The race was a two hour race.  To win, the single rider or team had to complete the most laps within the time frame. I had the first lap for our team of three. We did a running start, which was good, but the biking was a bit rough. I may have fallen over every few feet at the beginning. As I got going on the course, I was glad to see that many riders had tipped over before me. By my second lap though, the course had gotten really nice and I nearly felt (relatively) speedy. Between laps we cheered on other riders and enjoyed a Sand Creek beer.

In a surprise twist ending, our relay team finished first in our division! But, we were also the only relay team of women riding in the division Hopefully as the popularity of fat biking grows, more ladies will turn out next year for the Sweaty Yeti!

I fell right away, but only in some pine needles. After I got used to tunnel vision, it was pretty awesome. I haven’t had that great of a bike ride in awhile!

My husband took this video with his GoPro. The microphone quit working, so forgive the lack of sound.

This summer and fall have been beyond busy for me, so after the Hub City Duathlon in July, I didn’t ride my bike once. Which is sad. My husband had been hinting that he got me something I could use during the winter. But all I could think of was a stand-up paddle board (which you definitely can’t use during the winter) or downhill skis, which I really didn’t want. So I was pretty clueless.

We took off for the cabin to spend my birthday afternoon canoeing and when I walked in… there it was! A bright yellow Surly Pugsley with a big red bow on it! Awesome! I rode a Moonlander last winter when we were at the Sweaty Yeti and I couldn’t stop grinning. Riding on those thick tires through the snow was like riding on bubbles. And how can bubbles not make you smile???

We tried them out right away on the sandy ATV trails near Rock Dam and I have never been able to ride through sand like that. We have been riding around town a bit, but it isn’t the same on the asphalt. This year I am actually looking forward to the snow and to take advantage of a slower-paced winter with some snow biking!

That was the plan last week, but unfortunately my husband had bronchitis. We were packed and ready to go for four days and every morning would get up at 5:30 ready to go…. and then go back to bed. But we did manage to make it out to the woods for one night at the Turtle Flambeau Flowage. We figured since we were already packed, a 3 hour drive was much less commitment than a 6 hour drive. If sleeping with the woods was miserable with a bad cough (which it was) were would just head home.  We really wanted to camp and canoe, so the flowage was the once place we have heard of to do that in Wisconsin.

We put in at Murray’s landing and canoeing through the wind to a campsite on an island. Our original plan was to stay at Blair Lake, but since it was Halloween, we thought we should stay away from it. After a meal of tuna fish and noodles, a bottle of wine and a roaring campfire, we retired to our tent with a nearly full moon and yipping coyotes. I was actually excited to sleep outside. I got a Marmot zero degree sleeping bag last year for Christmas and a down sleeping pad for my birthday, so I was ready for the cold.

After a breakfast of eggs, bacon, potatoes, and a lot of coffee, we lolly-gagged around the breakfast fire as we watched the snow fall. After packing up we made the one portage in the area and were going to try for another night. But we were so close to our car, and the snow, which had earlier been romantic, was now just cold and make my legs hurt, so we took out and off for our own beds.

I was glad that we got one more canoe trip in this year. It has been our longest canoe season ever; we tried out the canoe for the first time in early March. Even though we were only out one night, it was still so great to have complete quiet and no computer and be surrounded by the woods and water. I am looking forward to a winter of fun and more time for fun, even if it isn’t canoeing.

All I wanted was a moment to sit on the dock and watch the water and break from my routine. I wanted to smell the lake and watch the sailboats. And that is what did… plus eat a pizza and drink a beer

Nearly every free weekend we took the canoe somewhere to some little lake. It may have been the summer of canoeing by convenience since it was easy to not load anything up since the canoe was already loaded from the weekend before…..Canoeing by default!

The past two weekends we were able to explore the whole stream at the Mondeux Flowage. Every time we have been there, we like to paddle up the canoe trail at the south end of the flowage. This time, we actually made it until we couldn’t turn around. A very well-made  beaver dam blocked us from continuing any further upstream. On our way back down the stream we saw an older couple collecting wild rice! I have never seen that before, so I was really excited! We tried to collect a bit of our own, but got about 10 grains and gave up.

