I’ve been hanging out up in Cable WI since racing in Des Moines. I’m heading up to Marquette Michigan to start my MTB season. I’ve going to race Ore 2 Shore on Saturday. It is a mass start, 48 mile point to point race from Negaumee (where the first iron ore was discovered in 1844) to Marquette, which is on the shore of Lake Superior.

I’ve been riding my MTB on single track some. I can’t believe how sore my arms, back and butt are, once again. It seems like I’d be way past that point by now. Guess not. I have no idea what to expect for this race. I haven’t done a real MTB race in quite a while. I’m not going that great, but I wouldn’t throw my chip back as of now. I am pretty close to being able to go fast, but it doesn’t seem to be accessible at this moment. Hopefully it will be by Saturday.

I raced Ore to Shore a long time ago. I’m not even sure of the year, but it was probably close to a decade ago. I was 2nd to Jeff Hall. I sprinted with Brent Brookwalter, now BMC honcho. The race has a bunch of sand, which makes it tough. It is raining right now here in Cable, so hopefully it is dumping in the Upper Peninsula, making the sand more ride-able.

I did the local club ride from New Moon yesterday. When I got there, it seemed like it would going to be fairly tame, judging by the riders. About 20 or so started out pretty quickly. And we didn’t slow down much. I was kind of looking for an easier ride, to rest my achy bones, but I got into it. The roads are so smooth here and the climbs are gentle, so it is easy to go fast. Just a small group of us got back to Hayward together and we had nearly a 22 mph average for around 40 miles. Pretty surprising.

I have to mess with my MTB bike some today. I got some Challenge MTB tubular tires, but don’t have enough glue to attach them. I need to get more. I doubt I’ll race them this weekend, but I’m interested in seeing how durable they are. It’s a good day to work on bikes, since it looks to be raining all day.

The single track is pretty great here.

A Challenge 29’r MTB tubular tire.

Pretty good tread pattern.

This little guy has been swimming around in Dennis’ hot tub the last couple days. He is very cute.

I have no idea how he handles the 100+ degree water and chemicals.

He has very sticky little fingers.