I want a fatty but my 29’er is still fun on the snow-packed singletrack

I last blogged about my experience of riding my skinny-tired 29’er in the snow back in late February of 2012. It was a very poor winter for snow lovers here in southern Minnesota and that day at Murphy-Hanrehan was one of the only times I got to ride my bike on snowy area singletrack trails.

Maxxis Ardent 2.4" knobby tires Maxxis Ardent 2.4" knobby tires winter night riding at Lebanon Hills

Last winter was much snowier and once I purchased a set of Maxxis Ardent 2.4″ knobby tires, I got out a several times at Leb, mostly at night. 

packed snowy singletrack at Lebanon Hills packed snowy singletrack at Lebanon Hills

So I was pretty pleased to get out to Leb a week or so ago after a 2″ snowfall got packed down by the fatties.  The beginner, intermediate and X trails were perfect (left photo); the XX loop had not been ridden enough to widen the track (right photo) so it was a bit tougher to stay on line.

snow-covered rocks at Lebanon Hills snow-covered rocks at Lebanon Hills

I attempted and failed to clean these snow-covered rocks.  I was able to get over the one on the left but couldn’t get enough traction to pedal away from it. On the bridge rock, I’m still not sure what the problem was. I thought I had enough speed on my second attempt but my front suspension seemed sluggish at -5 F. Maybe it was just me being sluggish. Watch my video and you be the judge:

httpv://vimeo.com/81348050

 

2 Comments

  1. David Bergstrom said:

    Great meeting you today at Leb. Thanks for hanging with me. David B.

    December 28, 2013
  2. Griff Wigley said:

    Hey David, delighted to meet you as well. Blog post coming! In the meantime, get out there with your son William but don’t tell him the secret of running super low tire pressure. Maybe THEN you’ll be able to beat him. 😉

    December 29, 2013

Comments are closed.