Fat climb!
Whoa, it’s been a month since I’ve shared anything here. It’s been about that long since I fatbiked too! Where does the time go?
Yesterday I met my friend Steve and we did the short climb up to Henninger Flats in Altadena. It was a Salsa geek out! I was on my Mukluk and he was on his El Mariachi. Both from Topanga Creek Bicycles of course.
This is the Mt Wilson toll road. It’s steep and there are no breaks on the way up. At least it’s dirt! To top it off it was misty and the road was muddy in sections. Perfect for a fatbike. Perfect for me. Here’s the Strava info to geek out on.
Until next time!
HTFU Stemcap
A new Stemcap arrived for the Mukluk yesterday. The Mukluk is such a capable beast that you can find yourself in over your head. That’s when you need to HTFU!
Mukluk!
Bruce snapped this pic of me climbing on this past weekends ride. Yeah, it’s not dirt, but deal with it. The second pic was taken at Mt. Lowe trail camp. In it you can see my new Salsa Anything Cage with the kickass Anything Bag from Porcelain Rocket. More info on those to come.
Mt. Lowe Recon
Bruce, Rod and I loaded up the bikes to ride up to the site of the Mt. Lowe Tavern. Neither one of them had been up there before, and both of them where trying out new bikes. Rod was on his new Salsa El Mariachi and Bruce was on his re-built Kogswell. I was on my trusty Mukluk of course. Bruce and I have talked about camping up there for sometime now and so he wanted to see what the ride up was like without carrying any gear. The bottom of the climb is really steep, so steep that when it levels out at 8% it feels flat.
Once at the dirt things got more fun and the Mukluk just rode over everything. The rain from the day before had moved a bunch of the rocks around but I didn’t have to worry about picking a line. I just pedaled. Once at Inspiration Point we broke out our stoves and enjoyed some tea and Girl Scout cookies. That’s right, I said it. Tea and Girl Scout cookies. We are pretty badass.
That’s Catalina Island 75 miles away.
Looking down at downtown Los Angeles and the Rose Bowl.
Minnesota Mud
On my last day in Minneapolis Jason took me for a ride on some local roads near his house. We checked out an old ammunition plant and some gravel roads. This ride was one of the coldest of the trip with the wind blowing in our face. It was also some of the trickiest. For a couple short stretches we rode on ice and I really didn’t want to hit the deck. Both our bikes and our clothes got covered n mud and grime. What a way to finish the trip. Thanks Jason.
Matt’s Video
Matt Gersib shot video of our trip in Northern Minnesota. Here’s his video of us riding in Duluth.
Duluth, MN Fatbiking on the shore of Lake Superior from Matt Gersib on Vimeo.
Grand Marais
The day started out with a brutal climb straight outta town. A whooped out snowmobile trail that seemed unrideable, but with our fat tires and low pressures we made it up. Well mostly. There were a couple steep pitches that required pushin’. I was so hot on the climb that I stripped down to only my baselayer. In Minnesota! The climb turned in to a amazing stroll through the forest dropping us off at the frozen DevilTrack Lake. It was kinda scary at first, but I just followed along blindly with my compadres. That’s the right way to do it, right?
Tofte Peak
Day 2 had us pointing our bikes towards Tofte Peak. We would be on snowmobile trails most of the day and able to ride 2 or 3 abreast. Conditions changing with every turn, from packed snow to slush and back again. We made our way through the forest, bald eagles soaring overhead, zig-zagging our way towards the peak. Stopping here and there for photos, piss breaks and snowmobilers. These are interesting times as fatbikes are now using the trails that the snowmobilers pay to maintain. We made sure to yield, and greet all the snowmobilers with a smile and a wave. Our future depends on a good relationship.
The final push up to the peak was hard. All of us pushing our bikes through fresh snow to the top. We were rewarded with an amazing view and a sense of accomplishment. Second though was knowing that it was time to head back to the shelter for oatmeal and ramen. Trying to warm ourselves from the inside, too cold to do it the other way around.
Breakin’ Trail
This morning I crawled out of bed, made some tea and Pop-Tarts (Frosted Brown Sugar Cinnamon) and sat down at the ‘puter. I downloaded my pics and I’ve started the siftin’ and the processin’. Damn I took a lot of pics. Not all of them keepers, but some that I’m very happy with. It’s going to take some time to get them all up, and I’m not sure how to present them yet, but to hold you over here’s a teaser.
Taken on the Shoreline of Lake Superior in Duluth, Minnesota.
