Ok folks, today is a long series of images. Maybe my longest ever. Yep, sit back and enjoy a whole bunch of pictures. Please note I was up very late last night picking images. I may have enjoyed a Surly Furious ale while searching as well. My point being, these images aren’t meant to represent my best work. I picked them to tell the story….Although many of them I like very much. So let’s begin.

April 2012 – I spent most of the month preparing to go to Japan. That meant getting all my gear together. The bike stuff was a bit easy, but I spent quite a bit of time testing bike, clothing and camping gear to get it all right. I did manage to ride quite a bit too. Again, I did this to prep my body for longer, repetitive days in the saddle while in Japan. Here’s what April looked like.

Our mild winter led to primo gravel – Not bad for April 1st!

We spent time with friends

Taking shade in Scioto Township

My girl getting it done in the pool

Hanging out with my little man

Fisheye view – Experimenting with my camera gear while at soccer practice

New bikes

Cayuna with the Salsa crew

Friday morning breakfast ride – Sunrise @ Fort Snelling

May 2012 – This was the month of Japan. I spent much of the month working, riding, touring, bikepacking and exploring Japan. I haven’t written much about it yet.  I took a few thousand images while in Japan. There are so many good shots and stories to tell, but this is not the place nor do we have the time to do that. That said, I will share some images with you today from Japan. Once I returned, I was in recovery mode and spent as much time as I could with my family and kids. It was also soccer season and this was my son’s first year on a traveling competitive soccer team. He, and I, loved it.

My Salsa Fargo prepped to go on a big journey in a far away land

MSP Airport – Here we go

My first glimpse of Japan – On our descent into Narita

Noto Peninsula – I can’t believe I got to ride there

TBC Portrait @ sculpture garden near Naoetsu

Fish Socks – My favorite image from Japan – I have this printed 14×20 and visible from my home office desk. I look at it every single day.

Spicy beef noodle soup – My favorite food

Read the top cap – Yes that says “Boucher” – @ a private bike collection/museum

Treasures – Kato Cycles

The mountains of Kyoto

Street shooting in Shibuya

In a rush – Our final train station on our way to Narita Airport

Home at last. In the back yard. I call this image the hand of God

June 2012 – While I was still in recovery mode mode from Japan, I put the bike mostly away and focused on family and work. We had a 50th wedding anniversary for my wife’s parents as well as the kick off for Reveal the Path movie, for which I got to participate in the filming while in Alaska in August of 2011. I had no words in the movie and only had a small cameo, but it was still cool and every time I see it (and I’ve seen it a lot), I laugh and smile at the Alaska section of that movie. Beyond those things, it was prime soccer season and I rode gravel every chance I got.

Dominique Fraissard @ The Reveal the Path world premiere

Thankful to be home with my family – Backyard party with friends

Riding with my kids @ Lebanon Hills

Soccer – I am learning to shoot sports. This is not my son, but I liked the image.

This is my son – Soccer in the rain

Morning ride with friends

The kick off of our Friday coffee rides also started in June

On the ranch – In North Dakota

As the wind blows – Souris River Valley – North Dakota

Honestly, these three months were packed. It was an exciting time in my life. I will cherish many of the moments shared here for the rest of my life. I am thankful I have so many rich memories captured with images. Hope you enjoyed them as much as I enjoyed sharing them.

Come on back tomorrow for July-September! It’s going to be another long one.

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