Gettin' it done

The view from my bicycle seat this morning. Snowing, OF (-18C), windchill of -20F (-29C).And the view from the seat this afternoon. 10F (-12C), windchill -5F (-21C).

No apologies. I don't sit around talking about riding in the winter and all the things I'm going to do. I go out and do it....everyday.

The commutes on the Pugsley continue.

The view on the commute this morning. I never get tired of looking at Lake Superior.


I've said it many times before. I never intended to use the Pugsley for commuting. It was purchased for off-road winter fun (and a few attempts at the Arrowhead Ultra 135). But since the Christmas snow/ice/rain storm, it has proven to be the best choice, by far, for getting to work safely. Many of the side streets I take still have 2-3 inch thick ice with ruts in it. The wide Endomorph tires really float right over that stuff. I feel much more confident on them than the studded tires on my Surly Cross Check .

The benefit of riding the Pugsley to work is I can hit some snowmobile trails on the way home. I can ride trails for about 3 of the 8 miles of my commute. Not much, but it is way fun right now because the trails are in top notch shape for some fast snowbiking.
My usual road route on Skyline Parkway takes me along the face of that ridge across the way. The snowmobile trail rides the top of that ridge. If you biggen the picture you can see one of the power line towers that line the corridor the trail follows.

Above, in these temperatures (warm today at 15F/-9C) I have to remember not to exhale as I snap the photo. That vapor is from my breathe.

Beautiful hardpacked trails. Fast and smooth with no surprises.

Still lovin' my Titec H-bar set-up.

I bombed down this hill at 17 mph. That's flyin' on a snow bike. At the bottom is the 40th Ave West road crossing just above Skyline Parkway. Then it's a steep climb back up onto the ridge.

Some more below zero mornings coming up and then it's a warming trend into next week.

Another winter off-road bicycle commute on the Pugsley

An incredible sight from my morning bicycle commute today. The air temp was -10F (-23C) while the water temp is above freezing. The water vapor rising from the water looks like a wave shooting up out of the calm water of the surface of Lake Superior. Simply breathtaking.


After work the temp had risen to 8F (-13C). Actually it had warmed higher, but was dropping already as the sun was setting and the skies were clear. Once again I commuted on my Surly Pugsley. And once again I headed to the Piedmont Ski Trails up the ridge a bit to access the Snowmobile trails for part of my commute home. Unlike last week, when the trails had yet to be groomed and were hard going, today I found well groomed trails. I had the tire pressure all the way up to 15 psi for the road riding today. They were lightning fast on the hard packed trails.

The last light from the sun that had set several minutes earlier.

Some of the fast trails.

Above, looking back east from where I had just ridden from. Very rugged trail that follows the high voltage power line cut.

This is a 1/4 mile long steep hill just to the west of 40th Ave W road crossing. I rode 3/4's of it. One of these days I'm going to ride the whole hill.

Looking towards the Proctor water tower. It's on the horizon line on the right side.

My day started out with a dark green Dodge Ram Truck trying to run me into the ditch on the hairpin turn going up 40th Ave W. It was deliberate. There was no oncoming traffic. He nearly hit me with his side view mirror as he passed me and sharply cut into my path nearly clipping my front tire. The definition of ignorance.

On my afternoon commute I had a Duluth Police Officer roll down his window and say, "Now those are some serious tires!" He smiled as he said this. Then while I was on the snowmobile trail I was passed by a lone snow sled. The same sled soon came back. I was thinking, "Oh no, this could be trouble". But he stopped flipped up his face shield on his helmet and started asking all kind of questions about my fat tired bike. These two seemingly random encounters more than made up for the ignorant a**hole who tried to run me off the road in the morning.

Near perfect snowbiking conditions

Or at least what I consider perfect snowbiking conditions. After a night of -26F (-32C), the groomed trails were set up hard and fast. It was up to 10F (-12C) by the time I went out. Bright sunshine, light winds and some snowmobile trails that were new to me. Doesn't get much better! The Minnesota Vikings were playing on the TV while I was out. That kept the number of weekend snowmobiles to a minimum.

