Friday night was the latest installment of DNF shows and, by far, the best one yet! Woodshop opened with a great set and it was fun to rock out to them as Club Underground at Spring Street steadily filled up with all our favorite bikers and rockers.
The crowd that turned out was the largest I'd ever seen take over the Spring Street before... it was awesome! And DNF was on fire. As Hollywood put it, they're "the sloppiest band in the Midwest", but all the late night practicing proved to be paying off. They put on the tightest show to date and had the crowd jammin' and singing along.
Jay kept losing his glasses and the crowd got to see his metal-crazed eyes for the first time at any show. Crossmax loved it! As the songs came and went, more beverages were doled out and the "action" portion of the show increased as Hollywood moved around the stage and attempted to take a non-wireless mic into the crowd. By the end, the whole crowd was having a blast, the carpet on the stage was soaked, and there were mics and mic-stands strewn all about.
4130 followed them up, and Brauer put it best when he started with "Thanks to DNF for making the stage all sticky for us!". They kept the show going til the end of the night and had a blast. To top off the already awesome night, we took G-Money & Bill home with us to crash out with pizza and Hangover 2. Jay woke us the next morning with hot coffee, corn beef hash, and eggs before enticing us with a late day fat bike ride at the River Bottoms.
The air was cool and the trail a little slushy and icy in spots, but it was an awesome follow up to the previous night's rockin'. Chucker, G-Money, KK, Hollywood, and I were flying along the trail in the beautiful sunlight, laughing at one another when we fell (without injury), and taking breaks along the trail to just chill out and enjoy the afternoon.
After a good two hours on the trail, we loaded the bikes back up and returned home for hot food and showers, having successfully enjoyed the day. I have never ridden my bike so much in the winter before, but the 9Zero7 from my loving hubby has made winter more fun than ever! Thank you babe!
It's days like these that make it hard to hope for an early spring... cuz I'm just having WAY too much fun. Today's snow is gonna be fun!
Thanks to DNF for rocking my ass, thanks to the boys for letting me ride along, and to my hubby who makes it all happen.. I love you, JJ!
One of my favorite times while on a recent vacation in Chattanooga was enjoying all of our meals alfresco on the picnic table next to the Scamp. Each evening as the sun began to set, me, Jay, and Rosco would take our fresh-cooked meals outside and dine in the cool evening air, not wanting the warm temps to fade.
Tonight, Jay surprised me with an awesome re-creation I can't wait to repeat.
After work tonight, we buzzed home quickly to prep for a great night ride on our 9Zero7's at the MN River Bottoms. As I gathered up all my layers and thermal gear, Jay prepared dinner... my favorite fajita burritos with DL Jardines marinade.. YUM! As the smell filled our quaint home, I wanted more and more to bag the ride and just dive into dinner but, instead, he wrapped each burrito in tinfoil and threw them into our bags of riding gear.
We loaded up the bikes and headed out to the River Bottoms. Once there, we headed East on some super-packed trails. Skinnies could have definitely railed tonight, but once you went off-trail, you found yourself in snowcone material for sure.
We hauled a$$ for a good 20-30 minutes, guided by our lights and the full moon's light. The only sound within the darkness was our own breathing and the tires ripping through the snow. Jay led the way and set a fast pace as I held on his wheel as best I could to keep my training going.
Off in the distance we saw the glow of a fire back in the woods and heard voices calling out to us. We found their foot tracks off to the side and followed them back into the woods, happy to find our friends manning an awesome bonfire.
We pulled out our burritos and warmed them back up via the fire, ready to feast after the sweet ride, in the company of a handful of friends. We sat for a good hour, telling dirty jokes and crazy stories... my favorite was Pete Schow's recount of his first & last VO2 Max test... it will forever influence my racing!
Warmed by the fire, we had a blast enjoying the night's breeze and the snow that melted at our feet. There was noone for miles and our laughter filled the air as we sat on fresh cut logs and turned the branches in the coals.
We headed out some time before 9:00 to get a little more riding in before returning home to the puppy. The full moon was a beautiful gold as it hung on the far side of the river so we had to stop for a picture.
Once back to the lot, we loaded up the car quickly and headed home for a warm shower and puppy kisses. Jay and I have had a lot of fun impromptu dinners over the years, but this one easily became one of the best ones yet. Simple, delicious, and full of fun..
JJ, Thank you for filling my heart and my belly after all these years!
Love & frosty kisses,
Kristy Kreme
Celebrating Christmas with our family took 4 days and included 3 Christmas dinners in 2 different states, at 3 separate houses, and included some-18 hours worth of driving. By bedtime on Christmas night, I was exhausted. Happy to have spent such great time with our family, but completely worn our by the marathon. Then it was back to work as usual... by Friday I was worthless and had to spend the night home in my jammies just trying to get back to normal.
Fully rested, we awoke on Saturday morning just rarin' to go. So, we loaded up our fat bikes and headed to Lebanon hills to meet up with some friends for a sweet sun-lit snowy ride. The trail was perfect and the sunlight through the trees made the view stunning.
After a good two hours, we called it a day to save energy for the next day's ride. After some warm food and cozy slippers, we napped lazily on the couch as the evening approached and planned for another day of riding.
Although the weather was going to be colder on Sunday, we still found some friends up for a ride and planned for an afternoon adventure down at the MN River Bottoms. The chill in the air was crisp for our initial trek down the main road west on the River Bottoms, but the single track gave us relief from the wind chill. We checked out the "Get Fat with Pat" fat bike race course with Dennis, KK, and Pete and enjoyed the well groomed trail. The course has awesome flow and we could really get moving fast, breaking into a sweat before we had to slow ourselves down to keep from getting our gear wet and winding up frigid.
The funniest part was as we came up to Nine Mile Creek and Jay attempted to ride across the frozen bridge one-handed while filming.... key word "attempted".
Thank heavens for sticking to proven, reliable winter gear... thanks to his Louis Garneau Zero-Degree boot, his foot stayed dry and warm all day. :)
Loving the course, we decided to come back again on Monday to see how fast a lap would take us. Pete met us again and we got near 2 hours in on an even COLDER DAY yet! (good ole Vasoline definitely kept some of the bite off my nose and cheeks!)
We got a ton of video on my GoPro but I have to trim it down before I can upload it to YouTube... otherwise it would have taken "638 hours to upload". Sheesh... Unfortunately, I had to work a double on New Year's Day, so Jay went riding without me. But there will definitely be more to come!
Yep, we made resolutions. I even wrote them down and taped them to the pantry door cuz this year we're gonna make them our bitch and the fat bikes will help make it happen. Moving the shop, working way too much, and various injuries and obligations really kept us from riding last year and it shows... between the two of us, we are 30 lbs. heavier than we were this time last year. Not good.
So, fat bikes, be ready! We're gonna ride ourselves back into shape this winter and be ready to take the year by storm! Not to mention enjoying the benefit of a healthy lifestyle... yep, cutting back on the fried foods, take out, and treats. Add some veggies and fruits and exercise.. Tada! And the experts say that to help stick to your resolutions, make them known. We've set our goals and timelines and have successfully completed 36 hours. Whew.
