Sunday Funday snowday riding!

It was my goal to head out to Mt. Crescent to get some snowboarding in. Spent much of Saturday night waxing my board and trying to figure out a tether system to keep my GoPro from being lost on the slope. I'm attaching the camera directly to the snowboard behind the nose, and while that isn't recommended, they suggest using a tether system "just in case". Found some camera wriststraps, got some keychain holders things from Home Depot, and i was good to go!

One handed snowbiking and taking pictures at its best!

The trail was better and easier to ride compared to Saturday

Michael M rounding the bend

Dale and Ginger out, both making tracks of their own

After an hour of packing food, clothing, and my board into my car on Sunday, I got a call from Paul. Don't go. Two hour wait at the lift ticket line. YIKES! Mt. Crescent had done a groupon and a living social deal just recently, and with fresh snow, everyone wanted to get up on the action. Thanks for the call Paul! A bunch of us will most likely be going this Sunday to Crescent if people are interested. Probably get there early to avoid the massive lines. THOR meeting on Saturday with biking and some light trail work at Manawa to follow. See THOR facebook or webpage for details.

Mike, Jorge, and Christian made it out

This is how we clear the trail. Use fatbikes!

I unpacked my car and loaded up the Muk. Time to try some more biking. Satuday was rough. Blowing snow and the snow was too wet and heavy to really get yourself rolling too well. But Sunday was better. We hit up north of Fort street where I met up with Chris P and Michael M. Before long, Christian, Jorge, and a third Mike came rolling up on fatties! It was like a fatbike gathering! Dale was also out with Ginger to test some new snowshoes that he had bought. He was loving it, but he said he was feeling his legs being put to work! I think the snowshoes are pretty hard work actually. Lots of lifting of your leg, higher and harder than you normally would. Especially if snow is on the shoe. It would be like doing high sassy kicks with 2.5lb weights strapped to the top of your feet.

Biking in the deep 4X4 tracks was almost like riding in the gutter of a bowling alley. You just kept bouncing from side to side along the walls of the snow. 

 

Now thats a fat b*tch! 4.7 inch compared to my measly 3.8!!! I almost started feeling insecure about my smaller size. Haha. Just had to throw that joke in there

Jorge on his new rig. Surly Moonlander

Six riders on fatties...it's the most I've ever seen at one time. Two white Pugs, one custom painted green Pugs, a Moonlander (4.7inch tires), my Muk2, and Christian's 9Zero7. Lots of fat toys out that day. And we were all having a blast! We finally cleared the ravine and I looked over and saw that a 4wd truck of sorts had gone through the wetlands. Made a huge loop. How it never got stuck I'm not sure. But it gave us a track to ride in. It was fun. The snow was so deep that your pedals would hit both sides of the snow while your tires just kept rolling along. I was bouncing back and forth in the track like a pinball. It was actually keeping me upright most of the time, like training wheels. I guess think of it as a gutter at the bowling alley. The ball just goes into the sides and keeps rolling.

Michael M was out just as much as I was!

Got in a good 4 something miles on Sunday. That may not sound like much, but I think snowbiking is twice as hard as regular singletrack dirt riding. The controlling of the steering, staying on the trail, and trying not to sink into the snow and doing an endo makes it a lot harder. Not only mentally but also physically. Add to that the bundles of clothing and the tons of snow sticking to the wheels and bike. Awesome workout!

Christian clearing the ravine

We were getting brave in the snow and going over the huge log crossings. After seeing everyone else try, I decided to give my first go at it. For one, the mounds of snow and ice on my pedals made it near impossible to find the pedals when you needed them. Then the fear of getting stopped at the top by the snow and then having to try to find your footing. But in the back of your mind, you know that snow is cuddly soft and that falling won't hurt. Unless your hip hits the log like mine did. Good times. Photos for now, videos eventually.

 

 Photo by Michael M photography. Besides Paul and I, we now have more paparazzi out at Tranquility!

A word or two about snowbiking

Okay, really behind on posts. MNRs, snowrides, blah blah blah. Been busy. What can I say? It's been a fun couple weeks of biking. Night rides warm enough for shorts. Night rides in the snow. Night rides not only on Mondays but also on Thursday. Riding on the sand. Riding after beers and hamburgers. Just riding in general! We've been lucky to have such nice weather, and also to have such crappy weather.