Above, Lake Superior in the distance. There was 2.5 miles of uphill from my house to get to this spot.

It was a good day on the Surly Pugsley.

Twenty-ten, first ride.

I started my New Year yesterday with the Velo-Duluth Annual New Years Day Ride. Fifteen people braved the below zero windchills and 2F degree (-17C) air temp. We rode about 10 miles. I did fifteen including my ride over and back from home. I rode the Pugsley. My cross bike with studded tires would have been a more appropriate bike for the conditions. But the Pugsley is a great conversation starter. Riding a Pugsley on New Years Day apparently gets your picture in the local paper as well. A reporter and photographer were there to do a story on the annual ride.

Afterwards the local Quiznos Sub shop opened for a private party for the riders. All paid for by the Velo-Duluth Cycling Club. Nice for those non-Celiacs that could actually eat something from this fast food restaurant.

Last ride of the year was a snowbike ride on the Pugsley

I had no work today and Susan had to go in. So I had all day to myself. My shoulder has been hurting (where I had surgery last year) a lot lately with all the home painting projects. It's been getting worse everyday. Today I woke up with it really screaming. It's the worst it has hurt in almost a year. I didn't think I would be able to do anything today. I took a couple Vitamin-I in the morning. Eventually it felt good enough to get out on the Pugsley for 90 minutes. It was a gorgeous winter day with sunshine, the temp at 12F (-11C), and a below zero windchill.
It was nice to discover both the snowmobile trails I used today had been recently groomed. The snow was very icy and slightly loose today. It was fair to good for riding. I was able to average 8.7 mph without too strenuous of an effort.

I was not passed by a single snowmobile today. I like that!

It was a nice end to a nice year on the bicycle.

Surly Endomorph 26 x 3.7 or Nokian Studded 700 x 35: Which works better for ice?

Both is my answer. It really depends on the conditions. They both excel in different conditions. Let my elaborate. We've had some challenging, icy road conditions after last weeks winter storm. A mixture of warm temps gave us snow and rain. When the temperatures dropped well below freezing soon after the storm all this stuff froze onto the roadways. The result was an icy concoction making any travel, by car or bicycle, a challenge. Yesterday I rode my Cross Check outfitted with Nokian Hakkapeliitta W106 700 x 35 studded tires.
Monday and Tuesday I rode my Surly Pugsley with the 3.7 inch wide Endomorphs. No studs, but very wide tires that you can run low air pressures. Both are designed to get you through wintery conditions.
This weeks roads looked a lot like this. Heavier traveled routes had been salted and sanded more diligently than side streets. Resulting in bare spots combined with ice. At times the ice was 1-2 inches thick and rutted from tire tracks formed prior to it freezing solid. Areas to bale out on the side of the road did not exist. The side was a combination of unplowed snow, ice and rutts.

A nice view of Duluth's hilly topography. It adds to the difficulty.

The road above was basically a solid sheet of bumpy ice with a loose layer of snow on top. We have had a few dustings of snow, including some flurries yesterday. Normally I would think the Nokians, think ice, would be the best choice for this. I was wrong. On Monday and Tuesday I rode with confidence on the Pugsley. I made sure I was cautious on the ice. Meaning no quick stops or turns. Over all I had no problems with the ice. Wednesday with the Nokian studded tires was a different story. They gripped great on the ice, but gave me a few scares on the bumpy stuff. Turns out the ability of the Endomorphs to absorb most of the bumps gave me more confidence on the ice than the studded tires. The fat tires seemed to float right over everything. On the Pugsley I could dive onto the rough side if a car was coming too close to me. I tried it once on the Nokians and almost lost control. As much as I love the studded tires, in these conditions the fat tires were the most confidence inspiring of the two.

My daily view of Duluth Harbor and Lake Superior shrouded in light snow and fog.

