Sunday, January 1, 2012

2011 - A Looking Back

This past year has been absolutely awesome in terms of riding and life in general. It was not without it ups and downs, but then, this is what life and living is all about. I truly enjoyed riding this year and was able to experienced so much....Including snow biking, spring time gravel, single track, urban cruising, and of course my favorite...northern Minnesota forest roads. Oh, I also got in a few road rides. Of course, there was also the quality time with my wife enjoying the North Shore of Lake Superior together. I'm so looking forward to 2012. The photos I'm posting are not my best, but have significance for each month of this past year.

January:

Winter up north was never more beautiful and riding the Pugsley through the forests of northern Minnesota was never better.

February:

I also made the best of the local trails and spent a good deal of time riding the local trails at Elm Creek Park Reserve.

March:

Patti and I had a wonderful trip to Duluth where we enjoyed the lake and everything else Duluth has to offer.

Winter was winding down and it was a time to enjoy a final few rides in the snow before the warmer temps brought around gravel time.

April:

April brought showers and melt which provided me with some early season gravel riding in the Twin Cities area. While others were out enjoying the roads I was enjoying the mud. It was sloppy, but a good deal of fun.

April also brought a bit of a surprise in the form of a late season snow storm. I was able to enjoy the the forest roads north of home one last time in the snow. It was a very memorable moment.

May:

May brought a few more road rides, but mostly more gravel. It also brought...

"Life",

the beauty of farm country,

and my sister's wedding on Memorial Day weekend.

June:

June was an amazing time and it brought together "The Amigos" for, what should become an annual adventure. We spent a weekend in the Chequamegon National Forest of northern Wisconsin and rode the single track and forest roads the area is famous for.


Then is was off to northern Minnesota and home for many miles of gravel forest roads and the scenic beauty of the area.





Somewhere off the Snake Trail in northern Minnesota

July:

What an amazing month this was. We were able to spend some time at the cabin were we enjoyed swimming, long walks, kayaking, and a lot of relaxing and reading.


Then it was off to the North Shore of Lake Superior for some hiking and another taste of forest road dirt.



August:

In August I spent a long weekend fishing a small border country lake in the company of my brothers and a great man...

Our Dad

Of course, there was time spent on other adventures as well.

September:

The month of September was pretty much dominated by the Chequamegon Fat Tire Festival.

"Bob's Bad Day"...
was still better than my good day


The rest of the month was filled with single track and ...

"Time To Go Nocturnal"

October:

This was a time to squeeze in as much single track as possible before the snowflakes flew. (They never did)

We also managed another wonderful trip to Northeastern Minnesota and I was able to ride the gravel on the Pugsley.



November:

We started the month by still riding single track without snow on the ground.

First snowfall @ Elm Creek

The month ended with a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend with my family in northern Minnesota. Good food, family and friends, fresh snow, and some wonderful biking.

December:


December brought with it a very bleak landscape. The snow had melted and I could no longer ride because of a bad back. This turned out to be the longest of the month of the year for me. Seems fitting as it is also the time of the winter solstice.



Without a doubt, the most important thing was having one more year with my parents. They celebrated sixty-six years of marriage this year. They, truly are my heroes.

With time and patience my back has begun to heal and we finally received snow on the very last night of the year. Today I was able to get on the Pugsley in fresh snow and get about two hours of riding in. As of now, all is right in the world. I consider myself a very fortunate person and I'm looking forward to what the new year will bring. It's a time to make plans and set some goals.



1 comment:

LvilleTex said...

Excellent and beautiful.