Month: December 2015

2015 in Pictures.

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January

Fresh snow, sunset, and a Pugsley commute 006

A snowy commute. My favorite kind of commute.

February

002

Commuting on the Pugsley.

March

2015 NAHBS Louisville Kentucky 042

A trip to St Louis for the North American Handmade Bicycle Show.

April

001

Winter was gone by April. Unusual for us. We typically get at least one Blizzard in April and a lot of snowfall.

May

007

Spring is coming! (Spring comes in late May here.)

June

The Atrain in a familiar spot on a gorgeous day 001

Commuting on a beautiful June day.

July

Rest stop 001

Rest stop during a long ride on the Munger Rail Trail.

August

Canal Park Sculpture Tour via my Brompton 005

Tour of Canal Park Sculptures.

September

Overnight to Indian Lake 014

Great month. Three (!) overnight camping trips and my biggest mileage month.

October

Peak Fall colors in the Lake Superior Region 030

Enjoying the Fall colors.

November

009

An unusually warm November had me putting in easy miles.

December

003

Near record warmth during the first half of December kept winter at bay. Finally winter appeared in the last week of the month.

A sampling of my bike year captured in photos.

Have a Happy New Year and thanks for stopping by.

Doug

The Grand Tour

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Since this is a brand spanking new, bare bottomed blog I thought I’d point you to a few more items for your reading pleasure. When I created this blog (sounds impressive when I use the word “CREATED”)  way back on December 26 I hadn’t polished around the edges yet. I have since added and deleted many widgets from the sidebar to your right, if you are on a desktop. Or in the footer down below if you’re on a mobile thingy. I’m trying to get a good look that is usable and within my limited computer skills. Harder to do than I thought. But I tend to over think things.

April commute.

Here’s one of those 6,000+ photos on my hard drive I never get to use. I’m on my beloved LHT. A bicycle I no longer have.

On with the tour. At the top left is either a drop down menu, or three buttons, for Home, About the Author, and My Bicycles. I’m sure you could find those on your own. I’m pointing them out because I have been tweaking, over thinking and completely rewriting the About and My Bicycles pages. I think they are Fini now. If you are interested check them out. My five bicycles may open a window into my riding style and quirkiness.

steel

One last item. Back in November I got a bug to start a Forum for People who love riding bicycles made of steel. It’s meant to be a safe place to expose your fondness for steel bikes and all the experiences we have and want to share while riding our steel bicycles. It’s called Steel on Wheels Forum. We’re a non-judgmental forum. You are still welcome if you happen to have a bicycle made of a material other then steel. It’s off to a slow start in terms of membership. I know these things take time to develop a following. I’ve added a link at the top of the Sidebar on the right, or below the last post on this page, depending on what device your reading this on. I went in and adjusted the Security Settings so now anyone can view the forums. Before they were Password protected. If you wish to participate, and I hope you will, you would have to register. Check it out. It has great potential!

Happy Riding

Doug

 

 

Let the Fatbiking commence.

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Snowbiking 011

Conditions: Cloudy, 22 mph sustained winds, air temp: 25F/-4C, windchill: 10F/-12C

The first fifteen days of December was one of the warmest starts to December ever. Last winter was a mild winter with not a lot of snow or opportunities for endless snowbiking. This winter was starting to look like it might be a year with not a lot of snow. In the past week and a half or so we received two snow storms. Between the two storms they’ve given us between 6-12 inches of snow on the ground depending on where you happen to be standing at any given moment. Along with the snow came some normal temperatures. Temperatures low enough the snow doesn’t melt right away.

Our most recent snowfall was some powdery snow on Saturday followed by a high temp of 15F/-9C yesterday. That’s a recipe for potentially good snowbike conditions.

I went in search of packed trails. About all I could find was this lightly used snowmobile trail within the city. It’s a mere 1.5 miles from my house, all uphill.

Snowbiking 009

The trail was barely firm enough to provide traction. But it was enough. What a joy it was to be out on the Pugsley on a blustery cold day with fresh snow all around. And nary another trail user in the nearly 2 hours I spent on the trail. Bliss!!

A fitting day to start anew.

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Winter Storm Ride 011

Back in July of 2012 I wrote my last blog post. I had been writing a blog about commuting year round, every day, in Northeastern Minnesota. I had written it for nearly 7 years.

I took a much needed break from blogging, from sharing my personal experiment to ride in any weather any time. The experiment was a success. So much so it has become a way of life for me.

Well, I’m back to do it again. More of the same pictures from the same spots over and over again. Today was fitting because we had the first significant winter storm of the season. It’s been an unseasonably warm start to a late winter. I was so thrilled. I got to do what I love more than just about anything else. Be outside in the middle of a winter storm. I got to go outside and play in the snow. Of course this play was all done on my Surly Pugsley. It’s starting it’s 10th, I repeat, it’s 10th winter of playing in the snow.

It’s good to be back!