Ramblings from Moe Mountain

Fishermen catching anything?
They were disappointed, only one catch when I saw them. I wished 'em luck and rode on.
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ya gotta get your steamy breath outta your balaklava, away from your goggles somehow. believe it or not, the scubaspit-rub-rinse on the inside helps a bit too, but then you have wet goggles.

mouth breathers have the advantage there
 
ya gotta get your steamy breath outta your balaklava, away from your goggles somehow. believe it or not, the scubaspit-rub-rinse on the inside helps a bit too, but then you have wet goggles.

mouth breathers have the advantage there

This is what I got and thought it was the answer. I'll keep workin' on it. Heat exchanger works great though!
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Nice. We did a big loop today and hit up the lake too. But the ice wasn't white like in your pics. It was glare ice and we didn't have studs so we tooled around in the northeast cove where there was a bit of snow then headed back to the trail. Awesome conditions today.
@icebiker
I saw that on your Strava, I had glare ice too for about 30 feet before I got to the snowy part, studs are a necessity there.
That was a great ride you guys did!
 
Feb 6
I think this will be the last frozen day to ride for a few days. It’s going to warm up. I wanted a nice leisurely ride today, take it easy and enjoy the scenery. That worked for the first mile and a half, then I got to the ruts left by four wheelers, trucks I guess. An easy ride turned into a challenge. Either ride in the ruts or try and circumvent them. There was a lot of ice too. The ruts were to deep to ride because of pedal strikes. I still had a good time, just not what I had planned, it turned into work. Don’t take Iron Mt trail unless you want to work. Everything is still frozen solid now at 8 AM. I also rode the beach area and surrounding picnic area which still has fresh snow and made for a fun ride.

The frozen north!
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Well this morning I went to the park, but it was closed, not letting anyone in. So I drove to Cherry Ridge rd. and went in a back way.
It was too tough to ride, about 10 to 12 inches of snow with only some truck tire tracks to get me started, and I can't ride that fine a line.
Snow No Go09.jpg


So this afternoon I went back to the park and it was open. I had snowmobile tracks to ride too! This will be great! Not. The snow sucked!
Soft mushy and unrideable, all I did was wheel spin, even with studs, and even with my new center row of studs I put in last week. Damn, I rode the hard packed snow on the road and went up to the lake. Ah! more snowmobile tracks. still no good, soft and slippery and the snow stuck to my tires like glue, so all I had was a big snow wheel to try and ride on snow with. I resigned myself to road riding on hardpacked snow and I got my 4 + miles in. BUT! to save the day a nice Bard Owl gave me a look and posed for a picture. Not a bad day after all.

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Snow wheel
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Well this morning I went to the park, but it was closed, not letting anyone in. So I drove to Cherry Ridge rd. and went in a back way.
It was too tough to ride, about 10 to 12 inches of snow with only some truck tire tracks to get me started, and I can't ride that fine a line.
View attachment 47495

So this afternoon I went back to the park and it was open. I had snowmobile tracks to ride too! This will be great! Not. The snow sucked!
Soft mushy and unrideable, all I did was wheel spin, even with studs, and even with my new center row of studs I put in last week. Damn, I rode the hard packed snow on the road and went up to the lake. Ah! more snowmobile tracks. still no good, soft and slippery and the snow stuck to my tires like glue, so all I had was a big snow wheel to try and ride on snow with. I resigned myself to road riding on hardpacked snow and I got my 4 + miles in. BUT! to save the day a nice Bard Owl gave me a look and posed for a picture. Not a bad day after all.

View attachment 47496

Snow wheel
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Yikes! That's like having two ten pound wheels!
 
Well this morning I went to the park, but it was closed, not letting anyone in. So I drove to Cherry Ridge rd. and went in a back way.
It was too tough to ride, about 10 to 12 inches of snow with only some truck tire tracks to get me started, and I can't ride that fine a line.
View attachment 47495

So this afternoon I went back to the park and it was open. I had snowmobile tracks to ride too! This will be great! Not. The snow sucked!
Soft mushy and unrideable, all I did was wheel spin, even with studs, and even with my new center row of studs I put in last week. Damn, I rode the hard packed snow on the road and went up to the lake. Ah! more snowmobile tracks. still no good, soft and slippery and the snow stuck to my tires like glue, so all I had was a big snow wheel to try and ride on snow with. I resigned myself to road riding on hardpacked snow and I got my 4 + miles in. BUT! to save the day a nice Bard Owl gave me a look and posed for a picture. Not a bad day after all.

