Pretty much the whole winter before going up the canyon road was not really in my agenda, I decided one weekend to give it a shot. The first day I went, I parked the car at the bottom of Ephraim Canyon by the hydroplant, there was maybe a couple inches of packed down snow on the road. First, I planned to climb up to Major's Flat where mostly the plowed up road ended and a big parking area for snowmobilers. The continous road was only open for snowmobilers and was packed down pretty much by snowmobiles. While I had some energy leftover, I decided to try out the roadwide packed down snowmobile trail. It was great and I really enjoyed climbing up more on it. I climbed up and stopped right below Ponderosa Pine Plantation. I put on my jacket and headed down, it was a blast. This road is the funnest downhill I've ridden my fat bike on so far because the road was wide and packed down which felt safer. Duke kept up with me and had fun going down too. The wide low pressured tires had so much traction on this road and I was impressed.
I went another ride up the canyon road about 3 days later which was on Presidents Day. That time, I started from Major's Flat and made it up to Willow Creek Road and rode on that road for a little bit until I got really cold. It was cold that morning because it was early. The ride down was also cold. I had some pretty good rides on the fat bike up the canyon road.
After little snowstorm on a Friday night, there was maybe an inch or two of snow on the roads and I did want to go on some ride or some sort. I couldn't go on my road bike because the roads were too slick, I couldn't go on my mountain bike because I just got it the day before and I was hestitant about getting it wet and snowed on(brand new bike), and I couldn't go on my fat bike because it was sitting in the laundry room with no bottom backet and crank hooked onto it. So I just laid on my bed all morning staring at the ceiling thinking about what to do, I was thinking about going on another hike like I did the week before or maybe the roads would be clear and dried by the afternoon. Then I got a call from Brian at Alley Cat Bike Shop and told me the good news, the bearings for the bottom bracket for my fat bike had come in the mail. I then went down with my deranged fat bike and he put the new bearings in the bottom bracket cups and hooked my crank back on. Before, the bearings got seized from the whole winter of snow and slush so I had to replace them. Anyway, I went on a fat bike ride that afternoon and it was awesome. I rode up on Kane Valley Road and all the way to that flat at the top and kept going down by the Quarries, then rode out on the base of Black Hill. There were old truck tire tracks I could ride over and there was a little snow and was a long ride(for me), it was beautiful. The sun came out in some spots and I have got some snow flakes fall on me, and a little wind. The temperature was cold but was still perfect for my kind of riding. This might be my last fat bike ride, depends how warm it gets in the next few weeks because it's not fun to ride in slushy snow while it's warm, plus it really ruins the bike when it's really wet. The perfect fat bike temperature is 25 degrees or lower and the perfection conditions is when the snow is packed down and not too deep and not too slushy. Well, we'll see, it's Utah, you never know.
While all 3 bikes were broke down(fat bike needed new bottom bracket, mountain bike needed new frame, and road bike was getting a tune up), I felt like I still needed to do something. I took hiking back to attention. I got in the car, took Duke and drove up the road from my house to Gordon's farm and started hiking. I did dress for it, I had snow hiking boots and gaiters and took a water bottle. I climbed up to the screen on Bald Mountain. The road up to it was partially ridden on, well, just one four wheeler, so I followed one of the tracks. Duke had a blast and so did I. It was super fun and good exercise. And good cross training, especially for the winter. The view at the top was awesome. Then later that weekend, I went on the hike again and this time it was easier and I wasn't sweating as much. The weather was beautiful, ok, maybe not, but for Utah it was. This is perfect cross training for me because I love to hike. If mountain bikes didn't exist, I'd be a serious hiker. Hiking is my second favorite outdoor vigorous activity after mountain biking and cycling.
Recently, I just took my Gary Fisher mountain bike down to a local bike shop in town just to get it tuned up. When the mechanic was doing some cleaning on my mountain bike, he found a crack where the water bottle mount was located. He told me the frame needed to be replaced or the frame would crack worse and break in half after more riding. He said it looked like a manufacturing mistake. So I knew the frame had lifetime warranty and I took it to the bike shop up north where I bought this bike from 3years ago and showed them the crack. After about 3 weeks, I got a new frame and this time it was a Trek frame, not a Gary Fisher. The story is that 3 years ago, Trek Bicycle Company bought Gary Fisher and Gary Fisher won't be logoed anymore but still use the same Gary Fisher technology and call them Trek Gary Fisher Signature Series. I really like the black and white sleek frame and it's still light. I still have the same 2010 parts on it but the headset is new, and also the bottom bracket and front derailler because of the upgraded technology. I took it for a ride and I am stoked! It feels nice and can't wait until I go a bike ride on it.
Old frame but I still miss it. I did love the graphics and colors on it. I will have good memories on it. RIP 2010 Gary Fisher Superfly frame.
