I glanced back, squinting into the blinding snow, to make sure Bill was still riding behind me, the snow was getting heavier and visibility was much worse than when we had started earlier that day. But there he was, right on my tail with the biggest grin on his face. The riding was wonderfully quiet with a fresh two inches on the ground and piling fast. "This is awesome", I heard him say, as my Surly Nates made fresh tracks. I couldn't help but laugh. I was a little more concerned than he was about the amount of falling snow, the decreased visibility, the traffic, now reduced to one lane, and the 32 remaining miles we needed to ride that day; 14 of which would be a dirt road with mystery conditions straight into the mountains. It was also the day before Thanksgiving, so a bit more traffic seemed to have descended on the only road that would take us into Wisdom, MT, along with lots of awed and quizzical expressions from the passers-by in their heated cabs. At a quick snack stop Bill informed me, "If I saw people doing this when I was kid, I would have jumped out of the car and never looked back." I laughed, and tried to eat a trail bar with the wind and snow blowing. |
One blizzard down, two to go! |
Pogies, by Hans |
Twin Lakes Cabin, Family Portrait |
Bill snoozes at May Creek Cabin |
I stayed warm enough the whole day using the pogies, and putting on rain gear when the snow was heavy. I also took layers off when necessary so as not to overheat or sweat too much. The last couple of miles hiking into Twin Lakes I was wearing only a thin wool base layer and a t-shirt, enjoying the silent night and the beauty of the fresh snow glistening from the light of my head lamp. We also met a lot of cool people, including one family who said that they thought their Thanksgiving was "extreme" because they were driving on the same route into their house for the Thanksgiving weekend. They insisted we stay with them as darkness was descending and snow was piling up, but we were "pretty sure" we could make it to the cabin still about nine miles away. (Okay, I wasn't really that sure.) I definitely made a mental note as of the location of their house in case of an emergency. We did eventually arrive at Twin Lakes around 9:30 that night, started the wood stove, ate some instant soup, and crashed. We stayed two nights at Twin Lakes, where I might add, I used the emergency snow shoes for a wonderful two-hour hike near the stream. Before we knew it, most of the trip was behind us with only one final riding day to return to Jackson (an adventure in itself, involving meeting another lovely family and crossing abut eight miles of cow pasture).
Snowy Landscape at Twin Lakes |
Here are some thoughts that I had for winter touring after my trip:
- Keep touring distances lower than you would normally plan to do. Winter and fat bikes can slow you down a bit.
- Invest in pogies, for winter travel these are key. Thanks Hans!
- Also, abandon cycling shoes and booties for plain old winter boots, these will be warmer and will make being both on and off the bike easier, especially in snowy conditions. Quality Bicycle Products also recently launched a new brand, 45North, and they are making some cool winter bike boots specifically for winter touring and racing.
- Travel with several CO2 cartridges (well, you'll need a bit more to inflate the fatties, but less pumping can save time).***
- If you need to fix a mechanical issue, think about pushing the bike until you find a bit of shelter (even just getting out of the wind is helpful) before you stop and try to fix something so you don't lose a lot of body heat. Basically, staying warm and being safe is more important than fixing your bike. Maybe it's safer to stay moving and to push a few miles into town than to be out trying to sort a mechanical problem or fix a flat. Think about warmth and safety first.
- I like to stay in cabins in the winter instead of tents. A warm fire at the end of the day and place to dry gear easily is very nice.
- Take more bicycle lights (and lithium batteries) than you normally do, winter conditions can alter visibility fast. Also, definitely dismount and move way, way over when the snow plow is coming.
- I recommend being even more attuned to traffic and road conditions. Cars can slide too and vehicles will also have visibility issues.
- I also really like the waterproof rain cover for my helmet, keeping snow and rain from seeping into my winter hat. It's super dorky but it sheds snow and rain very well.
- I also keep important clothing and sleeping gear in dry bags.
Big Hole sunset, riding to Jackson, MT |
Also, I just noticed that Jenn Milyko's most recent post was, "Remember The Route Twitter Feeds," regarding some folks still out there on the Adventure Cycling Route Network. Nice! Check them out!
If you prefer to wait for the snow and ice to melt before touring, check out some of Adventure Cycling's early spring tours, a great way to start your touring season, and to keep motivated:
California Spring Fling- Fully Supported - March 17 - 23, 2013
Big Bend Loop - Van Supported - April 1 - 9, 2013
Texas Hill Country - Fully Supported - April 6 - 12, 2013.
*Last year I bonked on this road, but that's another story.
** Yup, you guessed it, only Mo was hike-a-biking, Bill road almost all of it. I tried to stay in his tracks but that was challenging, especially on the uphill portions.
*** Believe it or not we only had one flat, a slow leak, fixed in the comfort of the cabin.
Photos by Mo and Bill.
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ON THE ROAD is written by the tours team -- Mo, Paul, Madeline, and Arlen -- tours specialists and intrepid bicyclists, covering all things related to Adventure Cycling's Tours Department. Find your dream tour now!
Source: http://blog.adventurecycling.org/2012/12/fat-bike-bells-ring-are-you-listenn.html
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