What I have been reading lately—[in order of importance]

Where men seek glory: The Pat Tilman Story by Jon Krakauer. This is a great read and should not be missed. Amazing, and sad, amazingly sad…Just simply an amazing story detailing the life and times of a full on stud that gets mistakenly killed by his comrades in Afghanistan and then McChristal and the other powers-that-be (including all the way up to the White House and for sure Rumsfeld) initiate a ill-conceive and immoral cover-up. Five stars out of five possible.

In the Graveyards of Empires by Seth Jones. A comprehensive recent history of Afghanistan. Obama has read it and thatz why he is taking so long to commit to troop escalations. If history is a guide, we are in for a huge mess in Afghanistan, but thatz no be surprise to anyone who can think independently. Fours stars because he is somewhat repetitive and the book reads like a text book, albeit a very well written text book.

Novels and Social Writings by Jack London. Excellent works by an American master. My favorite is an essay titled, “Why I became a socialist.” Four stars cuz ya gotta work some to understand his prose.

Spring on an Arctic Island by Katharine Scherman. A great narrative pertaining to a 1953 trip that a group of six scientists took to Bylot Island which is way up north of Baffin Island. It is just a very excellent travel story. Itz great, I loved it. Top notch and five stars.

The Condor Years: How Pinochet and His Allies Brought Terrorism to Three Contingents by John Dinges. Somewhat hard to understand and very tightly packed with tons of information. I had to work hard to get through this investigative work. Once again the CIA plays a pivotal role in screwing up the rest of the world. Three stars…

Out Stealing Horses by Per Petterson. Won a bunch of awards…But really nothing much happens…I got through it, but it ended and I was like, “What?” Don’t bother…

The Winter Formal is full...

The BIG ARROWHEAD 135 DANCE up in I-Falls on February 1th & 2th (and maybe 3th...if you are into "slow dancing") has met itz limit of 75...This is an amazing milestone in that to my knowledge it has never filled so quickly!!! The field holds many names that are linked to great cycling achievements including several Alaskans that have completed (and won) the mega-classic race from Knik to Nome (1100 miles or so). As I read through the roster my lofty loins soared with excitement and anticipation, many of my old buddies are signed up including da boyz from Nordakota, Lance Andre, Chuck Linder, Da Navy Guy, etc. etc... And even the Dark Forces of Winter promise to comeback and haunt the trail (the cold-hearted Pramann and the unmercifully frigid Brannick)...

Rest assured, Dear Readers, that Good shall conquer Evil, on the frozen wastelands of Northern Minnesota! Yet these Black Adders, these rivals of the White Knights (headed by young Jedi-Warriors, including the youthful, but tested Chris Plesko, of whom's purity of adventurous spirit surely will give the evil-doers pause), will not surcease their reigns of terror without a battle of epic, no mythological proportions. Itz gonna be SO GREAT!!!! Thanks Pierre and Cheryl :)

More on others in the field later today...

Such a proud moment in an otherwise mundane life defined by endless hours on a bicycle...

Minnesota owns ATV record — for the moment...
(Source: Duluth News Tribune (with italics that of the author)...Note: loyal readers will recall that the author found himself in the middle of this amazingly impressive record attempt while trying to ride the 155 mile Northshore Trail route last June on his Pugsley )

There's a game of ATV one-upmanship going on as the Silver Bay, MN parade apparently has only a tenuous hold on its recently attained world record.

It seems the All-Terrain Vehicle Association of Minnesota has found itself in an ATV parade war since breaking the world record for the event in Silver Bay in June.

The association announced Monday it received word from officials at Guinness World Record that the June 13 event featuring 1,632 ATVs was, indeed, the “World’s Longest ATV Parade.”

“We’re excited,” association representative Jon Bohn said. “We’ll hold it as long as it takes for Utah to be recognized.”

That’s Richfield, Utah, home of a parade that featured 2,014 ATVs in September. And Bohn says there are plans in Kansas and Kentucky to better that mark.

