I'll post tomorrow about my trip this weekend. Nothing fancy, just an overnight at a state park nearby. But sometimes that's all you need.
IT IS THE YEAR 2314. The city of Minneapolis is abandoned and covered in dust. Teams of explorers brave the harsh conditions to dig the ruins, searching for answers.
WHICH DEADLY PROBLEM RUINED THE CITY? This is the mystery you must solve.
This is the challenge that faced myself and six friends last weekend, near Minnehaha Falls in Minneapolis. City of Dust was a bike adventure/puzzle/game put on by Northern Lights, a local arts agency. They are best known for an all-night arts festival held along the river every summer, but this was the first other event of theirs I'd been to.
Adam, Kristen, and Elizabeth from my recent orienteering adventure reenlisted for City of Dust, and we were joined by Molly, Brenda, and Kelly, some other local climbers. We would be tasked with discovering which of six serious environmental problems had caused the downfall of Minneapolis. We'd figure it out by visiting five dig sites around the area, each excavating a different portion of the cities past. When I signed us up, I didn't even know all that. All I knew was that it was supposed to be a beautiful day, it involved bikes, and that I like games and puzzles.
Our first stop wasn't far from the orientation. At each location we'd watch a short video found by the excavators, each one depicting a resident of the time period in question. The video would give us hints, helping us assemble a timeline of the various cataclysms that befell the area. After we watched the video, there was a challenge to complete, which would net us some vials of pure water, and a vial unique to each era, full of water polluted with various materials. After that we'd get an "echo trace", which was a small map with directions to a hidden artifact (depicted above). The artifact would give us a code, which we could enter in to the echo trace hotline on a phone to get more clues.
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| Couldn't ask for a better day! |
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| The chemical spill |
In my ongoing quest to get myself to exercise, I frequently find activities that are very much LIKE running, but are not just going for a run. After the Amazing Contenders tri, I'd been looking online for more excuses to get my heart rate up, and I somehow found the Minnesota Orienteering Club website. Oddly enough, as a kid I did a couple of their meets with my parents and a friend or two, usually running around a state park, with a compass but usually just navigating by landmarks and the boundless energy of middle schoolers. Since then I haven't orienteered at all, and have hardly used the compass I've got, usually forsaking it for the all-knowing GPS. It just happened that their next event was taking place about 5 minutes from my apartment, so I put out the call on Facebook and quickly found three friends to fill out my team.
We showed up not really knowing what to expect, but found the MNOC regulars to be very friendly. Living so close, I'm very familiar with the park the race was held in, which would serve us well considering the race started a little while after sundown. We chose the long (6km) route, and the whole thing kicked off with a mass start. Seeing as how I'm not a very fast runner, we quickly fell behind the faster runners, but with the excellent map, compass, and the occasional glimpse of another racer's headlamp in the distance we were able to keep from making any serious navigational mistakes.
It felt slow, but as we reached each control point in succession we were always neck and neck with at least a couple teams, so I was hopeful that we would at least not be last! As we headed to the final point, we realized we were on the wrong side of some woods, and made the decision to cut through, hopefully saving a significant amount of time. As soon as we stepped a couple of feet off the sidewalk, it was apparent that it would not be as quick as we'd hoped. The spaces between trees were just choked with thornbushes, and it was easy to track our progress through them by the chorus of curses as we picked up new scrapes and cuts. Myself and Adam made it through, and found the control point, so I took off for the finish just about 100m away, trying to catch up to another racer just ahead. I did it, but turned around to find Adam had disappeared back into the brush to lead Elizabeth and Kristen out. Such a gentleman, but it cost us valuable seconds! Luckily, even with the delay we ended up 15th out of at least 18, achieving my goal of not being last!
After the race, we adjourned to a nearby bar for drinks and food with the other racers, where we learned a bunch more about the MNOC, discovered there's such a thing as mountain bike orienteering, and learned of this crazy orienteering stats thing called Attackpoint. Coolest name ever, right? I'm already signed up for the next Adventure Race on the 30th, and will definitely be checking out other local orienteering events. If you've never done one, I recommend you search for a club in your area. Even if you're brand new, they'll usually loan or rent you a compass, and probably can even show you how to use it if you ask nicely. You'll learn some usefull skills and get a great workout! If you want to see our route, it's on Strava here. Don't laugh at my pace... Our Attackpoint stats are here, and that will show you our splits for each control point and how we compared to the rest of the field. I have no idea what some of the other numbers mean yet!
