The temps late last week in MN were warm and the snow was disappearing. I had a chance to get out an explore a bit on Saturday. I rode some familiar routes and then took an unexplored section of snowmobile trail on the way home.
I ran into a few hairy obstacles along the way. The first was a creek crossing with what appeared to be thin ice with a few froze over holes. I chose to hike-a-bike around that. Then the trail ended abruptly, doubling back another way I encountered a sandwich of thick matted down weeds on top of uncompacted snow and what seemed to be thin ice.
On reaching terra firma, I chose to take gravel roads home only to find them muddy. The drivetrain was feeling pretty gritty by the time I reached home after dark. The ride totaled ~20 miles and 2 hours. The bike needed a trip to the self serve car wash to clean off the adobe covering the matted swamp weeds.
YouTube is pokey in handling edited video, but maybe this link will eventually work.
After hearing there was to be snow tonight, I carpooled to work with all my gear for a fun ride home. I left for home around 3:30 in the afternoon; I figured the trip would take about 2 hours of easy riding so I would have light the whole way. I chose to avoid traffic as much as possible, I drove over unplowed bike paths and trails for the first 12 miles. Riding through the woods during a snowfall is awesome. The snow was thick and untouched 4" to 6" with drifts. The surface underneath the snow varied, it started good but there were sections of ice and rough compacted snow that made handling challenging. I went down once on a patch ice underneath the snow and again a short time later because I couldn't make out where the curb was on the road.
I had not accounted for the wind. The winds were 20's mph with gusts from the north and east, my route was to the north and east. It slowed my progress considerably. On the slippery stuff, the crosswinds were enough to make the bike loose traction, the big wheels really catch the wind. Head on the winds were enough to make the rear spin on the slush and ice.
With the slow going, I needed to use my lights - but my main headlamp would not turn on because the battery froze. I did have a backup on the bike, but I was having a hard time seeing the road. I had 4 bright tail lights on my rear for the whole ride.
Near the end, I chose to drive in the street in the tracks the traffic made. The conditions were getting worse as it darkened and got colder, the fresh snow turned to slippery slush. I walked my bike over the last overpass as the slush was too slippery and I figured a gust could have sent me to the interstate below.
I got home, behind schedule, but in good spirits, at 6:00 pm.