The Minnesota group will wait awhile before making another attempt, probably in 2011 or 2012, Bohn said. It’s more than a stunt. The parade in Silver Bay was a way to draw its membership together, Bohn said, and involve state agencies and the region in efforts to educate people* on ATV use, safety, (and intimidate guyz like CP Farrow and his band of rogue cyclists). *educate people??? "I need me some mor edukatin' on that thar ATV..."

“A lot of people got a look at how the trails work along the Shore, (and many of the folks got to mock the crazy biker that was trying to get through on his way to Grand Marais)” Bohn said.

The Guinness recognition means the Harlan County Ridge Runners group in Everts, Ky., is no longer the official record-holder with 1,138 ATVs in a parade. “We have a meeting this Thursday night. I’m sure it will be brought up and plans will start being made to go after it again,” said Bill Troutman, president of the Kentucky group.

The Minnesota association tried to break the Harlan County record in 2008 but fell short. If the Guinness verification system is consistent, Minnesota will have the record for at least five months.

“We are thrilled to have the record certified and that so many ATV enthusiasts and their families could join us to break the record,” parade organizer Les Schermerhorn said. “Thank you to everyone that joined us and to everyone in the city of Silver Bay for their wonderful hospitality.”

News of the record circulated around the world, Bohn said. He has news clippings from Australia, Great Britain, and Russia. He welcomes the new record-seekers, saying the association has played a key role in promoting ATV use. “We’re part of the trend to catch new riders. It’s nationwide.”

Itz Pretty Cool to think that in my small little way, I played a part in this amazing record attempt...Itz this kind of committment to excellence, this "can-do" approach, this America #1 attitude, that continues to impress the rest of the world...YES YES YES....Minnesota can and will break this ATV RECORD again and I hope to once again play a role in making it happen....Minnesota deserves this record, we need to keep this record here in the Northland...write your congressman and/or your congresswoman...tell him or her that we will NOT stand for Russia to have this record, or even Utah...

The Real Season Begins...

November 2, 2009 to April 12, 2010 (or two weeks before the Mega-Classic Trans-Iowa): The training season- Where one is reduced, rebuilt, and ultimately transformed into a full on Enduro-Samurai... While this vital season is based upon a series of highly secretive DBD training sessions, there are an unprecedented three local racing opportunities for us here in the Northland.

Highlights of the season involve the seventy-five mile Tuscobia point-to-point on December 19th; the eighty-eight mile Northshore Ultra in January, and then of course the full on classic, The Arrowhead 135 on the first Monday of February.

I am so pumped...yesterday as a warm-up, we went 4+ hours and upon finishing it up my toes were numb from the wet cold...I wept tears of anticipatory joy...

Bluff-Land Epic; Part II of the race recap...

Part II: A redemption of sorts….

As we left our intrepid group, Eki was “circling the drain”, Farrow leaving the pit alone, had embarked upon a forlorn hope that the man-child would falter and that Schotz would experience a catastrophic collapse, and yet all the while Kershaw seemed to be taking it all in stride.

This was Kershaw’s first twelve hour mountain bike race, which would be a daunting proposition for most, but for him it was just another weekend endeavor. Kershaw first appeared on the DBD radar when rumors of his epic Arrowhead 135 ski first surfaced early last February. To ski the full Arrowhead135 is a rarely accomplished feat and takes a tremendous amount of fortitude (note: only four or perhaps five have ever been able to ski it). Regarding his impressions of his first WEMS, from his diary, he submits simply and without fanfare: “I thought to myself that this is going to be the most brutal day of riding I have ever had (think rugby on a bike). Ironically, as the laps started adding up, I found that I got stronger and more skillful at negotiating the course. I thought for sure my first lap would the strongest, but really the laps toward the end were cleaner and more satisfying.”

When queried about whether he had seen Eki during those fateful hours comprising the mid-race parameter, Kershaw volunteered, “I did see Eki near the half way point of the race at the pit-stop, and he seemed steady, yet I initially found it strange that he would linger during the heat of the race. Furthermore, I was taken aback when he asked me to roll him a ‘Kotak Adjaib.’ He was at the pit when I arrived and thus he greeted me with a, ‘Bravo Kershaw, well done!!!’ Before I could respond in kind, he quickly added a most disturbing request….’Say Kershaw, I am having a bit of a time of it, and I am afraid that I am played out. Me hands are all but useless. Hence, would you be a good chap and roll me a tight Kretek with the blend that we use for these sorts of occasions?’”

