[Bob James]

Fall #5, Feb 8, 2019. Another wonderful Michigan winter day. The snow had melted just a bit the day before with temps in high 30’s, than overnight back into low teens with 25mph winds, gusts up to 40F with more snow. I was just
starting out on a paved trail that had a covering of snow, but underneath was solid ice. Even my studded fatty was no match for this ice and down I went. Luckily not to much damage other than a sore hip.

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[Bob James]

Fall #4, forgot this one, but it was in DC on Jan 12th. On the MVT during my Nostalgic ride to DC and Hains Point. After the Arlington Memorial Bridge there was a random long stretch of ice on the trail. Luckily I saw it in time, but foolishly I thought I could ride around it on the grass. But the grass was rutted and partially frozen. My tires got into on of the narrow ruts and down I went, going only about 8 mph. Only 1 person saw me I think. A runner who went around the ice patch on other side of trail. I didn’t take picture of fall, but this picture after the fall, shows my front tire covered in mud from getting off the trail. Other than my pride, the only other damage was a sore elbow and some mud stains on my jacket sleeve and shoulder.

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[Bob James]

@Boomer2U 186695 wrote:

@drevil allegedly shot the video of me making several attempts at doing “superman” on my road bike, with bar mitts, though it seems he may have experienced technical difficulties. If it helps, there were multiple witness to testify that I didn’t crash right after planking on my ISM Adamo saddle.

Your a brave and talented man Boomer. Glad the stunt had a happy ending.

[Bob James]

@drevil 186686 wrote:

I love fat biking in the snow (preferably in the woods), and right now I’m super jelly of your conditions. How do you like it?
That said, you may have discovered that there’s a limit to how high and/or powdery the snow can be before it becomes extremely difficult to ride. You face those conditions yet?

Yes, I think I reach limit today with 8″ powdery snow. I could have managed better if I was as coordinated as you and able to ride in car tracks. I’m not confident sliding around, go slow and quickly put my
feet down at the hint of a fall.

[Bob James]

Fall #5, (but 3 falls for log, since 3 were on same ride in VA snow with only 1 face plant in snow) today after 8-10 inches of snow. I installed new studded cake eater 26 x4.6″ tires on my fatboy. They worked well on plowed streets with underlying ice, but when I went to check on my mother-in-law her street had not been plowed. I tried to follow a car track, but I was not coordinated enough to keep inside the track. The advantage of the cake eaters is they are light and fast, so I was going more than 10mph when I went outside the car track and the bike slid out from under me. Fortunately, I fell into the soft snow and did not do any more damage to myself or bike. Even my handlebar mirror didn’t break.

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[Bob James]

@drevil 186563 wrote:

Bummer, Bob. Hope this doesn’t keep you off the bike.
If you plan to ride those kind of icy conditions more/regularly, possibly invest in fat bike studded tires?

Thanks Ricky. My wrists feel the worst, but I rode today and mostly stayed on the roads to avoid bumps. I ordered the Cake Eaters studded tires 26 x 4’8″ ($200 ea). I did like the wrathchild’s with the
longer and sidewall studs, but I generally only buy from Amazon. I think the cake eaters being lighter (120tpi), shorter studs and less aggressive treads will be a good balance for me between lower rolling resistance
and ice gripping. I generally ride on pavement when I can and would generally avoid any all ice dirt roads. So I primarily only need the studs when I can’t avoid short segments of ice.

[Bob James]

@secstate 186409 wrote:

Frosty Mugs with Squadra Frosty

Team 5 will host happy hour (1/30)… This is a great chance to meet the riders behind the team that will be gradually ascending past yours in the rankings.

Go Team 5. Wish I could join you. I’ll try and have a beer at 6pm Wednesday to be with the Team in spirit.

[Bob James]

Go Team 5. Wish I could join you. I’ll try and have a beer at 6pm Thursday to be with the Team in spirit.

[Bob James]

On Jan 13th, riding in Woodbridge VA after the snow storm I fell 3 times on different roads. There were minor falls where I was going pretty slow and fell over into the snow on the road. Today (Jan 26th), riding in Michigan, on Michigan Day, I had my 2nd worse fall ever. It was after 30 miles of riding tensely and nervously on mostly untreated icy gravel, that I fell hard. I could feel it happening as the back tire slid out, so I tried to soften the blow by putting my arms out. Unfortunately, my hands only slipped on the ice and I still came down hard on my chest, knee and hip. My handlebar bike mirror was shattered and my chain came totally off. Other than the mirror, no permanent damage, I hope. Tomorrow I’ll know if my chest and wrists feel worse.

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[Bob James]

Hi Teammates;

Just wanted to say hi. Sorry I can’t join in on any group rides as I’m up in Michigan. Though I was in Virginia last week for FS opening event and to ride in the snow. It was great meeting Frank, Samuel, Joe and Ryan. Hopefully
we’ll move up the team rankings. Those 1 mile sleaze rides for 11 points really add up and make a difference if you can get it in.

Ride warm and safe.

Bob

[Bob James]

Kitty;

I will act as Deputy Droop-a-long Coyote to your Sheriff “ping ping ping” Ricochet Rabbit for the Michigander. It would be fitting for someone who is actually riding in Michigan during FS2019 to give out prize if needed.

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Bob

[Bob James]

I’l be attending.

[Bob James]

@AlanA 183575 wrote:

And one final note, I think the 1 mile sleaze ride is quite bogus. I’ve certainly done it in the past, but what does it really accomplish? A person riding one mile around their neighborhood in awful weather (or while they are sick) is not promoting anything of value.

Many live within 1 mile to a 7-11, or other convenience type store. Instead of riding around in a circle for a mile, ride to one for a doughnut, coffee, hot cocoa, etc…. People will see you out promoting riding and you’ll be helping the economy to boot.

[Bob James]

Many thanks to Judd for organizing the Veterans Day ride and incorporating my farewell ride as well. I really appreciated the going away gifts of awesome cow socks and an incredibly, amazing and memory filled scrapbook of many
of the rides, events and coffee clubs I had the pleasure of participating in. It will be a life long keepsake to remember all my supportive and wonderful friends in the DC area biking community. Thank you to all who
contributed to the scrapbook, and special thanks to Komorebi for putting it together (my wife who is an avid scrapbooker, was impressed on how well it was done).

While I’ll be living and biking far away in the wintry wonderland of Michigan, I look forward to staying in touch on Strava and in this forum.

Bob James

[Bob James]

I plan on going. Thanks for organizing.

[Author]

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