Which has better traction? Bare paws or dog booties? Dash Riprock would definitely choose the bare paws. But he doesn't last more than 20 minutes outside in this cold without the booties. He hates that coat and the booties.
A recent purchase that paid off today. Shimano two-sided pedals. On the slippery stuff I like platform pedals so I can put a foot down fast. But I dislike climbing our local hills without clipless pedals. These pedals provided me the best of both. On the heavily salted uphills I could be clipped in. While on the slippery stuff I could ride on the platform side of the pedal and be able to get my foot down without having to unclip. The past few years I've spent quite a bit of time with a pedal wrench switching from platform to clipless pedals depending on the conditions of the day. No longer, this pedal was a great solution for my needs.

Hitting a few trails on the Pugsley....during my commute.

First light of the morning during another Pugsley commute to work. You can see the bike is still lit up with the tail light and headlight shining.
Looking south, down the hill I just rode up. It's one mile uphill to this point. Keene Creek is on the left.
Here I've reached the highest point of my commute on Skyline Parkway. I've crossed over Keene Creek and switched back so it now runs to my right. It as a beautiful, bitter cold morning. Air temperature was -4F (-20C) with little wind. Once I started to see views of the big lake the sight was so incredible with fog rising off the "warm" waters (warm compared to the air temp) I can't begin to describe it. And there was no way to capture it with my little camera. All I can say is, "I wish this commute could have lasted a lot longer than it did. I love winter landscapes.

On my commute home I decided to swing up to the top of the ridge above Skyline and check out the conditions of the snowmobile trail that runs between Peidmont Cross Country Ski Trails and Proctor. It happens to run parallel to my normal road route.
Just as I thought the trail was not groomed and very rough. I'm not sure this trail ever does get groomed. It was not too bad riding, but was slow due to big chunks of icy snow on the trail.

A calm, clear night with a near full moon already high in the sky.

A lot of short up and down hills on this section. It's a very rugged rocky ridge top.

It sure was easy to forget about work when I get to snowbike my way home.

Winter commute on the Surly Pugsley

The Pugsley was the perfect bicycle for today's commute to work. I weighed the decision this morning whether to go with the Cross Check with the studded tires and fenders. Or go with the fat tired Pugsley. The temperatures were cold enough, 16F (-9C), that there wouldn't be a lot of sloppy stuff on the roadways. I knew there'd still be a lot of frozen slush, ice and snow on my particular route from last weeks storm. I felt the wide, low pressure tires would suit me better than the thinner studded tires. The frozen slush created a very bumpy road surface. The fat Endomorph tires, 4" wide, simply chuckles at that stuff as it absorbs it all in stride. It was a beautiful winter day for a ride on the Pug.
I even got to take in the sunrise over Lake Superior on my way in. We haven't seen the sun since before Christmas. Tonight? Bitter cold settles in with a predicted low of -8F (-22C). It's looking like another commute on the Pug tomorrow. Although it will get up into the mid-teens during the day with some sunshine. That's a recipe for some sloppy roads. But I think I'll take my chances and take the fenderless Pug anyway.

News on the North Shore Winter Ultra Marathon coming up this Saturday. I'm entered in the 48 mile bike race. Received an email from the race organizer today that it has been canceled. That's too bad. It was great to have a race of this kind right in town. Plus the forecast was looking good. Temps around 0F, below 0 the night before. I like that kind of weather for snowbike riding. The snow is nice and firm at those temps.

Today I grew a Sweat-cicle

Sweat-cicle? It's an icicle formed from sweat during a winter activity. See the brim of my hat? I have to remember to dress one layer lighter when snowbiking. The effort it takes to power fat tires through snow increases your core temp quite a bit.

I took a break from my home improvement project and got in a great fat tire ride on snow. Last night we had some colder temps in the teens. I was eager to see if all the wet, slushy snow set up.
And it had. The trails were in good condition. Good enough condition to ride one handed and try some panda shots with the camera. Believe me, there are snow conditions that there is no way you can let go of the handlebar. Let alone let go of the handlebar and practice your overhead photography shots.
This is the snowmobile access trail a mile from my house. You can see how bad the slush was only yesterday. Today it was frozen solid. I stayed to the left on the snow were some of the snowmobiles had done the same. It was actually quite fast here.

