Monday, January 12, 2009

Big Ride Sunday

Big Ride Sunday Quick Stats:
Total Ride Time: 6:28:00
Time spent pushing: 1:15:00
Weather: 26F, cloudy
Days til' the Susitna 100: 34
Miles: 46

Dear Mother Nature,
Please send more below zero temps to Teton Valley, ID the last week of January.
Thanks,
Dave


In addition to building fitness, the goal of this ride was to try out a few more ideas for layering and nutrition. I went in search of trails & backroads that would be windblown and soft so that some pushing would be required and I could try out an idea for being commfortable on extended pushing sessions.

I could have taken a plowed route but this road was untraveled so I chose it instead

This spring looks "moosey" to me

Breaking trail much of the way up Horseshoe Canyon

Pushing builds character right?

Random Post-Ride thoughts:

1) Peanut Butter LaraBars are becoming a favorite snow bike food because they stay pretty soft even when frozen.

2) The RBH Designs NTS Vest is very promising. I wore it Fri afternoon, Sat & Sun and I am very happy with the results so far. I need to try it in below zero temps before I get too excited though.

3) Soft Shell pants vs. pants with a true Windstopper front - the verdict is still out on this one.

2 comments:

KB said...

Beautiful photos!

I'm wondering how well your snowbike did on the unpacked trails that you show in your post. I'm still (but not for long) on my regular mtb with 2.3" Nokian studded tires, I would have had a hard time on the terrain you show.

As you can see over at my blog, I had a heck of a time with about 6" of new snow on Sunday. But, my Fatback will be arriving soon!

Were you able to ride most of the time on those unpacked trails?

Dave said...

KB, the trails had about 5-6" of new snow on top of a few snowmobile tracks...that is the key. It was rideable but barely. If you have somewhat firm base, you can easily ride 6" of fluffly snow. 6" of wind-packed, wet snow is another story.