is short. Eat dessert first. That's exactly what I did. I repeated my roundabout course as I rode back to Michigan Tech only to reverse direction and head back to downtown Houghton. I locked up my bike across the street from The Library and headed in for a long dining experience. I special-ordered a small basil and tomato pizza and drank a few cups of coffee as I slipped into a trance produced my leisurely eighteen mile ride. I said my goodbyes to The Library staff and slipped back onto my bike and headed for the Portage Lift Bridge to journey homeward.



Views of Mont Ripley and Hancock from the Houghton side of the canal.

As I crossed the ridge, a black car with a bike rack, heading for Hancock, honked and the driver waved to me causing me to smile. I have no idea who was in that car. All I saw was a hand. However, they left me full of pride and joy. How fortunate I am to live in such a community. Every time I commute, someone recognizes my bright, green Jake the Snake and they honk or yell my name. Having lived in communities where people were less than eager to greet one-another, or welcome a new member into the community, I absolutely recognize the grace God has given me by placing me in such a warm community where so many people have a strong bond with one-another simply because of a simplistic invention called the bicycle.


Portage Lift Bridge and Hancock.



Quincy mine.

I happily rolled home, and even enjoyed my long climb up White Street and US-41 – the dreaded Quincy Hill – without failing to notice how the sun shone above the cities creating a beautiful, lush appearance around the deep blue Portage Canal as waves thrashed about in the wind.

The newly-formed leaves on the trees created a spectacular view as I rolled closer to home. I felt strong, accomplished, happy. I continued to smile. My heart did flips.


The road home.


This is what I came home to.

Anticipatory Housework

I got quite a bit done, today, including a drivetrain clean and lube. I've been doing a lot of cleaning, some rearranging, and some unpacking from last year's move. Lots needs to be done. Until last week, my screened-in porch was more of a storage area than anything. Now, it's being transformed into party central for the post-Keweenaw Chain Drive Red Jacket party. My house still needs some work, and it's almost there.

While I was running around, finding a home for this and that, Cori was chilling out on the couch like a typical dachshund. Life is so hard. Her only real exercise was when I hopped on my mountain bike and I rode out the mailbox, dachshunds in hot pursuit.


Unlike me, Cori doesn't snore when she lies on her back.

I have a group ride scheduled for 10:00 a.m. I get to rush home, clean some more, shower, don my race kit, and head off to the Red Jacket spaghetti dinner followed by the Bridgefest parade. The Red Jackets are following the Trekkers, the local cycling club with which most of the team is involved, in the parade.

I hope I get everything done!

Gone To The Dogs

Today was another cold and windy day in the Keweenaw. The weather has not been nice. Instead of doing anything with my bike, I spent most of the day playing a video game. Now, it's late evening and I'm settling into the chores I should've done earlier.

I took a little time to mess around with my cell phone and explore the possibility of posting some videos of different things to my blog. My camera takes much nicer videos, but I need to find some software I like that will allow me to do some video editing. Today's video is just a quick bit I played with.

I heard of Vimeo from Ali's site, Dirty Picasso Ride, so I decided to check them out when the username Moronacity was taken at YouTube. It was free at Vimeo, so I snatched it up. The following is a video of my dogs. Marji, the black one, is yipping. Cori, the little red one, is howling. Yes, I taught my dogs to howl. There is a story behind that. Marji was not in the right mindset to do it correctly. She actually gets camera shy. Go figure!


Marji and Cori Barking from Diane Ursu on Vimeo.

Busy, Busy, Busy!

There is usually something planned every day for the Keweenaw cyclist. Monday night Trekker's rides, Tuesday night friendly time trials, Wednesday night Cross Country Sports rides, Thursday night Copper Harbor rides . . . Friday, Saturday, and Sunday are usually up in the air, but people manage to busy themselves with long rides or trail work. Ugh!

I was starting to feel a bit overwhelmed. I knew there was something going on each night, but I couldn't place it. I decided to update the Red Jacket Calendar so I could see where all these events fell into place. I have to say no to some events for sanity's sake and to conserve gas.

Wednesday: Tech ride and pre-race tune-up at The Bike Shop
Thursday: I'll probably ride, but I should probably rest
Friday: Tech ride, team pre-race dinner, and parade
Saturday: Race and team post-race party, which I'm hosting
Sunday: Recover from hangover

Until Saturday, I'm also unpacking some boxes from last summer's move, cleaning off my screened-in porch, and cleaning the inside of my house which is getting cluttered from the unpacking. Friday, I also have to shop for food for our potluck dinners on Friday and Saturday.

Oh, yes, such is the busy life of a Keweenaw cyclist.

National Trails Day in Copper Harbor

Tammi and Dee raking on the Dancing Bear trail in Copper Harbor.

No blog entry yesterday . . . no, I was out making the story happen. It all started at 6 a.m. when I dragged my butt out of bed for National Trails Day. I gathered my gear, had a healthy breakfast, made a healthy lunch, filled the Camelbak, and hopped in the Pathfinder to head for the Ace Hardware in Calumet. I had to pick up a wheelbarrow that is completely unrelated to the rest of this story.

I arrived in Copper Harbor to see the usual faces and the faces I haven't seen since last summer. I exchanged hellos, bear stories, and hugs with my trail friends. I even met up with Dee, a friend of my friend, Erin. Dee and I hit it off right away and formed a new friendship on the greatest of all trail days.