Once on the main snowmobile trail, which is also the Munger State Trail, there had been lots of snowmobile action in the last day. I headed out about 2:45 in the afternoon. This is a good time to hit the trails on a Sunday during football season. Tends to be a lull in the snow sled action. Today only 14 sleds passed me during the two hours I was out.

Yeah...I'm having fun!

This trail will eventually get groomed. A lot of places today it was one "lane" wide (see below picture). Which means I would have to stop and drag my Pugsley off the trail into the deep snow whenever I met up with a snowmobile. I don't think there are any written rules for who has the right of way when a bike meets a snowmobile. But in the spirit of cooperation, I move my ass out of the way. I also care for my life. So I get out of the way.

Low flat light and about 45 minutes before sunset. Yet, still beautiful.

A lot of water had drained down the rocks and frozen. It was wonderful being out in the snow.

Time for a hot chocolate break on the railroad bridge......

...below Ely's Peak.


This was my turnaround point. It was a short ride of 16 miles. Although at 8 miles per hour, that's a two hour ride.

After missing all last season of winter biking because of my broken arm, it was great to be back at it again. And with a new appreciation for the ability to be out doing things like this.

Busy, busy, busy

Regional news has been saying Duluth received something like 24 inches of snow from this storm. That happens to be the official measurement from the airport up over the hill, away from Lake Superior. We live more at lake level in West Duluth. Local reports say we got 10.5 inches in our neighborhood. The predicted blizzard never materialized and the temperatures by the lake were warmer than expected. We ended up getting more rain than snow on Christmas day in our neighborhood. Above, I went out to shovel in the rain. I shoveled more slush than snow. It's the first time I've shoveled in couple of years. Last year Susan did all the shoveling since I had a broken arm.

One thing is for sure. Dash Riprock thinks: snow + frisbee = the best thing in the world.

Dreams of lots of snowbiking on the Pugsley never materialized either. The trails would be unrideable until a good freeze happens. And the roads were a sloppy, nasty mess. I'm used to colder weather here in the Northland of Minnesota. We usually get more snow of the fluffy, powdery variety than what this storm delivered.

I mentioned in the last post we were working on a painting project over the holiday break. That has kept us very busy. One of the many reasons I never owned a house until I was 40 years old is I never wanted to spend all my money and time on a house. I've gotten to a point were I do spend some money and time on the house now that we have one. I have to admit there is some satisfaction gained from improving the property every now and then.

And six years of this wall color was enough for me. Yuck! Plus, we had new windows put in earlier in the fall that needed paint, we decided we might as well do the whole room.

Over the past three and a half days the look of the room improved greatly.

Heck...even the dog got a fresh coat of paint.

Ciro, the cat, is checking in on the progress. He's peeking through the doorway. You know, it is HIS house. We just show up everyday, feed him and use a room to sleep in. He's here 24 hours a day.

We're getting there. Two and a half gallons of paint later and it's looking great! It's hard to see in this picture, but this is a two tone blue paint scheme. The two walls have different shades of blue. I know painting isn't very exciting for most of my readers. But try to put yourself in my shoes to understand my excitement. I rented for 20 years. Never having a place I could call my own. Living with white walls that I couldn't paint. Adding color to room is like seeing for the first time.

Storm update

Eight o'clock this morning we had about 4" of snow on the ground. At noon we're up to 6" even though it has slowed or stopped snowing for the time being. It will be quiet the rest of the afternoon. Then we're supposed to get slammed tonight with blizzard conditions and heavy snowfall.
Today is being spent prepping our bedroom for painting. A project that has been on the to-do-list since we moved in on July 1, 2003. Home improvement projects don't happen to be on my priority list. But I get to them eventually. This one only took me 6 years.
An 84 year old house needs some plaster repair. Almost done with that. Getting our new Andersen Windows this summer motivated me to finally get the room painted. The windows are awesome. I can no longer feel a breeze coming through the sashes like I could on the old single pane windows.

