Same ride, but not

Up early today, porridge for breakfast, out the door just after 8. There was snow on the ground and rain forecast for later. Early starts are better for snow days anyway, best to get out before the 4x4s compress the snow to ice on the sideroads and byways and when everyone else is still eating breakfast.

I rode the same route as last week, and even stopped for tea in the same spot, but different conditions make for a different experience. Those conditions were, on the whole, pretty good, there was slush, but not too much, and where the snow laid deep the bike floated over. The only downsides were when the snow sat on wet boggy ground, then rear Edna struggled for grip.

Anyway, I first went along the Old Macc.;

Then climbed up tarmac to the Cat & Fiddle;

Across Danebower Hollow;

Then through Danebower Quarry;

Making my way to Orchard Common;

And crossing the Common;

Tea and a muffin...;

...in a frozen wasteland (it's not, but it felt like it could be);

Snowsheep on Axe Edge;

Crossing the Edge;

Stuck after riding into a puddle and not riding out again;

The only other people seen this morning were dog walkers, one by the C&F and the other on Orchard.

A good ride. I wore a new pair of gloves, Dexshell Stretchfits bought in error (I should have bought the warmer Drylites) which worked ok on the second half of the ride but were too cold for the more exposed and windier first half. But, they were half price.

Paul.

Carrying snowshoes on the bike

For a few years now I've been meaning to experiment with carrying snowshoes on the fatbike, to see if it can be done with what I have. Today I did just that.

I used my Alpkit Kanga harness, which is designed for bikepacking and allows you to carry a pack (usually a drybag) strapped to front of the bike. This attaches to the handlebars and forks and works best with a 'loop' bar such as the Confucius bars that I use. I strapped my snowshoes, MSR Evo Ascents, to the harness and went for a short ride, my local figure of 8.

We had snow on Thursday, not as much as originally forecast, but enough to make for some interesting riding, especially in the quarry. The plateau above was especially good;

Some shots of the snowshoes and harness;

I also fitted an Alpkit Stem Cell inside the bar loop, for gloves, spare skull cap etc. It can't really be seen in the photos but there's also a Beerbabe No Rack Pack, made from recycled inner tubes and designed for forks that don't have rack mounts, I keep a bothy bag in it.

As can be expected the extra weight high up on the front did affect the handling, especially downhill, but does prove the idea to be sound. There are times when parts of my preferred winter route is covered in deep snow and unridable, the ability to don 'shoes and walk for a couple of k would I think be quite good fun.

Paul.

A rare outing for me snowshoes.

 Yesterday there was too much snow for the fatbike, so today I decided that snowshoes might be a better option. I was also spurred on by my friend Debbie telling me that she went out in hers on Friday.

The plan was simple, walk up to Lightwood and onto Combs Moss, turn towards Dove, walk awhile, turn back, carry on to Corbar Cross then thru the woods and home. And that is just what I did.

Deep soft snow made the going pretty hard, and even with tails attached I sank in the deeper softer stuff. So on the whole I followed the tracks of the many walkers who'd been up before me. Still, I did appreciate the extra grip that snowshoes give (especially when walking down through the woods) although getting over stiles with them attached is a bugger!

Onto the photos;

Paul.

Too much snow...

 We've had more snow at the start of this week, and some freezing temperatures during the week, so I was hoping for good snowy riding conditions today. No such luck. 

The Old Macc. Road wasn't too bad, icy in places but I've seen it worse.

Turning around I saw a cloud inversion over town;

My plan was to get onto Drystone Edge and have a brew and a muffin. To get there I turned left towards Axe Edge;

The snow however was soft and deep, too deep to ride so I turned round and carried on up to the Cat & Fiddle. There I looked at the Danebower Hollow bridlepath, took a photo of the bike, then headed back down the road and along the cut-through between the Congleton/Macclesfield roads and the Leek road. I was hoping that Danebower would attract a lot of walkers who could groom the trail for me, but no such luck.

Icy fencing on the cut-thru;

And across Axe Edge. I hoped to walk the first half and scoot down the other side, but the snow was too deep, knee deep in places, so I walked the entire length of what is usually a good track;

It was along here that I had my tea and snack, and once I reached the main road I rode back into town, in rather a wobbly fashion as by then I'd aired down to 3psi, not that it did me any good.

It was a glorious day and although I didn't achieve my objective I'd had a great time. However, snowshoes might have been more appropriate!

Paul.

Slush

 It snowed last night, so today I got up early, helped Dani move her car (She's an NHS worker), made porridge and left the house at about 8.30. A short ride up a main road led to a byway crossing a golf course, not too difficult but still a tad tricky in the snow;

Onto a back road, turn down a side road, and onto another byway;

This is where things got difficult. Light rain/drizzle was falling, add that to slush sitting on wet ground and a worn rear tyre and what you get is no traction uphill. I aired both tyres down several times, ending up with 3psi front and 2.75 on the back, which helped a bit. But only a bit. I made it to the end, crossed the road onto a wide public footpath (silly designation, it's wide and well surfaced so well suited to a variety of users). This track is a little more sheltered, and easier going;

One of my reasons for going out early was to avoid the 4x4 'heroes' messing up the snow. I met the first further along. 

Next another back road, known in our house as 'liver & bacon lane' as I once couldn't remember the proper name. Despite being covered in snow the grip was good;

Onto the A6 and Dove Holes next, passing through the village then an uncomfortable right turn leads uphill to a UCR around Beelow Quarry. I can usually make this climb, which is short and tough, but today it was a push.

Again the track around the quarry (which has been moved over to allow more quarrying) was slushy except on the highest part where the snow had been blasted away by the wind. Before I went too far I changed gloves to a pair of 'lobster claws' as the first pair started to wet out. In winter I tend to carry two spare pairs, cold hands are a misery.

Dropping back downhill was a pleasure, for some reason the snow wasn't too slushy, and then I turned along a bridlepath towards a farm, meeting a couple of friendly dogwalkers along the way. Back onto tarmac, through Peak Dale, up 'Monkey Brew' (another stiff climb, but on tarmac), then back along liver'n'bacon. I left out the footpath on the return leg, but I did take in both byways.

I was out for about 3 hours, which is over twice as long as I'd usually take on that route. The snow was, to be frank, slushy crap. I'd have been better off on a regular mtb, or even a cross bike, on the off-road sections but on snow covered tarmac the fatty ruled. I do wonder if I'd have had a better ride if I'd gone over 400 metres, the magic number around here for finding the best snow.

I need to replace the back tyre, and I ripped the seat of my waterproof trousers so they need replacing as well.

Paul.

A short Sunday jaunt.

I mostly ride more in winter than summer, for various reasons. Work is one factor, there's plenty of weekend overtime available in the spring/summer/autumn and I can't really afford to turn it down, last year I worked 13 out of every 14 days for a while. The summer before I was doing quite a few fell races, all good until I injured my Achilles tendon, which still isn't quite right a year on. But at least I can run now, thanks to seeing both a physio and a podiatrist.

Also, winter is when it snows, and I like snow. I like running in snow as well as riding in it, but my running at the moment is at quite a low level so long runs up big hills are out for the time being.

On the fatbike I tend to stay fairly local when it snows, riding in an area that is easy to reach from my front door and that I know well. Luckily there's some good trails close to home, although some of the riding that i do is a bit cheeky.

Today's ride was short and sweet, I faffed about too much this morning to get out for a longer ride, and the main purpose of today's jaunt was to ride a particular trail for the first time in the snow.

I started off by riding up an unsurfaced road, well used by 4x4s. A lot of vehicle tracks had compressed the snow to ice, which made the climb out of town interesting as I had to keep hard over to one side, and even then I had to dab and push at a couple of spots. A 110 sat behind me spinning its wheels, more down to bad driving than the vehicle I reckon, and he never managed to catch me up despite my taking things easy.

Further along there was a patch of rough ice;

Ridable on a fatbike, although riding on ice to me is a bit unnatural so I tend to take things very steady.

The next track was a bridlepath;

Well used by walkers who'd groomed the trail quite nicely;

As close as we in this country are going to get to the groomed trails that can be found in Norf America and Scandinavia I suppose.

And onto my goal, a cheeky bit of riding that I thought might make a good snow route;

There's a bit of pushing to be done as there's a dip down to a stream with a stiff climb up, and a tricky narrow path through a quarry, but on the whole it contours around on a fairly level course, coming out behind a children's home where I used to work. The snow here was soft, with a few drifts, which could get bigger in the right conditions.

The rest of the route was cheeky as well, apart from the very last section. Our rights of way need updating, although I shouldn't technically be riding on these cheeky trails for the most part they have been built with vehicles in mind, so if a Landrover or quad bike can use them why not a bicycle or horse? Here's an example, under the snow there's a wide stone track in very good condition;

Up here I found some deep soft stuff, and even with my tyre pressures dropped to 3/3.5psi I frequently got bogged down;

Hard work for sure.

I've tried to stay above 400 metres on this ride, to get to the best dry snow and avoid the wetter slushy mess that can be found further down. I've seen boot/fell shoe treads, ski and even snowshoe tracks, but only one other set of bike treads. As I was getting close to home it starting sleeting...

...just when I was thinking of stopping to enjoy the views and drink my tea. So I kept on going, across to the UCR that I came up at the start. Going down it was taken rather gingerly, the sleet turning to rain. Rain on ice is not a nice combination! A quick ride across town gave me the chance to check how much self-steer an Edna gives at 3psi - a bit but not as bad as it was the other day at 2 3/4psi. Funny the difference how a quarter of a psi can give.

Paul.