Excellent snowbiking conditions: One day only

With 24 inches of new wet heavy snow the last week we went from not enough snow for snowbiking to too much snow. I didn't go out over the weekend on the Pugsley for two reasons. The two feet of new snow was wet and greasy. It would be like trying to ride on bacon grease. And hordes of snowmobilers were out in force. It was their first chance to ride this winter.

However, as luck would have it, I was off from work today. I asked for this day off several weeks ago when I was a bit stressed and feeling like I needed a three day weekend to decompress. I couldn't have planned it any better. The temperatures went from the 30's down into the single digits last night. I woke up to a temp of 5F/-15C degrees. I reckoned this would firm things up out on the snowmobiles trail. But I knew I would have to get out early to take advantage of it.


I got out later than I wanted, 9:30. But it was typically early for me on a day off. I rode the neighborhood streets the one mile I need to go to access the snowmobile trails and was delightfully surprised.



Just as I had expected there was evidence of heavy snowmobile traffic from the weekend. And the trail had firmed up nicely in the cold morning temps. It wasn't the fastest snow I've ridden, but it was heavenly to be out in it.



I rode my favorite 21 mile loop in the western part of town. A loop I would normally ride once or twice a week in a normal winter. Half of this route I hadn't been able to ride at all yet this year. Some parts need a good base to cover tall grass and old ATV ruts.


This was a first, being passed by a dog musher. Now dog teams aren't unusual in these parts, but I've never seen one in town before (Except when we went to watch the start of the Bear Grease Dog Sled Marathon). For the first two hours of this ride I didn't see a single snow machine. The last hour I saw only five. It was a good day to be out.











The temps went from 15F/-10C degrees at the start of my ride to 32F/0C degrees at the end. I could notice the snow softening up quite a bit. It was hard snow to ride by the end, but traction wasn't much of an issue. If the sun had been out, it would have been much more difficult to ride once the suns heat started to soften things up.




I could ride all the hills except the very steepest like this one.



This is one of the sections I haven't been able to ride all winter due to the lack of snow to cover a badly rutted trail. It's also my favorite section close to my house.


I stopped here to put on a dry hat and neck gaiter. It's a mile and half downhill from here. I was darn sweaty from the rise in temperature combined with the amount of energy I was putting out.



Could this be the best and only real snowbiking day of the year? We are supposed to have a warm up starting tomorrow with temperatures in the 40's. I might have timed this day off perfectly.


It sure was a great way to spend a day off.

Snow and more snow

So it snowed for something like 36 hours this weekend. The forecast had called for and inch or maybe two. Didn't get that right. We got about 10 inches in my neighborhood. As much as 16 inches in the eastern neighborhoods.


My back yard this morning. One week ago today there was about 1 inch of snow out there. In the last week we've gotten 24 inches of snow.


Too much snow for even a snow bike like my Pugsley. Plus there were too many snowmobiles out this weekend. It's the first time this winter there's been enough snow to snowmobile. I wasn't about to try and share the trails this weekend. So I rode around town yesterday and today. Ran a few errands today. It was great just to be out with all the snow around.


Here you can see the lake effect snow coming down over the Wisconsin shore across the lake. All of our snow this weekend was the result of lake effect snow showers.


There was at least a half a foot more snow in the east side of town.

It's supposed to get up into the 40's by Tuesday. It's going to get sloppy.

Dave Wages at Ellis Cycles goes 4 for 4 at NAHBS

2012 NAHBS Best Steel Construction

Every one that reads my blog knows I'm a fan of Ellis Cycles. Dave Wages built my dream bike back in 2008. I've been spending a lot of computer time this weekend looking at all the pictures coming out of the North America Handmade Bicycle Show. Dave made the trip to Sacramento, CA for his fourth NAHBS show. For the fourth year in a row Dave returns home with a major award for one of his frames. His rando bike garnered the award for Best Steel Construction. If this were baseball, Dave would be batting a thousand. Of course it's not about winning. The exposure builders get at a show like this can produce a lot of new orders. But walking away with an award four years in a row has got to feel pretty darn good.

See more pictures of this amazing bike. Dave's subtle attention to detail is flawless.

A reminder of Dave's past awards:

2011 NAHBS Best Road Bike



2010 NAHBS Best of Show



2009 NAHBS Best Lugged Bike

And a couple of pictures of my beautiful Ellis frame:



Frame: Dave Wages, Paint: Jason Sanchez

Congratulations Dave!

Be careful what you ask for.

