Rapha Festive 500 Ride 12 - Fatbike Cleanup

At last, with 300 miles (485km) logged since December 24th, one final ride was all that stood between me and completion of this year's Rapha Festive 500 challenge. With 6 laps plus a little adventure on frozen Round Lake, my mission would be complete. As for the "Achievements" section of the Strava link below, 500km in 8 days is a respectable achievement!


One last adventure before I'm all done, however...

Rapha Festive 500 Ride 11 - Almost done!

Today's ride was BRUTAL, to say the least. Temperatures were 10F (-12C), with winchill around 0F (-18C). The wind chill was real, with a 10mph headwind from the west, challenging me all the way to my turnaround point in Waconia. I have ridden these roads quite a bit in the fair weather in preparation for the Tour de Tonka century, so at least it was familiar territory. As I turned around and headed east, my core warmed back up, and some feeling returned to my toes.

This distance (60 miles ~ 95km) is about my limit in this weather. I had about 65 miles to go to finish the 310 miles (500km) for the challenge, so I was close enough to finish with a fatbike ride in the evening. I deviated from my strategy of repeating smaller-distance loops, which works to stop back in at the house to refuel, and find liquid water. I have found that if I carry a couple insulated bottles wrapped inside the zip-off sleeve of a Chrome jacket, the water will stay liquid at these temperatures. Obviously, bottles of any sort in the cages will freeze quite quickly. Access to liquid water (in addition to incredibly numb toes) seems to be my limiting factor and greatest cause of unpleasant feelings this time of year.

Insulated bottle inside a jacket sleeve

The trusty Salsa Casseroll all ready to go

And the submission to Strava:


About 10 miles (15km) left! I'll get out the Fatbike for this one. 

Rapha Festive 500 Ride 10 - Fatbike

Just a mileage grab in the dark on the Fatbike. I rode this section on Ride 6, but on the Casseroll, which handles reasonably well in loose snow, but the Fatbike rides fantastic. Too dark for any video, but here's the Strava track:



 I have about 65 miles left to hit 310 (500km) by tomorrow night! 

Rapha Festive 500 Rides 8/9 - Loops + Fatbike

Tonight I had some fun on the fatbike. I took the girls ice skating (I watched) in the afternoon, and encountered a winter milestone: ice fishermen. Such a spectacle means that I am now able to ride my bike on the lake! If crazy humans can venture onto the ice, drill a hole, light a fire, and consume copious amounts of alcohol, I feel pretty safe riding my bike on the same surface.

Fresh snow on Round Lake



Yesterday's full moon in the sky

Just as I was leaving the driveway

I just might be able to finish this crazy 500km (310 mile) adventure.... (daytime ride below)





Today's daytime ride was the same as a few days ago--3 10-mile loops. The sun was really refreshing today, in spite of the 20F (-7C) temps. I'm developing quite the tolerance for foot numbness. As a side note, my daily commute to work (which will resume next Thursday), is 11 miles each way, or anywhere from 40-60 minutes. 40-60 minutes seems to be the time threshold for my feet to go numb, so shorter laps has been my approach to the Festive 500 this year.

Rapha Festive 500 Ride 6 - 72km

Today was a lot of difficult riding. Temps flirted with 20F (-7C) with 3-4" (7.5-10cm) of fresh snow overnight. On part of today's ride, I was plowing through 6"+ of snow; lots of exhausting work. I took time today to take photos and video of this craziness. My electronics (helmet cam, Garmin, still camera) are kind of on the fritz--probably due to extended exposure to COLD. Enjoy!





On the Stone Arch Bridge across the Mississippi. The river appears to be hibernating.

Approaching Target Field, where the Twins play better teams.

Approaching the Hiawatha bridge to the Greenway.

Crossing the unplowed Hiawatha bridge.

Saw a ghostbike today on the West River Parkway at Franklin. Ride safe, everyone.

Looking up to the Gold Medal Flour mill ruin.

 

The bike was covered in snow. Even the chainstays and BOTH sides of the seatstays.

Headed West toward Lake Calhoun on the Midtown Greenway.

My favorite overlay from today's ride. The path to the top of the park mound wasn't plowed at all, so it's a little choppy.

 

 

Rapha Festive 500 Ride 5 - 51km

Today's ride was in the mid-teens F (-10C) for the whole of the ride, with the temperature dropping and snow falling toward the end. I'll upload some snippets of video later.

Rapha Festive 500 Ride 3 - 31.5km

Not much going other than a loop in the cold.

Rapha Festive 500 Ride 4 - 43km

At least today is sunny. I had some time midday to grab some frigid miles; I'm hoping for additional pedaling this evening. Today's ride started at about 7F (-14C) and "warmed up" to 12F (-11C). After the first lap, I swapped wheelsets from the pair with the studded tires mounted to the traditional pair. Much lighter and, therefore, less work.

Rapha Festive 500 Ride 2 - 22.5 km Fatbike

Snuck in some miles this evening...this time on the Mukluk...at essentially 0 degrees F. I got in about 14 miles and looked like this at the end:

The bottle was more of an experiment to see how long it took to freeze. About 30 minutes and it was solid.

Exhaling moisture freezes a lot, apparently.

Fatbiking across an open ice rink at the local park.



Working hard to get to 500km! One pedal stroke at a time!

Rapha Festive 500 Ride 1 - 50km

Last year's Festive 500 by Rapha was indeed a challenge. I was living in Madison, WI, and the highest temperature was at freezing (quite warm, in hindsight). This year, I live in Minneapolis, and the temps are quite colder. I am still making an effort to pedal through the challenge this year, so we'll see how it goes!

Today's departure was greeted with +16F (-9C) temperatures and a light dusting of snow, with a wind chill of +2F (-17C). By the end of the 50k ride, temps were +15F (-9.5C), with less of a wind chill. Eek. My layering worked just right, but my feet were still really cold. I doubled up on merino wool socks with a new pair of Teva Chair 5 boots (rated at -25F), but even still...

Here are some pictures:

Around 7AM with 1/2" of fresh-fallen snow

Riding the Casseroll with Schwalbe Marathon Winter tires, Supernova/Schmidt light system, etc.

I'll be shooting for some Mukluk miles this evening if I can sneak away...

Upcoming Project Bike - Salsa Mukluk

A couple months have passed, but this was how my latest bike project started. More to follow (the bike is now complete....).