Beating the "Dead Horse"

Flogging a dead horse (alternatively beating a dead horsed) is an idiom that means a particular effort is a waste of time as there will be no outcome. Wait, I'm getting ahead of myself. A few months ago...

A few of us signed up for a new self supported, 200 mile, bike-packing ride called the "Dead Horse" as part of it takes place on a Wisconsin trail named the Dead Horse and it looked to be a good mix of dirt road and double-track in the woods of Wisconsin and nothing beats bashing around the back woods with your buddies.

The night before we arrive late and hole up in the RV so we do not have to repack camping gear. Repacking gear sucks, it takes time and it's often wet and, well, it's almost always cold out. Add to that, you want warm clothes on for the hour or so before the start and if you change early and repack you have to stand around in gear that it's idea. This way, you can change into riding gear at the last minute and head out.

Morning of is cold and wet, yep, that's about right! We meet the ride organizer and get the cue cards or what we call tulip cards. They are the backbone of gravel riding in Minnesota. A card from a ride I did in 2015 is to the right while below is Josh picking up our sets of cards for the Dead Horse.

Early on a few people new to bike-packing turned back as they had very heavy gear and were struggling on the hill. They decided to drive to the camp we were all headed to and camp and ride from there and we'd see them later that day. Only 1 of them showed. 

Early on everyone is together so we can get to know the other riders, make some friends and help everyone get their navigation legs. Remember we have 200 miles to go so you'll probably need help before it's over.

Our friends Neil and Jen surprised us by showing up.

Some of the interesting things you find on long back country rides is the local junk pile. We can't help but stop and look around.

Regrouping after a small navigation error. The road signs don't always match the cue cards but it's not hard to figure it out if you're ok riding a few miles out of your way.

 

Resupply at the local store. We need to get a dinner as this is the last town before camp. I get a steak and some snacks. I have a pasta side to cook if I have to but getting something substantial is better and I can always have second dinners. Second dinners is a real thing on long rides.

Just down the street is an eatery and it wasn't even asked, we all just pulled in for a hot lunch. The owner tried to sell us, seriously hard sell, the business. Talked on and on about how great it is. I tried to tell him, we are just passing through and have zero interest in owning his problems. He replied by how he would share his secret hamburger bun recipes. It was tempting but we said, sorry.

 After lunch the route gets a lot more interesting and we have all settled into 2 groups. I'm in the lead group with Josh, Neil and Jen.

Behind is the organizer of the Dead Horse and a few others, however it's been too long and I forget their names. Below is the Organizer.

We start running into the mud holes all too common on forest service roads and low maintenance roads. Some ride around, some through. Hard to say what's better. Walking around is always muddy but less wet, riding through is wet but no mud and you never know how deep the mud or the water is so it's a crap shoot.

 

 A few miles from camp the cue card contains several errors in a row making a mess of navigation. We are supposed to turn Right on 187th, but there is no right, only a left. We head up the road like 3 miles, realize it's wrong, turn around and find part of the second group coming up the road. We talk, head back, make more errors and eventually get on route. The last instruction on the cue card is turn onto the trail before the road bends. We can't find it. Almost everyone is there by now. We are on the spot and everyone is searching up and down the road but it's all houses and people cutting their grass and washing cars. The only trails are their driveways. Everyone quits and just sits on the road waiting for one man, the organizer to show us. He arrives and turns into someones dirt drive and around a tree and around that tree and we are on a old dirt road headed to a really great campsite.

 Camp at last. I think the day ended at about 90 miles. It was great if you ignore the 30 minutes of searching and the frustration of being totally lost for 5 miles. The large fella is the one person that drove over. He and someone take his truck into town to get beers so everyone could have suds with dinner.

 I didn't get pictures of my camp. I used a bivi bag and small tarp. I slept well but bivi bags are not comfortable. Back on the road, headed back to the start using new roads. The route has us listed for 90 more miles and the "Dead Horse" trail.

Many hours later the roads are in poor shape, we left camp late and our cue cards contain more errors so things are going slow. We talk about it and figure we're not going to get back until 6pm or later and all of us need to drive the 4 hours back to Saint Paul. That is not good and it's not going to happen but we have little option on our bikes. What we need to food and beer and a good thinking.

 Long about that time we find a road house with all the fixings of a good escape route.