I spent all winter waiting and wishing for snow in one of the driest winters in memory. That is until now. Wednesday's blizzard dropped more than a foot of heavy wet snow. Yesterday the forecast for overnight was a 40% chance of 1" of snow. So far today we've had 6 inches with a winter storm warning calling for 6-9 inches. Wow. Where'd that come from? We've had more snow in the past week than we've had the entire winter.

Most of my reader's would expect I'd be out on the Pugsley this weekend. Not going to happen. Too much of a good thing. (sorry for the cliches) This much wet snow is like trying to ride on 3 inches of bacon grease. Even a fat tired Pugsley will go nowhere in it. The other reason I won't be out today on the trails is in the top left of the picture. Snowmobiles have not had a chance to be out at all this winter. They will be out in crazed hordes. Not a good time to try to share the trail. My only hope is the snowmobiles pack down the snow and the next couple of nights of temps in the teens firm things up enough to get out before the warmer weather next week makes it a sloppy mess.

After the blizzard

Not long after I posted the "Snow Day" post on Wednesday, our winter storm officially became a blizzard. White out conditions and winds over 60 mph pushed it into blizzard classification.

Now that it's the beginning of March, winter is finally here.

Hard to believe there was virtually no snow on the ground a week ago, or all winter for that matter.

Snow Day

A low quality video showing what 39 mph sustained winds with 50 mph gusts looks like from my front yard.

Big winter storm passing through today. Near blizzard conditions with 39 mph sustained winds and 55 mph gusts off Lake Superior. We were supposed to get about 8 inches of snow over night and another 8 inches of snow today. The storm slowed down as it approached Lake Superior so we only got about an inch overnight. Around sunrise it really got going and we've picked up at least 8 or 10 inches during the day today. The temperature is around freezing, so it is very heavy, wet snow. Being outside is like standing in the rain in snow like this.

My place of work closes when the schools close because we provide services to vulnerable adults with disabilities.

I took the Pugsley out about noon to test the riding. We get these kind of storms most every year around this time. One thing new fat bike owners believe is that a bike like the Pugsley can ride through anything. Not true. Ten inches of wet snow is impossible to ride in even with a Pugsley. Today I could only ride the plowed roads which were only the main roads. The side roads weren't plowed yet. My ride was short because I wasn't feeling very safe on the main roads.


Grand Ave in West Duluth. It looks snow covered, but I'd describe it more as slush covered. Which meant I became slush covered riding the fat tires in it.




I'm not sure how ski goggles became standard equipment for winter bicycle riding. I can't stand wearing them. They totally block your peripheral vision. A simple pair of $7 wrap around safety glasses provide the same amount of protection and don't limit your ability to see everything around you. I'd highly recommend them over any ski goggle.


Our city not only uses trucks with plows for snow removal,but also graders equipped with a wing plow. Even this grader was straining against the heavy, wet snow while trying to go uphill.

I ended this month of February with 581 miles of riding. For the year so far, I've gotten in 1,206 miles. That's the most miles I've ever ridden in January and February combined. Even when I did back to back 8,000 mile years a few years ago I didn't have that good of a start to the year. So what's my motivation? See my last post. I want to be in top condition for my big adventure so I can fully enjoy the trip.

TransAmerica Trail 2012....I'm going Nationwide.

I've been keeping a secret. I've had plans in the works for months, years. Thirty years. Adventure Cycling Association's TransAmerica Bicycle Trail is at the top of my Bucket List, numero uno. And I'm not waiting until I get old to cross it off the list. It's been a dream since the late 70's or early 80's. It's been my next big adventure since I finished the last one with Susan....namely our 6 month thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail. It was supposed to happen last year. And then Susan came down with aplastic anemia and her body stopped making it's own blood. Thankfully her bone marrow has been manufacturing blood for the past year now.

I bought my Surly Long Haul Trucker specifically for this trip back in February of 2008. I bought it from Hiawatha Cyclery in Minneapolis as a gift to myself for finishing the Arrowhead 135 a few weeks earlier. I took lots of overnight camping trips on it to practice for the big trip.

I've been saving all my pennies since I finished paying off my beautiful Ellis in January of 2010. I have $6,000 saved up for the trip. Not an easy feat if you knew what I make.

Why haven't I shared this until now? I don't like to do a lot of talking unless my plans are solid. Today it became solid. The Executive Director (the big boss) at the non-profit company I work for granted me a three month "leave-of-absence", kind of a sabbatical as she put it. I made the request for the leave back in mid-December. It's been a long couple of months.