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| The Captains of Crush, from the left, Adam, Elizabth, Kristen, and myself |
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| Post-race, trying to figure out if we were using the compass right |
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Unknown tryingstuff
I was joined by two friends, Emily and Allison, and we headed out nice and early for the 20 or so miles to Stillwater. We only had to do about 5 miles on surface streets before we hit the trail, and after that we were treated to a gorgeous canopy of color, and a nice paved path with overpasses or underpasses for any major street crossings.
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| Photo Credit: Chilkoot website |
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| Stillwater Lift Bridge |
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| Glamour shot of Alli's bike. I attempted the same with mine, but missed the focus... Next time! |
This is the final installment of my 115ish-mile bike tour of Superior's North Shore. Here's where you can find parts one, two, and three.
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We decided to stop at the Rustic Inn and Cafe, mostly because it was the first one we came across. I'd eaten there before after a jaunt on the Superior Hiking Trail and knew it was a good spot for a hearty breakfast and it didn't disappoint. We took our time, then departed, cruising into Two Harbors late in the morning and there splitting off the highway onto the North Shore Scenic Drive, also known as the old highway 61.
This is also the route followed by Grandma's Marathon, which ends pretty much at our destination, so we crossed the start line shortly after we got on the road and from there on had convenient mile markers to track our progress by! Before long we came around a curve and could see Duluth and the Aerial Lift Bridge (our final destination) in the distance!
As we came into the city proper we deviated from the marathon route and picked up the Lakewalk, a really nice bike path along the shore that leads right to Canal Park and the bridge. It had markers every half mile counting down, so I was quite happy to know we were only 5 miles from the finish. In just 5 1/2 hours, counting our lesiurely breakfast, we covered the remaining 43 miles. Since so much of it was along the shore, hills were minimal, and since we finished at almost exactly the level of the lake, what few hills there were we were able to coast down. Despite this, the three days of pedaling with such a heavy load had worn on me so I was quite relieved to be done. Here's our route and all the data, on Strava.
For a bike touring first timer, I think this was a great trip. Since I was familiar with the route, I was able to concentrate more on the beauty of the area and keeping my legs going nonstop. All of our gear held up great, although I did have a sticky front brake caliper that I just stopped using after the first day. I'd definitely like to do some more touring next summer, although I'm not sure where. If anyone reading has a great recommendation, please pass it along! Next up for bike adventures is a ride out to Stillwater, MN for lunch this coming Saturday. It's about 45 miles round trip, and goes along the Gateway Trail most of the way. Should be high fall colors up here as well!
A couple of friends of mine, Brenda Piekarski (of Adventure Minnesota Films) and Dag Riseng, had the idea last year to host a non-traditional triathlon for a bunch of local climbers and outdoorsy folk. They called it the Amazing Contenders, and the original event was held in Red Wing, MN in the fall of 2013. With biking or running as the first event, climbing at Barn Bluff right there in Red Wing, and then a round of disc golf at Soldiers Memorial Park, this was not your average triathlon! I couldn't tell you why I wasn't there, and I missed the follow up event this summer (a sort of alleycat bike race on the Nice Ride bike-share bikes), but I was determined to show up for the second annual event this fall, which took place on October 4th, again at Soldiers Memorial Park in Red Wing.
I chose the run, which was ~5k, since I knew it would be tougher for me, and it would be my monthly run, so I might as well make the most of it. However, I made the mistake of trying to keep pace with a couple of very fast runners, and paid the price for it around the first mile marker, as I was steadily passed by pretty much everyone.
Disc golf was a totally new thing for me, somehow I'd never tried it before. I managed to find a sweet disc with an F-14 on it though, so figured I was ready to kick some serious butt. I didn't do the worst in my threesome, but holy smokes is it tough! I've never been very good at throwing anything (or catching, which is why I took up paintball as my sport back in high school), and it turns out frisbees on a windy day are no exception! With a par of 29, I threw a 43. One of my partners clocked in and 33, and the other at 47, since she seemed doomed to miss the first "putt" every time.
