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Wednesday, February 28, 2007
We finally had a proper dumping of snow here in Minneapolis. About 12" dropped at our house so last Sunday I started construction of a quinzee hut. My ten year old son Jordan and I finished it yesterday afternoon and last night we slept in it. I was really psyched that he was brave enough to sleep out in it. Some folks (including mom!) don't dig it at all, no pun intended. For those that don't know, a quinzee is a specific type of snow shelter. Sometimes people might mistakingly call them snow caves, but there is a difference. A snow cave is a shelter made by digging into a deep pile of existing snow. A quinzee is made by piling up the snow, letting it harden, and then hollowing it out. It is more difficult to make, but it can be built virtually anywhere if you are willing to move the snow to make it. Do a search online and you'll find a lot of instructions for doing this, but here's the way I do it. Shovel a large pile of snow into a dome shape pile. The number of folks that will sleep inside determines how big the diameter needs to be. Don't try to make it too large though. Do not compress the snow pile. Let gravity and temperature change work its magic for a minimum of a few hours. If you aren't really in a hurry, let it sit overnight. The snow crystals will recrystallize and give the snow some strength. The resulting snow isn't going to be hard, but it will hold together and be able to be removed in relatively large pieces, chunks, or blocks. This strength, combined with a dome structure, will stay upright as a structure. Shoveling a huge pile of snow is hard work so you are going to get sweaty. You can shortcut this a bit by burying some full gear bags in the center of your snow pile. That gear will take up space and will mean less snow removal when you get to that part of the job. You will have to be able to fit the bags out the doorway though. When you think your structure has had the proper time to firm up, put on an insulating layer or two and some waterproof pants and a jacket. Otherwise you will get very wet during the carving out process. Hollow out the dome structure leaving the walls twelve inches thick. The easiest way to make sure you don't hollow them too thin is to take sticks or poles and poke them into the structure about twelve inches. If you do this in a somewhat intelligent pattern, you will carve till you hit a stick and then carve over to the next one. In this fashion you can work your way around the inside, keeping the thickness constant. If you don't have enough sticks to do the whole structure at once, put a few in and then clamber out to place them in their next positions. Keep the entranceway to the stucture as low as possible. If you can, dig it down deeper than the actual snow surface where the walls are. This will keep the cold air moving toward the door. Remember that warm air rises. As you hollow out the inside of the quinzee, do not remove all of the snow down to bare ground. Remember, the snow on the ground is actually insulation and will keep you warmer than the bare ground. You want to sleep on snow, not on ice or frozen dirt. Once you have properly hollowed out the structure, poke a few holes through the walls. The holes only need to be a couple inches wide. These holes let air in so that you can keep on breathing! Also, take your gloved hand and smooth the inside surface as best you can. Doing this will eliminate some drip spots from condensation as the temperature warms inside. When you are in in the quinzee you will notice how warm it is inside. The snow will keep the inside temperature of the quinzee around 32 degrees. Your body heat will raise the temperature even further. Besides insulating, the snow also deadens sound and it will be very quiet inside. Partially block your entrance with a pack, shovel, or snow block and it will be even warmer. Because it is nice and white inside (you didn't build your quinzee with yellow snow did you?) one small headlamp or a couple small candles fill it with light. A beautiful, warm winter project you can live or hang out in for a few days. Nice huh? Here are a couple memorable quinzee experiences in my life that you can learn from. I once had one cave in on me while I carved it out. Luckily a friend noticed quickly and dug me out. I'm not sure I could have gotten myself out without his help. If you can, have someone helping you from the outside while you hollow it out. They are a good safety net and can make the job quicker by keeping the snow moving away from the entrance (where you are depositing it). Don't sleep in a quinzee with the snow removed to ground level. If anything, shovel some snow in to get some insulation back inside. I had a miserably cold night of sleep once inside a quinzee because of the bare ground effect. In fact, I finally just hauled my sleeping bag and pad outside and slept in the snow. Jordan says he wants to sleep in the quinzee again tonight which is fine by me. More snow coming tonight as well, which will be cool. Waking up to 4 or 5 more inches of fresh stuff will be sweet. Enjoy your winter wherever you are. -Kid Posted by Kid Riemer : 5:30 PM 0 comments 
Monday, February 26, 2007
