Aluminum Winter: Full Tilt Sunset

[MplsCoaster]

Re: Aluminum Winter: Christmas Ride

OWS, Glad I inspired you
Your Trek Clyde will look cool with some knobby tires and the 7 speed will work well
viewtopic.php?f=16&t=66119
Looks like you just got some snow, hope it's enough :lol:

Got out for a quick 3 miler before Christmas dinner

Learned something about riding in this chunky/crunchy icy snow
On my mountain bike, I need to sit on my seat to get enough traction
Been trying to do that in this stuff but can't get enough torque (seat is low) for the 1 speed
Turns out I'm able to stand up and still get enough traction
and can now crank on the solid fork and wide bars

So was able to ride over a football field's length in snow like in the picture below
The skating rink is fully frozen now and people were playing hockey
But I'm not ready for the rink, yet

See lots more people got some snow, hope you enjoy getting out there and riding
Thanks for looking
Steve

 

[Onewheelsqueel]

Re: Aluminum Winter: Christmas Ride

Nope no snow yet, went south of us.

 

[MplsCoaster]

Re: Aluminum Winter: On The Ice

Sorry to here that OWS. A few months of snow left so keep up hope
BTW: I think you should try some studded tires if it's the first time out
Most of the winter commuters run them here and they are great for traction
I'd suggest getting better quality ones, plain steel studs wear down kinda quick
The Carbide tip studs are much longer lasting

We got ~1" of new fluffy snow Thursday night
So after getting my shoveling done Friday, I was all warmed up and ready to go
Perfect weather at 24F and little to no wind

Thought there might be a cool sunset so headed off west this time
There is an older industrial section along Hiawatha Ave
Some of the grain silos are painted kinda cool

These old train tracks had enough snow on them now to ride the ties but still really bumpy :lol:

Headed east to see what else might look fun and found a large rink outside a school
Was a bit hesitant to try because I wiped hard 3 years back (no studs) but needed to give it another shot
Slow and steady with wide corners worked out well.
The Big Kahunas (studless) tires worked out with only a few tricky spots (ridges in the ice)
The sun popped underneath some low clouds and looked kinda cool off the rink

I laid down on the ice to get the background blue sky and the sunset shine off the bike
Heard from behind me a skating girl to her mom, "What that man doing?"
Said I was taking pictures of my bike but probably didn't clear up any confusion :lol:

Thought this looked like this might be an interesting shot

Got this last one heading home, the snow was covering some ice so it was tricky but fun
Was trying to get some of the sunset colors reflecting off the aluminum but not too much

So tried out some more types of terrain with this bike and it did pretty good
Thanks for looking
Steve

 

[LukeTheJoker]

Re: Aluminum Winter: On The Ice

Awesome bike racks!

Whenever I come in from working on my bike in the hot Aussie summer, I flick on to your thread and it cools me down quick smart, made the mistake of looking this unseasonably cold morning just after I woke up... Brrr...

Cool thread! :lol: word play...

Luke.

 

[MplsCoaster]

Re: Aluminum Winter:New Year's Eve, More Snow/Ice

Glad you like the Bike racks , So what's unseasonably cool?
Glad the thread is cooling you down, Could you link your build thread?
BTW: Sure like my 2004 GTO (Holden Monaro). Holden is a good coach builder

It was cold today at 13F with -1F wind chill but super sunny
Had to get out while I can, so did a short 3 miler with some off road sidetracks
Strapped on my speedometer to see exactly how fast I was going
Knew it was kind slow but only about 11.5 to 12 mph on the snow covered streets (but fine as all around)

Sorry about the huge pics, I'll try to find out how to resize them in the "new" photobucket

Anyway headed over the Community garden with lots of foot prints in the deeper snow
Played around with another technique of standing but shifting my weight back and pulling on the bars
worked okay for some types, stopped for some pics and to catch my breath :lol:

Headed over to the "gulley" and thought hard about going down and in :shock:
Got to the top to try staging the bike and it slipped out with all the ice from sledding
Decided I'd rather use my legs for pedaling some more instead of breaking one :lol:
Cool looking place though...

Decided to tackle this field again but more snow and foot prints

This one is for Schwinnray "If you didn't take a pic, it probably didn't happen" :lol:

Decided to try the rink around the hockey rink, Slow and steady ~5 mph...
A ridge caught me but didn't completely lose it
Started cheating and ride the inner snow/ice around the corners :lol:

It was another great sunny day to be out riding and taking pictures
Thanks for looking
Steve

 

[SCHWINNRAY69]

Re: Aluminum Winter: New Year's Eve, More Snow/Ice

Great pics! Glad you got that pic of the bike at the end of the field, I probably wouldn't have believed you! :wink: :lol: :lol:

 

[LukeTheJoker]

Re: Aluminum Winter:New Year's Eve, More Snow/Ice

Glad you like the Bike racks , So what's unseasonably cool?
Glad the thread is cooling you down, Could you link your build thread?
BTW: Sure like my 2004 GTO (Holden Monaro). Holden is a good coach builder
Steve

Unseasonably cool was 16C (60F), yeah, nothing compared to what you are having, but I am a total wimp when it comes to colder weather... Most times when I am working on the bike it is 35-45C (95-113F) so coming in and reading your thread is a great cool down for me...