I have freakin' made some good energy bars. I have got some recipes via bike magazines and the Internet. This stuff is way good and really cheap to make, maybe, still got to buy nuts and dried fruit, etc. But the peanut butter, rolled oats, and honey is dirt cheap and something I found in the house. The energy bars in the pan is loaded with algave nectar and is way good for you. This stuff is way easy to make and doesn't take long to make. Also way better than the energy bars you buy from the store.
I loaded all the bars in a small fridge in my room in the basement, also put gel in there. Then put some Coca Colas for some reward drinks after a few rides. I am set for the rest of the winter and spring!
With my new fat bike and a whole week of vacation during Christmas meant biking in the snow. I went out at least 5 times and they were all great. The few times, most of the times, were in major snowstorms. The first time, I tried it out there and it was confusing. I didn't know much how it would handle in fresh snow. That means not on packed down snow. It's a lot harder in fresh snow and sometimes the bike would slide all over the place. The picture above and below were in different rides which I rode on packed down tire tracks. The above one, I just rode around on the backroads and around town which had snow all over the roads. The below one was a great ride, I went up on Kane Valley Road all the way to the end in the middle of a snowstorm. It was a total blast. Duke kept up with me the whole time, probably because the fat bike rode slower. Luckily somebody drove their truck with big tires and made tracks for me that morning.
I rode on some great but cold days when the sun came out. I learned two things from fat biking, it's much easier to ride on packed down snow, and to ride with platform pedals. After the first snowstorm ride, I had a hard time clipping in my clipless pedals. So I switched to pedals with toe straps but that still didn't make it easier. So I took the toe straps off and rode on just platform pedals. That made it a lot more bearable! The ride was a lot more easier and funner. I agree! So anyway, I went on a lot of rides, one time I rode up the Canyon Road but there were too much people sledding down and cars going up and down, plus the road up with about 2 or 3 inches of snow pedaling on a heavy 35 pound fat bike made it really hard. I was maxed out on my heart rate all the way up. I turned around at New Canyon Road turnoff and then got to the bottom and went up again. It's hard to keep the pace up after the New Canyon Road turnoff. So I won't go up the road again, unless it's more packed down and there are less people. Maybe because it was the holidays but whatever. But I did have a good ride today, I went up on the road from the Lund farm which was packed down by snowmobilers and trucks. I went past Gordon's farm and around further and back through Dr. Olson's property and down Mill Road. Then I went up on Lund farm road again and back down. It was great because it was all packed down. Maybe that's what I need to do, is to ride on packed down snowmobile trails. Maybe sometime soon, I will take a trip up to Fairview Skyline and ride on the snowmobile trails there. We'll see, but what great two weeks I had!
Yes, I have a new member in my own little Dan B. family world. I bought this bike, which is some how called "the fat bike". It is in otherwords, a snow bike. This bike is pretty much a pedal bike with big huge 4 inch tires that goes over stuff like you wouldn't imagine. It can also go on sand so I wouldn't be surprised to see these at rental beach bike houses like in Hawaii, or Cayman Islands. They are popular in Alaska where there is dirt 3 months a year. Also people like to go on huge fat bike adventures on the Alaskan beach in the summers, then ride in the snow in the snow season.
I had my first eyes on these bikes from facebook friends from the Provo/Salt Lake area, like last winter when they first came out. Saw pictures and seem interested. I saw a fat bike in a bike shop in Provo on display and thought it was stupid and I now I watched youtube videos, and facebook friends post pictures and thought maybe this bike would be fun during the winter, and to keep me in shape. I saved my money, well at first I saved it all year for a Disneyland trip with my family during this Christmas but I guess it's been cancelled and so I had money and decided to buy this. I bought a Surly Moonlander. It's the only fat bike with the biggest tires than all the other kind of fat bikes like the Salsa Mukluk. The Mukluk was my first choice but I guess the guy I bought it from was just a Surly dealer and I really love this bike!
I went on a ride two days after I bought it, and the day after I got the bike, it snowed! I couldn't wait to try it out! I went out on some roads just outside of town and at the base of the foot hills. It worked great. It didn't slide and went over the snow easily. It was awesome. You probably can't go up steep hills or gnarly steep downhills on a snow bike but it works great on flat and moderately graded hills. I get enough workout that way too.
I used spd kind of pedals at first and they didn't do well clipping in with snow and ice on the cleats of my shoes. But I did some research and they say the Time or Crank Bros. pedals work great in snow and mud and are recommended for fat bikes. So I got the Time Z pedals. I haven't tried them yet so it's supposed to snow tonight and tomorrow and I will go biking tomorrow. I hope they will work great, and I have some snow booties for my shoes. I hope it snows a lot!
Here's a video I posted to get you an idea to see how fat bikes ride:
