My time has come.

I finally just busted my butt and got ahead on my assignments and I went on my first bike ride in over a month on Saturday. I rode the Minehaha Creek from Lake Harriet all the way to Nokomis. When I got to Nokomis it was getting really warm and most of the snow was undisturbed, which means I was sinking in about a foot or so while trying to ride. I had the bike shifted into the lowest gear possible but the snow was just too slippery and thick so I had to walk it a little bit. Once I got to the outgoing creek that heads to the falls I put my foot through the ice, which freaked me out and made me scream like a little girl, but it makes sense that the ice would suck in an area where the water probably moves around a lot, so I got over it.

I ended up getting off the creek, going on the path until after the golf course, then got back on the creek to head home. On the way home there were a ton of super sloppy spots since I had passed by first, a lot of melting run off water coming into the creek was causing the ice and snow to turn to soup. It was a really fun ride despite the gunk. Someone built a really cool snow jump on the creek, however I opted to not get rad on it seeing as how it was built right in line with a low hanging bridge, can't say I see the logic in that but I didn't build it so what do I care?

Other than the ride I picked up a Viscacha and it is radical beyond my wildest hopes. I also picked up some Dogwood Designs pogies. I was sick of dealing with gloves getting too sweaty and then freezing and my hands get cold. These damn things are great. My headlight finally died so that is next on the never ending list of crap to get. I think I am actually going out for a ride today, so until next time. Have fun out there.

The jump to nowhere....

Sloppy winter creek soup.

Out on Lake Nokomis

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.

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.

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.

Looks like someone has got a case of the lazies.

With finals and the holidays surrounding all my free time, I didn't get much done in the way of biking. However, now that Christmas is over I hope to get back at it. I look forward to regailing you with more tails of my adventures and some fresh photos very soon.

I hope you all had a good holiday season.