Today I purchased my first new bike frame of 2007. I've been waiting for our new Chili Con Crosso to arrive and they are finally here! Way back when I was a riding fool, cross bikes were my favorite category of bikes. I rode cross bikes everywhere. My cross bike was my primary commuter and training ride. On top of that, what is better than hitting a little dirt with tall wheels and drop bars? Man I love cross bikes. The truth is, I traded my beloved cross bike for professional wedding photography. Yep, a bike for pictures. I don't regret the choice. I just regret giving away that bike. It's been almost 8 years now and I've never been able to replace that beloved steel cross bike. Enter the Chile Con Crosso. This bike just could be the one. I tried a few others, but they were not quite right. They were either too much road or too much dirt. In my opinion, at least on paper, our new Chili is just perfect. It's real light. It's got clearance for good size tires, not monster cross size, but big enough. It's got just a slightly lower BB than some of those high BB cross bikes. It's got some wicked tubing manipulation that just makes sense. Lastly, it's drop dead gorgeous!! Now the struggle. How should I build it? I'm stuck between the following two options. Option 1) Old Reliable Old Reliable is a combo of really good and simple componentry. 1x9 drive train. Single Shimano bar con shifter. Nice Cane Creek brake levers. Avid brakes. Salsa Crossing Guard, Bell Lap bar, Pro Scandium stem, Shaft seat post, old Zona Tres saddle, & Goma tape. Wheels are trusty Shimano hubs with Delgado X rims finished off with Salsa Flip Off QR's...green of course. Option 2) New School Road New School Road is based on a complete SRAM Rival group. You may remember I bought a Rival group for my Casseroll prototype frame. That bike was taken apart and was tested by someone else so I have this group just sitting here collecting dust. I just don't know if I want to put such unproven components on this bike. Maybe I should keep the Rival group and install it on a true road frame? It's going to be a long night trying to figure this out. All I know for sure is that I'm putting together both piles of parts and tomorrow the process will begin. What will it be? Check back for full build photo's and a first ride report. Jason Posted by Butcher : 7:46 PM 0 comments
Friday, February 23, 2007
I've heard folks say you can pick your friends, but not your family. Yesterday, I came to the conclusion that this is also true of the World Wide Web. I won't lie, the WWW has been very good to Salsa. In fact, it could be said that the WWW is one of the contributors to Salsa's recent success. It's also a big part of our future plans. Yesterday, someone posted a broken Salsa frame on one of the more popular web forums. Yes it stinks when this happens, but we'd be fooling ourselves and not telling the truth if we said that Salsa has never seen a product break. The user and Salsa are in contact and it appears that each of us are good with each other and how this situation is being handled. The part of the WWW that I struggle with is that you don't know who is lurking or waiting to chime in on a topic. You don't know the motivations. You don't know where the conversation is going to go. You don't know what level of knowledge some of the users have when they make comments. Heck, I've even witnessed other competing manufacturers commenting and drawing attention to other brands failed products. To make matters worse, this all plays out in a public forum that is viewable any where in the world. Many manufacturers have stayed away from the WWW user groups and forums because you can't pick who gets to respond to a question or issue. Honestly, that is a challenge and at times, I wish we would have just sat back and observed rather than participated. However, I still believe that even though you can't pick your family on much of the WWW, it is critical to actively participate. It can make you better if you let it. I'm not saying it won't make you ill at times, but if you can step back and let it happen without doing or saying something stupid, you just might learn something and find some new friends at the same time. Through this situation yesterday, not only will Salsa learn from it, but we also received countless props, emails and voice mails about how Salsa is handling the situation. In the end, I feel lucky and blessed to have so many friends. Have a great weekend everyone. Hug your kid(s) and ride your bike. Jason Posted by Butcher : 6:59 AM 0 comments
Thursday, February 22, 2007
As a coach last night may have been all that I could have asked for. Our guys played a great game and really showed all that they have learned this year. I could not have been more proud. Best of all, they showed absolute respect to the other team both during and following the game. How do we make sure they continue to do that as they grow older? It certainly won't come from watching professional sports on television. The league I'm coaching in is a 3rd-4th grade league. Because Jordan is a 4th grader this year, that means that if I coach next year it will be with 5th graders. A lot of programs seem to push toward traveling teams once you get to the 5th grade level. I am really hoping that the large turnout in the 3rd-4th grade house leagues can mean the development of a stronger 5th grade house league. It seems to me as if opportunities to play for the fun of it start to die out as kids get older. Eventually there is just a junior varsity team and a varsity team. It is a shame that there can't be house leagues all the way through high school. It would provide a viable alternative for kids that can't make the varsity teams, but still deserve activities and sports for fun. If you enjoyed playing team sports when you were growing up, consider volunteering your time to make more of these opportunities available to the kids of today. It is a lot of fun. Enjoy your day. -Kid Posted by Kid Riemer : 10:51 AM 0 comments
