Fat Tom K’s Post:
Here’s some motivation for your riding or racing in the Dark:
Yes, I filmed this before the xrays and casting caught up with my thumb! 🙂
Tag Archives: group rides
Rides coming up – Wednesday the 25th and the weekend
Fat Ian’s Post:
Serge asks:
“Anyone planning on riding in the rain tomorrow (25th)?”
And he adds:
“I am planning on riding the Seine river on Sunday morning (unless it gets flooded), anyone planning on a workout, I’ll be at the Provencher bridge (Robin’s Donut) at 07:45”.
Wed Nite Fatness
Fat Ian’s Post:
Are you up for a ride out west on the Harte Trail?
7 p.m. at Ass Forest Parking lot – Grant @ Chalfont
Wed Nite Ride
Fat Ian’s Post:
7 p.m. at the Ass Forest parking lot (Grant @ Chalfont). Proposed ride is over to Garbage Hill for some climbing….
You in?
Wednesday Night Ride: Fire and Flats
Fat Ian’s Post:
Last Friday, I had the interesting experience of helping to change a flat in the dark, with wet clothes, on the open prairie, with a 40km/hr wind.  Fortunately I was collaborating with a couple other riders and we weren’t reliant on the flatee’s pump which had decided to freeze up. Oh, and we hunkered down in the ditch on the leeward side of the road.
For this Wednesday’s ride, meeting spot is the usual – Grant @ Chalfont at 7.  Let’s roll north to the Assiniboine River and find a spot out of the wind to work on some technical skills: starting a fire, boiling water, changing a flat, etc. If you’ve got any of the following feel free to bring them:
– a small stove, such as you might use as survival gear on a long winter ride (whisper lite, pocket rocket, solid fuel tablet, etc.)
– firewood (whatever you can carry – even a few offcuts of lumber)
– stuff to change a flat (pump, tire levers)
– a mug, tea bag or hot chocolate
If you don’t have a stove or whatever, still c’mon out and learn something – like how to keep warm mid-ride by throwing on an extra layer (so bring an extra jacket/hat/mitts to throw on), or how you can help with changing a flat (it certainly helps to have a team working together). We’ll be close to the duck/skating pond where folks can get inside in case you get chilled.
Hopefully the outcome will be that we all feel a little more confident in our abilities to deal with the kinds of adversity that we all face sooner or later on winter rides.
La Salle River Ride
Fat Dan’s Post:
re you looking for another opportunity to test out your winter riding setup? Lindsay is planning a ride on the La Salle river starting from La Barriere Park at 10am tomorrow morning (January 2). The plan is to head West along the river for about an hour and a half and then come back along the same route with a potential stop to get a bite to eat in La Salle on the way home.
All are welcome, so if you are interested in coming out, we will be meeting at the parking lot in La Barriere Park (@10am), just past the bridge, heading South on Waverley.
The last time I was riding out there with FatHal a couple of weeks ago the conditions were pretty fast with only a fine dusting of snow. I’m guessing not much has changed except the snow might have a hard crust on top of it due to warmer weather melt and then freezing again.
Hope to see you out there!
December 28 – Group Ride?
Fat Ian’s Post:
Tomorrow is Wednesday.  Who’s up for a ride?  Alas, not me, again (holiday dinner plans, again, yum).  But drop a comment and pitch a route idea.
Also, sounds like some rides are coming together for this weekend… if you want company, please post your starting date/time and location.
See ya out there.
Round up and looking ahead
Fat Ian’s Post:
Phew. Â The last week has been busy. Â Last Wednesday was a well-attended info night for the Actif Epica bike challenge (here’s the record on twitter, and CycleChick reports here). Â More than 35 people attended, and Ernie, Hal and Lindsay shared their thoughts on winter survival and biking. Â The summary version would be: know your limits & be aware of what you are doing, test your equipment as much as you can, and ride your own ride/don’t give up too easily. Â Mixed in there somewhere was Ernie’s advice: talk to others who are doing what you want to do. To that end, feel free to drop a comment on this (or other) posts, or on the ManitobaFatBike blog.
On the weekend there were lots of things going on.
FatDan, FatDallas and I went and did a 100km fatbike ride (gravel road ride) in Grand Forks. Â If you think we don’t have much snow, you should see GF – they have none. Â It was a hard day in the wind, but we *did* reach climax.
…And that was good for at least 20km of risque jokes. Â Never mind that Dallas met the Mayor of Climax. Â Whatever that means.
And then on Sunday we had the “applied” portion of the info session: 9 riders showed up for an easy-paced group ride.