As to the GTO, did you know that a later version of that same chassis is under the new Camaros? Stretch version is the new Chev Caprice Police vehicles, and of course the unfortunatly very short run Ponti G8...

My build thread, is the scratch built, turning into an epic... '59 Cadillac inspired stretch heavy weight... viewtopic.php?f=48&t=65514
I have no shed, or even shade to work in so tend to get a bit cooked on the hot & sunny days...
I say turning into an epic, because I hoped to have it done it 3 weeks, it is now at six and still a fair way off finished, glad it is taking longer though, some cool ideas and designs are creeping in that would not have been there if it was rushed...

Luke.

 

[Skipton]

Re: Aluminum Winter: New Year's Eve, More Snow/Ice

Great pics Steve!

Love the Sunset photo. I sure could use a good amount of snow here, We just have a couple inches.
The cold air (teens) is coming this week.

Sure looks like you are having fun! 8)

 

[MplsCoaster]

Re: Aluminum Winter: Riding lakes and a creek

Luke, that's some hot weather to work in :shock:
My friend that I went to college with, was a senior engineer on the Camaro 8)
There is a black convertible Camaro SS (M/T) in my neighborhood
It's engine gives me (good) shivers every time it drives by
Cool scratch build you got going there, I'm going to keep checking in...

Thanks Skipton I'm hoping you get some more snow soon
I'm having a blast like you are! I think we're getting some converts (like Dogdart)
viewtopic.php?f=21&t=67204

Perfect weather today bright sun and 25F, had to get out and ride!
Headed down to see how Minnehaha Falls looked, frozen and pretty cool

Followed the bike path along the Minnehaha Creek that feeds the falls
Then saw that it was almost so had to try it out
It was tricky with light snow on slick ice with plenty of ridges :shock: (one handed action shot )

There was a few spots that were still unfrozen but it's only ~ 1ft deep
Heard some creaking then rode to the wider part of the bends :lol:
Saw lots of Surly Pugsly tracks on the creek, someone else was having fun
The guy in the background was shoveling the creek to freeze it harder for a hockey rink
Made riding a bit trickier on the glare ice but didn't wipe

Have no idea why there was a husked coconut frozen into the creek :shock: :lol:

Made it up to Lake Hiawatha

Saw a ice fishing shack way out in the middle so decided to go for it
There has been a lot of very cold weather lately and I've been checking the ice depth reports :wink:
I love this shot , it was fantastic to be out there

Rode the other part of the creek to Lake Nokomis, they had a couple of hockey and skating rinks set up
Lots of cross country ski and shoe shoe tracks so went towards the middle
It funny how the sun glares off the humidity in the air

Decide to go all the way across so had to get a shot for Nick :lol:

Saw a woman taking some pics with a very nice camera and she was smiling at me riding on the lake
Asked her to take a few shots for me and she happily agreed (I love Minnesotans!)

So had a great day and a great ride (~6 miles in my own neighborhood), can you tell?

Thanks for looking
Steve

 

[SCHWINNRAY69]

Re: Aluminum Winter: Riding lakes and a creek

That's awesome, Steve, I can't believe you rode across a lake!! :shock: :shock:

Great pics! 8)

 

[kingfish254]

Re: Aluminum Winter: Riding lakes and a creek

That is so alien to someone in the South!
Love the Boneville Snow Flats look of some of your photos!
Those bars are a work of art!

 

[LukeTheJoker]

Re: Aluminum Winter: Riding lakes and a creek

Man that looks cold!

Luke.

 

[Schwinnspastic]

Re: Aluminum Winter: Riding lakes and a creek

Steve , I can't tell if this is a build thread or a thread showing all the fun your haveing rideing that light wieght....
We're not haveing that good of a Winter here in the mountains of Northern California with only 8" of snow thats melting
fast with temps in the mid 30s to 40s for the most part and now a light rain.
Thanks for the great pics,,,,enjoy the ride 8)
Mark

 

[MplsCoaster]

Re: Aluminum Winter: a bit more riding

Sorry It's been so long since I updated, Life kinda got in the way...
Thanks Nick! I don't know what else I could do so you would believe :lol:

Kingfish, that's an awesome line! I love the Bonneville Snow Flats
I kinda felt like that cause I placed my behind, behind the seat and pulled hard on the bars (look at my stance)

The front tire didn't dig in and I got booking across the lake
I suppose it would be a bit hard to understand, but think about your Russia trip for context
I remember the first time I went to the Death Valley and it was really odd :shock: :lol:
Glad you like the bars, they look unique and work well too

Luke, I know it looks cold but I had already taken off my glove liners and outer hat
When it's sunny, it feels so good
Thought I'd show you all the clothes I have on for a laugh :lol:

Hey Mark, You are exactly right on both things
It started out as a build for a specific reason then I just started posting how it worked out
Sorry to here you're not getting much snow, hopefully there's more coming eventually

We had rain here and then subzero temps so my riding has been spotty
I got one night ride in about a week ago and it was either perfectly dry or glare ice :shock:

Decided to pump up the tires from 25 to 50 psi and it coasts a lot better
But the gearing seems way to easy now, my legs flail around like crazy :lol:
I found my 22 tooth hub gear so I might switch over to the 52 tooth crankset
Currently 38/18 (2.11) going for 52/22 (2.36)
And hope it's not too tough for any more deep snow (most of it is gone now)

Got out today because it got up to 42F :shock: :shock:
Franklin Ave Bridge

Lake Street Bridge

But 50 mph winds tomorrow will bring in the coldest sub zero stuff yet (high temps maybe -2F without wind chill)
So I'll have some time to work on a few things and let January mellow out a bit
Better riding ahead in February and March (which is our snowiest month)

So until then I'll post a previous taken shot from the fun lakes ride

Thanks for looking
Steve

 

[Onewheelsqueel]

Re: Aluminum Winter: a bit more riding

Love the posts. It's inspired me. Don't usually have a ton of time to ride bikes even in the summer. But I now have a bike semi ready for snow. And we actually went for a ride today, it's up to 46dg and no snow but I got my wife and 7yr old out also. Did about 2 miles before my wife's back couldn't take it ( still in therapy for back spasms). It was fun though and most likely without seeing your posts I would have never thought of it and the bikes never would have been out in the middle of winter. Thanks.

 

[Pushie Pirate]

Re: Aluminum Winter: a bit more riding

Wow great shots, nice to see somewhere cold, it has been the hottest summer downunder,
we had a record average ever recorded for the whole country of 45C, (that's 107F in the USA)
parts of Australia have had terrible bush fires, lucky for us not where we live.

 

[MplsCoaster]

Re: Aluminum Winter: Aussies in Mpls

Thanks for your comments Kevin!
I have to give a shout out for Skipton, Clancy, and Rusty1 (and others I missed)
who commute/ride all year round and are much more hearty than me
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=67260&st=0&sk=t&sd=a

It sure makes me happy that your whole family gave it a shot
Sorry to hear about your wife's back spasms, I've had them and they're not fun (she's a real trooper!)
Hope you get some snow yet for your winter build
For me, Minnesota has ~ 5 months of cold, so it adapt or not ride

Thanks Pushie Pirate! Another Aussie (+Luke) that I could help cool down from your heat wave
That's amazingly hot ! :shock: Almost too HOT to ride (except to the beach )
Funny thing is some of your Countrymen are in Mpls for the U.S. Pond Hockey Championships!
https://www.facebook.com/USPondHockey
They said there was an Aussie team this year, whoopee!

Pond hockey is kinda cool where it's always played on a lake or pond
No goalies, high boards to check, very low/small goals, and it has to be COLD outside

They were playing the finals this morning at 0F with wind chill of -15F (-17C with WC -26C)
Actually it wasn't horrible out when my Wife and me went for our Sunday morning 2 mile run (Sunny!)
The Pond Hockey games are on Lake Nokomis which I was riding on 2 weeks ago

It's tough to just watch the activities, much easier to play in the cold and snow
Some other events coming up are the Mpls Loppet
Big cross country ski race, skijoring (skiing with a tether to a dog(s)) and bicycle racing on ice
http://www.loppet.org/cityoflakesloppet/

St Paul Winter Carnival (since 1886) is happening soon to with lots of outdoor activities
http://www.winter-carnival.com/

Okay, I'm done now, I'm going to have some HOT coffee and warmup
Thanks for looking
Steve

 

[LukeTheJoker]

Re: Aluminum Winter: Aussies in Mpls

Awesome stuff! Pond hockey sounds interesting...

Luke.

 

[Onewheelsqueel]

Re: Aluminum Winter: Aussies in Mpls

Finally went fer a snow cruise. Not far, bout 4 miles. Felt good to get out. Was rather nervous but only felt the front slip a little a couple times. I'd post pics but I can't seem to figure out how to get pics of my new iPhone to photobucket, nor off my puter to it either. I did post a pic on Rrb Facebook page though, no excuse as to not go check it oot. Thanks for the inspiration MplsCoaster.

 

[MplsCoaster]

Re: Aluminum Winter: Going Ridin' Tomorrow!

Thanks Luke! Glad you find it interesting
We got one of the 5 Worldwide Red Bull Crashed Ice this weekend
http://www.redbull.com/cs/Satellite/en_ ... 3257745177
The course looks insane :shock:

Awesome Kevin!! Can't wait to see the pics. Looked on the Facebook page but couldn't find it
Maybe you can post them here when you sort out the logistics
So glad you braved it and kept at it even with the front tire slipping
Did you go with the studded tire and how much snow did you get?
4 miles is great and it's great that you enjoyed getting some fresh air
Glad my craziness is contagious :lol:

Tonight it's -4F but tomorrow it will be 19F with light winds and time for me to get out
I've been a gym rat all week (sub zero wind chills) and it's driving me nuts!

So in the mean time I'll post some pics from the super fun ride 20 days ago (above the frozen falls)

and from my 42F ride along the somewhat frozen Mississippi River about a week ago

Can't wait for a fresh air ride and add some more pics
Thanks for looking
Steve