This will be a quick little post just to say...see I am still around. I will load a YouTube video to the end of this post of some riding and a small walk around of the fixed gear.
I hate to say this, but it has been two weeks since the last ride. Every year I quit riding during daylight hours of our WI rifle Whitetail deer hunting season. I have in the past rode during the safety of darkness during the season, but this year I did not. AND...that sucks to be off the bike that long.
The temp was near 30°F today when I left the house, but it was cooling off nice when I returned home. Because of the roads I rode today, I was on the studded up fixie gear. I will say this much, a person could not ask for a better day in December to be riding. EXCELLENT it is!!
I had started the video above to try to shed some light on the fixed gear. I see now I did a poor job at explaining it. I know some who read this are not aware of these marvelous machines. I put miles on this unit,,,lots of miles. There was a time was this was my only winter ride.
Welllll...looking like winter is coming in and I think it's here to stay for a few months. We had about 3 to 4 inches of snow when I left the house today, but closer to 6 when I got home. They are predicting 14 to 18 inches for our area.
Wind??? Yes, on this day a person knew there was wind, especially when you pointed the bike that direction. The snow pelting the skin. Blowing you here and there. Feeling alive!! Refreshing one might say!!
I wasn't going to blog this ride up. There was a time when the very first thing I did in the morning was run through my blog list. As did many others I think. Not so sure anymore. I might keep at this blog for a while longer. It is still fun for me, but time will tell.
I lowered my tire pressure from summer time pressure to winter. I am messing with the pressures all the time, but today I went with 8lbs, but I could have easily gone down to 5. I don't know why I didn't. I told myself right away I should lower...but I didn't. Just kept rolling along. made it interesting anyhow.
Even though the storm was bearing down on us, it was still great to be out.
I shot a GoPro vid today. Because of the heavy snow, I had it in the waterproof case. Please excuse the poor audio, some shake and also the rattling noises. Watch it if dare...or would like.
As always, lets get outdoors and have some fun!!
(not everyday we can enjoy weather like this)
Thanks for reading/watching and any comments you may have.
I wanted to gather up some nearby geocaches before the snow blankets the area. These caches were down two different trails that were marked for no motorized vehicle travel.
So I thought I would mix the two...geocaching and biking...again. I have mixed the two several times and I can assure you it is great fun!
It amazes me that this particular trail that is marked no vehicle travel had fresh tire tracks and is very well used. I really would like to believe it is used only used for official use...bet not!
Ahhh...bike porn! Bicycle and water.
More trail!
Riding the 9:ZERO:7 isn't for snow only. It is by far my favorite ride.
This trail ended up to be single track...with some log jumps thrown in.
Came back with grass hanging from the derailleur. I always worry about breaking the rear derailleur hanger while riding through brush grown trails. I have an extra. Guess where it was today. If you guess at home in the garage...you win! But because I had no trouble today, I also win!
I am so glad I had an excuse to explore these trails. I ended up spending all day out here! I arrived mid morning and left in time to get home by dark. Thanks to GramaCindy for bringing me to this great area. I will be back to do more riding...guaranteed!
Lets get outdoors and have some fun!!
Thank You for reading and any comments you may have!
I met some friends up at the Carlton, MN trail head again for some great company and a ride thrown in for extra credit. We had 5 riders this week. Awesome fun! The tamarack trees are in their glow. So much so I decided to start and end this blog post with tamarack pics.
See anything wrong with the the newly paved Douglas County HIghway T in this pic?? I mean really!! That is the best they can do? I see what uses they have in mind here. I mean, at most a 2" bike lane. Pathetic! Really?!? I guess the only thing to do is take the lane! End of rant. :-)
I have been riding the what I call the Black Bear loop quite often. Good country back roads, but it does involve riding the rant road.
On this day I was out early. A little fog in the air.
Ahhh, there is the bike/water pic. hehehe The sun rising up over a pot hole.
The road is wet when you ride in the morning these days, but at least we can see the road.
The leaves are falling but it is still very scenic riding.
More water/bicycle pictures.