Having studied DBD protocols, Kershaw knew that Eki was asking him to assist in rolling the proverbial “last smoke”; essentially a rite of passage as old as the founding of the Freemasons. Nevertheless, Kershaw did as he was told and then following further instructions (as any good under-study should), placed the hand-rolled cigarette between the clinched teeth of the stalwart, yet pale Eki. Eki then signaled, using secret hand gestures as ancient as Stonehenge, that he required some distance. Kershaw, being a quick-witted lad, knew the score and thus swiftly mounted his Clockwork steed (a creation of local fire and steel) and made haste unto the course for yet another lap on the torturous course.

As Kershaw worked his fully rigid 29er machine across the myriad of logs and stones and hills and gulches, where upon a particular traversing criss-cross he spied Farrow. Their eyes momentarily met and Farrow called out, “Well done young Kershaw, perchance what news, if any, on old Eki?”

“I am afraid Sir Eki has inhaled his last smoke!” was all there was time for Kershaw to utter…lest we forget that there was a race going on! Upon hearing the news, a strange incomprehensible saline solution momentarily filled old Farrow’s crusty eyes, but he wiped it away and bucked up. Again, there was a race to be fought.

It went on like that for the rest of the lap, with each rider alone with his thoughts of imperfection, absurdity, and the finiteness of our time here on this planet. It helped ones demeanor to curse with dramatic discourse the logs, the unrelenting logs, the God forsaken logs. As he neared the pit stop, again Farrow felt unfathomable pangs deep within is manly loin area, for he knew that old Eki would be well on his way to “a better place, where men don’t have to shoot their dogs and eat their livers.” Yet, upon arrival to the pits there was no corpse of Eki? How strange?

Farrow asked the mother of the man-child (whose pit was close by), “For where art thy Eki?” The matronly woman, reluctant to give forth any semblance of information that might benefit the aged rivals of her off-spring feigned muteness. But Farrow was in a surly mood and was thus not willing to use his legendary charm to coax a reply from the loyal mother. Instead, he charged forth from his steed and once again within a close proximity declared with feeling, “Do you know where Eki is?”

The woman relinquished in hushed tones, “He took a few drags off of a foul cigarette, paused, looked upward to the sky, snuffed it out, put a leather case that looked to house a WWI era British Issue revolver back into his rucksack, mounted his steed and rode off. But, it matters not, I tell you, for neither of you shall catch my son!!”

Eki had experienced a renaissance, a revival, a reawakening, and was back in the fray…Farrow’s heart soared, even his chapped loins rejoiced…. Eki was back in the game...

“Hold your tongue, woman!” But alas, Farrow did not hear her foreboding words and only knew a great sense of relief. Released from negative thoughts of body disposal and the like, Farrow’s bike seemed lighter, the hills softer, the logs less loggier…

AS fate would have it, Farrow and Eki were not able to reel in the impressive youth and Schotz was not about to be stopped. But Kershaw proved himself an able endurance rider winning the single speed class. All survived to fight another day. Bully!
[Postscript: The talented young rider that took second place in this event is named: Jake Begley...Unbeknownst to the writer upon the initial publication of this recount due to a delay in access to the official results. Bravo Young Jake, your future looks bright indeed!!!]

Submitted by W. Churchill, Club Historian

Get those entry fees in...Pronto...

Hey Sports Fans: Don't pass up the Tuscobia (12/19) and the Northshore Ultra (in mid January)...these are local events put on by guyz that love racing and want to afford more "USCycling nonsanctioned" affordable, thoughtful, and challenging events up here in the Northland. WE NEED TO SUPPORT THESE KINDS OF EVENTS!...Send in your entry fees before November 1st and save big bucks. I have personal knowledge of the one in Duluth and it is gonna be GREAT.....Access available to their perspective sites on the right of this page...Winter racing is a total blast...

Living the dream somewhere near Two Harbors, MN