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Some of you know I coach 3rd/4th grade basketball. Well, the Kings have had a great season. We're 8-1-1 and play tonight against the fearsome Team L. Now, Team L has the best record in the league at 9-1, which means that whoever wins tonight is the regular season champ. I can't say I wouldn't love to win the game. The boys have worked hard, improved their skills, and learned a lot about teamwork and showing respect. They've become a good team. I think they deserve to win. So tonight we see if we can play good basketball without letting our emotions get the better of us. We see if we can play good defense by hustling and moving our feet, by stopping the quick game of the other team, by playing good, solid, help defense. We'll drive hard to the basket and try to get some of their players into foul trouble. We'll look for good passes and run our plays well. Well...that's what I hope happens as a coach! You never know what will really happen with 3rd and 4th graders! Keep your fingers crossed for the mighty Kings! -Kid Posted by Kid Riemer : 9:56 AM 0 comments
Monday, February 19, 2007
Greeting everyone. I just wanted to take a moment to introduce each of you to our new website. This has been a big project. Phase 1 rolled out last Friday afternoon just in time for Frostbike. We spent quite a bit of time focusing on the navigation. Too many sites these days are difficult to navigate. We are biased, but we think our web guys nailed this part. As you check out the site, I expect you'll run across some pages that aren't finished. These will be coming in Phase 2. Our main objective was to get the new site up and we'll add our new products & features over the next several months. The website is a critical piece of Salsa future. Our hope is that you will feel like family and learn some things at the same time. Please check back and stay a while. If you see something weird or have suggestions, please email pman@salsacycles.com. Lastly, a special shout out to all the Frostbike attendees that made last weekend great. I met many old friends and made a lot of new ones at the same time. It was great. Hope you all enjoyed your time and had a safe trip home to friends and family. Have a great week folks. Jason Posted by Butcher : 10:57 AM 0 comments
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Frostbike is here. I'm so excited. For me, it's like Christmas when you are 4 or 5 years old. Everywhere you turn there is a surprise. Old friends. New friends. New products. Today the Japanese contingency arrived. Our distributor came over along with some friends and a 2 Japanese magazine writers/photographers. They'll be doing an article or two and a photo shoot on Salsa and our sister company, Surly. For those that don't know, Japan is Salsa's fastest growing international market. Japan is an amazing place and the people are even more amazing. Truly, a special place. Tomorrow, many of my old friends will arrive. I can't wait. I could write out at least 100 names, maybe even 200, of people that I'm sincerely looking forward to seeing. One of which just might be bringing a very cool and important present. You know I'm a product guy. I'm hoping for something very specific and very unavailable. It's a big deal and if it works and is reliable, it just may be the most talked about mountain bike product of 2007. You'll have to wait to see. I hope I'm right. It could just be Kringle. Salsa will probably be out of touch until Monday. Look for an update next week. Jason ps. Our new Dos Niner and Chile Con Crosso are now in stock! All sizes. Posted by Butcher : 8:12 PM 0 comments
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Folks, it has been so busy lately. I don't even know where to start. Chuck has a new baby boy named Karlo. Kid Riemer survived the Arrowhead 135. We've got a new shipment of orange Dos Niners, Chile Con Crosso and El Santo due any day followed a week later by our new Campeon and out of stock Moto Rapidos and Primeros. On top of that, it is Frostbike week at QBP which means a mini tradeshow with several hundred bike dealers coming including many key Salsa's dealers and distributors from Australia, Japan and Germany. Wahoo! I can't wait to see everyone. I also wanted to send a quick note to the California Crew. Thanks to Banning's Bikes for a great party. This shop is simply awesome. I'll post pictures of the live Mariachi band once Banning sends them to me. Also thanks to Padre, Dark Helmet, Burner, Aword4u and Mechman for your generousity and friendship. You made my trip to California worth while. I also got to do some great rides with each of you. Sincerly, thank you. Lastly, look for a big change coming in the next several days. I'm sure you'll notice it! Keep riding and smiling. Jason Posted by Butcher : 8:06 PM 0 comments
Friday, February 09, 2007
