A two wheeled biography.
Sunday, January 27, 2013
Lame sauce.
The new semester has started, with it any free time I may have had is gone. Between the classes and the -17 degree temps I have not really done much riding. Once I get these classes roped in a little tighter I will try to get back in the saddle more.
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
What blog?
I've been absent from my bikes for some time. Not that I didn't have them, I just didn't ride them. I got really busy and really lazy over my break from school. I got a couple short rides in and all they did was discourage me about my Lake MXZ 302 boots. My feet got cold every single time. I have not lost all hope, but I certainly got discouraged. I even tried flat pedals again but I was just so slow and awkward, I hated it. I am going to do some hard core modifications to them, I was watching a video with Jay Petervary and his Lake boots are like super Frankenstein style. He says he rides in them down to -50. So if he can get his like that I am sure I can get them so they can handle Minnesota.
Today was awesome however, I got a really nice ride in. I am out in Chanhassen this week and I hit the trails in Chaska around McKnight Lake. Wowee it was fun. The trail was mostly hard packed snow, the Dillingers performed really well, I was pretty pleased. I rode around and over a couple frozen bodies of water, I was crunched for time so I had to cut it short but plan on heading back out tomorrow for a bit of a longer ride.
I also have some other gear on my radar that I will be picking up around the end of the month. Poagies. I see the advantage of them now. Last winter was my first winter biking and it never really got cold enough to notice. I never had to wear super gnarly gloves. This year I have been struggling to find the right glove combination and I am really not a fan of the loss of dexterity when layering gloves or even just wearing one thicker pair of gloves. So I figure if I am going to get them I might as well go all out and get the Dogwood Designs poagies, they are supposed to be good below 0 so that should be fine. I seem to have pretty good circulating in my hands because they don't get cold very easy. It is not until they get wet with sweat that they get cold.
I also have my eyes set on a Visacha. I have been carrying extra layers in a camel back back pack without the bladder. I hate wearing a back pack on a long ride and it also makes my back sweaty and then eventually cold. A Visacha would be more than enough room to carry what I have in my pack. Though at some point I would like to pick up one of those heavy duty frame packs too.
The last thing on my list is a better pair of pants. Right now I am using some heavy wind blocker pants that I use for cross country skiing. I would like something a little less flowy and a little more insulated as well. My poor little legs get cold. I figure if I get a really nice warm set I can just switch out the thickness of the base layer to adjust for temperatures. I still don't have a brand in mind but looking online a lot of people point to the Craft winter tights. However, I cannot find them anywhere to try them on so I couldn't say one way or another. If any of you readers have any good suggestions, I would love to hear them!
Here is a few pics from this winter so far.
Today was awesome however, I got a really nice ride in. I am out in Chanhassen this week and I hit the trails in Chaska around McKnight Lake. Wowee it was fun. The trail was mostly hard packed snow, the Dillingers performed really well, I was pretty pleased. I rode around and over a couple frozen bodies of water, I was crunched for time so I had to cut it short but plan on heading back out tomorrow for a bit of a longer ride.
I also have some other gear on my radar that I will be picking up around the end of the month. Poagies. I see the advantage of them now. Last winter was my first winter biking and it never really got cold enough to notice. I never had to wear super gnarly gloves. This year I have been struggling to find the right glove combination and I am really not a fan of the loss of dexterity when layering gloves or even just wearing one thicker pair of gloves. So I figure if I am going to get them I might as well go all out and get the Dogwood Designs poagies, they are supposed to be good below 0 so that should be fine. I seem to have pretty good circulating in my hands because they don't get cold very easy. It is not until they get wet with sweat that they get cold.
I also have my eyes set on a Visacha. I have been carrying extra layers in a camel back back pack without the bladder. I hate wearing a back pack on a long ride and it also makes my back sweaty and then eventually cold. A Visacha would be more than enough room to carry what I have in my pack. Though at some point I would like to pick up one of those heavy duty frame packs too.
The last thing on my list is a better pair of pants. Right now I am using some heavy wind blocker pants that I use for cross country skiing. I would like something a little less flowy and a little more insulated as well. My poor little legs get cold. I figure if I get a really nice warm set I can just switch out the thickness of the base layer to adjust for temperatures. I still don't have a brand in mind but looking online a lot of people point to the Craft winter tights. However, I cannot find them anywhere to try them on so I couldn't say one way or another. If any of you readers have any good suggestions, I would love to hear them!
Here is a few pics from this winter so far.
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
Happy New Year
Well it is now 2013 and I hope you all made it here safely. I am looking forward to see what this year has in store for me. I hope you all have a good year as well.
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