My girlfriend, Sandy, lives in the woods. She’s not really a girl, or a friend. Sandy is a 60 pound sandbag that sleeps next to a downed tree in Lone Lake Park. Today’s workout brought me to those woods to lift Sandy from the snow, and carry her up and down a few hills, lift … More GORUCK Challenge Training: Snow Ruck
Saturday was a perfect day to visit Lake Calhoun, take in the sites, and carry 60 to 70 pounds of extra weight. In preparation for the GORUCK Challege, a buddy and I met for a couple of laps around Minneapolis’ best known lake. Josh has put together a flag that we’ll likely use for the … More GORUCK Training: Carry Your Stones
Late winter has arrived in the Twin Cities. For bike commuting, this means a mix of all conditions. The morning ride was a pleasant 24 degrees, and the evening return felt spring-like at 35 degrees. The freeze and thaw cycles create the full spectrum of challenging winter road conditions: glare ice, inches of powder, re-frozen … More Late Winter Commuting: More with Schwalbe Marathon Winters
For a handful of reasons, I decided to pick up a GORUCK GR1. It arrived at the end of last week, and like a giddy schoolboy, I unboxed it (and my new GR TAC) and wore it empty around my office. (not really) ((ok, yeah, I did)) I’m not going to go into crazy detail about … More Enter The GR1
I originally had reservations about shelling out the fairly serious cash for a GORUCK GR1, but after reading this post, I want them to have my money. It’s an American company that behaves like I wish more companies did, making an American product with American workers, and caring for fellow humans. ‘Merica. (removes hand from … More GORUCK, you win
After 5 days of not running because of the cold snap, I broke. I had been kind of lazy about running the extreme cold (less than 5 degrees). But with some crappy eating habits and general restlessness, I had all that I could take. I packed up my gear and was ready for a lunchtime … More Cold Run Wasn’t So Cold
Riding bikes on a frozen lake in high winds? How did I miss this? Spencer at Why I Ride added a post about an event that I missed. Looks like it was a good time! Why I Ride: Lake Minnetonka Fatbike Race – Arctic Cat
Disclaimer, the picture above is from a previous night-ride, not this morning’s ride. I just like the picture. This morning’s ride was cold. Probably stupid cold. It was 5 degrees Fahrenheit when I left the house. It’s the kind of cold where your nose hair immediately freeze when you step outside the house. But that’s part of … More Winter Biking: Schwalbe Marathon Winter Tires, etc…
In addition to carrying a backpack with bricks and water in it, there are coupons. Redeemable for extra good livin’ immediately, just see your local hardware store. For only a few dollars, we added a 60 lb. sandbag to our arsenal this week. I ditched it in the woods of Lone Lake Park, our wooded … More GORUCK Training: The Coupon
I like disaster movies and talking about the zombie apocalypse. I have even talked through disaster scenarios with groups of friends. But I haven’t made any sort of preparation. I used to figure that my wife and I can use our backpacking gear to survive for quite a while. But now that we have a kid, … More I like to think about survival, but then what?
Monkey with Chainsaw 