June Bug in July (reprise)

Life on and off the bike, certainly gravitate towards all things simple. From attempting to mitigate situations involving the fire tetrahedron to the best layed plans involving family vacation time on the north shores.

Modern day mountain bike panic/ Rain storm.

Duluth weekend involving family time, wife birthday doings, and mixing in the MN series race at Lester. I had a brilliant plan which would allow me to be set free on the bike for the Marathon (3.5 hr) race at 9AM. Here was the plan:

• Up at 6AM (quiet and dark don't wake up wife/ kids) continental breakfast food in my face by 6:20AM, do up bottles in dark and pack a lunch for the 3.5 hr's in saddle, pack up for trip home, is bike dialed?, Wife and kids up by 7:30AM for the shuttle to Lester, Wife knows Duluth but doesn't know Duluth so must set up for success or fear the reaper, Wife to drop off racer and bike and let fend for self, questions I had for self- do I keep all my personal belongings with me?, do I drop off team overpack gear and have a pile of weekend crap along the trail just in case?, wife left to fend for self getting back to hotel at Canal Park, getting kids squared, packing room and kids (minus my crap setting alongside trail), checkout, and return back to Lester to watch her Stuper Star. 

Said plan played on repeat in my head until 4AM at which time I folded to the complexity of it all. 1PM start was much simpler for this Stuperman on family vaca. So the early rise plan above was scrapped for an easy morning in a fancy hotel, a wife going on a solo run along canal park to be set free for a bit, packing up team overpack like a jenga puzzle, and enough circling over bike crap to make sure I was over prepared for 1PM.

The race was what it was, as riddl-E would say. A nice half hour rain to start off the race. Fun times on some flowy singletrack and attacking and being attacked fumbling through the mud with other like minded's. Reeled in Old Max. Finished mid pack to a son saying "what took you so long?"

Up next, MN series at Afton Alps. A return home so to speak. Spent many hours moving dirt with fellow LCR's creating and improving the trails. The trails that were, for the most part no longer exist. Good times were had. Even a bout with Lymes Disease. No regrets.

Afton 'flow' Trail we built circa 2006- today no longer exists.

Annual blag tradition... I give you 'June Bug' by fellow riddlers from the northwest, The Melvins... I remember seeing King Buzzo and friends at that one spot on Hennepin, it's a culture shop now I think.