The Manatuk is Good!!

I was hoping that there would be big enough waves to give my new surf kayak a try. Today was the day. The wind direction was not all that good (from the southeast) with the waves running more-or-less parallel to the north shore of the lake, but I did find a place on Stoney Point with maybe 2 1/2 foot waves, not the biggest but enough to give it a try.

This Kayak is the 8th one I have built (all Nick Schade designs), but this is the first plywood boat I have made. The Manatuk is a surf specific design, and I put boxes in the bottom for surf board fins (I have no idea if I will need them or not). Like all things I try for the first time it was a bit of a "learning" experience. I messed up the stain and ended up painting the boat. I installed the center fin box too far back so I might have to add another in front someday if it is a problem.

It seems to surf well. In my full sized sea kayaks, as soon as they start to gather momentum on the front of a wave, they lose their stability and want to go sideways and roll. This little 8 1/2 footer seems to track right down the front of the wave. I will be anxious to get it out in some bigger waves but so far it feels great!!! I am glad I made it.

Today Had None of yesterday's Amenities

Well our plan for today was to get up early and ride to Grand Marais. That would have been about a 170 mile round trip. Well, today was not yesterday. Instead of warm, sunny, and calm-- it was cold, rainy, and windy, so we slept in. Then we went and got coffee and, the bears be damned, we took it right into the tent and drank it, (we were in a campground inside the city limits of Two Harbors). Finally about 10:00 we decided to give it a try, from Gooseberry to Little Marais instead, a much shorter ride-- about 60 miles total.

We drove up to Gooseberry State park so we could start on the Gitchi-Gami trail, and headed off in a light rain and medium head wind. Kathy was pretty sure that the reason we did not see anyone on the trail was how steep the hills were. There were a lot of steep bike trail signs to be sure, but I was thinking that it was the fact that it was windy, and wet, and cold. OK I better admit it. For years I have been likely to tell people how I used to call Kathy on the phone at work (which is inside and has no windows) and mention to her that it was raining or whatever and she would tell me "no, it says right here on weather.com... Well today we were in the tent deciding what to do and I pulled up Accuweather on my Iphone to look at the radar to see what the rain was doing. I could get Two Harbors to come up but for some reason the radar image would not. She was commenting on how cold it was, and I said-- "no it is not all that cold, it is 75, it says so right here on my Iphone..... Ooops, she pointed out that you can't see your breath when it is 75

We rode up the length of the trail, and then on toward Little Marais on the North shore drive, This road varies from being a good bike friendly road with a nice wide shoulder-- to a narrow 2 foot wide path between the white line and the guard rail. There was a nice shoulder heading out of Silver bay, but it ended a few miles north of Ilgen City, so we turned around a little early, making for a 52 mile ride.

Sea Kayaking on Lake Superior

Kathy has not been sea kayaking all that much lately and we have a trip to the San Juan Islands planned for September so I really wanted to get her on the water and have it be a good experience. Today was the day! We put in at Split Rock Creek (might be river, but it was creek sized as far as I could tell.) and paddled up around the lighthouse to the Madeira wreck site, and back, (about 8 miles). The wind was calm, the water cold, and the sun was bright-- can't get much better than this on Lake Superior.

I had not put in at Split Rock creek before, and I really wanted to save the State Park sticker and the special entrance fee they charge to get into the light house area. BUT this did take a little work-- dragging the kayaks about 75 yards down to the creek (and more to the point back up when we were done), and going under the highway, and out into the lake.

The lake was pretty much calm as glass for most of the paddle up and around the lighthouse. After getting Kathy's skeg down she was able to paddle just as straight as me :-) (The kayak she was paddling has a lot of rocker and so it turns really well but it does not like to go straight).

It was a great day! Tomorrow we are planning to bike up the North Shore drive for a long (maybe very long) road bike.

An Even Hotter Day in Iowa

These last few days have been really hot! Tuesday's ride was easy. A nice 35 mile recovery ride in levels 1 and 2. You know it is humid when you pour water over your head in the middle of the ride and it does not get any cooler.Tuesday's Data

Thursday I did hill intervals with Kat in the morning on Lookout drive. These were quick 30 second sprints, but this is the steepest hill I know of in Cedar Falls and between the heat and the steepness, I was ready to stop after 20. Thursday Morning's hill intervals

I was back in Owatonna Thursday evening supposedly getting ready for out trip to lake Superior for a long weekend of paddling and riding. Kathy really wanted to ride with the group for a little while (ended up being 38 miles. I rode on Todd's wheel for about 14 miles or so, and then he just pedaled away from me (like usually happens :-), after that I slowed up a bit and rode back into town with Kathy and the "B" riders. Thursday Evening's group ride

It's Hot in Iowa

It was hot in Iowa, I think the distortion on my Iphone camera is about right for today, a little bit like melting. One of things I really like about biking, as compared to running on a day like today is that it is still relatively comfortable on a bike in spite of the heat and humidity. You just have to keep the water going through. Today's ride was a 50 miler with an hour's worth of level 3 speeds in the middle 10 minutes, 30 minutes, and 20 minutes. For the first 2 I drafted behind John and Kat, coming out into the wind when my Heart rate dropped below 3. The last one I did myself, and of course I was quite a bit slower (but my heart rate was higher). Monday's Data

100K and Get Me To The Church On Time

I was really wanting to get a long ride today in today, but I really had a wedding I had to officiate at, at 4:00. I met up with John and Kat and we headed west of town and into a light wind. They were planning to get 5 hours of saddle time in, I was hoping to get 100km in before my wedding at 4. after a couple hours, I turned south and headed into Parkersburg and then zig zagged the gravel roads on the way back watching both the time and the distance. I got back to town with 65 miles, and time to spare. It was a great day for a ride!! I seem to appreciate good weather even more considering how likely it has been to rain on my bike ride lately. Saturday's Ride

Back in the Kayak Again

Between Thunder storms I got a 10 mile or so kayak in today on the Wapsipinicon river. My friend Reece saw a nice Burl that he had to have when he was paddling there a couple of weeks ago. I volunteered to help, as it turned out it was a pretty good paddle as well. We put in quite a ways down stream of the drift wood in question, passing under a couple of bridges before we got to it. I towed it about a half mile (that was a pretty good paddling workout in itself) and then left it under a bridge that we could drive to so that I would not have to tow it the whole way back to the truck, it was a lot of work especially when the heavy piece of wood when aground, which happened fairly often. Anyway it was a good paddle. Then came the strength training part, rolling that great big hunk of wet wood up the bank and lifting it into Reece's pickup. It was a good day all in all, so much fun that I forgot to take any pics.