Live at Hellfest....

Let's not talk about climate change. Let's not try to form a pattern out of the weather changes over the last two winters as they can still be considered anomalies. Let's just let the fact that it is raining in February be the elephant in the room.

Normally I don't do much road riding until April and May when the trails are either an icy mess or wet and boggy. Road riding has always been a stop-gap measure for me. Something to do while I wait for the type of riding I want to do to become available. This is probably a large part of the reason I've never bought a road bike. I occasionally enjoy riding on the road, but not enough to commit to it.

Saturday I headed out for what was planned to be about 6 miles of road to the bike trails, another 6 miles or so of trail riding, depending on how I was feeling, and then another 6 miles back home. Instead, I ended up riding 33 miles of road. The plan was to check out the MatSu river park trails to see how they were holding up prior to a meet up ride I'm planning on putting together for the 6th of March. I was hoping that either we'd have frozen dirt with minimal icy patches or, better, crusty, grippy, awesome riding snow over a frozen base.

Maybe my expectations were way off, but in the end, I didn't even get onto the trails owing to the fact that the amount of ice getting to the trailhead was enough to convince me that unless something changes weather-wise that the idea to lead a bunch of folks around the trails after dark is probably not the brightest idea.

Then again, the rain we're getting might help. Or maybe not. Two weeks is a long time this time of year and conditions can and do and will change.

So, the trail riding idea was a bust. But I wasn't ready to turn around and head home yet. I really needed a ride of some sort, needed to get my head straight. Besides, I wasn't looking forward to heading home and going back to work. So I headed east and south along the MatSu river, riding against the wind, enjoying the feel of speed and the sound of rubber on clear asphalt.

Sometimes that's just what a person needs - some riding that allows the mind to completely disconnect from the body and just wander. Riding trail is a feat of uniting the mind and the body -knowing exactly where in space and time each part of the body is and making the adjustments needed to keep the body moving in the right direction. Road riding allows the mind to wander, to disconnect from the body. It's a great thing in that way. But not something I want to do all the time. And, according to some schools of thought, something I should never do on the bike that I've got.

This is a strange thing to me - the fact that people will, when they hear that I ride one bike only and that it is a fat bike, without prompting or provocation, tell me just how much more efficient I would be and how much more fun I would have if I bought the right kinds of bikes for riding different surfaces and terrains. I need a road bike for road riding, a full suspension mountain bike for single track, an XC bike for riding the farm fields in Palmer, and a commuter bike for commuting. They tell me I should only ride fat in the snow or on the beach.

My response is always the same - I often can and do ride all of these terrains in a single ride - how am I supposed to carry four or five bikes with me on a ride? I'm the type of guy who, even if I could afford and if the wife would allow me to have multiple bikes, wouldn't have multiple bikes for the simple fact that I spend so much time getting a bike to feel just right that the transition to another bike is generally quite un-fun. I'm still getting used to the Trek over the Pugsley, six months later. I don't feel, yet, that I know the bike well enough to really push it to the limits. That takes time for me. Jumping back and forth between bikes just isn't something I enjoy. Just like with cars. When we used to have two cars in my family, I always had a hard time transitioning to the car I didn't drive all the time.

I guess I am a man of habits.

So, having a different bike for every type of riding I do is just not in the cards. And I've spent a lot of time thinking about the types of riding I do and what type of bike best covers all of them. I'm coming to the realization that maybe the 29+ platform might just be that one bike to rule them all bike for me. I don't know. Haven't actually ridden one, but I'm thinking about it.  I think that the other option for me is to get a set of 29er wheels for the fatty so that on days like today, with the rain and the ice, I can have a set of studded wheels. In the summer I could throw on slicks for commuting or knobbies for trail riding.

I don't know. For the last few days I've had this sense that something is not quite right, not quite there. And this feeling manifests itself in a desire to shop or eat. Weird.

I don't normally think too much about my bike and whether it is the right bike for me like I am doing right now. I wonder if it's all connected? Maybe I'm having some early mid-life crisis? Maybe I just need some drastic and

transformative change in my life? Who knows?

Maybe I just need some trails to ride so I get out of my head a bit?

Maybe some moonlit miles will help clear the funk away? 

Sunset

I kept saying I was going to write more for the blog this year. That's obviously not happened.

I just don't have much to say about riding stuff right now. I've been doing some riding and have had some great rides and some not so great rides. I've crashed and I soared. But as I've done before, I've focused my riding to where I don't stop to take photos or try to take mental notes so that I can write about the ride later.

And it is February, which is a hard time of year to ride. Especially this year. Sometimes it is too much snow that makes it hard to ride. Or too much cold. This year it is lack of snow and temps that turn everything icy and slick overnight and wet and cruddy during the afternoon.