Popples and Oaks are now in color with the Maples and others stripped bare.
On this particular day, mid morning, there was no one golfing here at Black Bear Golf and Tennis Club. I couldn't believe that. What I mean is this, 50+ and sunny in the middle of October in northern WI with winter closing in, I figured people would be getting in those final rounds. Guess not?!
As of late, I have made a couple rides on the Willard Munger Trail. I used to ride it quite often when I worked in Duluth near to a trailhead, but it had been waaay too long since the last ride here. I do not know why it took so long to get on this beautiful trail. I mean I know it is a 50 mile drive to the trail. Which is most likely why I haven't been on it. But that being said, I need to get to more of these type of trails. I do enjoy them!
While we were parked at a picnic area, a bicycle blogger from the past stopped and visited. I really enjoyed the visit and that added even more to an already great day.
A nice warm beautiful fall day. The leafs in their glory. A smooth blacktop trail with no vehicles. Nice picnic/rest stops. Meeting new friends. And to top it off, it was my wife's idea to ride this trail on the tandem. IMO, days like this is living life at it finest!
Looking down on the St. louis river from the trail bridge between Carlton and Thomson.
The trailhead n Carlton was our lunch spot on Saturday. It was also the spot I met two friends for Tuesdays ride.
I showed up early to Tuesday's ride to make a trip to the next town of Mahtowa and back before our meeting time of 4:30. Getting back on a road bike after riding cross, fat-tire and tandem was unreal. Even going against the wind I felt fast.
The above is a little picnic spot along the Munger in which I stopped for a brief rest.
Seems I can't resist taking a picture a bicycle near water. hehehe
I met my friends back in Carlton at 4:30 for a ride on the Alex Laveau Memorial. It was great to back riding with them. Just like the last time I visited the Willard Munger trail, it had been waaay too long since we had been out for a ride together. I thoroughly enjoyed it. To learn about the trails I rode in this blog follow the link here. I would encourage anyone who hasn't rode these trails, or like me it had been a while, to get on out there. They are nothing short of fantastic. Riding a road bike for many miles and not worrying about automobile traffic is a bicycling bliss.
Thought I would try something a little different with this post. It is this weeks rides combined into this one, which turned out to be a mumble jumble of photos and a video at the end. Not sure about this idea.
Monday this week had me spending about 3 hours on the Kona. The wind was fierce. They said 20mph and they were not lying. I went out against the wind and rode the wind home, which is the way I like to do wind when I can.
A cabin I rode by.
Did I mention the wind? I passed by here on a slight downhill with the wind at my back. Moving I was. I rolled on by and then went on back and cleaned it up.
This week in biking has had me once again seen me splitting my time between the Kona Jake and 9:ZERO:7. The 9:ZERO:7 was used on Sun, Tues, Wed, Thur and Friday with the Kona ride on Monday. ummm 5 to 1. It's funny because I seriously looked at the road bike and the mountain bike thinking that there was not much chance of riding those left this year, but once the fat bug bites it is hard to shake it. With that being said, tomorrow will be my favorite ride of the week. I say that because the tandem is loaded on the truck and ready for Saturday morning. Yeehaw!!
Freshly graded trail. That seems to always loosen it up some.
One of the little trails I rode on Thursday. This one ended up to be a dead end. I then threw the fatty on my shoulder and made a hike-a-bike to the next trail. Turned out to be further than I thought through some very thick woods. Have you ever hiked a fatty? Not my brightest moment of the week.
An old deer stand I rolled by.
These trails are sweeeeeettt!! I saw a Grey wolf (aka, timber wolf) on Fridays ride. It was a small one. I have seen much bigger. It wasn't grey, root beer is the color I would say. But, it was timber wolf. It crossed the trail a short way in front of me.
This is the trail the video on the end of the post was made. That video will explain this trail.
One of the side trails ended at this bear bait. There were fresh tracks there.
The above is a video I shot on Friday. It is a trail that brought back good memories.
Lets get outdoors and have some fun!
Thanks for watching and any comments you may have!