I hope to get out for a Pugsley ride this afternoon. I won't be able to hit the trails in this deep snow. I'll stick to the snowy side streets. A Pugsley may like snow, but 6 inches of fresh snow stop even it. The trails will have to wait until the storm is done and the snowmobiles have had a few days to pack things down.

Our Winter Storm Warning is now a Blizzard Warning

Beautiful sunrise from my morning commute. Overlooking the Duluth Harbor, Park Point sand spit and Lake Superior.

Looks like we're in for a real storm. The National Weather service changed our Winter Storm Warning to a Blizzard Warning sometime this afternoon. Snow will start sometime tonight. The Warning goes from 6 am Thursday to 6 am Saturday. Estimates for the amount of snow range from 12-24 inches of snow in Duluth. I'm off work until Monday with no plans other than a home painting project. Can you say Pugsley?

Sunrise commute, Approaching Winter Storm and Snowbike Racing

What's that strange reddish-orange glow on my front wheel?

It's this mornings sunrise over the Duluth Harbor. I've really been enjoying my bicycle commutes this week so far.

It's been pleasant weather with little wind and temps in the lower 20's/upper teens. The studded tires, you see in the top picture, have kept me upright on the patchy sections of ice and snow mixed in with wet and even dry sections of pavement.

Things will change for the better, imho, this Thursday-Saturday. We are under a Winter Storm Watch. Since I love winter and snow, I'm very excited about this development. We've had very little snowfall this season. This storm looks like it will track south of us. But for right now, we are still expected to get 10 or 12 inches of snow out of it. Locations further south are expected to get 12-20 inches of snow. Looks like the Pugsley will be getting a Christmas Day ride.

More new things happening in the snowbike ultra event world. The Tuscobia Ultra was run this past weekend. Sounds like it was a successful event. The amazing Dave Praman pulls out another win on snow. That man seems to be unaffected by bad conditions. Word is being put out of a 200 mile event next year starting in Superior, Wi and ending on the Tuscobia Trail route.

Anyone looking for some snowbike action in Idaho should check out Dave Byers race, Togwotee Winter Classic. This will be it's third year. Snowbiking at 7,000-9,000 feet. For 2010 he has a two-race series put together. The first race is on January 9, 2010. the second race is on March 6, 2010. Should be a fantastic event.

Hurray for the Winter Solstice

I look forward to this date every year. It means the days start to get longer. I ride all year long, but I have to admit, I don't mind riding in the dark. But I'd prefer to do my city riding in the daylight. By February, I'll have all daylight for both my commutes.

Today there was light snow, an inch or so on the road in the morning. Plus loads of salt. AM and PM temps were nearly the same at 23F (-5C). Very pleasant really because of a lack of wind.
Regular bike maintenance is not my strong point. I vow every winter to do a better job at keeping my winter commuter clean. What usually happens is I start thinking about cleaning the bike when I'm down to one working brake. Eventually when both brakes and rims are so gunked up that both brakes are no longer working, I start telling myself I need to clean the bike as soon as I get home. About a week later when the only method that stops the bike is the both-feet-down-on-the-ground-Fred-Flintstone-method, I finally clean the bike.

So far this winter season I've turned over a new leaf. I've resorted to carrying my bike downstairs, like always. But instead of parking it against the wall where I keep it, I've started putting it right up on the work stand. As soon as it's done thawing out, I take a bucket of soapy water to it. It's been very nice heading out on a clean bike every morning. We'll see how long it lasts. So far I'm pretty motivated to keep at it.

A few Snowbiking/Winter blog post links for you that I enjoyed today:

A Pugsley in the snow in Scotland. Yes, you read that correctly. Two posts from this weekend with great pictures and videos here and here.

Jill just keeps getting better and better.

A Winter Cycling Gear post from Madison,WI where the writer quotes a very "wise man".