Levis Trow 100 this weekend!!!

I generally as a rule avoid racing. I am something of free spirit and the fact that somebody is telling me where and when to ride sort of turns me off. That and the fact that I am slow as death, but that is beside the fact. The trails at Levis Trow however are good enough to get even my slow butt off the couch and on the course. The Red Squirrel and I are going to tag team this 100 miles, but we will watch our crazy brethren take bigger bites and hammer out the full century.

Hanging with GORC in St. Louis, MO

The thing I love the most about this job is the fact that I meet a lot of really cool people who are MORE passionate about Mountain Biking than I am. Always inspiring to me and I learn something new about the sport and myself every time I interact with a great club like Gateway Offroad Cyclists. Last night I had my legs ridden off on the tuesday night ride, today I am hitting another trail, two more on Thursday and possibly another on Friday. Good riding in the city at the confluence of the Missouri and the Mississippi.

Happy trails old friend, you will be dearly missed.

Man, what a life Andy Knapp. I cant even come close to writing something worth reading about on how full of adventure and amazing trips Andy's life was. I first met him when I was in 9th grade, my buddies and I would pull the three hour drive to Midwest Mountaineering. He always took us seriously, even though we were a bunch of dumb kids from southern Minnesota. He made us realize that we could go and see amazing places, and that we were maybe even obligated to. Later when I became involved in the outdoor industry I worked with him as a sales rep and he taught me even more about the industry and how to be successful in it. However, Andy perhaps taught me the most about life the past few years in his struggle with his illness. He taught me how to stay positive, how to live the good times hard and how to educate yourself and fight your struggle with intellect as well. Lastly, he taught me how to cry and how to admit to being scared, to look into the eye of the storm and say, hey I cant go this alone, I might need to reach out. Andy reached out to me last summer at the Two Harbors Kayak festival and we had one of the most intense and amazing conversations about life and death and his battle with cancer. I am not sure that I did much to help him but I do know that by the time we were done, we were both laughing and backslapping and then Andy went right back into his stories and his classic sense of humor.
My love and my heart as well as my wife Margarets, goes out to Andy's family as well as his other family, that of Midwest Mountaineering and all of the people in the Outdoor Industry who were fortunate to have worked with him.

Trail Care Crew in Lacrosse

I spent most of last week in school, with the IMBA Trail Care Crew on the HPT Trails. I learned a ton and had a great time doing it. That is great because I am going to spending most of June on the road with Kelly and Collins. This week IA, next week southern WI.

Just back from IMBA Board meeting at SRAM in Chicago

A great time was had by all. The SRAM test track, the sites of the sky line, the Institute of Arts...

Uh oh.....the madness is setting in

MN climber dies in China

I have been watching this story with dread for some time. Yesterday a search party found the body of Wade Johnson a victim of and avalanche on a remote Chinese peak. I did not know Wade but I did know his climbing partner Johnny Copp fairly well as I interacted with him in the outdoor industry and through film as he organized the Boulder Adventure Film Festival. My heart goes out to all of the families but especially the Johnsons here in MN. This sad story reminds me of the accident Doug Coombs perished in a few years ago, not in how it happened but in the fact that another MN adventurer died with him Chad Vanderham.