Winter Woodland Exploration After Dark.

Actual winter has finally arrived here in northern Illinois. On wednesday night, we gathered up a nice group of dudes and rode bikes in the snow. We dove into the woods and explored some trails. Ross was on his brand new Krampus, Derek on his Singular Peregrine 29er, Jake on a KHS Solo One 26er, Peter rode his Surly Necromancer, and I took my GT Peace-9er. All bikes (except for the Necro) were single-speed. All bikes were steel. 

Staying warm is key when you're out in the wilderness, and we were ahead of the game with a mystic bottle of swedish warming elixir.

The trails out in the woods are a bit sketchy, but they're there. There was a lot of ducking through tunnels of foliage and holding onto tree trunks while maneuvering through the madness.

We found ourselves at a dead end. Jake decided to take almost all of the air out of his tires.

We reached the river, and I thought it might be fun to attempt crossing it, via a downed branch. I fell victim to thin ice, but proceeded anyways.

Crossing turned out to be a bad idea, but the makeshift bridge proved to be a nice venue for a break from the ride.

After leaving the woods, we continued to explore some of the stranger areas of town. Jake attempted to climb anything that crossed his path. Find him in the photo above.

It was a fun night of exploration, cycling in the snow, and hangin' out drinkin' wine. In my opinion, this is what cycling in the winter is all about. Just try to get on the bike and keep riding. Have more fun in order to offset the unfavorable weather. Stay local and discover nearby things you've never seen. Don't count the miles. Fatbikes are badass, but a regular mountain bike will usually do just fine. No matter what kind of bike you have, just try to keep riding it.

Singletrack Exploration in the Weirdo Woods

Hadn't taken the old SS 29er out in a while, mostly due to the fact that it's been in need of some maintenance that I never got around to doing. So, I gave it a quick tune and went out to a local wooded area.



There is some evidence of "singletrack", though it is poorly maintained, if maintained at all. Much of my time riding was spent ducking through tunnels of overgrown branches.



It still proved to be a fairly entertaining use of time. In fact, I had a lot of fun. It's nice to get out and explore weird local areas.



I rode my GT "Peace-9er", which is a single speed 29er made from 4130 Chromoly tubing. The bike is very heavy and practically indestructible, which is why I like it. It rides well enough. I typically use a pair of Time ATAC clipless pedals for actual riding, but for today, I just threw on some old BMX pedals.



Crossed a weird bridge over the river onto the island.



On the island there was evidence of an outpost that had most likely been inhabited by local bums or high school kids, judging by the selection of empty booze cans surrounding the fire pit.



Also came across a few potential x-mas trees to chop down and bring home. Unfortunately they were already dead.