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. 

Studded Tires Back On: Schwalbe Marathon Winter

I finally gave in to the terrible road/bike path conditions and installed my winter tires. My 700c tire of choice is the Schwalbe Marathon Winter (35). If I remember right, this is my third winter on this pair.

A couple observations:

1. The extremely durable tungsten-carbide core studs still have plenty of life left. The tread design lends itself to long stud life, as the center section of the tire tread is stud-free. On those sunny and mostly ice/snow free days, I can run the pressure at 80-85psi with a fairly respectable rolling resistance. In this scenario, the studs engage on cornering, which is when ice/snow riding gets sketchy (without studded tires) in my experience. When the snow and ice cover the roads and paths, I drop the pressure about 20psi and fully engage the studs. I have even ridden across a frozen lake with this setup:





Lake Mendota last winter.





2. In addition to having plenty of remaining stud life, I didn't notice any studs missing from the tread. A common occurrence is for a tire to lose a stud or two here and there (Schwalbe sells replacements in packs of 1 dozen). I believe Schwalbe recommends setting in the studs by riding with the new tires on dry pavement for a few dozen miles. Perhaps I did this? The Marathon Winter boasts 240 studs per tire, which is evident in the bulldozer-type feeling one has while churning through the ice and snow. I'm not talking about fatbike snow riding quality, but instead about the relative performance to a regular tire, or even a treaded tire. The Casseroll is transformed into a tank-like vehicle for a few months each year, only to be released into 28c Pasela bliss come springtime. 

Of course, some pics of the before and after:

This is with the Paselas installed.

Snow and ice build up like crazy around the brakes and clog up the fenders.

Even the mudflap packs on huge chunks of ice.

All the space in between the tire and fender is full of ice w/o studded or treaded tires. 

With the studded tires installed, the fender stays much cleaner. 

Notice the stud length.

I love winter riding, and with careful investment in well-designed gear makes it that much more enjoyable. 

Happy trails...

Winter Commuting at -25F

So a while ago, I dedicated my winter commuting to raising awareness and donations for Livestrong. Now that winter has officially hit Madison, I write to update you on my experiences so far. Most mornings so far in December have been at or below zero, often with significantly negative wind chills. The pictures below are from a -25°F (-32°C) morning.

Frozen air looming over Lake Mendota. 

This part of the lake is walkably frozen now. 

The Salsa rides notably better than the Brompton in the snow, due to the larger-diameter wheels and Schwalbe Marathon Winters (carbide-tipped studded tires). Nevertheless, I attempted a snow ride in the Brompton:

Valiant effort. 

I will continue riding through my winter break, and look forward to making a small contribution to Livestrong fundraising. Any contribution that you're able to make is impactful and meaningful, and I thank you.

DONATE HERE