The following weekend we had to run an errand near Wautoma, so afterward we explored the Waupaca Chain of Lakes. I have never been there and really didn’t know much about it. We put in at Knight Lake and paddled to Pope Lake and then back through to Long Lake. Long Lake was typical vacation lake complete with an ice cream pontoon that blared music, but Pope Lake was one of the most gorgeous lakes I have been on in Wisconsin. It was so crystal-clear and the banks were mostly un-touched. It reminded me of the Boundary Waters. It seriously was a perfect paddle.

**Also, we found a men’s titanium wedding ring in a shallow section near Lake Orlando, so let me know if you lost one.

My husband and I met my friends from Des Moines at the show for a night of camping, beer and music. All very good things. Most outdoor fest-type concerts one can assume that everything will be pretty expensive, and it was. We camped in the VIP camp site so we were extra close to the stage, which was convenient.

I did have one serious problem with the concert: The beer line was over an hour long. Yes, a very serious problem. I missed the whole set of Band of Horses due to waiting in line for beer. Apparently, they though that they wouldn’t have that many people show up for the concert (did they not sell the tickets???) and only had one tent for beer. It was pretty annoying and not how I wanted to spend my evening. It just seemed very poorly planned, I mean, isn’t having concerts and selling beer what they do? It shouldn’t have been such an issue.

Anyway, after we all finally got our beer and got over being annoyed, we listened to My Morning Jacket and danced it out. So it worked out.

The Hub City Days Duathlon is this Saturday, July 28 in Marshfield. I did it last year and it was pretty fun and a good challenge. The duathlon is a 2 mile run, 15 mile bike and two mile run. This year the route is a bit different and I was happy to find out that the bike is 15 miles, because for some reason I thought it was 17.

I have been training a bit for the race, but it is pretty hot and easy to get demotivated when you step outside. But I have been trying to bike three and run two times a week. I don’t have any big goals this year, just to finish it and have a good time. Last year I won a pair of SmartWool socks, so it would be nice to do that again.

You can register up to the morning of the race, so there is still time to sign up.  And if you aren’t feeling like you want to do it all yourself, you could always get a team together.  Just think how good those beer samples will taste after the race at the Hub City Days Brew Fest. Yes, I am trying to convince you! Or maybe convince myself….

Since pretty much the only thing I enjoy doing when it is this hot is being near water, that is where I have been. Except yesterday when we biked at Nine Mile. We waited until the evening, around 7, but it was still hot and humid. My legs felt great, but my brain felt… not as great. There is something about biking with a helmet that just makes my face turn into the color of a tomato.

Before the biking, we paddled up the Eau Claire River in Wausau. It was a nice little paddle up river until trees blocked our way, where ee stopped on a sand bar to cool off and watch the fish nibble our toes. The lake part was a bit gross with algae, but once the water started moving, it was a lot clearer.

On Sunday we headed to Rock Dam Lake in Clark County. I laid out, read magazines and swam, which is an ideal way to spend a hot day. After the flies started biting enough so that I couldn’t stand it, we headed to the canoe for some fishing. Seriously, even the fish were lazy. They would bite and then never fight once they were hooked. They just allowed themselves to be dragged through the water with not even a flip of their fins.

Hopefully the heat subsides in the next week. I am ready to go camping!

This past Sunday was one of those perfect hot, lazy, summer Sundays that I love. I headed with Dan to Eau Claire to paddle down the Chippewa. We put in at Phoenix Park in Eau Clare and took out at the Highway 85 rest area. It was only an hour and half paddle, which was nice, since we got a late start. Normally when we paddle this stretch we run a bike shuttle and ride our bikes back to town on the Chippewa River State Trail. This is a great little stretch of river, but if you are looking for a quieter paddle, I would recommend putting in or taking out at Caryville or in Durand.

After our paddle we hung out in Phoenix Park a bit. And we had a picnic! I think I might love picnics! We had a sandwich, potato salad and strawberries that we got at Charly’s Market. Eating outside is pretty much the best.

After that we headed to Lowes Creek for some mountain biking. The trails were in great shape after the WORS race that day. It is a fun place to bike, twisty, a a few sharp hills and not a lot of roots. Perfect for chill (or extremely sweaty) ride.

I know this is kind of a blow-by-blow blog entry, but I just wanted to share the little things on this particular Sunday that made it into a great day. When life gets a little too busy, it is kind of nice to just do little outings, or fit a lot into a little bit of time, just to take a breather. I have learned as I have gotten busier that not every adventure is going to be epic, and they don’t have to be epic to be awesome. Sometimes a little canoeing, a little biking, and a little beer all add up to summer perfection!