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!

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.