Crystal Mountain, Michigan

We are on our second annual trip to Crystal Mountain in Northwest Michigan for the Peak to Peak Mountain Bike race. It was a very nice ride up and the colors were incredible when we got around Cadillac and farther north. We checked in and got our stuff unloaded and then hit the trail for a short trail ride and preride of the course. Brendan and I were on the tandem. It was our first off road ride on the tandema and it was great. Michelle and JJ rode the trail also. This is a great trail system up here. Not to technical and very flowing. We got to a road crossing near the end and I gave Michelle and JJ the option to take the pavement back which they did. Brendan and I took what was the tougher route but more difficult. So we climbed the back of the mountain and had a blast flying back down. Brendan and I picked up the race packet and still got back to the van before JJ and Michell. We packed the bikes up and headed into the room. We ordered pizza, bread sticks and salad from Apapanos and brought it back to the room. We ate there last year and it was just as good as I remember.

I registered for Beginner Men and got the ok from the race promoter to ride tandem in this race with Brendan and not be scored. This is our training for the Slush Cup at Iceman in three weeks. However, the weather does not look good for tomorrow. They are saying 100% chance of rain and it may be heavy at times. So if it is raining my alternate plan is to run in the beginner class on my single speed. Either way I am looking forward to it.

The best part here is that everything is on site Walk out the door and get on the bike. They will have food, beer and even a kids race here tomorrow. Check tomorrow morning for a prerace update.

Comments

Introducing!

As I said in my previous post I had purchased a few things and would be introducing and reviewing them here. Up next are: Surly Rim Strips: These rime strips are designed for 80mm rims. They also make them for 65mm and 100mm rims. They come in several colors. These are red and will go on the wheels that I have on the Vortex. They are light weight, easy to work with and very durable. I have these in various colors on most of my fat bike wheels. Topeak Joe Blow Fat Tire Pump: Following is from the Topeak Website: JoeBlow™ Fat The first floor pump exclusively designed for low pressure fat tire bikes. Massive oversized barrel is 1.5 times larger than standard floor pumps and delivers big air volume to fill fat tire bikes quickly. Low pressure gauge with pressure release button on hose head allows to adjust tire pressure accurately. Head TwinHead™ w/ air release button Barrel Painted steel Gauge Base mount analog Hose X-...

Summer Vacation Day 4: The ER

Day four started out with beautiful weather. We had breakfast and Michelle took Brendan fishing. I decided I would take a ride on the bike and do a little recon for a family bike ride. I set off east to ride toward Rapid River. I rode around the the edge of the bay and took a few pictures. Dunes on the edge of Gladstone. This was around 4-5 miles out of town in a small subdivision. The photo above is of a small river I crossed, unfortunately I cannot remember the name. I thought I found a bike trail that would be nice for all of us. Unfortunately it was swampy and not kept up. I headed back to Gladstone and met Michelle and Brendan out on the fishing dock. I sat with them for a while and Brendan caught this. This is a Gobi. An invasive species of the Great Lakes. After a few minutes I started back to the house. On the way I started to have some chest pain. After showering it had not let up. ...

Vacation 2016, Day 5

Got a little behind here with downloading photos and our last travel day. So going to catch up over the next couple days. When I wrap up with the final day I will also give out some of my opinion on the venues we were at. Day 5 (Thursday) was definitely the best day of our vacation. Michelle, Brenda and I were the first ones up and we went down to iHop, which was in the lobby of the hotel. We quickly discovered how expensive it is to eat in Canada. Breakfast was very good, however seemed to be twice as much as we would spend at home. We took our leftovers back to the rooms and Jay Jay and Kayla ate, then we headed out. Walking from the hotel the falls were only 10-15 minutes away. The city of Niagara Falls, Canada is very nice, the sun was out and the temperature was perfect. Great weather for a walk around town. This was my first time to the falls and they are just incredible! I took many photos and am going to post s...

The Bauer Family

Search This Blog