The Final Chapters Many months of preparation and anxiety were finally coming to a head as I headed north toward International Falls to attempt my first Arrowhead Ultra. Driving north from the Twin Cities my bike and gear filled the back of my van. While the race would start Monday morning, I was heading up on Saturday to get through the gear check, look into checking out a short section of the course near the midpoint, and to relax and rest prior to the effort. The temperature outside was 17 below and the winds were blowing. By the time I made it up to International Falls, my van was making some terrible grinding noises. I have a history of having bicycle road trips take a toll on my vehicles. More on that later though. I pulled into the Holiday Inn parking lot, jumped out and listened to the metal on metal grinding and shut the van off. I will deal with this later I thought. Gear check happens inside. There, the Gear Nazi (his name, not mine) checks your mandatory survival gear. You must have certain items and you must have 15 lbs of survival gear. After getting all of your mandatory items out, the Gear Nazi weighs your equipment and makes you add items to get the weight up to 15 lbs. Once he’s satisfied, he takes a photo of you with that equipment. You must finish with all of those items. Finishing without them would mean disqualification. Not having done gear check before, it was a bit stressful, but soon enough it was over with and I was up in my room looking at a messy pile of gear. I started organizing my stuff and reassembling the racks that I’d needed to disconnect to pull off my mandatory insulated water bottles for weighing. After dinner downstairs I did a bit more organizing and then crashed after watching television for a while. Sunday morning, I woke up the same cold temps we would face on race day. 29 degrees below zero with a 40-something below windchill. I’d never ridden in that cold before. I threw on my riding clothes and grabbed my bike and went out for a ride to make sure I could handle it. The bike was sluggish, as the grease seemed to be thickening up. But it wasn’t frozen solid which would have meant doom. I rode through some neighborhoods and then jumped onto a section of the Arrowhead Trail to see what conditions might be like. It was slow going. Slow enough to be a bit depressing actually. My legs didn’t feel good so after 45 minutes I headed back to the hotel. Best to save whatever strength I had. The hotel was buzzing with activity now as the 49 other competitors were all arriving and going through gear check. After a dip in the pool and hot tub, I ran into Grayboy who was carrying his gear in. Grayboy took 2nd in 2006 and was hoping to improve his time in 2007. We already knew that conditions would make it very difficult to be faster than the previous year. Last years winner, Dave Prahman was going through gear check. I watched as the Gear Nazi made him add a couple ounces of weight to make the legal limit. It was fun talking with old friends and coworkers in the hallway. We ogled different bike setups and looked at the clever contraptions some folks had rigged up. At 2pm that afternoon we had the mandatory safety meeting where they went over the rules and tried to explain a few of the confusing spots on the course. Believe it or not, the DNR doesn’t allow the race directors to put up any special signage for the event so it becomes very critical to make sure you are paying attention to the few signs and arrows on the trail. Even more importantly, you need to pay attention to where the tire tracks ahead of you have gone. The rules are that you cannot accept help from anyone unless they are a competitor in the event. That said, there is a small store 38 miles into the event that you can detour too for resupply. Likewise, each competitor is allowed a 15 lbs bag of resupply goods at the 74-mile checkpoint at Elephant Lake. The critical thing with this resupply is that you are not allowed to abandon anything other than food (unless you dont care that you will never get it back). My items for the checkpoint were a lot of food, Gatorade, and two pairs of socks in case I needed them. Following the meeting I went back up to the room to continue packing up my gear. The Superbowl would be starting soon and I was looking forward to the distraction. I prepared my food for my frame bag. Small zip lock bags held goldfish crackers, cheese crackers, chocolate cookies, and peanut butter cups. A large zip lock held Clif bars, Builder Bars, and Z Bars. I opened all the wrappings so that I could just take the item out and eat it without dealing with opening the wrappers on the trail. My food choice was the first mistake I would make, but I would not know that until the following day. After dinner and the end of the game, I went into momentary panic as I realized I did not have a good plan for where I would put my 3rd insulated water bottle holder. After freaking out for a while I finally zip tied it onto my rack. Hopefully zip ties would still work at 30 below zero. The race directors had announced that there would not be a mass start due to the cold. Riders would catch shuttles with their gear and be transported ten miles out of town to the start location along Hwy 53. Once there you would check in with time keeper and start out on your adventure. I decided that I would try to make the first shuttle so that I could maximize my daylight during the first leg to Elephant Lake. With my gear packed I went to bed trying not to think of what was to come. My alarm went off at 5:30 a.m. and I climbed out of bed and phoned in my breakfast order to the restaurant. The food would be ready at 6 a.m. I took a quick shower and then carried my bags down to the van. At breakfast, Chris and I talked a little about the event. I admitted I was nervous. I had decided that it wasn’t worth trying to hide anymore. Just admit it and get on to dealing with the challenge. I did not make the first shuttle. Funny how things always take longer than you expect. That is especially true when you are suiting up for a very long bike ride at 28 below zero. I dressed and brought my bike down to a shuttle then stood in the entranceway waiting for the van to fill up so the shuttle would depart. The entranceway was a nice 30 degrees above. Cool enough that I would not start overheating as if I had been