I went out to the MatSu Greenbelt trails this weekend for a ride and it was such a mixed bag that some of the riding was a blast while other bits was absolutely gut wrenching. The access roads in the farm fields and along the powerline were icy and slick as hell while much of the single track was awesome tacky riding. Except for those south facing parts of the trail where there was a clear shot to the sky. Those sections were luge track. Then there were the blow downs. I took Root Bear to the north east out of Bear Berry - the old part of this trail - and there were numerous trees down and debris all along the trail from the last wind storm. In the end I had to stop many times just to pull sticks out of my der or my wheels.

In the end, the riding couldn't have been that bad as I spent nearly three hours out there killing the trails.

Anymore, though, those are the rare occasions. Usually when I am not at work right now I can only get an hour or two, tops, away. Between grading papers, kids' activities, and putting off the work around the house, I just have a hard time getting the time to get out there.

Or maybe it is more of a motivational issue. That's probably the case. I usually do have a slight downturn in my riding in January and February. The vacation time I take in late December and Early January leads to some great days of riding without the worry about work and such. Then I get back to the daily grind and it just gets hard to get out there on the days off.

As of now I have no epic rides planned for the spring and summer, but I do want to get in some good, long rides. We'll just have to see what's the what. Hopefully some good stories will be shared here again soon.

Pssst....

Just to let everyone know - it's snowing in Anchorage. Right now. Little, bitty flakes. It'll amount to nothing. Or it may amount to a lot. But it is snow. Ain't complaining. Ain't complaining at all!

Ice Fog

Just sayin'. Ice fog. It's fun stuff.

 You can kind of see the frost on my gloves here. My jacket and pants were also covered in frost. As was the entire bike. And my face.

Try to Keep Up

Sunny days and warm temps. A bit odd for January. At least the warm temps bit. No wind and sunny skies and temps in the upper 20s or lower 30s. Those were the conditions under which my son and I set sail for a good long day's riding.

Well, four hours or so of being out there in it. 21.7 miles actually ridden. But tons of fun had. 

In the Valley there are numerous trails that are maintained for snowmachines and dog sleds. Numerous trails that are absolutely impassable in the warmer months. Numerous trails that form a virtual highway system into vast tracts of land in this great state that are inaccessible at other times of the year. I've always wanted to explore some of these courses, to get out into more remote areas of the valley, but haven't done it to this point for a variety of reasons. 

After a bit of encouragement from my wife, my son and I took the day and headed out to explore a bit. And I figured that if one were to explore a dog mushing trail and all that goes along with that (read: a coating of dog fecal matter on everything at the end of the day), then we should at least start our exploration on the most famous trail of them all up here - the Iditarod.

Friday night we picked up a map to help us find our way and I spent a good few hours debating the best options. Some locals over at the Alaska MTBR forum had mentioned just how much dog crap was on the trail the last time he rode it and that the Big Lake ice road was in and ridable, so a good option would be to go there and ride out to a trail called, wait for it, Trail 6. Looking at the map, it seemed a decent ride, and I was close to pulling the trigger on that one. The thing is, though, that my boy, twelve years old and on his first adventure ride would have been bored out of his mind if the first six miles of the ride were across the lake - flat riding with numerous snowmachines and trucks.

After much debate we decided that the risk of getting covered in dog poo just wasn't great enough to push us to Big Lake. So we hit the sack early-ish and woke the next morning with the goal of getting out the door by 10, knowing that wouldn't actually happen, but setting the goal anyway.

Saturday dawned nice and warm and clear. The sunrise on the mountains as we headed out of the neighborhood and towards our jumping off point was amazing - pink and bright and boding good things.

We travelled down KGB road, stopping off at Three Bears for fuel, both for the vehicle and ourselves, arriving at the Knik bar around 11:30 AM. I got out and inspected the lake ice - though I'm not sure what the point was as there were already a couple of pickups out there ice fishing, but checked it anyway, before we unpacked the bikes, loaded them up and headed across the lake, hoping the trail on the other side would be easy enough to find.

It was, even though we technically were trespassing from the lake up to the actual Iditarod trail, but judging by the tracks, we weren't the only ones who'd done this.

My son was riding the 2014 Pugsley - a heavy beast, for sure. Yet, he kept up with me or ahead of me the whole ride. Our plan from the outset was to ride to S. Burma road, ten miles in, turn around there, and head back for a nice 20 mile round trip. The challenge, of course, was to not ride so long as to turn my boy off from riding like this, but also making the drive to the trailhead worth the time and gas. A 20 miler felt like the right way to address those concerns.

The ride for the first few miles goes through a mix of forrest and swamp with some low hills to climb - easy riding even with the sparse snow cover and icy sections of trail. Then the trail cuts through a number of swamps and lakes - flat, easy riding. Riding in the sun this particular day. The final bit going to Burma road is where things take a turn. You enter the woods again and a couple of decent, bordering on hellacious climbs - sharp uphills with blind corners. Ripe for a nasty accident if you encounter a dog team. Interesting fact - sixteen dogs pulling a sled are generally nearly silent when on the move.

Overall, the ride to Burma road and back is one that most anyone can do. And this year, with the sparse snow cover, a skinny bike with studs is probably the best tool for the job - though a fatty is always fun.

