November Rides

[north woods gal]

That's the kind of news I love, Sky. Thank-you and Happy Thanksgiving, too.

May have 4" of snow coming, so I rode my trails today and marked some intersections with trail tape. Things look much different when the snow covers the trails. Will also wax up the skis just in case we get enough of the white stuff. Lake is now iced over. Winter is here. The fat bikes are ready, the skis are ready and I an ready.

[north woods gal]

Three to four inches of wet heavy snow, overnight, so eagerly hopped on the fat bike, after breakfast and got my workout. And a workout it was. Almost forgot how much pedaling effort it takes to break a trail through this kind of half ice, half snow. Consistency is like wet concrete. A bit tricky, too, with some fishtailing when I took my turns too sharp. Was a time when the fishtailing would've freaked me out, but all the riding in sand I did, this summer, to actually practice controlling the bike in a fishtail paid off. No big deal.

Pretty, though, no doubt about it.


Our Border Collie, Star, and my constant trail companion. She's a sweetie.


End of the access trail to our lake with the Salsa Blackboro

[emily_in_nc]

Gorgeous, NWG, but sure looks cold!

Finally got to ride yesterday, which was the first time in 17 days. Just too busy with family time and projects. So glad to be back to it. Lots of folks out and about yesterday; guess schools and some workplaces had the day off, or people took vacation. Here I am enjoying my first ride since March on the West Orange Trail in Florida.



Got in 32 miles. Taking off today to cook but will be riding (and not shopping) on Black Friday!

[north woods gal]

Good for you, Emily. By coincidence, that was the same trail I rode when visiting Florida, back in September. I started from the very west end near Claremont. Very nice trail, but oh my, it was hot and humid by this north woods gal's standards. Mid-90s and about that for humidity. That was the trail where I nearly bonked for lack of water and could have headed for that big trail in the sky.

More snow, overnight, but I just keep riding. What can I say? Worst possible snow for riding, though. Temps in the mid 30s and that snow is half ice. Tried some of the narrower wheel bikes, but not even close to doable. Even the 4.8" Salsa tires were fishtailing. Problem with this type of snow is that, when compressed, it forms a layer of ice lubricated with water, under the tires. Slow going and no way to get up the steeps for lack of speed. In fact, when trying to mount the bike form a dead start, the bike slides out from underneath you. Oh, well, all part of the fun. Still, bad as it is, it's still more manageable than cross country skiing in this kind of snow. That's like driving a car with no brakes. Hopefully, the weather will get a little colder. Yeah, crazy I know, but when playing in the snow, air temp is a big deal.

[Catrin]

Good foe you, keep riding!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using Tapatalk

[rebeccaC]

Visiting some wonderful friends of Alex in Michigan and we are enjoying all this trip is about. Good friends, great time making and eating food, playing music and singing together and even riding yesterday morning on borrowed mountain bikes in the cold on wet and muddy roads put a smile on my face …..20+ miles and high 30's low 40's...we knew the forecast for this trip so we were prepared for the biking weather!!

[Crankin]

Ha, ha, Northwoods. Skiing in New England is almost always like that. Metal edges, and good grooming help. No such thing as powder
nordic skiing!
We did a quick 11 mile hilly ride before heading out for western MA. It was 36 degrees and cloudy. Glad I went, but I am still discouraged with my foot. Riding is fine, but walking/hiking not so much.

[north woods gal]

Yeah, we just ski out our back door, so we have to break our own trails, sometimes over rough country, just like the MTB riding. Nope, no groomed trails for us and no skinny trail skis, either. We use wide, true backcountry wilderness type skis with metal edges. Not super fast, but great for climbing and breaking trail, and strong enough for walking over logs and rocks and so on. Once in awhile, after the lake has frozen enough, a neighbor will be out on his snowmobile. Those tracks make a nice, do-it-yourself groomed trail, for the skis or the fat bikes.



More work with this kind of skiing, but most days, have the woods and lake to myself. Pretty much a wilderness experience, right out my back door. Doesn't get any better than this.

[north woods gal]

Rebecca, all always, great pics. What part of Michigan is that?

[Crankin]

My skis are about half way between true nordic and back country. They are not super wide, in that they fit in the tracks, but I truly had never seen or used really skinny nordic skis until we went to the Methow Valley.

[emily_in_nc]

Rebecca, lovely pics!

NWG, yes, I remember your riding the trail here and how hot/humid it was and that you had issues (understandably!) Those conditions would be very tough for me too. It is gorgeous here right now, though. We rode again today same route (Winter Garden to Apopka and back, 32 miles), and the temp was in the 70s the entire time. Humidity is not noticeable. We haven't done the Winter Garden west into Lake County stretch of trail yet as it is hillier, and we'd ridden so little this month (just three rides in NC) that we wanted to do the easier eastern route three times before heading west. One more time to go!

Today there were so many people out -- guess all the schools and most businesses are closed. We saw recumbents, trikes, no tandems, though. Dog walkers, runners, etc. The trail is nice and wide so only a couple of times did we have any issues with too much trail traffic. The cutest thing we saw was a Boston Terrier with one blue eye (we have a Boston also but no blue eyes) riding in a trailer behind his owner's bike, with his head out the top looking around. Just too adorable! One of these days we really have to get a trailer for Paisley.

[emily_in_nc]

Glad I went, but I am still discouraged with my foot. Riding is fine, but walking/hiking not so much.

So sorry your foot is still not right, Crankin!

[Crankin]

It *is* better, but but the recovery is not fast enough for me. Of course, I have not taken a lot of rest. Yes, this is the first hike I have done in 4.5 weeks, since the first aborted one, after a week, but I have been riding, both indoors and out (which doesn't cause a lot of problems) and doing both power class and tabata. I skipped one week of tabata and modified the next, but last week I felt good and did too much. It's on Thursday, so no class on Thanksgiving. Power class is weight lifting, so the only thing I modify are the lunges on my left foot. I keep my foot flat, so there's no pressure on it. One consequence of this injury is I have been favoring the other side of my foot, and that's where I have a bunion, which is now bothering me. And my balance on this side is really off, not in normal activities, but doing any one legged stretch. I worked on using all parts of my foot today, while hiking, and I hope that helps.
Well, it is OK now. I am home and now the other parts of my body are recovering.

[rebeccaC]

NWG…about 40 miles north of Lansing. It’s Alex’s ex (now best friend) from grad school who's teaching at Michigan State…..and I thought of your riding as we rode the dirt side roads and trails on Thursday.

Emily….Paisley deserves coming along in a trailer

we're at the lansing airport now....hoping chicago is an easy transfer today....

[Sky King]

Hey ALL - we are giving away two fun prizes on Monday - just post a photo of you, your bike or something you've done outside this Thanksgiving Weekend on Instagram and use the hashtag #optoutsidebtn You'll be entered in for the prizes. We have impartial judging on Monday. Grand Prize is a Surly Wool Sweatshirt and runner up wins a BTN water bottle a Surly T-shirt of their choice, socks of their choice and whatever else I can fit into the bottle.

North Woods Gal - I had a border collie that really looked like yours He was so good on the trail, we used the command "bike back" when a bike was coming and he'd get right behind me and not move until I told him to release.