inside the building. Soon we had 6 bikers ready to go and off we went. Lots of nervous joking around in the van but I just tried to calm myself down. The van driver was a real character. Who knew that long, cold, dark winters up north led to lots of inbreeding and mental retardation? Hey, that was his claim not mine! He was quite the PR spokesman for the north woods. Arriving at the start we unloaded our bikes, checked in with Cheryl the timekeeper, and took off. The first mile or so was real true hardpack and it got my hopes up. I passed 5 bikes immediately. It was not long till the trail softened up though. We were passing runners/walkers now. They had started perhaps 45 minutes before us, pulling their sleds, and they alternated between jogging and quick walking. They are the true nuts of this thing is all I could think. Bikes started passing me now as the trail climbed very gradually uphill to the turnaround point 7 miles away. At 28 below and heading straight into the wind, I was not cold. The exertion was keeping me warm. Frost and ice were forming everywhere, on the bike, on my clothing…just everywhere. My eyelashes would occasionally freeze together and I would bring my gloved hand out of my pogie to wipe or crush the ice away. I saw PJ pull over to the side of the trail. He said his rear pulley was frozen. He was getting a lighter out to try to burn the moisture out of it. I was so glad it was not me in the situation. I know that I probably would have quit the event right there and then if I had mechanical difficulties. Later I found out that PJ had to stop at least 4 times that first day to unfreeze his pulley. It took much longer than I had hoped to reach the turnaround and I stopped to drink some water and eat some food. My plan was to drink about 8 ounces of water every hour and to eat once an hour as well. This is when I learned that my energy bars were all frozen solid. I ate one anyway, hoping I would not crack any of my teeth in the process. Riding again, I soon saw Grayboy coming toward me. He was moving fast. I hoped he would manage to win the event this year. Riding back out to the start was a slight descent, which was much easier. Grayboy caught me and buzzed my rear tire and asked me how I was doing. I told him the truth; my legs were hurting with a dull ache that I hoped would go away. He wished me luck and took off, really moving fast on the bike. Reaching the highway I hurried across as there was a train coming. I turned back onto the Arrowhead and proceeded on. The sun was shining brightly and the sky was clear and blue. It was truly beautiful out. Looking around was difficult however as you needed to pay attention to the tracks in front of you to find the best riding surface. Soon the trail had many more slight ups and downs, most of these were very gradual and could be ridden. I was in my small chainring and could easily have done without my middle ring. The leapfrogging had already begun on the trail. Passing someone only to have him or her re-pass you a short while later. It was actually enjoyable, because you knew there were others out there moving at roughly the same pace as you. After a second energy bar, I made the decision that I would have to switch to my crackers and cookies. Because of their low moisture content, they were easy to eat and extremely tasty. I began to wish I did not have 8 useless energy bars in my frame bag. I knew the cookies and crackers would only last so long. At this point, hours and hours are going by. I have used less than half of my 110 ounces of water when I meet up with Kevin, Max, and Deathrider on the trail. Kevin is hurting. He is sick and is really struggling. Plus, he has crashed a couple times. Once endo-ing and having a fully loaded Pugsley land on his back! Ouch! The store at mile 38 is coming up and Deathrider says he is going there to get something warm to eat and to dry out. Yes, it is at least 10 below and we are wet from exertion and from frost thawing and melting. Deathrider says he is not sure we will make it to Elephant Lake tonight. That is not what I wanted to hear. Surely we will make it to mile 74 tonight I think. Reaching the crossroad to the store, Max and I proceed without stopping. That is mistake number 2 for the day. I tell him I have still got 64 ounces of water. What I do not realize is that I have been cheating myself all day, slowly dehydrating. Plus, as I am about to find out…the start of the real hills are coming. Shortly down the trail I hear a plane buzzing around. It is Grayboys dad and uncle. They are taking aerial shots of the event and trying to shoot each racer. Max and I continue our leapfrogging. He is quick up the hills on his singlespeed. I am faster on the flats and the downhills. I take a few pictures of him and have him take one of me. He has this crazy long beard that is just coated in ice. There seem to be only 6 bike tracks ahead of us now. I had noticed the decrease in tracks when we passed the store. After a while, some of the riders from the store start catching up to us. PJ and Chris among them. We are all together for a short time before they pull ahead again. I do not know it yet, but a lot of riders have dropped out at the store. Time marches on and soon it is just Max and I. We pass a three-sided shelter and Max says we must be getting close. We cross a road and a photographer says we have about 20 miles to go. It is not the news that I wanted to hear. My water is almost gone now and I have almost no easily edible food left. I finish my water and then the sun goes down and the temperature plummets. Riding with the sun out at 10 