Myrna CG Mibus - Idyllwild

One thing about Minnesota weather is sure - it's always changing! Yesterday morning, Thanksgiving Day, it was 65 degrees and sunny. By evening the winds were gusting to 30 knots (about 40 mph) and it started to snow. This morning dawned somewhat overcast with snow flurries but by afternoon it was sunny and 25 degrees Fahrenheit with not enough snow on the ground to count. Biking in shorts and a light jacket on  Thanksgiving Day morning in Minnesota You can't get bored with the weather around here, that's for sure. Warm and sunny one day and cold and snowy the next. One of the main reasons Owen and I bought our Salsa fatbikes ( Owen has a Mukluk 2, I have a Beargrease that I call "Bear") is so we could bike all year 'round, even in the cold and snow, and stay healthy. We feel much better when we're biking - healthier and happier overall. So yesterday when it was nice and sunny and warm we biked. And today when it was cold and blustery we got out and bi...

Today - after ordering our fat bikes in early September and waiting, mostly patiently, with great anticipation - Owen and I got to ride our fatbikes together for the first time! Owen's Mukluk 2 was in at Milltown when I picked up my Beargrease last Wednesday but he wanted to switch out the handlebar for one with more of a bend. Curtis had to order the handlebar so Owen had to wait to ride until the bar came in. So I got my fatbike on Wednesday and Owen had to wait for his. By Friday Owen's bike was ready but we couldn't pick it up until Saturday. We picked it up late Saturday but it was too late to get out on a ride. Finally today, after a busy morning at church and raking leaves this afternoon, Owen and I hopped on our fatbikes and headed out for a ride. What fun! We rode our grass taxiway (we live on an airport with a grass runway) with the kids and Rocket the dog running along with us. Then Rose, Ryan and Rocket stopped at the house and Owen and I kept going. We ro...

My dog, Rocket, was stir crazy this morning. He was getting to the point of being naughty. Pulling things out of trash cans. Stealing socks from the laundry. He needed a walk big time. But I wanted to ride my new Beargrease fat bike, Bear. I had only a half hour window of time and couldn't do both. It was looking like Rocket was going to get his walk but I wasn't going to get a chance to ride. Or maybe not. Why not do both at the same time? Ride the bike and walk, more like run, the dog. Imagine this is a picture of me riding my Beargrease with Rocket running alongside me and the bike. Since I couldn't take a picture of myself riding Bear and running Rocket, this picture of Rocket standing next to Bear's front wheel will have to do. That's my glove at the bottom of the picture, by the way. It's black and turquoise just like my bike. I've never taken the dog for a run from a bike. I can't say it worked perfectly. Rocket was a little puzzled a...

Just last night I picked up my new Salsa Beargrease, a "fatbike," from Milltown Cycles. The bikes are brand new from Salsa and arrived at Milltown yesterday - I'm one of the first people to get one! I'm a total non-professional in the bike world but have done a little ride report on my new Beargrease. It's not technical and all that. It's just my impressions of riding the Beargrease.  If you want to jump right to that report please scroll down. If you like a little backstory, keep reading :) If you want a more technical review, uh, google it. Or click HERE . Big Tires! Here's some tech specs from Salsa: Tires are 45N Husker Du 26 x 4.0", 120tpi Folding and the rims are Surly Holy Rolling Darryls.  In short the tires and rims are BIG and COOL! I've wanted a fat bike ever since I first rode one over a year ago when I test rode a Mukluk and couldn't stop smiling because it was so much fun ! Then Owen got a chance to ride a Mukluk 2 on tr...

Late yesterday my son, Ryan, said something that prompted me to think of a song - and despite having a sore jaw from having had a root canal a few hours previous, I started to sing. It hurt a little to move my mouth, but not so much that I couldn't get a few lines out. "Mom," Ryan said, "you always have a song to sing." I chuckled at that. "Yes, I guess I do." I said. And then I started to sing another song, but this time the song was the solo I sang when I was playing Sister Robert Anne in Meshuggah Nuns - "I'll Find a Song to Sing." That song has a lot of meaning to me. Because learning to play a feisty nun with a song to sing (as well a couple of duets, several group numbers and and many, many lines that had to be delivered in a Brooklyn accent), was a wonderful experience for me. A life changing experience, really. I'm so grateful I had the opportunity to push my comfort zone and play a nun with a song to sing! But I could...