Winter can now start
 

Now that I have a life with work getting back to normal my Winter riding season can begin. No snow yet so the studded Fat bike waits for the real fun to start. I'm riding my Orbea without studs and just trying to watch for the minor ice patches that are scattered throughout the forest. It is so good to get back out now let's get some snow, so the fun gets taken up a level. Merry Christmas and have a safe and Happy New Year everyone.

Snow.... that's a four letter word!
I shoveled way too much of that *stuff* when I lived in the Worcester area, which is why I moved here when I retired!
Don't worry, I have a feeling some is coming your way - soon. There's a big storm front heading up the coast. Soaking rain here all day, because it's not cold enough to turn it into the evil white stuff.

p.s.: "You just gotta know what you're shooting at!" Yeah, good luck with that. Personally, the only day I'd ride in the woods in MA would be Sunday, and only because it's illegal to hunt on that day. Even then, I'd wear blaze orange.

that is a nice fast, flowy section!

51 degrees! aghhh!!!!

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...920807ad47.jpg
nice to see you back!

watch out for those pink deer!

Towards the end of next week we are supposed to start getting normal winter temperatures. Still no snow in the forecast. I find -15C less tolerable when there isn't any snow.

I hear that. even an inch of the white stuff helps justify the cold. everything is so dull right now, we need a fresh coat of "paint" on everything

Agreed it just seems the colder temps are easier to deal with when there is so snow.

A little dusting here, put 5 lbs. of psi in my bike and got a little feel of the snow. System on its way later this week:)
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The Minneapolis/St. Paul area has been in a doughnut hole this winter, with everything going around us. We have gotten the occasional dusting of snow, so it IS white around here. The most recent was Monday morning. Yesterday when I was out, I was pleased to see the tracks of another cyclist on a couple of stretches. Then it hit me that they were mine from the day before...

We may not have snow, but we will have cold here shortly. It drops below 0F on Saturday and won't get back above that until Tuesday. I think I heard that this is the latest for first subzero temps around here. My rides will be shorter than I've been doing. :)

It started, 14" Saturday, another 7" Sunday. Little stroll in the park at 0° F. this morning (they even plowed for me). I think I'm gonna get sun and 20° F later in the week:), the powdery snow at lower temps is much more fun to ride on. Hopefully the golf course fatbike trails are getting groomed, we got off to a late start.
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...d466c692b8.jpg

An extended arctic blast has finally ended. 16 days in a row with no riding and temperatures as low as -30C with a -50C wind chill, yesterday was warmer but the 60 km/h wind kept me inside. Today was -9C, probably the coldest temperature ride of the season for me, but felt very nice with some snow for resistance and the fat bike for even more resistance. The roads are packed quite evenly since we haven't had a lot of snow yet, so I'll probably switch back to the mtb so I can increase my avg speed and go further.

Our one week of cold weather (highs in the single digits F) is over and we're into the 30sF this week and 40s next week. We've had 9" of snow this winter, with a third of that on Halloween. A year ago we'd had 60" already. With no storms in the 10 day forecast, I replaced my rear studded tire this morning with a Gatorskin. Will it stay on into the summer, or will I have to switch back??

We had 2 feet of good snow, now it's raining and melting, making a mess and flooding.
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...ee90bc858b.jpg
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...89117e7874.jpg

We're going to be melting all week. I should be able to get another fat bike ride in tomorrow morning before its a complete mess. The city laid down a ton of rock salt, so the road spray will be awful for the bike parts. I need to fashion a cover for the rear caliper on my Surly Troll mtb. The brake mount location on that frame has the brake catching a lot of spray / slush off the rear tire.

A bit of maintenance work today. The rear wheel was vibrating like crazy on my mountain bike when I'd hit 25 km/h. Turns out the sidewall on my Ice Spiker was separating at the bead in one spot, so I swapped that out for a Schwalbe Winter which will probably work better for the mostly bare pavement conditions. The tail end of last season and this season has been rough on the soft tire rubber, it was getting close to being finished anyway.

Yesterday my fat bike front wheel was squeaking from the start of the ride. Turns out the braking surface separated from the copper backing plate on one of the BB7 pads. The clearance was tight enough it just bounced back and forth between the rotor and plate without being able to fall out, had no problems braking with it in that condition.

It hit 50° F today in Minneapolis. Roads are clear of snow and ice. I was out on my road bike both Saturday and Sunday.

And here's the forecast.

wtf? I KNOW this is because I bought a fatbike this fall.
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...628858d7e0.png

And lawns are bare and the ice on nearby Snail Lake has turned black (yet there were a couple of people ice fishing on it yesterday). It briefly froze up in Dec but thawed the week of Christmas. It iced over again about Jan 5. Will it be open today?? This is unreal...

I've had my road bike out the last two days also. My winter hybrid is needing some maintenance, so the timing is good in that respect.

That 50F was a record. Today's record is anticipated to also fall.

Two of my 26" studded tires are toast so I'll probably use my touring bike for a while. Manufacturing defect in my Marathon Winter. One of the wire bead ends was knocked out of place before the rubber injection so it ended up near the middle of the tire and gradually worked its way loose during riding. It sounds like Schwalbe had some serious quality control issues several years back, I came across numerous instances of bead wired popping out of the tires.

The winter in the US is over. We are past our coldest days. About 20 days of winter, this year. It's a gorgeous weekend, yesterday and today.

Any dryish day, 30 and above, I am up for bike-riding.

snowmageddon tomorrow. the timing is right for an early morning ride until it gets bad, then a hot shower & watch the rest thru a window. just not sure if I want to go thru all that. don't even have the studded tires on the bike! it could still work, I would just have to time it so I'm off the bike earlier ... hmmm ...

I ended dusting off the road bikes as temps soared to mid 50's last weekend. Now we just had a light dusting of snow and now freezing temps so going to check to see how the trails are doing.