below has been a piece of cake. Now in the darkness we turn on our blinkers and lights. Max drops me and I am alone for what seems like a couple hours. It is growing colder and my eyelashes are once again freezing together. The neoprene facemask of my balaclava will not stay up over my nose because it is so wet, heavily frozen, and deformed. I make another bad mistake and do not put more clothing on before the temperature drops. My core body temperature will eventually suffer because of this. The hills come more often now. They are very steep at times and pushing 65 pounds of bicycle and gear up them is hard work. On one hill, I have to push my bike 16 inches and then hold the brakes while I take a step forward. Then push the bike 16” forward again. On some hills I need to stop and rest 4 or 5 times before making it to the top. I am becoming more and more exhausted. I cross another road and a guy with a camera is there again. How far I ask? This time he says 16 miles! Are you kidding me? I have got to have gone farther than 4 miles in the last two hours. In my head I think if you can manage 4 miles an hour, you will only be out here for 4 more hours. I can handle that. What I do not know is that the information is wrong. I am still 20, maybe 25 miles, away from Elephant Lake. After a couple hours alone I finally catch Max and he falls behind. I seem to be pushing uphill faster than him. I do not know it yet, but I will not see him again till the checkpoint. Continuing on I ride when I can, but mostly push my bike. I am thinking just keep walking. The sleeves of my fleece jacket are stiff like a board, frozen in the riding position. Getting on and off the bike has become more and more challenging. I fall in the snow while dismounting once and curse myself out loud. The trail just seems to keep going. A feeling of complete helplessness is creeping in. Just keep stepping forward I think. Just keep moving. As I walk along I sometimes hear noises behind me, but when I look there is nothing there. I wonder if it is wolves I am hearing. We have seen their tracks all day long. Time and distance become incomprehensible. I am only aware that I am still moving forward and of how tired I feel. I am yawning as I walk and I begin to think about hypothermia. I stop to put on a vest. It takes me probably 5 minutes because I cannot seem to line up the zipper quite right. I finally realize that I am sticking only fabric in the zipper head and not the other half of the zipper. I get it sorted and keep walking hoping to warm up. I ride one long downhill and convince myself that I must be getting close. It is bitter disappointment as I turn the corner and see another hill in the darkness ahead. I walk along and suddenly remember that I have 5 hard candy mints in my pants pocket. I took them when leaving breakfast this morning. I excitedly grab two of them and tear the wrappers open with my mouth, eating some of the plastic and then just spitting into my facemask. I try to suck on the mints to make them last. It makes it feel like I am getting some fluid even if it just my own saliva. I have not had a drink in a long time. It was a terrible mistake to not go to the store. I cannot resist and crush the mints in my mouth, gobbling them up. I keep the other 3 in my pocket as something to look forward to. As I walk along in the darkness I suddenly see a bike lying in the snow to my right. I look at it as I walk and wonder where the rider is. I think that someone must have abandoned his machine. Then I notice the shape behind it and see a bivy sack that has been set up. It has a blinker on it as we were asked to do at the race meeting. As I pass I say out loud, Are you alright in there? and get no response. I stop and say again, Dude, are you okay in there?. This time a voice answers and says, 2 guys have gone to get help. Now I do not know what to do. I stop and ask him if he wants one of my mints. It is sugar and will give him a little energy and something to think about maybe. He says yes so I open it with my teeth and slip it into the bivy to him. I stand there for a minute or two not knowing what to do. Should I stay with him here? I am getting colder by the minute. Finally I ask him if he wants me to stay with him or if I can continue on because otherwise I am going to need to be in a bivy sack too. We introduce ourselves and he says that I can go on. Jeff says that he thinks it is only about 3 more miles. As I walk away I am torn thinking I might wind up being part of this guys death by not staying. But I am also increasingly worried about myself. I am really cold now. I walk what seems like 500 or 600 yards before I see the lights from a snow machine coming. I wait on the right side of the trail and the driver stops to ask me how I am doing. I say I am very tired and cold but there is a guy that needs help just down on the left. He takes off. I start walking again and another snow machine comes. He stops and asks me if I am all right. I say that I have not had a drink for 5 hours so he lets me suck water from his Camelback. I greedily swig water and then ask him how far it is to the cabin. He says 5-1/2 miles and my heart drops. I do not think I can make it but I tell him I will try. I mention to him that I have not seen Max for a few hours and that I am worried about him. He says he will go farther down the trail to see if others need help. He also tries to explain a turn in the course that is coming up. There is a shortcut onto a road for easier going. I try to understand him but am confused with the noise and my exhaustion. I ride for a while and then do a