Snow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[woody]

Fun ride at CR this afternoon w/Kirt. Red, White, Yellow, some Blue.

Oh wait, this is a fatbike thread, never mind.

http://app.strava.com/activities/40476432http://app.strava.com/activities/40476432

 

[icebiker]

^^ cool..how many inches fell? and was it decently packed down? I'm never too sure what sort of local foot traffic that place gets, but assume you'd have the 411 on that being local and all. Good to know for future. Please don't tell me you rode your SS, in the snow, up the yellow :cry:

 

[bighit]

Were you the dude in the camo/driving the honda?

Thats me.

 

[rlb]

Thats me.

Cool I was the dude on the red salsa, bumped into you on blue and in the lot. Nice to put a face to a name!

 

[bighit]

Yes it is. I am usually arriving when everyone else is leaving.

 

[woody]

^^ cool..how many inches fell? and was it decently packed down? I'm never too sure what sort of local foot traffic that place gets, but assume you'd have the 411 on that being local and all. Good to know for future. Please don't tell me you rode your SS, in the snow, up the yellow :cry:

Hey Greg, we got about 8" total at CR: 2" heavy wet followed by 6" moist powder. Yesterday, the CR trails close to the lot were well-packed by foot traffic, but it was some tough pushing further out. (For the record, we went far beyond where the fat bike tracks stopped.)

Great to see how much you're enjoying that monster bike! I must admit, it crossed my mind that bigger tires might have been a good thing yesterday...but I never had any desire for more than one gear.

 

[Steve Vai]

Here's a little bit of 6-Mile footage. This is the only trail there that I was able to hit virgin trail. Still single-speed

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GjV-EXJscjo&feature=youtu.be

-Jim.

 

[icebiker]

^^ nice....from the earlier reports it sounded like CR and 6M were questionable....but youz guys made a good go of it! Jim, I woulda joined you at 6MR (it's only 35 mins from my place), but thought you were doing Allaire, no?

 

[extremedave]

Here's a little bit of 6-Mile footage. This is the only trail there that I was able to hit virgin trail. Still single-speed

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GjV-EXJscjo&feature=youtu.be

-Jim.

I gotta check my Gopro. Yours seems to film way faster.:hmmm:

Seriously though, I wonder if a regular tired bike would work better in those conditions. Rather than floating on top, then spinning, a skinny tire might cut through to the hardpack underneath. Generally speaking, that's the plan with automotive snow tires, try to go a little narrower and grab the blacktop.

 

[rlb]

I gotta check my Gopro. Yours seems to film way faster.:hmmm:

Seriously though, I wonder if a regular tired bike would work better in those conditions. Rather than floating on top, then spinning, a skinny tire might cut through to the hardpack underneath. Generally speaking, that's the plan with automotive snow tires, try to go a little narrower and grab the blacktop.

At CR I had mixed results with this, I don't think there is one right answer. Sometimes my (skinny) tires would grip better in the fresh stuff, sometimes it was better in the "chunk" where people had been through already. I think in the end its more about keeping momentum or having good balance skills at little to no speed, which will allow you to feather the pedals to avoid spinning out. I also suppose that the conditions at the base were varied depending on slope, sun exposure etc.

 

[Steve Vai]

I gotta check my Gopro. Yours seems to film way faster.:hmmm:

Seriously though, I wonder if a regular tired bike would work better in those conditions. Rather than floating on top, then spinning, a skinny tire might cut through to the hardpack underneath. Generally speaking, that's the plan with automotive snow tires, try to go a little narrower and grab the blacktop.

In the fresh stuff the bike hooked up like I was on a normal bike on hardpack. One section of that video the snow was nearly a foot deep and the bike went through. Ton of effort, but it went through. You can see the bike sorta leap forward with each pedal stroke.

Riding in people's tracks the bike would get kicked around and I would fall or slip out every 20 feet. I only posted the 3 minutes during my ride I didn't have to put my foot down

-Jim.

 

[stb222]

Riding in people's tracks the bike would get kicked around and I would fall or slip out every 20 feet. I only posted the 3 minutes during my ride I didn't have to put my foot down

-Jim.

I was gonna say it seemed awfully fishy that you were the only person to have a successful ride on the fat bike in this weekends snow, it is almost like you sell the stuff or something.

 

[icebiker]

I think in the end its more about keeping momentum or having good balance skills at little to no speed, which will allow you to feather the pedals to avoid spinning out. I also suppose that the conditions at the base were varied depending on slope, sun exposure etc.

^This....

Riding in people's tracks the bike would get kicked around and I would fall or slip out every 20 feet.

^and this.

It's like riding a frozen skinny. Where the fat tires really help is when you slide off the narrow "packed" section into the "chunder". I find with regular tires there's not enough float nor tread bite, whereas with the wider tires you can (mostly) get back on track.

Sometimes though, like when you see an XC skier or hiker coming towards you on the track, you have to pull into the chundery mess and motor through as best you can.

 

[Steve Vai]

Anywhere it was flat, down, or a little up I could ride ok just off to the side. Sharp turns the bike just goes straight into the woods, and because I'm SS on steeper climbs I'd slip the wheel and have to walk. I wish I could've hit it on saturday morning before there were any tracks, it would have been a lot more ride able.

-Jim.

 

[gtluke]

 

[extremedave]

It's like riding a frozen skinny. Where the fat tires really help is when you slide off the narrow "packed" section into the "chunder". I find with regular tires there's not enough float nor tread bite, whereas with the wider tires you can (mostly) get back on track.

Sometimes though, like when you see an XC skier or hiker coming towards you on the track, you have to pull into the chundery mess and motor through as best you can.

Frozen skinny is a good analogy. Here I was thinking you guys were just sailing around while I was getting my ass kicked. I dunno, it was a good workout but would be hard to call it fun. Probably half the snow will be gone by this weekend so it should shape up pretty good.

 

[bobkennelly]

Now we are talking!!! Very nice!!

 

[extremedave]

So...how much snow by you?

I'm thinking Mahlon might be the sweet spot for Sunday, co-worker said rt. 15 on up was pretty snowy. Maybe 2-3 inches around here but will lose a bunch if it's sunny Saturday.
Anybody?

 

[icebiker]

tempted...but I'm boarding Sunday at Windham....Mahlon typically keeps its snow pretty well....it may be packed down by Sunday since it's so wet...should be perfect for the Nates...

 

[extremedave]

tempted...but I'm boarding Sunday at Windham....Mahlon typically keeps its snow pretty well....it may be packed down by Sunday since it's so wet...should be perfect for the Nates...

Just did a little recon it looks good, maybe 3-4 inches left. If it gets below 32 tonight even better. 8-8:30 if anyone wants in.