Chris on his new Pugs and Jena and Paul rockin the snowshoes. They helped us alot by packing down the trail for us.

 Chris' new beast. Love the fade to black paint job

 Chris and Michael M pushing their way through much of the trail

Abominable Snowman was along for the ride

Tonight I realized how addicted I am to snow biking. Just thinking about sliding around in the snow, having to catch yourself with both legs out as you lose control on the white fluffy, and eventually doing an endo over a huge log that you don't dare do on dirt but somehow the snow gives you the courage to attempt it multiple times. Yeah, I'm that dumb guy. That dumb guy who just so happens to have his GoPro mounted to his seat post when he goes over (but you guys will have to wait for the video compilation). Banged my hip on the log and that was about it. Snow softens the fall and makes you laugh like you've heard the best joke in the world.

I think these signs were put in place to warn about the snowy conditions. As in no man (without snowshoes or skinny tired bike) should attempt the trail with that much snow on it.

Chris debuted his green Surly monster this past weekend at Tranquility. What better test ride than to bring it to life in 8 inches of snow. And man is it sweet. I would say well worth the wait, and better than that factory white (no offense Big Mike and other Mike). Yes, the trail was tough to get through, but I could tell that he was having a blast!

Warm mitts? Yes please! I didn't even have gloves on underneath.

Somehow owning or even just riding a fatbike does that to you. It breathes new life into your lungs and the trail where regular riding was just starting to get boring. Two weeks ago on MNR, Eric pointed out to me that the temps were warm and the trail was dry, no need to keep bringing out the Mukluk. Funny thing is that I had contemplated the unleashing of the full suspension and locking up the Mukluk until proper times. But you know what? Every ride whether it be pavement, dirt, sand or snow has been so much fun on the fat tires that I don't care. I don't care that the tires I run are $120 a piece and that I should save them for snow riding. I don't care that the bike is heavy with my clunky pedals, rack on the back, and 82mm wide drilled rims. The point is that we're having fun out there, I'm addicted, and I can't wait for that next text, email, or phone call saying let's hit the snow. Because I'm there...

Jena, if it makes you feel any better. I fell in the same place you did!

Me pushing the Muk out

Paul clearing this same section on a SS skinny bike

Slightly snowy MNR

More coldness. But no wind. Just plain cold. But I wasn't complaining. Why? Because there was finally some snow on the ground and I was having a blast on the trail with the Mukluk. Sunday night we got between a half to one inch of snow in certain areas (I'm totally guessing here). All day, temps hovered around 31 so I figured that the trail would be way too sloppy to ride tonight. Boy was I wrong! Once the sun went down, the temp dropped and anything wet was starting to refreeze.

Holding the camera while biking singletrack in freezing temps on snow at night is not recommended. But I do it anyway. No flash = blurry pics. As soon as I had gotten onto the trail and realized how bright it was with the snow, I had wished that I had my GoPro mounted on my handlebars. A night snowbiking film would be awesome! I have no clue how many lux the GoPro is or whether it can pick up anything at night at all. 

The tires just bit into the light layer of snow on the trail. I led most of the time once I met up with the group, only to help pack down some of that snow. Not that there was much packing down needed. Fingers were near frozen, same with toes. So we called it quits after riding a majority of the Tranquility. But man, going through the trees and taking those sweet singletrack turns just a little too fast made for a thrilling ride. I was purposely unclipping as I came up to a turn so that I could stick a foot out. I think it saved me a couple of times. The back tire would just start to whip out, and there was just enough time for me to say whoa before the Surly Endomorph would catch the traction again. Great times fellas and glad we all made it out (seven of us plus Cody the dog). Thanks to Paul for sharing the heat of his basement and for the Pale Ales that Brian brought over (not sure who brought the Leines, but thanks also for those). I ended up back at work from 10pm till midnight. That's alright though, more money equals more toys and down payment!

The Mukluk encounters snow for the 4th time

Snowbiking video is DONE

This video is the first of many to come. It was filmed on December 3rd at Tranquility Park after we got 6 inches of snow on the ground. Temps were perfect, about 28 degrees. The snow was powdery, but still easy to ride in (once we broke in the trail).