Everyone donned bug nets and were assigned tasks. The temperature reached at least 70 degrees F and, combined with the bug suits and hard labor, caused some serious sweating. One person on another crew suffered heat exhaustion. I immediately started sweating buckets. It felt like I was in a shower.


Dee working on Dancing Bear.

My team consisted of Dee, fellow Red Jacket, Tammi, and myself. Sam drove us to the bottom of Dancing bear with rakes and loppers in hand. The three of us spent several hours raking a thick leaf layer off of the trail and we trimmed back the bushes and trees that were intruding on the trail space. By the time we reached the top of Dancing Bear, I was exhausted, super thirsty, and ready to just get the job done. We had only two rakes, so we traded jobs. I took a raking rest during the top stretch of Dancing Bear and grabbed a rake as we headed onto the Red Trail. I made the decision that we were going to spot rake the Red Trail. Most of the leaf litter was from pine trees and really didn't affect the visibility of the trail. We removed the deciduous leaf litter from the trail and Dee and I raked all of the loose gravel off of the elbow turn. It was my goal to give the more potentially dangerous sections of trail a good cleaning off, and we met that goal. The rest of the two-mile trail was a long, slow hike.


Tammi and Dee atop a giant boulder alongside the Red Trail. A little trail leaves the Red Trail to encircle the boulder. It's amazing what you see when you're not riding a bike.

I ate a sandwich before Dancing Bear, one on the top stretch of Dancing Bear, and a Luna bar towards the end of the Red Trail. I was quite disappointed to find that my Camelbak was sucked dry at that point. It was at this point that Dee and Tammi were getting their feet wet in Lake Manganese.


Dee and Tammi crossing the bridge at the end of the Red Trail. The winter weather had pushed the bridge to the right of the picture. It is normally a straight bridge. It's on the trail crew's todo list.

We hustled like turtles down the road to the Harbor and stopped by the Manganese Falls on the way down. Even though I was dead tired and craving Gatorade like a dog craves a big, fat, juicy steak, I insisted Dee see this great sight since she is only a visitor to the Keweenaw.

Manganese Falls.

Manganese Falls.

We met the rest of the trail crew back at the Keweenaw Adventure Company around 4:30 p.m. We were out there for six and a half hours. That sure explains how we felt. Dinner at the Mariner was to begin at 7 p.m. Some of the guys decided to go ride the trails and Dee and I decided to grab some beverages at the local store. I bought chocolate milk, which disappeared within five seconds of my opening the bottle, Gatorade, and some iced tea. Dee and I shared a bag of bugles on the front porch at the Adventure Company. The black flies were still coming after us, so we headed all the way across the street to Zik's bar for some cold brew.

After a pint, we headed back to the house and chatted with our Adventure Company friends until dinner time. Sam and I opened a couple of KBC Ambers and Rachel caught me up on her summer plans. When 7:00 rolled around, we meandered over to the Mariner for a filling spaghetti dinner. Afterwards, it was fun and partying at Zik's with a live band: the Blackflies. Yes, they got their name in Copper Harbor.

At closing time, we all headed back to the house to chat a bit. After some very strong encouragement to stay the night and hang out and ride the next day, Dee and I both parted ways and went home. We told everyone we'd come back for a weekend camping trip in two weeks. The only problem is that I have races for the next three weekends and Dee leaves in three weeks. We might have to make it a partial weekend camping trip. We'll see. It'll happen. There is nothing like hangin' in the Harbor.

Recovery Day

I went out last night to watch the final Stanley Cup game. It was great fun and turned into a really long night. I didn't get home until about 8:00 a.m. I was in no condition to ride my bike. I was in desperate need of sleep. I slept until about noon and woke up to a day of couch potato-ing and chillin' with my dogs. I might have gone for a slow bike ride, but the weather was iffy. Thunderstorms are predicted for most of the upcoming week.

Rails-to-Trails

I joined in on the local bike shop ride tonight. It was great fun and quite challenging. I chose to go with the moderately-fast group, which turned out to be the fast group. Yes, they had to wait for me every now and again. I pretty much rode by myself, but managed to make a strong showing on certain sections of trails, especially the ones that didn't go up.

I drove to the ride tonight. One reason for driving was that my bike was at the bike shop for its "30-day tune-up." It was a new bike last fall when I bought it and winter kind of took away the breaking-in opportunity, so my 30-day tune-up was done seven months later. Such is life in the UP.

I fully intend to work up to riding the snowmobile trails to the group rides and still having energy to ride and come back home. I tried riding to Michigan Tech already, and didn't have a whole heck of a lot of energy, but I still managed to get a decent mountain bike ride in. Swedetown is further away, and will require a little more work.

While we have snowmobile trails for commuting around here, other places have rails-to-trails. These are excellent prospects for getting around and even doing a beginner mountain bike ride. They are handy and safe and waiting to be used.

Visit the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy web site to learn more about the organization, find trails near you, and learn how you can simply help.

Plan a Cycling Vacation

Vacation time is fast-approaching and people are trying to figure out where they should go and what they should do. This really shouldn't be that difficult to figure out. If you live in Michigan, for example, it would be pretty easy to pop your bikes in or on the vehicle and travel to a cycling destination for fun in the sun on a bike. Michigan is full of wonderful places that are best seen on two ATP-driven wheels. The Keweenaw is one of them. ;-)

National Bike Month tip of the day: plan a vacation around cycling.