Its a nice snowy morning, I got into the park early, before they closed it so they could plow.
It was barely ride-able, deep and wet and heavy snow. Some I could ride and some I gave up on.
But.....I was back at it riding from light of day to darkness, a first for me. Rode the Moonlander.
Riding was hard and ya had to be careful not to wash out. I was really surprised,
even with the studded Dillinger 5 on the rear and the Snowshoe 2XL 5.25 on the front at 3 psi. I still had trouble. And the wind was so fierce I actually had to dismount for 50 feet at the lower part of the lake, because it was blowing me sideways in the snow and leaning into it didn't help anymore.
Thanksgiving ride with Team Town Cycle. It was a great group of riders that showed up for this ride.
I knew I wouldn’t be able to keep up, but I tagged along for the first half mile or so.
They took the high road (Little Bear), and I took the low road ( Wingdam), and we arrived at the dam at about the same time.
That’s where I went my way and they all went theirs.
Here are some photos.
Did a little trail maintenance on Wingdam trail today.
There was a pine tree down along with a smaller tree, right across the trail.
I rode in and used my hand saw to clear a path. A 45 minute ride and an hour TM.
This trail doesn't get a lot of bike traffic, but I happen to love this trail, so it's for me.
Could have been wider, but I pooped out, hey it's rideable,..... another day!
Rode Dbl Pond, Plymouth Lane and Banker back to Dbl Pond T-Day afternoon. Lots of derailer killers out there. Cleaned up most. Fairly good conditions other than that.
Rode Dbl Pond, Plymouth Lane and Banker back to Dbl Pond T-Day afternoon. Lots of derailer killers out there. Cleaned up most. Fairly good conditions other than that.
Thanks, great to hear the trails are pretty good. That ride is a good workout! Plymouth is a great trail, big thanks to Black Bear Cycling for building it!
I did my usual five mile ride in Wawayanda today at 7AM, and then hung around to see the Cycle Cross race.
They had a GREAT turn out! It was only about 30° this morning. The announcer said the beach is nice and hard packed,
I yelled at him, no it ain't, it's frozen! Saw some familiar faces and I had a great time watching the racers and checking out
all the cool bikes.
A nice 15 LB bike!
Then I went to the Bar and had lunch and beer and hung out with the "other" bikers.
Had a great ride this morning, 30° and two inches of heavy wet snow!
Trails were almost closed because of branches hanging down, I had to stop many times to work my way through them.
The snow was so slippery I rode like a drunkin' sailor! No falls, but a lot of dancin' around.
I also heard a few gun shots, it's bear hunting season. Sure to have my orange on.
I got my seven miles in and had the most fun I've had in a while!
A little more trail maintenance today, I took out the pine that was blocking Double Pond trail by the bridge.
It was a nice 28° day and I worked in just my base layer shirt and jeans.
Then I did a nice ride up Laurel Pond trail to Sitting Bear. Lots of ice and snow still.
Great being out on the trails alone at 7 AM, very quiet!
20° and ice and snow and sleet! Just rite for Fatbiking! So I got to Wawayanda a little early hoping they didn’t lock the gate because of the snow, but damn it they did! I have a special spot I can park across the street where the hunters park sometimes, but they have 4 wheel drive trucks and I have a Ford Fusion. I thought I’d give it a try anyway, what’s the worst that can happen, I get stuck in the snow.
Well I made it, barely, skidding and sliding, but I was in. I unloaded and rode the bike in and they never knew it! Right down the Hoeferlin trail, where I stopped and turned my headlight on, any earlier and I might have been spotted. My ride was going very well and was really nice with the snow falling and about 4 inches on the trails. Very slick snow though, even with my big Bud tire on front which is studded with Gripstuds and my rear Dillinger 5 studded . I guess the studs don’t help in the snow because they don’t have anything hard to grip against. I rode down to the furnace and up around the lake and across the beach. Now it started sleeting and my goggles fogged up. You can’t find a line in snow unless you can see perfectly! Ruts and shadows and rocks are hard to distinguish. Took the goggles off and the sleet was brutal. I was alternating between goggles and no goggles for the remainder of my ride. Towards the end the snow was getting a lot deeper and slipperyer. It was all I could do to ride on and hold it straight. I got my seven miles in and called it quits. What a great ride at 7AM.
Wow...everything was iced over today! My Dillinger studded tires were getting a workout.
One problem riding is the ruts created by hunters trucks. It's hard to maintain a straight line while navigating these.
I was skidding on the ice, even with the studs, spinning the rear tire at times and having the front slide out too.
Nothing that caused me to fall, but it's a handful riding like this. I stopped to adjust my tire pressure too. I gotta say
it's no fun at 17°, I can't imagine what it's like in Alaska doing maintenance at sub zero weather.