Video was all shot in 1080p hi def using a GoPro and a Canon Elph HS300. If the video looks of low quality, change the resolution setting on youtube to 720p or 1080p. Some still photos are inserted and one of the pics of me on my Mukluk was taken by Paul. There is sound, music, a little surprise at the very end of the clip. Day two and three will come eventually and should be of better quality. Skies were blue and I learned from my mistake of the bouncing GoPro on a gorillapod tripod on the back of the bike rack

It took me about four nights to get all of the video arranged, edited, and picked out to my liking. Then it took me two nights to figure out how to render it all using Sony Vegas. I kept getting an error at 30% through and it would say unable to render due to unknown reasons. It was really making me angry. After looking online, it sounds like a lot of people have the same problem. But it was usually due to memory issues. My Dell has 8gb RAM, 2gb video card, and about 700gb of free space on the hd so I doubted it was my computer. The fix? Render the video in sections, then do one final render of all the sections at the end. Turns out that the program was having problems with rendering mixed media such as still photos and video. Anyway, it is done. Kind of a nightmare, but it turned out pretty good IMO. This was my first time doing a video of this nature. Enjoy, and let me know what you think.

If the blog chops the edges of the video, here is the actual link to the youtube.

http://youtu.be/tBfBNRHrmnA

Mukluk 2 on Outside TV

Paul saw this video and sent me the link. Mukluk 2 on Outside TV, talking about snow biking and accessories to help keep you warm

The Muk-Rack

After doing mucho internet research to figure out which racks would fit the Mukluk, I went ahead and bought the Bontrager Back Rack L. I wanted the Back Rack II which only had bars going across, but ended up with their newest version called the BackRack L. At first I was going to protest and was thinking that I could save weight and the II looked cooler (I've also seen two instances where the II would fit). But the kid at the Trek Store said that it works as a built in fender. True that! Sold! Plus I figure there is a little more substance on the rack allowing for better weight distribution when I come rolling around the block with a 12 pack of beer! Always thinking ahead...

So my question is whether or not it is safe to ride the trails with this rack always on my bike? Or would it be safer to take it off and just install it when needed? Any user input from those who have used a rack before?

I waited to open the packaging because I wasn't sure if the rack would bend enough to fit the fatty mounts.

Afraid that the rack would ruin the finish on the Muk, I used some electrical tape and made a "cushion" between the rack and the seatstay mounts. If it scrapes away, oh well. At least it is flat black and can easily be touched up.

Tada!

Go Pro meets Mukluk 2

I went back out to Tranquility today with really only one goal in mind. I had my Go Pro mounted to the Enabler fork and wanted to try out some video. The video doesn't seem quite as choppy or bumpy since the bike is so called full rigid. I guess full suspension really magnifies the bumps on camera. I also used as few Go Pro extensions as possible, seems to have helped. I have the fatties probably running about 15 psi as of right now. Probably let some more air out tomorrow night to see how it affects the ride.


Mukluk2 and pre-Ridgeline from Misterlime on Vimeo.

The first video had the camera mounted as centered as possible on the fork. I thought I would try a little bit of a different angle on the second video. I moved it down the fork a little bit more, was hoping to get the side of the tire. But unfortunately all this did was slant the camera. Maybe next time I'll try it at the same level as the front hub. Gotta figure it all out before the snow hits! Anyway, the videos are kinda cool. In the first one, the tire tread almost looks stationary with the tread staying in the same place. Almost looks like an old movie where they throw in the background with a movie and the actors are stationary in the front of the movie screen. That was the first thing that came to my mind when watching the first movie. The second clip, I was going a little bit faster. Definitely more comfortable riding that hill top area. It's not too bad riders. Just do it.


Take two! from Misterlime on Vimeo.

When I got to the top of the south hill, I met up with two riders who were coming out of the ice rink loop. Turns out that one of the guys knew me by first name, actually checks out this blog! How cool is that? Nice to have met you guys. Hope you guys had a good rest of the ride and thanks for reading!

Hello there!

The temps were dropping and the wind was picking up. Did about two loops on the south hill before heading home. Our warms days are coming to an end. Get out there and ride before the white fluffy hits.