I tried to stay positive and hope the request would be granted. But no one has ever asked for a leave at my place of work unless it was one required by law like maternity or family leave. I wasn't sure what I would have done if the answer had been "no". I really didn't want to quit, or be unemployed. Plus, I really enjoy my job and wanted to return to it after the trip.

I'm numb. It hasn't sunk in yet that I will be living my dream this summer.

A few details, more later. I will be following the TransAmerica route from west to east starting sometime mid-June. I will be going solo and unsupported.

Well, there it is!

Entering an active weather pattern

That's what the local weather man said. After a winter of very little snowfall we are 40"'s behind our normal snowfall for the season so far. March and April are months we tend to get a lot of snow. That may still happen this year. We had a storm drop two inches last Tuesday. Now there's 2-4 inches predicted tomorrow and the possibility of 4-8 from another storm coming for Tuesday and Wednesday. That's all good news to me.

Today I got out on the Pugsley for 22 miles of what little snow I could find. I also did the last three miles out on the ice of the St Louis Bay again today after discovering what good riding it was last weekend. Here's mostly pictures from the ride.

I expected to see this road still snow covered. Apparently the warmth from the late February sun got to it.





I can never resist this view from Bardons Peak looking east towards Duluth and Lake Superior.





Out on the ice. I figured it could support me if it could support the ATV's, and a 4x4 truck at one spot.





It's a beautiful day in my neighborhood.


I had to cross this creek where it entered the bay. The ice was solid and the ATV's had made it across.

Share the joy.

Winter makes an appearance

These pictures represent about 4 miles of my commute. There is only about one inch of snow in the first picture. Four miles later there is nearly 3 inches of snow.


Right after taking this one Tim Ek rode by going the other way on his new Salsa Mukluk. It would have been nice to be on the Pugsley, but the wet sloppy ride home would have been miserable on the fender-less pug. That's okay, the Belt Check with 700 x 40 Schwalbe Winter Marathons handled the snow fine today. I didn't even need to lower the tire pressure.





Not only was it snowing moderately heavy, but it was socked in with fog too. Between the snow on the road, the falling snow and the fog, all sounds were muted. It was very quiet. The few cars that passed me from behind I didn't hear them coming until they were right behind me on my wheel. It's pretty cool to be out in weather like this.



If the weather patterns change and we start getting a couple storms like this each week (March and April are typically heavy snow months), we could actually see nearly two months of winter here yet!

Cross off that idea.

After yesterdays ice riding on the St Louis Bay I've been thinking about whether or not a crossing could be made by fat bike on the ice from Minnesota to Wisconsin. My main concern is the crossing of the main channel of the St Louis River. I was afraid the ice would thin out over the channel and be unsafe to cross.

Today I circumnavigated the Bay on roads. I did a 23 mile loop.

On the southern end of my loop I crossed the river into Wisconsin on the Oliver Bridge.

You can hardly see it in this picture, but there is an ATV on the river near the shore in the upper left. It surprised me because this is a narrow part of the river, a point where the ice would thin a lot.


A nice ride through the Wisconsin countryside.


This is the view across the Bay looking at Minnesota from the Billings Park neighborhood of Superior, Wisconsin. I would love to attempt a crossing here between these two points. It's maybe three miles across and possibly the widest spot that's a straight shot. But here you can see a problem. The main river channel is close to this side of the Bay. Right at the shoreline you can see the buckled ice being pushed up. That means the ice is moving, perhaps being pushed by the river's current. Not a good thing.


And here is a view from the Bong Bridge of the main channel as it comes under the train bridge. Major cracks in the ice. I could see flowing water in the cracks from the bridge.

Soon after I got home from my ride today I saw the local paper had a story titled, "Coast Guard in Duluth Warns of Unsafe Ice". It confirmed my assumptions the ice isn't safe for a crossing right now. Quote, “Ice conditions are deteriorating rapidly. Major wet cracks and ice breaks have been recognized the last few days,” Boatswains Mate Third Class Matthew Murphy said. And: Warm weather and shifting winds have combined to create extremely hazardous ice on the St. Louis River, according to the Coast Guard.

That could explain the flat bottomed air boat with an enclosed control cabin on the deck that I saw during today's ride. It was being trailered through the Gary/New Duluth neighborhood. It was marked "Coast Guard" Maybe they use that for ice rescues?

Well, I guess I wait for a colder year for this little adventure.