[NicDiesel]

Man, I should really log in more often. Tomorrow I’m doing my 10-12 mile ride down the River Road on my fat bike and it should be a -10 with the windchill when I head out.

[NicDiesel]

Got these installed yesterday:

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[NicDiesel]

@Dickie 100972 wrote:

8 MPH on a fat tire bike… in deep snow… in MN cold is pretty frigg’n fast if you ask me. Kudos buddy!

It was actually a little toasty on Saturday – 30° and quite humid and sunny – so I was roasting like a Thanksgiving turkey out there. It is a GREAT workout but when the snow is like wet sand I think I’m going to be lucky to do 10 miles until I drop another 50lbs or so. Today it’s a balmy -2° (but feels like -9°) so the snow should be nice and frozen for easy riding. Well, at least I hope it is.

[NicDiesel]

Been kind of a busy week since I bought Bert (my new Surly Pugsley Ops) but I took him out for a spin on the Greenway on Saturday. So much fun to ride but riding through the snow and ice was like riding through wet sand. A great legs and heart workout but I only managed to ride eight miles in an hour.
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[NicDiesel]

My 2014 goal is pretty simple – ride 1,000 miles before December 31st. If I can do at least seven miles a day here on out that shouldn’t be too hard to do. I just bought a fat bike so while it’s going to be twice the effort for half the distance, I’m excited to see my Strava annual mileage hit 1,000 this year.

Now 2015, on the hand, is a different story. I’ve started a blog to document this (Rolling Blubber) but here’s the quick list:

– Ride 3,000 miles
– Ride from the Twin Cities to Duluth and back over a week (this is around 300 miles roundtrip)
– Do at least two bike backpacking trips
– Ride part, if not all, of RAGBRAI
– Participate in the Powderhorn 24
– Do 30 Days of Biking again
– Do six loops in the Air Force Cycling Classic (I did four in 2013)

Cycling related but really more health related is to get down to at least 325lbs and be on the road to a full ED recovery. In 2016 I really want to either win a lottery ticket for RAMROD and ride it or just ride it by myself.

[NicDiesel]

It was 50 degrees here yesterday so the snow and ice from a few weeks ago are gone, which is nice. It’s usually around 35-40 here until the end of November so, much like with this past winter, this fall has been unusually cold. That said, I have a fat bike, a pair of Wolvhammers, and all of the winter riding gear I could ever need so bring on the cold and snow.

I’m not sure what “utility” a fat bike would serve in places without snow or sand but this might be my favorite bike ever. It’s like riding a Big Wheel except you’re sitting up and they come in fun colors and go a little faster. It’s going to take a while to get used to the weight of this thing but so far I am totally on the fat bike bandwagon.

[NicDiesel]

I’m not sold on this wheelset surviving very long, given my heft and the rear wheel having an offset, but I finally pulled the trigger on a fat bike today. Need to swap out the black decals for orange ones but otherwise this thing is ready to eat up the snow.
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[NicDiesel]

@jrenaut 100419 wrote:

Then I hope your day goes however it has to go in order to get you a sweet new bike.

Thanks but it’s all going to depend on whether or not QBP still has a 72h rim in stock. If they do I’ll probably pull the trigger today, if not I’ll have to wait until I can find one to build a 36h wheel out of to hold my hefty self.

[NicDiesel]

Right now this is a covet but depending on how today goes this might be a new purchase.

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[NicDiesel]

I’m giving the Wolvhammers another workout today but so far they have got to be the best $300 I’ve spent in a long, long time.

[NicDiesel]

@cyclingfool 99619 wrote:

bring it on!

LET’S DO IT.

It’s really too bad I had to take a week off from the bike due to the flu shot, I missed all of the great weather here in south Canada.

[NicDiesel]

@AFHokie 99528 wrote:

My point which you refuse to even acknowledge is the root cause of violence: the motivation and mental state of the individual.

In the long run we’re all dead. Good luck finding out why bored teenagers find violence a fun past time.

[NicDiesel]

@dkel 99515 wrote:

As of today, my wearing-SPD-sandals-into-cold-weather experiment has taken a downturn. I rode from Falls Church out to Best Buns in Shirlington, and my toes were cold by the time I got there, and were cold all the way back. I had wool socks on, too! My only other idea is to get some waterproof socks to squeeze in there as a water and (I hope) wind layer. Ultimately, it’s looking like I may have “to justify spending hundreds of dollars on warm feet.”

I tried the Pearl Izumi version of those socks in the spring when it was in the 30s and 40s here and they just couldn’t cut it for me. They got cold and stayed cold and did a piss poor job of keeping my feet dry. Lake and Shimano make decent “light” winter shoes for ~$120 (you can find them on sale or used all the time) that you can probably get away with just a decent wool sock in for winters there. If you’re just looking for wind protection you could probably stick with a road shoe and get the windproof covers.

[NicDiesel]

@Crickey7 99499 wrote:

Sweet. If my wife ever insisted I spend that much on a piece of cycling apparel, I’d wonder what she was planning to get for herself.

My wife and I had an agreement – if we left DC and bought a house I could buy whatever cycling gear I wanted. We bought a house this summer so I have the ok to buy whatever I want now, though I’m still 50lbs away from being fat bike. Besides, $300 is a small price to pay to keep the weight loss train moving. Certainly beats the $200/month I used to spend on medication or the $10K I’d have to spend if I did weight loss surgery.

[NicDiesel]

So my wife twisted my arm and made me go buy a pair of Wolvhammers last night. Chanukamas came early for your ol’ buddy.

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While these are perfect for December to March riding here in South Canada they’re way overkill for riding there. Having said that, if you want a good pair of winter shoes check out the Fasterkatts (they work with SPD or three bolt road cleats). Similar design but super light and watertight, perfect for temps between 25 and 45. My only complaint about the 45NRTH shoes are that they tend to run small and they don’t offer a 14 in the Wolvhammers so I had to go with 15s and, either as a cost cutting measure or a design issue, the zippers on the Wolvhammers are not super sturdy or easy to close. Hopefully once I put some wax on them they’ll close easier but it’s a struggle to zip them up and if you bust the zipper you’re out of luck.

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