long fast downhill. I am at the T in the trail the driver was telling me about. The course turns to the right. A sign says 5 miles to MelGeorges cabin. To the left the sign reads Arrowhead Link trail. I start to push up to the road shortcut but when I get there I am not positive which direction to turn. I think I should go right but am not sure. If I take the road will anyone know? Will anyone find me? I decide to keep moving toward the cabin. After a few hundred yards on the course I realize I cannot do it. I cannot push my bike 5 more miles. I turn around and head back to the T in the trail thinking the snow machines cannot miss me there. I get there and decide to put my insulated jacket and pants on. Why I had not put them on earlier is just another example of how you start making bad decisions when you are seriously cold and growing hypothermic. All this time, I have been riding with fleece gloves on inside handlebar pogies. My hands have been brilliantly warm. In fact, if anything they have been too warm. My fleece gloves are soaked through. As I struggle to put on my insulated pants I realize I need to unsnap the bottoms so my boots will fit through. My hands stop functioning, as my fleece gloves freeze solid. It is 28 below again. I tear the snaps open with my teeth and pull the pants on. Now I tear the gloves off my hands with my teeth. My hands are freezing and in a lot of pain. I reach into my bag and pull out my mitt liners and put my hands into them. The pain will not go away and I start swinging my arms in circles, running in place, doing deep knee bends…anything to try to get my blood flowing. I am moving around for what seems like 20 minutes. My hands finally stop hurting but I am cold, really cold now. I can feel the moisture moving into my insulated jacket. I keep wondering where are the snow machines? They’ve got to come back this way. A rider approaches. It is a guy from Chicago. I have not seen him for the last 12 hours. A snow machine shows up with Jeff on the back. The driver slows and looks at me and I shout, I want a ride. He nods and twists the throttle tearing off down the trail. I tell Chi-town that he should keep moving and he takes off. The second snow machine comes toward me with someone else on the back. I think it might be Max. He is gone just like that. And I am alone again waiting on the trails. In my head I am calculating. It is 5 miles to the cabin and 5 miles back. At 60 miles an hour that is 10 minutes, but the snow machine probably is not going 60 miles per hour. If he is going 30 miles an hour I have got at least 20 minutes to wait. Fear really starts to take a hold of me. A friend who did the event last year had told me, I only thought it once but I thought I might die. I honestly start to know what he felt. I begin to worry that I will not see my wife and son again. I am thinking this is the stupidest thing I have ever done. I start thinking about my 3rd/4th grade basketball team and how I just want to coach another game. I am still walking in circles telling myself to keep moving when I suddenly think, What if the snow machine driver thought I said I DON’T want a ride. I pick up my bike and look at my sleeping bag in its compression sack. But the buckles are underneath a frozen jacket. I cannot negotiate them with my mitts on and I am afraid to pull my gloves off and expose my hands. So I keep pacing. How long I waited I am not sure. My guess is 20 minutes before I heard the sweet sound of a snow machine in the distance. The driver tore up to me and handed me his goggles. With a couple missteps, I clambered on and he took off down the trail. We were absolutely flying and he brought me to a truck that was waiting a mile or two away. I got into it and started shivering uncontrollably. They had me move to the front seat where the heater was better and headed for the cabin. The snow machine driver immediately turned and headed back out looking for others that needed help. I am not sure how many folks he brought in but I cannot thank him enough for his sense of urgency. He was really trying to get to people as quickly as he could. At MelGeorges, I headed into the restaurant to warm up. The checkpoint cabin was 500 feet away in the woods but I did not have it in me to walk over there in the cold. The owner quickly brought me a mug of cocoa and then I drank two warm Cokes. I ate a whole pizza as soon as it was ready. My shivering would not stop so I booked a room for the night and walked up there and got in the shower to warm up. Then lay in bed finally feeling the shivering slow down. There are a lot of things that can be learned from all of this of course. Plenty of things to be done differently and improved upon. But there is also the most basic fact that when the temperature is 30 below, things can turn bad really quickly. I had been on the trail from about 7:50 a.m. till 10:50 p.m. and had moved 69 miles. But I still had 5 miles to go. I had not had a drink for at least 5 hours and was going hypothermic. I made bad decisions, partly due to the onset of hypothermia, that made it seem impossible for me to help myself when the situation required it and the means where at hand. I made other bad decisions before I ever started riding the race. Tuesday morning I had breakfast with Deathrider, Jeff, and Chris. We watched as the 2nd and 3rd walkers arrived at the checkpoint. They had been walking for over 26 hours non-stop to get there. 4 or 5 bikers are on the trail trying to complete the rest of the 135-mile course. 