Another Paul Bunyan Ride

Since the Fargo 1/2 Marathon, I had promised myself that I would run less and bike more.  I have held true to my word and been on the bike a lot in the last two weeks.  Matt is done with all of his school activities which allows him to be open as to what he can to physically.  Both Matt and Ben are now in the pool almost every day which keeps them fit.  In addition both boys are busy mowing lawns and keeping things rolling around the house.  Kriston is making sure that everything goes through command central and keeps all of us pointed in the right direction.  It is going to be a good summer.
Race #2 of the MNSCS series was down in Afton this weekend.  Check out the results and photos on Skinnyski by clicking here.
Matt and I have a big weekend of racing coming up and opted out of driving down to Afton.  Instead we  headed to the Paul Bunyan Forest on Saturday morning with Jon Darling, Tom Clow and Linda Cooper.  Linda missed the alarm clock but was a trooper none the less and drove to the trailhead on her own.  Just a matter of timing, but LC missed our group and rode on her own most of the day.  Overall, it was all good.
All of the Paul Bunyan photos were taken by Jon Darling, aka JD.  My camera was on my dresser.

Weather was just about perfect!  We skirted all of the rain that was going through Fargo and had a dry day with overcast skies that keeps at least the deer flies to a minimum.  In the photo above you can see how set up the single track is.  Two years ago Matt and I saw a bobcat in this same area.

With Matt being just a bit taller then me, we are able to switch bikes whenever without touching the seat posts.  If Matt is in the lead, he gradually pulls away from me every time.  You can tell by the photo that he was waiting for the group to catch up.

As mentioned, I have been riding a lot in the last couple of weeks.  Riding my MTB in the Paul Bunyan Forest is alway a highlight.  You could ride there daily for a week and not touch the same trail twice.

Tom Clow drawing blood on his knee.  In addition, TC was able to acquire a nice chain ring scratch on the back of his calf which a guy would almost pay money for......
On a side note, we were 20 minutes into the start of our ride and TC noticed that his high end Canon point and shoot camera was not in his jersey pocket.  If there is someone reading this that is riding a section of single track on the east side of Hwy 64, keep your eyes open.

Having a cool one post ride.
We logged almost 3.5 hours in the saddle and rode hard the whole time.  We were 4 evenly matched riders that new where we were going which makes a big difference when it comes to eating up the trail miles.  One lost camera, some blood, some tweeked bike parts and sore legs, almost sounds like an epic ride....
Next week, 10 hour Race to Sunset out in Bismarck.  Full report when we get back.

Neighborhood kids ripping it up around the block sporting the cowboy boots and helmets.  Nothing better!  Hopefully they wear a single track line on the corner of my lawn!