The snow was starting to come down steadily as Luby and I mounted our Pugs and headed toward the park on our ride home from the QBP compound (also, Surly headquarters). Luby was riding his 32/17 single; I was on my geared rig. He ran 20psi in his Endomorphs; I had about 28psi in mine. We settled into a good pace and pointed toward SE Minneapolis.

All was going well…auto traffic was pretty light, the meek majority was hiding from winter inside their houses, and traction was good despite the icy/snowy condition of the road. Then, as we turned left off of 84th to duck into a little neighborhood, a miniature Doberman ran right at Luby, smacked into his wheel, flipped over onto its back, and was run over by the back tire of Luby’s Pugsley. Holy shit. I expected that little rat dog to be dead or maimed or, at least, impeded in some way, shape, or form. Nope. It leapt up to its feet, dashed out into 84th street traffic, and ran out of sight. That mini doggy is damned lucky that he encountered a big, squishy tire rather than a high-pressure skinny pumped up to its max rating. Luby, staying upright through the whole incident, probably came out of it better as a result of his vehicle and tire choice, too.

After that little bit of chaos, the rest of the ride seemed pretty tame. The snow fell faster, and we settled into a good pace again. We chatted about all the stuff that bike geeks chat about, and we made our way toward our homes. One topic of conversation: The Arrowhead Winter Ultra. Taken from the website… “The Arrowhead Winter Ultra is a non-profit human powered ultramarathon covering 135 miles across the Arrowhead Region of Northern Minnesota from International Falls near the Canadian border to Tower, MN. The course follows a scenic, hilly, State multi-purpose trail under extreme winter conditions starting at 7am--Monday, February 6 through Wednesday night, 7pm--Feb. 8th, 2006.” It’s put on by Cheryl and Pierre Ostor and a whole lot of other folks who are eager to watch you push yourself to your limits…while doing their damnedest to keep you from permanently resting tits-up in a snow bank. Luby and I will be riding our Pugs in this event. We’ll be joined by fellow cyclists, runners, and skiers.

Last year’s winner, Matt Evingson, completed the course a few minutes shy of 29 hours. And, he did it on pre-production Surly Endomorph 3.7 tires rolling in a frame and fork made by his big brother, John. Coincidentally, John was the catalyst to Surly’s plunge into making snow/sand/adventure-worthy rims, tires, and framesets. So, we owe John a great deal of thanks for getting us into this fine mess. If you are interested in an adventure bike (John coined the term…I’m just borrowing it because it most appropriately describes bikes like the Pugsley) but want something other than a Pugsley, John will build you a custom Evingson frame and/or fork. Give him a call: (651) 257-6635.

If you’ve got a hankerin’ for a new adventure, you should join us. Luby and I, along with many of the other folks who are destined to take part, are newbies to this kind of stuff. So, you’re in good company if you don’t have the first clue about what it’s like to participate in this type of event. It’s 2 months away, so you have time to do some research (the Arrowhead website is a good place to start), time to get your gear together, and time to do a little bit of training. And, If you do have a clue...even some experience with this type of adventure, you should really be out there showing us novices how it's supposed to be done. See ya there.