It's Cold in Minnesota - Super Cold

Today's morning wind chills were around -35F (-37C). Good garbage. Turns out I was overlayered on top, as evidenced by lots of sweat, and my feet were quite cold after the 11-mile, 50-minute commute. Here's what my face looked like at the bike rack at work:

And my cable lock, as I uncoiled it, snapped (well, the cable coating snapped).

Tomorrow should be "warmer," about -20F windchills on the way in...

Lake Minnetonka Fatbike Race - Arctic Cat

Freeze, thaw. Freeze super hard, thaw. Such has been the story of winter weather here in Minneapolis. Lakes in the region are well-frozen--able to withstand the weight of several SUVs, perforations surrounded by ambitious anglers, and bicycles. With the arctic weather freezing the lakes and semi-regular snowfall, lake riding is quite fun and manageable.

So went the plans for today's Fatbike race on Lake Minnetonka sponsored by Erik's Bike Shop and ExcelsiorBrewery. With warmer weather the past week (above freezing), most of the snow melted then refroze under the influence of arctic fronts, creating glare ice across the majority of the lake surface. A few patches of snow provided the only traction and reprieve from 40mph crosswinds. The weather made this ride a total disaster! Totally fun, nonetheless, but a disaster. Here are some pics of the start:

Bike parking at the registration site: Excelsior Brewery

Lake entry for a portion of the planned route (this part canceled)

Listening to instructions

Those with studded tires heading out first

Pedaling across the glare ice with 40mph crosswinds basically meant I was running/sliding across the ice in between snow patches. Not much pedaling. Below is some video (trimmed/raw audio) of the start and the yard sale once we hit the ice. Notice gems such as upended cyclists, cyclists afoot being driven back by the gusts, iceboating, and rapidly-fleeing debris in general as evidence of the incredible wind.

Once across the lake to Big Island, there was a fun, technical piece of singletrack. Here is some video (raw):

Overall the experience was stupid fun, especially since I only hit the ice once. I found myself following the instinctively-developed mantra, "I'm here to ride." The event organizers, Erik's and Excelsior Brewery, did a great job. They had the course well-marked, they had crews of volunteers, and provided pre and post-ride atmospheres worthy of the lunacy of a fatbike-on-a-frozen-lake type of crowd. Well done! Hoping for a couple inches of snow on the lake next year...

2012 Rapha Festive 500 Complete - Minneapolis, MN

With about 3 hours to spare, I completed the 2012 Rapha Festive 500 challenge in the SW suburbs of Minneapolis, MN. Below are some of the photo/video/fact highlights of this year's cold and difficult challenge:

My final GPS track, atop frozen Round Lake. I didn't quite get the typeface correct.

  Here is a video summary of video & still photo highlights:

 Weather Stats:

• Temperature range of 0-23F (-18 to -5C), much colder with windchills
  
• 2 days had fresh snow at departure, with additional snowfall while riding
• Heavy ice on road shoulders for all but 2-3 of 12 rides.

Bike/Equipment Stats:

• 310 miles (500km) solo
• 195 miles (315km) on Studded tires (Schwalbe Marathon Winter 35c) (Salsa Casseroll)
• 60 miles (97km) on 28c tires (Salsa Casseroll)
• 55 miles (88km) on the Salsa Mukluk Fatbike, including frozen lake riding
• Schmidt hub generator pushing Supernova front/rear lights & accessory charger
• 12 total rides to complete the challenge!

Thank you to Rapha, Strava, and my family and friends in the cycling community for the challenge and the support!