View attachment 47496

Snow wheel
View attachment 47498

View attachment 47497

View attachment 47499
Nice owl shot. Waywayanda is such a great place.
 
Well I didn't get out yesterday, crappy ice & snow day. I did get to the park this morning though, 7:30 AM and 26° and super windy.
The trails are totally unrideable, for me anyway. Icy crust breaks through to soft snow making things no go. Maybe if I weighed 110 lbs. and my bike weighed 20 lbs I'd stand a chance, maybe not. Still I had a nice five mile road ride. The roads are solid ice, with some ruts, but not bad with studs.
That was at 7:30 AM and by now the roads will be a lot worse because the salt sander truck was just starting it's run and things will get sloppy. The wind was so strong up by the lake that it actually stopped me! I was peddling and a big gust hit me straight on and I couldn't push through it, it held me there! Amazing.
No photos today, forgot the camera. Here are photos from the past, but this is exactly how it was today.

Lake07.jpg
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Last edited:
02/18/2017
Nice morning in the park, 24° at 7 AM and clear skies.
The trails were pretty good to ride, You need a lot more power though.
Conditions were pretty good, the snow was still frozen and packed from
hikers and snow machine. A few icy spots too. You could get slightly off
trail and push through the softer stuff. It’s a good thing they have benches
through out the park as I often need to rest and regroup. Ice fisherman were
out and living dangerously near the waters edge. I wasn’t going out on it.
So I rode some road and rode some trails and had a great morning. By afternoon
I think things will go to crap.

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I was out there between 8:00 and 10:30, then a little road time. If you could stick with trails that had snowmobile tracks it was good. Any other trail was tough unless really tromped down by foot traffic. Cutting new trail = impossible. There must still be 6"+ off trail.
 
I was out there between 8:00 and 10:30, then a little road time. If you could stick with trails that had snowmobile tracks it was good. Any other trail was tough unless really tromped down by foot traffic. Cutting new trail = impossible. There must still be 6"+ off trail.
I saw your ride, strava, good job! I know what ya mean about new trails. I only got a couple of miles in and they ate me up.
I hope I didn't mislead you about being an OK ride today, but I know you're a powerhouse and smart enough to figure it out and pick your trails.
 
No worries. Any ride is a good ride...well, usually. 😉

I've always felt that the top of that mountain up there is some sort of unusual weather phenomenon. The snow seems deeper almost every storm. I know in the past there have been times where Jungle Habitat was down to dirt and there were still a few inches on the ground up the hill. Same friggin' town. Just another thing that makes Wawayanda special.

Seems like @trailhead was able to get in some miles coming from Ferber circle along Cherry Ridge and Laurel Pond. Not sure how he returned. But, its definitely a matter of finding the packed down stuff. By now, its 60 degrees by me, so I'm sure the meltdown is on.

I saw your ride, strava, good job! I know what ya mean about new trails. I only got a couple of miles in and they ate me up.
I hope I didn't mislead you about being an OK ride today, but I know you're a powerhouse and smart enough to figure it out and pick your trails.
 
Some trails are good and some are not! A lot of ice is left and some rideable snow too.
It was fun riding the snowmobile tracks and only sinking about an inch, then you either
hit a soft spot or get a little off track and sink a good 3 to 4 inches and have to hit the power.
I still found places to make fresh tracks. I also rode the beach which is still semi-frozen. I had
a great time, but only did about 6 miles, so I wouldn't recommend the park for a great ride.

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03/04/17
I haven’t written in a while because not much has been going on. I’ve been sick with a cold for a few weeks and taking it easy. Today I got out and rode Wawayanda at 7 AM. A nice cold day at 18°. There was a nice snow cover on everything and it all looked beautiful. The trails were frozen and good to ride, even though I took my studded tires off. I figured I wouldn’t be riding any more lakes or huge icy trails. A few spots today I could have used the studs though. I rode about 9 miles mostly on trails and across the beach. I went Iron Mountain and met up with a hiker near where the Appellation Trail crosses it. He said I’m the only person he saw all day. He was a real goofball! He had no hat, earmuffs, gloves, nothin’ ! He had a camera around his neck, so I asked him if he got any good photos today? He said a few good ones of mice, but he was really looking for Big Foot. He lives in these woods you know. I’ve seen a hut that I think he lives in. I told him I know of a hut too, over by Little Bear trail. He said he doesn't get over that way much. I said I better get going, see ya! I finished out the ride and I was freezing cold, my hand and feet especially.

The nice snow cover today
wingdam3.jpg


The Hut on Little Bear (older photo)
Little Bear hut45.jpg
 
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