Sometimes after Chequamegon is actually more action packed than before. I’ve been coming up here for quite a while now, so I know a lot more folks. And everyone here has a ton of stuff going on constantly. Usually there are a few construction projects happening, plus the getting ready for winter stuff that happens way earlier up here than farther south. We traditionally cut a split a bunch of firewood for Dennis the afternoon after the Fat Tire. But, with the awards ceremony moved up to late afternoon, it has really gotten in the way of our firewood production. We still got a ton stacked, but not enough for my liking.

I picked Trudi up at the Duluth airport yesterday. We swung by Adam Swank’s coffeeshop, Amity Coffee, but it was closed at 5. We then drove over to Canal Park, got some coffee at Caribou, walked along Lake Superior abit, had dinner and then drove back to Cable. Trudi is done working for BMC for the year. But next season is starting early with the Tour Down Under, in Australia, early January. She is probably going to sleep 12 hours the next few nights if history is any indication.

We’ve been riding singletrack the last couple days. I’m sort of beat right now and might take a day off. I have 37 hours for this month so far, with a couple days off from driving. And a lot of that is riding bumpy stuff, which my body is not liking so much right now. But, the singletrack around here is pretty incredible, so it is impossible to resist. Yesterday, before I left for Duluth, we got lost on the Ojibwe trail by Telemark. They somehow rerouted the trail and we ended up riding around in circles. I had to get driving, so we backtracked and found our way out by the North End Trail Cabin. I’ve rarely been lost in my life, but the majority of times has been somewhere up here. It is a maze of woods and very hard to keep oriented if it’s cloudy or dark.

Bill, Pat and I went with George on Sunday and took a wood-fired sauna. It was super hot, I think around 230. But, that wasn’t the “good” part. Jumping in a small river, near the sauna, between sessions was the kicker. We did 3 plunges and after the 2nd I was dizzy. I’m not really sure the water temperature, but it was really cold. Not can’t move after 30 seconds cold, but nearly. It was very interesting and super fun.

I’ve been lake swimming as much as I can, for my shoulder, but it is getting super cold too. I hate to pool swim, but swimming cold isn’t much fun either.

Today I’m going to help George take a dock out of a lake. I guess the thing weighs 600 pounds, so it is going to take 4 of us to lift it out. I’m not sure how much help I’ll be with that, but we’ll see. Okay, below are some photos from the last couple days.

Splitting wood is a communal project after the Fat Tire.

We even use child labor, though this child is stronger than most of us. He’s George’s son and takes after his father.

We have put away a good amount.

Riding singletrack with Kent and Katie on the tandem on Sunday. They are amazing on singletrack.

There were lots of people out riding on Sunday.

George, Pat and Bill in the river. The water was super clear, but stained from the tannins from the leaves and such.

Dennis had to make a couple pieces of furniture for the crowd that showed up. He likes to take scrap wood and make end tables and things.

Bromont was getting some attention on Canal Park in Duluth.

We ate at the micro brewery right there.

I’ve been doing lots of stuff the past couple days. Mainly switching it up a little, riding some, looking at property for sale, chopping a bunch of wood and paddling some. I’m trying to do some things that are constructive to my shoulder and hip rehabilitating, strengthening them some, because they are both pitifully weak. I sneaked in the Chequamegon race, just because I needed a goal, but in reality, I’m not anywhere close to back to normal function-wise.

If you’ve never been up to Northern Wisconsin, specifically, the Hayward/Cable area, you should put it on your list. You need to bring all the toys you have, MTB and road bikes, boats, blades, anything you can think of, because the area is conducive to all of it. Lots of empty, beautiful roads, plus miles and miles of awesome singletrack. Then you have the water. Rivers, lakes, flowage, more water than you could explore in years.

The land up here is crazy cheap, by US standards. It is normally less than $2000 an acre for a 40, more for smaller, more developed. That is for fully wooded lots in a beautiful setting. And that is the normal asking prices. If you look around, there are lots of special deals around that would blow you away. It is super fun looking around, playing with options.

I’ve been cutting and chopping wood a couple hours a day. There is something therapeutic about it, plus, Dennis goes through a fair amount of wood throughout the winter. I like the whole process from cutting, to splitting to stacking. It is sort of like shovelling snow. You can see your progress and it is fulfilling. I woke up early this morning with an achy shoulder, but that is nothing unusual. I think I’m going to be waking up achy for the rest of my life, if nothing chances soon.

We went out on Cable Lake for a few hours yesterday. I haven’t been in a canoe for a couple years, so it was refreshing. It was a nice day when we started, but towards the end, the temperature dropped a lot and we all got pretty cold. We saw a few bald eagles, one with a fish in his talons, which was cool. It is super relaxing, going through the water on your own power. Pretty comparable to riding a bike, just a lot slower. Pretty good shoulder workout also.

Changing the subject, today is Jen Voight’s hour record attempt. He’s gonna be trying to break the record of 49km and change, under the current UCI rules. You can click here for Cyclingfans.com for the Eurosport links or go to the Trek website for live video too. I think the coverage starts at 11:30am, CST here in the United States. Not a bad way to spend your lunch break.

Dennis has this nice wood canoe which is a joy to paddle.

Bill and Dennis were using kayaks.

Dennis skims through the lily pads.

We ran into Jeff Bradley, former Olympian and Tour de France rider. He caught some nice Northern Pike.

We stopped at Dennis’ friend’s place on Cable Lake. He has this incredible barn on his property.

They don’t make ’em much like this anymore.

Guess this bike has been laying around here for awhile.

Bill and I admiring the lake from the dock.

Jen’s and his hour record machine.