four season cycling

 

Last week I wrote about my initial impressions of the CYCLIQ FLY6 taillight/camera. Yesterday I wanted to check out some trails on my Pugsley. I realize the intended purpose of the Fly6 may not be to record rides in this manner. But I had a reason for recording this ride. The Minnesota Dept. of Natural Resources last year put out a policy on where fatbikes can be used. Good on them for getting ahead of any potential crisis due to the explosion of fatbike interest. The policy essentially banned fatbikes from snowmobile trails. All the trails I use in this ride are trails I’ve been riding with my Pugsley for 10 winters. The first five winters I never saw another fatbike rider. All the trails are multi-use at other times of the year. All trails are in the city limits of Duluth, Minnesota. My contention is that the trails can be shared. In ten years of riding, the most snowmobiles I have seen on any ride up to 3 hours in length was 22.  Most of the time it’s less than 12. Those are very small numbers for trails set aside for a single use.

This ride was 2 hours in length. It was 14 miles long. All but 3.5 miles was on snowmobile trails. I was passed by a total of three snowmobiles. All 3 were at the end of my ride in video #12 between 1:00 and 2:16 below.

I don’t expect anyone will watch all 2 hours of footage here. But hey, if you’re bored and really need something to do, have at it. It was unseasonably warm in the mid-20’s Fahrenheit. The snow cover was minimal for this time of year. The trails were not groomed or compacted very well. The surface was loose and soft.