in Group Rides, Bike Trips, and Events

Another great Monday Night Ride! The turnout was a bit sparse to say the least. Almost like we and a last minute snow and cold moved in
The three of us had a great ride. I was the only one on a fatty. Well at least the only one in our group. I believe Thom beat us around a good bit of the park. We followed his trail for quite a bit of our ride. The others with me were on those skinny tired bikes. Though I had an easier time of it, they proved you can ride in at least a couple inches of snow with 1.8" tires.
All in all a great ride. Awesome to be out in the snow again. It is amazing how quiet it is riding at night in the snow. No sounds out there but the sound of your breathing. The birds have all went south. Other animals are hibernating. And the tires in fresh snow do not make a sound. Also amazing how bright everything is. I had to dim the lights or I had too much light.
All of the trails at CamRock are packed in. Get out and ride it while the getting is good. With the snow cover we can now ride throughout the day while it stays cold. If the forecast holds we should be good anytime through Friday. It looks to warm over the weekend.

I hate to do it, especially last minute, but I have to cancel the Monday Night Ride tonight. A bummer after such a great ride last week.
I just checked the trails and they are way softer than I expected. Predictions are it is actually supposed to stay above freezing and rain tonight. The positive is the cold is predicted to return by Wednesday night, with a week of cold ahead, so we should have a long stretch of riding after we wait out this bit of warm weather.
Cross your fingers for some snow to come with the cold! 

Should be a special night for the Monday Night Ride this week. I don't know the official totals but it looks like 6"-8" in places!
The roads should be all nice and clear by tomorrow night. And CamRock Sport is open again so we will have a WARM place to have our after dinner beverages Yea Ha! They will even have warm beverages if you so choose.
It going to deep with powdery fluffy snow. I can't wait to get out and play

What do you think about riding out there on some 29x2.4 tires at a low pressure? I was toying with the idea of getting a lap or two in later this afternoon and maybe joining you guys for a while, but I'm not sure what how the snow is packed down. And yes, I need a fatbike...

What do you think about riding out there on some 29x2.4 tires at a low pressure? I was toying with the idea of getting a lap or two in later this afternoon and maybe joining you guys for a while, but I'm not sure what how the snow is packed down. And yes, I need a fatbike...

All I can say is go for it! As long as you have a spirit of adventure, know how to have fun, and are not trying to improve your Strava times you will have a blast! I played on the trails with skinny tires for years before I had my Fat Mama. I could usually ride up to about 8" of fresh powder. And this stuff is really dry.
There may be a couple of tracks, but do not expect the trails to be packed. They have had little traffic since the snow stopped last night, and it is so cold that this snow is really powdery and won't really pack at all until it warms some.
And yes you need a fat bike Fat is fun!

So anyone else coming out for some fun in the powder tonight? I heard it might be a little chilly...

I originally planned to join in, but I had to come in to work at 4am and I am now to pooped to pedal.  I'm going to hold off until tomorrow night after work.  Get the trail groomed to perfection for me.

What do you think about riding out there on some 29x2.4 tires at a low pressure? I was toying with the idea of getting a lap or two in later this afternoon and maybe joining you guys for a while, but I'm not sure what how the snow is packed down. And yes, I need a fatbike...

Actually, I think you'd be better off with skinnier tires. In this light powder they will cut right through, and work even better than a fat bike. The bigger the knobs the better though.

These would be the perfect tires for today. You know, incase you wanted to special order, and have them delivered via teleport just so you could ride on them for today.



http://www.conti-online.com/www/bicycle_de_en/themes/mtb/cc_marathon/MudKing18.html

So I don't know that this needs to be said. But just so everyone is on the same page we will meet at CamRock Cafe & Sport for the ride. A nice warm place to get ready. Plan is to be on trail by 6p. Post up if you will be running behind. Derek (the new owner of CRS) is going to keep the place open for us to warm up and have a beverage after the ride. Though the cook may be gone by the time we get back so you should either eat before the ride or put in your order before we head out.

I will try and make it out there.  May be a little late.  (have to figure out how to transport the half fat)

So we coined a new measure that we plan to follow for the Monday Night Rides. We have to ride farther in miles than the degrees on the thermometer. With my Garmin hovering between 1 and 2 degrees most of the ride that was not a real problem It was quite a ride with the super dry deep snow and super cold temps. Definitely a new record in both areas for the Monday Night Rides.
The riding was interesting. This is not snow we usually see in Wiscovakia. This is Utah type powder with this cold. Super dry. Very slippery snow. It does not pack at all. Traction on corners and hills was hard to come by. I was wishing for a Lou or Nate on the rear. 
We had an interesting mix from full fat to half-fat to 2.2' skinny tires. I must say I had the easiest time of it on the full fat tires. So I just rolled along and enjoyed the scenery whilst I listened to the others suffer Nah everyone at least said they had a good time.
We did make it a pretty short roll of about an hour. Not a lot of miles covered, but it was fun. A gorgeous night out. The stars in full glory. And the post-ride beverages back at CamRock Sport were very welcome. Glad to have The Cafe back!

A couple of pics from the ride. Wish I would have gotten a shot of Tim's frosty face and the icicles dripping off his goggles
 


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Looks like it's going to be another great night for a bike ride! Predicted that we should have 1.5" to 2" of fresh snow on the ground by the time we head out tonight Should be fun!
The current trails are really solid packed from Cambridge south along the Creekside Trails. And they are pretty well packed around the Veritas/Outback loop as well. I would think they could easily be ridden with a standard bike. The fresh will be easy to ride through, just a little extra fun. Don't expect to set and speed records.
The undercover of snow has stiffened up considerably and been packed down which gives some extra grip now.

Chuck:  Were you planning on riding tonight?