We headed out west on the Harte Trail, and then, via a detour that Serge spotted, headed further west on Wilkes to loop around via Hall Rd and the Grand Trunk trail. Â The detour involves turning left/south off of the Harte trail just at the edge of that clearing close to the perimeter (maybe 1km or so from the perimeter). Â Serge’s trail “zigs” south and east until it “zags” west again close to Wilkes. Â It’s a nice off-road section that adds some distance and variety. Â And it saves you from having to cross the perimeter if you go under the Wilkes overpass (yay, safety!).
Other rides this weekend included Guy checking out the Seine north of Windsor Park Golf Course (rideable) and Hal and Dan (and Lindsay, separately) riding the LaSalle between LaBarriere and the town and LaSalle (also rideable). Â These ride reports were as of Sunday afternoon. Â Keep in mind things (like ice) change, so pay attention unless you want wet feet (or worse).
Meanwhile FatAl was down in Tuscobia riding 75 miles. Â I know he finished, and that he may have inadvertently ridden a few extra miles, but we’ll wait for his full report. Â For now we can only speculate that it was awesome and that he rocked it.
LOOKING AHEAD:
This Wednesday, there will be the usual group ride at Assiniboine Forest at 7 p.m. Â Neither Hal nor I can make it, but hopefully some others can.
Christmas weekend/week after: it’d be great to get some rides in. Â If you’re heading out, why not drop a comment and find some buddies to ride with.
New Year’s Eve/Day: Jon L., FatSteve and others have mused about riding the Epinette loop at Spruce Woods Provincial Park (40km loop, with 3? cabins with woodstoves, hilly, fun). Â I personally can’t ride those days, but it sure sounds like a fun idea. Â If you’re interested, leave a comment or start your own thread for a New Years Ride (see also comments on the post below this one).
See ya out there.
Weekend ride options
Fat Ian’s Post:
There an ambling ride heading out on the Crow Wing on Sunday morning – details here.
Got something else planned for a weekend outing? Â Want chubby riding buddies? Â Drop a comment with the time and place.
WNR Reports: Fat and Not So Fat
Fat Tom’s Post:
Eight riders and a great night to join Fatties and Not So Fatties on a good early winter ride.
Check out some reports:
Andrea … a la Winnipeg Cycle Chick
FatTom … a la TrainingCoopTom
Almost Wednesday
Fat Ian’s Post:
How about the usual meeting spot, then south through Assiniboine Park and west into Woodhaven/Sturgeon Creek area? Other ideas?
And – for the following Wednesday (the 14th), since there will be an Actif Epica info night at Olympia, could we bump the ride later (start at 9 from the shop)? Even if you’re not sure about Actif Epica, I hope you’ll attend – it’ll be an informal chat about winter biking that should be interesting. Multi-time Arrowhead finisher and soon-to-be Iditabike racer Lindsay Gauld will be a guest speaker.
The other 4:30
Fat Dan’s Post:
This past Sunday was another occasion to discover a time of day that I’m normally unfamiliar with. What better excuse to do that than for an Actif Epica recon ride. After stumbling down a few flights of stairs and stuffing everything in my car I met up with Dallas, Hal and Ian before setting off towards the floodway to investigate the route. Once the sun came up and the snow started to fly I remembered that my camera was handy so I’ll let the pictures do most of the talking.
As promised, the route was pretty open and it will definitely be interesting to see what happens when we get a little more snow out there. After around six hours of riding we made it back, good times!
Save the date – Actif Epica Info Night & Ride
Fat Ian’s post:
Actif Epica info night and group ride December 14th and 18th…
Four Fatties Forage For Fun
Fat Tom K’s Post:
Finally got my butt (and my Mr. Pugsley) out to a WNR tonight. Met up with Ian, Hal and Serge (hey there ‘Chief’ [it’s a military thing] – it was good chatting with you on the trail).
Four Fatties …
We linked up at the Assiniboine Forest and Hal gave us the route plan:  Forest – Harte Trail to Perimeter – South to Wilkes-ish – ‘look’  for a good connection west to Hall Rd and then north back onto the Harte Trail to return. Giddy up …
Turns out all the narrow Forest paths and wider trails were hard packed snow and the Harte Trail was like a highway (for fatties that is). Conditions were pretty nice at -5C for a night winter ride and only the northern breeze out in the open made me glad I brought my ski goggles. The two hour pedal was just what I hoped for … a good blast with some fellow fat tire enthusiasts … with just an element of uncertainty …Four Fatties Foraging For Fun … in the Fields … Good Times 🙂
Wed Ride Plan
Fat Ian’s Post:
Who’s in for a rollabout? Not much snow right now, but let’s use what we’ve got. Any suggestions for a destination this week? Drop a comment or bring your ideas to the Assiniboine Forest parking lot at 7 p.m.
FatBikeManitoba.com 