Image dump. Thanks to those I took them from.

 New carbon belt drive.

The left wheel is like the Larry tire on my Pugsley.  The Right is the new Big Fat Larry.  

Fatback Ti frame, New 45degree North brand/fat tires from QBP and new Eric from the old Epic designs now Revelate designed Salsa frame bag.  

I don't know why I think this is so funny.  

I now have a dog that will need hair cuts. 

 Interesting font

My next phone

The Nexus Galaxy by Google/Samsung  will be my next phone.  The new ice cream sandwich software seems great.  

Fat weekend

 Murphy and Wirth in the same weekend.   Super fat fun.  Of course my fat bike is a skinny 4x29 not an 8x36.  I am kind of a weight weenie that way.

 This one is apparently now owned by a dog.

Pic dump

 Crime stands no chance.

 We celebrated some birthdays a few days ago.

 The farm behind our house.  See the combine just below the farm.

 Our dog Mazy.

As requested on the bike tour

"I can ride a bike! "

Surly's new Black Floyd Tire

Click pic big to see some details.

Hotel coffee is not so bad.

Duluth Radisson and dinner at the Anchor Bar.  

Been playing with the GoPro and ordered three new attaching devices for it.  Bike, Helmet, and bare  head.  When not playing with the GoPro I have been playing the original Portal game on my computer and been loving it.  It is free until the 20th when you get it from the Valve/Steam sites.  Go here and download the game.   Q it reminds me of watching you play the first tomb raiders after work.  I mean without the little dragon charm things to collect that you could never find because of the poor graphics.  

My new dream bike

The Moonlander.  Fatter than fat.  Just like me.  Lots of other cool new bike stuff on the seamingly new and improved Surly site.  

New wheels and bearings

UCI MTB World Championships DHI 2011 Champery Switzerland Danny Hart RUN

The best down hill run I have ever seen. Make sure you listen for the very last thing the announcer says at the end of the video.

Learning to skateboard in fresh powder.

`

I painted a banana

wow

New Drivetrain

The problem: I need lower gears.  By lower gears I mean about a 1to1 ratio.  Gears to pull a bob up a long steep gravel back road.  

Solution: Hollywood cycles.  Jay talked me off the ledge of a very expensive Sram X9 Crank and hooked me up with a great Sram X7 (s1400) 2x10 mountain bike crank/BB and X7 front derailleur for about the same price as the internet plus he fixed a loose rear hub and put on a new dura ace chain and ultegra cassette.  As usual it is all working perfectly and all labor done for $20.   Such cheap labor and not a hint of problem with me bringing in the other parts for him to put on.  I now have a 42/28 in front and an 12?/27 in the back.  

Tonight's roast

Minnesota River

 

Rode part of the MN river today.   I love it that all the trail work done down there has been washed away.  The trail is now so new and fresh I did not even recognize or know where I was at times.   I am a big fan of allowing MTB trails to evolve naturally around obstacles, through wet and over fallen trees as they happen each year.  This trail has had a massive trail extinction and has wonderful potential to be what it was before it turned into the nearly straight freeway it had become in recent years.  I like a trail that forces me to get off my bike to clear a few obstacles, to duck under some, to go through some water, sand or mud  and is unpredictable enough to make me crash at least once a trip.   I got it all today.  The Pugsley was a dream bike for the unpredictable and at times sandy trail but as of today it was dry enough for any mountain bike.   The cotton wood trees looked bigger than ever and the vegetation has exploded to heights and thickness levels I have never seen.  The flood has strewn giant trees all over the place giving the trail a kind of post apocalyptic/ primaeval forest feel.  Lots of animals as a result of little human contact down there this year.  The only problem I really had today was the stinging nettle/burning weed plants that stuck into most of the trail.  The burning was all the way up my arms and down all over the front of my legs and got so bad at one point I felt kind of panicky.   My pics are kind of sucky because of the need to keep moving from bugs and the burning weed. 

A hike and bike

 

Got a chance to explore a long ago abandoned farm on Bluff creek last week.    Lots of old buildings to explore after brush busting to get to the site.  The lack of easy access has kept the old buildings free of visitors to crumble over time in peace.  The beverage top is from about 100 yards down the creek.  Looked like it was dropped yesterday.