Lunch Hour Bike Paths and Singletrack

I have a job that I go to a couple days a week.
The best part of having a job is riding a bike to and from it.  In addition to commuting I've been taking advantage of the "lunch hour" encouraged by the company to get out and ride a few miles. 
Just a couple of minutes from the office and I'm on one of the greenbelts that wind through and across Anchorage.

 

Less than 15 minutes from my desk and I can snag a slice of pizza, a thermos of coffee from the Beartooth and boogie down to sea level to enjoy my lunch with a view of the Alaska Range. 

 

I've been exploring every little spur of urban singletrack spur I can find off the Chester Creek Trail.  Most of it leads to homeless camps.  Some of it makes for some pretty sweet, creekside cruising.

 

Not bad for being in the smack dab in the middle of the biggest city in the state.

 

 If I don't grab coffee from the Beartooth there's a little coffee stand a hundred yards or so from work that can fill my cup before I lockup and go back to staring at a computer for the remainder of the afternoon.  Most of the time I make it back to work without spilling too much hot coffee on my hand.

Where Have I Been?

Where have I been?

I'm not entirely sure, but it has been fun.

Biermag offered to watch Little wRider this evening, so LoL and I connected and caught up with a Thursday night shop right.  Good to see LoL, it had been a while and I've had a blog warming gift sitting on my workbench for him for the past couple of weeks.
He started up a fine little blog a while back, and this seemed like an appropriate gift:

He's got some good stuff over there do yourself a favor and check it out.

More than once in recent weeks Little wRider has protested when I begin to prepare for a cross country ski outing, requesting instead that we "go ride bikes in the woods."  Who am I to argue with a request like that from a two year old?  

So of course we go ride bikes in the woods.

It should also be obvious that I use the term 'ride' loosely.  Regardless, it's tough to beat an afternoon of bike related goofiness in the woods.

The Little One is learning at a young age that there is plenty of hike-a-bike involved in winter riding.  So far he seems to be okay with it.

Cousin Rye N disappeared to Jamaica for a few weeks on what he claims is a work related trip, so Biermag and I wasted no time commandeering his Fatback and riding it plenty.  When the riding as good as it's been a bike like this should not sit idle.

Little has also developed an affection for rides on the back of the Big Donkey, or the "Backwards Bike" as he calls it.  His logic, as he explained it to me was that having handlebars behind the seat is backwards, therefor it is "The Backwards Bike."  I added a bit of titanium to the Donkey to give Little a more stable platform.  Rides have mostly been super slow and mellow, back and forth to the playground, but he and I both couldn't be happier.

Of all the people I know I can't think of anyone who might enjoy a fatbike more than GSC, but up until recently he did not own one, and had only ridden them very briefly.  Well it warms my heart to know that he took the plunge, and I had the pleasure of riding with both him and SHeck on a recent weekend. 

GSC said something mid-ride along the lines of "I had no idea . . ." which I took to mean that he was very much enjoying his new, fat set of wheels.

Crickett the dogg approves of GSC's new dog walking machine.

 Sheck borrowed LoL's Moonlander for the day, and rented herself a Fatback the following weekend.  Call me crazy, but I don't think it will be long before she's rolling a fatty of her own.

The Iditarod rolled through town last weekend, and it just so happens that the finish of the first day, ceremonial run ends just a few short miles from our house. 
A few years back GSC stuck an bbq grill on an old pair of skis and dubbed it Paco.  I inquired into Paco's availability for the Iditarod and a small crew was quickly assembled for some sausage grilling and mushing watching.

Biermag was kind enough to tow Paco to the trails, much to the delight of numerous spectators, leaving me free to tow Little wRider in his Chariot.

Grilling sausage on a bluebird day in Alaska just about one of the finest ways I can think of to spend an afternoon.

One driver drove right off the road and into the soft shoulder trying to capture a photo much like this one on our way home from the Iditarod start.  A grill on skis works out much better than one might initially think.

On one of my rides home recently I was pondering how few moose I have seen in the past month or two.  Well below average for up here.  Well it wasn't too much later that I heard a klunk outside and looked out to see that this guy had knocked one of my shovels over.  There was a deck railing between us, but had I been inclined it would have been very easy to give him a pat on the nose.

I think that covers most of the good times from around here in the recent past, I'll try to stay a bit more on top of this blogging thing as turn the corner from winter to spring.

Saturday Night

Amazing how warm 15deg feels after a month of sub-zero temps.

Spent the evening in the front yard with a fire and Little wRider.  Did a little driveway sledding with one of the neighbor kids.

Had a FatBack in the garage, Little was asleep and Biermag was around so I snuck out for an hour of riding in the snow.  First tracks on the 3" that feel this evening.

With the clouds there was enough ambient light that there was no need for the 1,000 lumens strapped to my helmet.

Feels Like Winter

While the days have gotten short and the temperatures have been cool, there has been lots of beautiful sunshine to enjoy on at least one way of my commute.

I've been riding this beast almost exclusively for the last few weeks enjoying it's midfatness on the little snow we do have.  The $30 pogies have continue to serve me well, even after 7 years.  I was riding at -5 F this afternoon with my bare hands in them for the last 5 miles of my ride.

More exciting than snow has been the overflow from frozen streams around town.  I came upon this immediately after leaving the house yesterday.  An ice damn in a culvert had water flowing out down the road in single digit temperatures.  A couple of trails around town have had a some significant overflow issues on and off over the past few weeks.  In a very dorky way, I really enjoy the dynamics of water and ice.

 Spotted this guy just off the trail riding to school today,

then heard something behind me and noticed I'd parked my bike right between the two bulls.  Fortunately the were mellow and disinterested in my existence.

The left palm of his antlers appears to have broken off at some point.

 

It's Official

Snowiest winter in Anchorage's recorded history.

Record snowfall in Alaska is no joke. Giant berms, roofs collapsing, irritable moose. . . I love it.

Next we get to see about flooding.

There was lots of great riding (and plenty of pushing) this year.
My biggest regret is that I wasn't able to ski more of it.

Spring Gravel Grinder

This winter the DOT and municipality of Anchorage spread approximately 40,000 cubic yards of sand and gravel around town.

Now that the snow and ice is mostly gone from the roads much of that gravel has migrated to shoulders and bike lanes, turning my typical rides around town into a lot of gravel cruising.


It won't be there for too long though. Thanks to enforcement of the Clean Water Act there is a June 1st deadline to have all the streets in town swept (and in general they get swept twice by then).
Last year the city had a $1.8million street sweeping budget, and will likely spend closer to $2mil this year.
A significant change from the ~$70,000 budget they had for street sweeping back in 2005.

Makes riding bikes nicer.



I spotted this thing abandoned on the bike path on my way home yesterday. Still had gas in the tank, so I wonder what the story was.

Of all the days to not be riding the Big Dummy.

It was gone by the time I cruised by this morning.

A Couple From Today

The Pugsley Index

While a brand new Pugsley will still set you back $1650, supply and demand seems to be driving down the value in the used market. Good news for anyone hoping to get into the fatbike game for cheap.

As 0f today the Pugley Index (an indicator of market value and stability) has dropped below $1200 for the first time ever!

I also appreciate the irony that the lowest price also comes from the one seller who failed to spell Pugsley correctly in his/her ad.

With spring only a few short months away and the new Moonlander on the market one can only wonder if we won't see the PugsleyDex drop below the $1000 mark before too long.

It's a buyer's market my friends, enjoy.

Is winter over yet?

My fat pants are starting to fit more comfortably than my other pants.

Eating to stay warm is slowly catching up with me.

Need a Fix

I need a fix.

And I don't mean a fixed gear, although that wouldn't be bad either.

I haven't ridden in a couple of days. I threw the studded tires on last week and had a couple of sloppy, snowy rides before the weekend. Since then I've gotten out for a little skiing with the little dude, so I've managed enough exercise to keep myself sane, but I haven't ridden.

I'm finding myself a little extra stressed and edgy today, not usually my style. Sure there are all the usual stressors going on, and the days are getting short and dark, but I'm pretty sure that what I really need is just a few minutes on a bike and I would feel a whole lot better.

Looking forward to this afternoon's commute.

Not Getting My Hopes Up.

The ice is melting and spring is in the air. A couple of warm sunny days and people's mood are noticeably improved. I'm not getting my hopes up though. First of all I know better, second, I like winter and I am not ready for it to end.

I'm not inclined to complain about the weather, what's the point? It doesn't do a thing to change the weather. For today I'll just enjoy riding in just my bike shoes.

No neoprene shoe covers, no cozy wool boots, no 16" tall rubber boots, just a pair of socks and a pair of shoes.

-bike wrider

For the Love of the Game

12 JANUARY, 2010

For the Love of the Game

Spent my lunch hour today shoveling the courts where we play bike polo. Most of it had melted off on its own, but one end of the court needed some attention. It is the middle of January. Nice to know that with a couple of phone calls letting people know the courts are clear we can have a polo game on short notice. The turn out is never huge, but a small, dedicated core group of players is all you really need this time of year. Let the masses wait for warm sunny evenings. For now we are content to shovel, fire up the generators and add a layer or two.

The week a couple of the guys showed up with a generator I was impressed. The next week they showed up with a brand new, even more powerful generator because the first one couldn't run as many flood lights as they wanted. This crew is committed.
I didn't know what I would find in this town as far as interest in polo, I guess it goes to show . . .If you put up flyers they will come.


Game On

-bike wrider