The North Woods Vortex

September 20, 2013 by Steve Tilford 13 comments 101 views

It is very easy to get caught up in the vortex up here in the North Woods. Days seem to pass quickly, even when it rains all day like it did yesterday. We went for an long walk in the woods and then split wood until it started raining crazy hard. I’ve been meaning to take a nap one of these days, but have never seemed to have enough time to fit one in. It finally cleared up late in the afternoon and I got in a pretty good ride before it got dark. Once I turned off on gravel, I didn’t see another car or person for the whole time I was out. It is easy to get a little mixed up with direction up here when the sun is behind the clouds. I know the area well enough that I don’t get disoriented unless I’m exploring. I didn’t feel much like exploring yesterday since that usually involved a bunch of u-turns. I didn’t want to get bogged down in deep mud since it had rained for so long. We’re probably heading back to Kansas tomorrow. I’d really like to find a MTB race to do this weekend. One last race before casting my right hand for a couple months. I’m really not looking forward to that. Maybe they can make the cast so I can ride. I did that once the day before the Athen Twilight Criterium. I broke my hand on Friday, rode to the hospital, found out my hand was broken, went back to the hotel, got my bike and they formed the cast so I could hold the bars pretty well. I got 7th the next evening in the race. It would be much harder not being able to use the thumb. That is what makes grip work mostly. Okay, here are some photos from yesterday. Fall starts this weekend. Man, does time fly.

Camp Fire in the Rain from Steve Tilford on Vimeo.

Walking in the woods is great behind Dennis’ compound. I’ve swam a couple times but the water is really, really cold. I can only stand it for 5 minutes or so. With such a wet late summer, the mushrooms are everywhere. This one was one of my favorites. These are all edible. So are these. These are Yuliya’s hands after picking mushrooms. I’ve never seen a beaver in the lake, but there are a few trees that show they are around. Trudi was using here BMC moving luggage muscles to haul wood out of a frost pocket so the locals can use it as a ski hole. This guy was under a log. George’s son, Dania, is keeping it for a bit, then releasing it. Not many places to you see snow guns just at a local guys house. Temperatures aren’t that bad in Topeka for the foreseeable future.

Comments (13)

andy

2013-09-20 10:38:02

Steve - If you’re looking for a race to do, there’s one in St. Cloud, MN on Sunday. http://www.mnmtbseries.com/page/show/4839-race-9-revolution-s-single-track-escape-st-cloud-mn

Nick

2013-09-20 11:17:36

MTB race near Peoria, IL on Sunday. Check out PAMBA website.

Jim

2013-09-20 11:32:38

St Cloud, good, fun, and right on your way home.

Larry Suaber

2013-09-20 12:33:16

Don’t avoid the Cheq100. Lakewoods 7AM. Put on by the Salsa boys… This ain’t no birkie 2 hour road race.

Iowa

2013-09-20 12:36:19

There is a race near Des Moines http://www.iorca.org/events/banner.aspx

Nick

2013-09-20 13:10:21

Here you go, Steve. Deer Fly Chase, near Chippewa Falls. Combination of ski trails and singletrack. http://chippewaoffroad.org/events/deer-fly-chase

Niki

2013-09-20 13:11:55

It would be neat what you would think of the Farmdale MTB race in East Peoria, IL that Nick posted up. I fractured my sacrum there last year on the pre-ride of the course on the descent by old Chevy - it will be a year tomorrow. Means I’ll keep my roadie ways, I haven’t been on a mtn bike since. In Dec last year I raced a cx race course that had a short stint in the woods and I remember riding into it and it instantly took my breath away and I’m sure my HR skyrocketed. I was scared to death. It was one of the worst pains I’ve ever had.

H Luce

2013-09-20 14:12:17

Please - chill out on the racing until you’ve had the surgery and recovered *completely* from it. You really don’t want to screw things up worse than they already are - which is pretty bad…

dave

2013-09-20 15:23:13

H Luce - man you’re waisting your breath. MR. Tilford will not listen to any words of wisdom at least not when it comes from people that are trying to help him. He’ll do what he wants and when he has pain in his hand for the rest of his life, and cold weather or changes in the weather kick him in the ass, he’ll wonder why.

catwalberg

2013-09-20 20:31:43

An extraordinarily beautiful place—-a Brigadoon really—-like Topeka. That’s a good thing. It keeps everyone young. Time moves in hundreds of years not in seconds.

mike crum

2013-09-21 08:10:08

^^^^ dave, and right before every race, it’ll be, my thumbs a bit sore.. hope i do ok.. cant believe his post above.. he hopes they can make a cast so he can ride.. hahahaha!! wake up steve..

H Luce

2013-09-21 20:20:08

If it were up to me, I’d put a large cast on his right foot with a steel plate he couldn’t drill through to put a cleat on for his clip-on pedals. Either that, or prescribe clown shoes…

Jim Janelle

2013-09-22 20:24:59

Aaah, Topeka in the Autumn. My favorite of the year when we lived there from ‘78-‘81.