 We pull a MN Snowmobiling map down and start planning our exit. Everyone wants out! It's already close to 3PM

 We all have bits of the map on our camera and we stay together so nobody gets dropped and lost. By now we are all friends trying to get home.

HOME AND IT'S STILL DAYLIGHT!

We started out knowing we could do the miles and wanted a little adventure with our friends. We thought we would have no trouble beating the dead horse, but as it turned out we didn't finish - but we did get to the end. We rode for two days and really got nothing done because we didn't stay on route so, oddly, you could say we got nothing done and that's called Beating A Dead Horse. 

Heck Epic 2015

Heck Epic Gravel Adventure:

"TWO DAY, 200 MILE STAGED BIKEPACKING EVENT"

Day one is fantastic. Maybe a bit cold and a little damp but it clears up and everyone has a spectacular day.

Everyone is supposed to carry all the gear they need for the 2 day ride. That is, camping gear and clothes. We all carry some food and water but use local shops to provision as needed. Notice how everyone has the same gear but just a little different configuration. Most of these riders have 100's or 1000's of miles of gravel under their belts so we all know how to pack gear the way 'we' want it.

Sunny and nice. Temps are warming but not so hot as to overheat. Perfect. Double track or Jeep trail in the deep woods of northern Minnesota.

 A mud hole creates some drama as riders try to ride through it only to dig in and crash. I ride through without issue.

We are making such good time that we agree to stop at a local business for a pizza. I'd report the business name but they were not good, friendly or worth naming so I'll call them the "Knott-a-gain"

 This is always a welcome sign. When riding one hundred miles people stretch out to just one or two at a time and drivers may be careless on rural roads and hit someone. It makes us feel better.

My gear config. Nothing on the bars like a lot of people. I didn't want the weight over the front for handling and slow steering. I have a sleeping bag, tent, pillow, camp pad, and some extra clothes in the saddle bag. The frame has a tiny stove, pot and some 'emergency dinner', snacks, inner tube, pump, bike tool,  head lamp, and other small personal items like a toothbrush.... I may use something close to this set up when I attempt the Alexander 380 in May.

Nearing the end of day one, and the first 100 miles, we see riders having a heavy snack at a grocery store and head over to join them. I lose my cycling gloves at this stop. I set them on my bike but they must have fallen off and I didn't see them and rode off without them.

 Coming into town for the first night.

 Camp is all set up and everyone is interested in 2 things, dinner and sleep.

The night was good for me but many people cheated on the gear they needed and took a soaking in the thunderstorms that passed over us. Many retreated to the lodge. I don't know if they sucked at camping or got stupid in packing as rain was forecast at 100% so nobody should have needed shelter outside of what they could carry.

 Morning line up after breakfast. Rain starts by 10am and it pisses on us all day making a very difficult day for everyone. Ok, that tree (below) blew down last night.

 Downed trees are common on these back roads, the storm wasn't that bad.

 I flat but my buddies are cool and hang out while I replace the tube and we are back on our way.

 You can tell from all the smudged photos that the rain never stops and I have no way to dry the lens. The roads are getting soft and we are only warm when riding. Stopping means bone soaked cold.

 The half way stop and the ONLY place to stop the entire day. It's just so remote there are no gas stations or towns along the route. It's all forest roads.

 Inside the rest stop we fill up on bananas and PB&J's. Everyone is shelled and their faces show it or more correctly show no emotions at all, wet gravel zombies. But this little fella is a huge help.

 All the rain and storms make mud holes. They were fun, now they suck and you just pray you don't crash and go swimming.

 We are always finding things in the woods like old hunting shacks or this hobo crib.

More rain and cold. This day is a grind, literally. It takes us over 12 hours to cover the 105 miles. That's many hours past even a slow ride. It was just a metric to quantify how hard the day was.

 Even harder. We push something like 3 miles of ankle deep mud (some riding) but we are nearing the end so every mile is gold.

The end. The ride organizer greets us with a handshake and a congratulation on completing the first Heck EPIC! I am really looking forward to more 2 day bikepacking rides including the EPIC.

Last thing, we are feet away from the parking lot we started in 36 hours ago but I got dropped off and have 12 more miles to ride into town. I get several offers for a lift but what's 12 more? They are a bit surprised I'm still content to ride but I like long and a few miles of downhill road is a treat compared to the slog we just finished.