After disc golf it was off to climb! Sean Foster, MCA board member and avid climber, had taken some time to bolt a couple short routes right there in Memorial Park, saving the hassle of everyone going over to Barn Bluff. While he stoked a nice campfire to thaw out at, people got started climbing. I attempted a very crimpy 10ish route, and sent an easier hand crack as well as an exciting arete. All four climbs were short, but there were some fun moves in there all the same.
That's three events, so we're done right? Well not in the Amazing Contenders! We put the quad in triathlon! The fourth and final event of the day was crate stacking. Never heard of it? Take a bunch of milk crates and stack them in a single column, as you stand on sai column. A belayer is pretty handy so you don't break your neck. Turns out the world record for this ridiculousness is 49 crates, but I managed a whopping 9 before I asked how many I had so far, and promptly came tumbling down. Contenders tried it barefoot, in climbing shoes, and in socks, and the best of us topped out at 15 crates, which put you about level with the tree we were using as a belay anchor. I can't see 49 happening outside, with a stiff wind and rough ground!
Since it's free event, the Amazing Contenders is really all about the fun, so the prizes are more just for bragging rights. We ended up with a three way tie for first, and they attempted a rock-paper-scissors game to get a winner. Which resulted in a three way tie AGAIN as they chose rock, paper, AND scissors. Eventually we determined a winner, local climber Steve Mercer, who'd been one of my partners for the disc golf.
I chose the run, which was ~5k, since I knew it would be tougher for me, and it would be my monthly run, so I might as well make the most of it. However, I made the mistake of trying to keep pace with a couple of very fast runners, and paid the price for it around the first mile marker, as I was steadily passed by pretty much everyone.
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| Photo credit: Sean Foster I'm in the green in second place at the start. |
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| Photo Credit: Sean Foster |
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| Yours truly, belaying. Photo Credit: Brenda Piekarski |
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| Steve, our victor on the left, while Brenda and Dag (the organizers) look on Photo Credit: Summer Fox |
Despite the chill and my poor showing the event was a blast, and the day was capped off with our local stop on the Reel Rock film tour, where many of the attendees got to check out the new film Valley Uprising (if you haven't heard of it, see the trailer here). Reel Rock was a blast as always and the film was great, definitely check it out if you're into climbing at all. Sender One is doing some awesome work! If you're in MN, check out the Amazing Contenders on Facebook to keep informed on future events!
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| Photo credit: Summer Fox |
Completed my PADI Open Water diver certification on Sunday. I didn't bring the camera this time as it was just myself, the instructor, and a divemaster-in-training, and the visibility had taken a nosedive. Since it was just me, it took almost no time at all to run through the remaining skills (this time I succeeded at the compass navigation, subtracting 180 degrees to set a reciprocal course, instead of 150, which may surprise you, doesn't work... Then we burned through our remaining air exploring the dive site.
The water was definitely cooler than last week, and I donned a hood and gloves, but during the dive I was pretty warm. On exiting the water however, HOLY CRAP! 35 degree air temp that morning, and guess who forgot their towel?
Now I just need to wait for my card to come in the mail and I'm good to go! I don't know if we'll get any more dives in locally before winter sets in, but I'm eyeing the Bahamas or Virgin Islands for a trip this winter... Time to see just how deep this rabbit hole goes!
I already mentioned it but I took the course through the Midwest School of Diving in White Bear Lake, MN, just outside the Twin Cities. All the instructors and dive masters we worked with were great, and the gear they provided was top notch. I can definitely recommend them if you're considering trying SCUBA out! Thanks to Mark, Dan, Larry, JB, and Clink for your help!
The water was definitely cooler than last week, and I donned a hood and gloves, but during the dive I was pretty warm. On exiting the water however, HOLY CRAP! 35 degree air temp that morning, and guess who forgot their towel?
Now I just need to wait for my card to come in the mail and I'm good to go! I don't know if we'll get any more dives in locally before winter sets in, but I'm eyeing the Bahamas or Virgin Islands for a trip this winter... Time to see just how deep this rabbit hole goes!
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| The shirt proves it! |
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