3 others, including PJ, were getting ready to continue. With my bike still out on the trail, I caught a ride back to International Falls to get my van…which brings us back to the start of the story. Remember that horrible grinding noise? Well, that was my alternator seizing up. 500 and some dollars and 7 hours later, I am on my way back to MelGeorges to collect my bike. I get there and load it into my van and then go inside to take a leak. Seve, one of the snow machine drivers is there. He says he saw PJ earlier in the day and that he was having trouble riding in a straight line. I can only think I am glad it is not me. I drive back to Minneapolis looking at the moon and the temperature gauge in my van. I am thinking about the folks still out on the trail hoping they are all right. I call my wife from a payphone and find out that Grayboy pulled off a well-deserved victory. I arrive at home a little after midnight. The next day, the stories keep coming in. Something like 9 bikers make it to the finish to claim their trophies. Charlie finishes after having 5 flats. Only one walker/runner, Sara, finishes in just over 55 hours. She becomes the first woman to successfully walk the course. Sadly, we learn another walker is in danger of losing all his toes to frostbite. And there are plenty of other stories out there as well I am sure. For every participant this has been true adventure and possibly a life changing experience. Will I do the Arrowhead Ultra again? Yes. But I will be in much better condition. I will have checked out the entire course ahead of time so I have some knowledge of where I am. I will make gear and food adjustments. And I probably will not start if the temperature will fall below negative 15 degrees during the event. In the end, I have no regrets. I pushed myself to my limits and did the best I could. And frankly, I am happy to come out of it alive. One last important shout out to the folks who helped me out with this endeavor. Salsa Cycles. Salsa is whom I work for. I rode our stem, handlebars, seatpost, and Ring Dinger during the event. Thanks to the whole crew for their support while I prepared for this event. Surly Bikes. Surly is a sister company to Salsa in that we share the same parent company. The Surly guys generously offered me a special deal on the Pugsley frameset, Endomorph tires, and Large Marge rims. The Pugsley worked great during the event. No mechanical issues what so ever. Evingson Cycles. Specializing in frames, parts and accessories for snow bikes and bikes that run big fat rubber. I rode with an Evingson fork and racks. They are light and worked great. Plus, John was very forthcoming with advice on the event. John is good people. Forty Below makes mountaineering overboots to keep your feet warm, along with other mountaineering products and beer insulators too. Huge thanks to Joel Attaway for his help. I used some custom Forty Below overboots over my shoes and strap-on insulators during the event. My feet (which had been a worry) were incredibly warm the entire time, even when the rest of me was freezing up. If my feet had been cold during this experience it would have truly been horrible. Thankfully they were not! My wife Becky and son Jordan. They have been very understanding of the time (and money) I spent preparing for this event. Their support is invaluable. They were also partly responsible for me having enough common sense to call it quits when I did. I love them dearly. My mom. She was plenty worried about me taking part in this adventure. Along with everything she has done for me my whole life, she also sewed me the strap-on boot insulators mentioned above as well as some gear straps. Thanks for everything you’ve done for me Mom. I love you. Be safe and warm. -Kid Posted by Kid Riemer : 11:11 AM 0 comments
Tuesday, February 06, 2007
Well.... The race has been brutal with the crazy low temps. Here is the link to the blog with all the updates. http://www.arrowheadultra.com/blogger/blogger.html Bobby Salsa Cycles Labels: Arrowhead 135 Posted by Bobby : 2:29 PM 0 comments
It looks like Kid Riemer is still in the woods. Jason From the Arrowhead Ultra blog: Every mile is two in winter There is much going on in the race. The southern section of the trail was groomed and fast, but the northern section has had no grooming, and is slow going. Extra snowmobiles have been added to assist in pulling off weary competitors, and wolves have been spotted. The only checkpoint is at Elephant Lake. At 22:35 on 2/05/2007, three bikers had left. These were #4-Dave Gray, #5- Charlie Farrow, and #46- Joel Cahalan, who was also first in. They are expected by 10:00 this morning, 2/06/2007. Only a sprint finish may determine the winner.In addition to these three, the following are expected to continue the race:#1- David Pramann, #13-Bill Shand, #15-Patrick Ramstack, #17-Dave Simmons, and #26- Don Gabrielson. There have been many competitors pulled and many have dropped out.#3- Ron Kadera#7- Matthew Maxwell#8- Matthew Staehling#9- Josh Peterson#10-Laurie Woodbuy#11- Richard Woodbury#16- Scott Wagner#19- Chuck Regenold#21- Marta Arato#22- Jeff Jirka#23- Tom Ripley#24- Christina Ralph#25- Christina Ralph#28- Rodrigo Cerquiera#31- Carles Conill#33- James Ishman#34- Spencer Klaasen#38- Jim Grijalva#39-Joe Galloway#44- Patrick Graupman#47- Kevin Ishaug#48- Kerry Owens#81- Mario LacerdaThe total of these sightings are 31. Subract from the 46 starters and 15 competitors in the woods. Posted by Butcher : 8:21 AM 0 comments
Monday, February 05, 2007
Ride and Smile! (under your 5 layers of balaclava) Bobby Salsa Cycles Labels: Arrowhead 135 Posted by Bobby : 9:19 AM 0 comments |
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