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Fat Bikes Winter Rides 2021/2022
- Thread starter firebanex
- Start date
Thread Starter
TS
Depending on the overflow and the freeze thaw situation, yeah! Gotta make those studded tires do some work. But 90% of the trails are hardpacked snow now.
Thread Starter
TS
Spring has sprung but winter won't let go. It was snowing this evening as we rode over half thawed slushy trails. Decided to take a few turns we had never been down and found a cabin in the middle of the valley, followed a trail that quite literally ended at a mushers sled and his dog yard that also had some sheep. We turned around and rode out of there quite quickly as we had set the place off with barking and noise. We also finally found one of the trail entrances onto the creek bed and followed the winding trail for a good mile or so before we found a Moose that didn't want to let us go any farther.
Thread Starter
TS
Ski area closed last weekend, Saturday's are for riding! New trail route again since we are not racing the sunlight anymore, essentially following the railroad tracks as they leave the valley and start their journey to Anchorage from Fairbanks. I tried a bit of an experiment and stuck my gopro hero5 session in the time lapse mode, picture ever 30 seconds. Caught some interesting bits and I think this might be my primary way of taking pictures on MTB rides. It's much less pressure for me to take pictures lol. I like showing off my rides on instagram, strava, and on here but sometimes I don't want to stop and take pictures.
It was a great ride, out in the woods for about 3 hours and looking at familiar hills from new angles.
Haven't seen my hands in 6 months. Heh. Soon they will feel the breeze again!
It was a great ride, out in the woods for about 3 hours and looking at familiar hills from new angles.
Haven't seen my hands in 6 months. Heh. Soon they will feel the breeze again!
Thread Starter
TS
Absolutely wonderful ride this morning. 20*, sun came out, trails were dusted with a quarter inch of new snow. First tracks on a trail like that is almost as nice as getting first tracks on a powder day. Almost.
Thread Starter
TS
I feel a touch bad being the only one posting winter riding pictures.. but I think I might be the only one left that has real winter riding right now. The weather has blessed us with temps below 32* and cloud cover to preserve the absolutely fantastic trail conditions we've had in the last two weeks.
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Ha, keep them coming! I'm not a poster anywhere but here (lifetime Strava and Insta and FB ghost) and never wanted a go-pro, but the 30 second picture thing has me very intrigued and my Bontrager helmet makes it super simple to mount. Hmmm.
But yes, we're done with fat biking down here for the season. Ski area closes up on Sunday, and a week later Mrs. K and I are off to Prescott AZ for a couple weeks just to try something new.
Recommendations on riding there and nearby Sedona are welcomed from any and all (will probably post a separate thread).
My bottom bracket is unhappy again due to my slush riding so even though we are likely to see more snow I may just stick to skiing it
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My bottom bracket is unhappy again due to my slush riding so even though we are likely to see more snow I may just stick to skiing it
You ever use a dental pick to pop the seals off the bearings? Pretty easy. Then flush and REALLY repack the bearing with super-light, quality grease. I've resuscitated many a "sealed" bearing in this manner, and my preference is Dumonde Liquid Grease.
Free to try, at least!
I haven’t…but have pulled up some YouTube vids showing exactly that. I have a good pick set (not dental
) so I’m going to do it myself unless my bike shop can turn it back in a day. They only charge like $20 for that service and that’s worth not having to mess with it.Otherwise will do it myself. If this damn wind would ever die down, anyway.
Thread Starter
TS
I used to be into the whole video thing, but mostly the gopro gets used on vacation to take pictures on the beach or while in the water. I remembered like three weeks ago that it had a time lapse setting that could be adjusted and I also have the Bontrager helmet with the gopro mount... Figured a picture every 30 seconds was enough to catch cool things but not end up with a billion pictures to sort through after a ride. I have a Hero 5 Session, battery lasted a bit over 2 hours in that setting, should be more than enough time to get some pretty cool stuff this next summer riding season.
Finished planning a big ride for tomorrow! My birthday is today and I always take a Monday or Friday off from work on my birthday week to go skiing or ride bikes. Tomorrows plan is a 26 mile loop that I haven't done before, tried to do it last spring but a late season snowfall ruined that plan. Conditions look perfect for tomorrow, temps shouldn't get above freezing which means the trails will stay solid and easy to roll on. There will be pictures
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Thread Starter
TS
Wooooo, a very good ride was had on Friday. 26.5miles 2000ft of climbing and it was a touch windy and colder than what I wanted. However, it ended up for the best and kept us from getting too overheated with all the climbing we had to do in the first third of the ride. If you are curious, here is the link to the strava activity for it https://www.strava.com/activities/6951780893. Ride was essentially flat for the first 4 miles, then it was a solid 6 miles of climbing, 2 more miles of slightly less climbing, then 9 miles of descent and the remaining distance back across the valley floor to the cars. Took us about 4.5 hours to finish it and it was totally worth it.
There is something special about just listening to the crunch of fat tires on snow for hours on end. It starts off sounding like static but as you ride the tones change along with the snow. It begins to tell you the story of the snow underneath your tires. It's fascinating to think about while riding.
There is something special about just listening to the crunch of fat tires on snow for hours on end. It starts off sounding like static but as you ride the tones change along with the snow. It begins to tell you the story of the snow underneath your tires. It's fascinating to think about while riding.
Thread Starter
TS
Wife and I went riding today! It was her first outdoor ride this winter as she is not as enamored with riding in the cold and dark as I am. Got to show her a bunch of the trails and things that I took pictures of this winter.
I don't really know how to smile, so this face is pretty normal for me in a picture..
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Same! From my wife: You have such a nice smile. Where does it go when a camera comes out?!
We may get a brief return to snow riding the next few days. Not much, but plenty cold for it to stick around.
If so, I'll post up a pic or two.
Prescott AZ here we come in 6 days!!!!
Thread Starter
TS
It's just about over for us too. Not from the lack of snow but just because when it starts to melt, the slush becomes bottomless and nigh impossible to ride. I'm guessing based on the weather forecast and last nights conditions that we've got a week tops before we can't ride the winter trails anymore.
We might get the gravel bikes out for next weeks ride and give them a bit of a shake out ride through town.
We might get the gravel bikes out for next weeks ride and give them a bit of a shake out ride through town.
Thread Starter
TS
Not quite done yet. Midday and the slush wasn't very deep yet. The days are numbered and I think it's single digits left for the local winter trails.
Thread Starter
TS
I'm calling it. Got the gravel bike out and went for a pavement ride and had a wonderful 20 miles riding through puddles and dodging road junk appearing from break up. This'll be my last "winter" ride picture for this thread.
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Same. See you guys next fall/winter!
Or over in the regular mtb thread: https://www.skitalk.com/threads/2022-mountain-biking.25816/page-3#post-739969