Same Old, Same Old

Ugh. Back to the daily ins and outs, the same old, same old, the work-a-day world.

I'm  really not feeling it. I want to live on vacation for the rest of my life, man. Get up late. Ride my bike. Take a nap if I were so inclined. Ride my bike. Stay up late. Eat diner at 10 at night. Have a drink or two.

You know, live life, man.

But, instead I am stuck here. In the office. The daily grind.

Eh. It could be worse. I could have not had the two weeks off. I could have not been able to get my bike out there and enjoyed the weather and the snow and the trails.

And there was some good riding to be had. And then there was a meltdown with rain to make the low elevation areas kinda crappy for riding, but the upper areas? Bomber.

I don't know how many miles I rode during my vacation. Probably not as many as it felt like, because at least two days of riding were spent packing in trail so each mile felt like two and I'll count them that way if I want.

I know. I've talked about this trail system before. I just keep finding myself impressed with the work that has been done on the trails and the general beauty of the area. I love Hatcher Pass, but GPRA is quickly becoming my go-to backyard outdoor experience. I just love that I can ride, the kids can ski, and the wife can walk all at the same place and the great thing about it? There seems to hardly ever be anyone else there. Rare is the time when my trail experience coincides with someone else's. Not to say that I don't want to see you out on the trails. I do. I just also really enjoy the solitude that comes from having trails to myself.

It's a great time to be a non-motorized trail user in the valley right now. So come and get it.

I have to say that in the valley, the premier riding venue is certainly GPRA - Government Peak Recreation Area. There are two connected single track trails here and the lower track is machine groomed, flowy, and fast while the upper track is narrowly packed in, which makes for some challenging climbing - and the upper track does climb.

Cherry Cordials and Caramels

It's the time of year of too much crap food and short days. It's time for the holidays to be celebrated and for everyone to act like everything is great and good and all that crap.

It is also a favorite time of year of mine. I hate the holidays, but I love that I take two weeks off over Christmas and New Years - maximizing time off while using the least amount of PTO possible.

Usually I get a lot of riding in over this break time. And that's what I hope for again this year. I've been getting out quite a bit and riding some great trails. I haven't bothered with taking any pictures because:

1. I'm riding here, damnit!
2. Most of my rides are in the dark. Not much to see
3. I'm riding.

And it has been a while since I've posted anything here. While I've been riding a lot, they haven't been exciting or new rides. Just rides. You know, out there earning it, but not seeing new things or anything.

I mean, there's been a few rides in new places, but mostly rides in the familiar terrains.

I am trying some new approaches to footwear this year. Granted, this winter has been a bit weak so far. Hardly any snow and our coldest day so far has barely made it to the mid-teens. So, not really the best test for winter gear.

In fact I've not once used my BD Guide glove liners this year. Only a handful of times have I even used the outer glove over thin liners. In fact, on the coldest days so far I've worn a thin wind and waterproof shell glove over rag wool gloves and been too hot. So my footwear experiments are probably not real accurate.

So far this year I've been wearing Scott Team BOA shoes with a pair of Endura merino wool socks as the base (super thin and breathable) with a pair of Darn Tough hiking socks over top. Then over the top of the shoes I'm wearing Endura MT 500 overshoes. The few days that it's been in the teens I've thrown a vapor barrier (bagel bags) between the sock layers.

Works pretty well. I do find that my toes will still get cold in this set up, but I think that's just as much to do with the shoes being a bit tight as it does with the insulative properties of the setup.

I've also flipped over to flats with Vasque Snoburban boots a few times as well. The boots work well as they have grippy, stiff soles, but more and more I hate peddling flats. More and more I'm convinced that I just need to get a pair of winter cycling boots like those from Lake or 45 North. I'm just loath to spend that much money on a unitasker…

Rides I want to do over the break:

1. Knik to Iditarod. Well, not the whole thing, but part of it. This is part of the ITI race route. Need to get out there and check out some of the terrain.
2. Frosty bottom route. I'm not one to join organized races, but would love to do the race route - the 50 mile version - to see how fast I can do it. A good part of the route is multiuse trail.
3. Jim Creek towards Knik glacier. ATV trail that I've heard some good reports about this year. The ride to the glacier isn't quite doable yet as there is a lot of open water yet and not enough daylight to make the ride, but this might be a good warm up
4. Snowmachine trails out of Willow. I hear there's some good snow up there and we can make a nice circuit on these trails.
5. Gold Mint - want to see just how far back in the valley I can go this time of year this year.
6. Reed Lakes trail - Not sure how ridable this trail is - there was some ski traffic on it last week when I was up there, but it was still quite soft.
7. Whatever else catches my fancy.

So there it is - my list of rides to look at doing over the next two weeks. Throw in sundry quick scoots on trails in the valley as well as in Anchorage when the kids are skiing and it's going to be a pretty busy vacation. Couple with that a desire to start running regularly and, well, I'll be a bit wiped by the time I go back to work.

Yeah.

And because you want a picture, here are two or maybe more: