April Fools Ride

Fatbike & Ermine

April 5th-not a date one is really supposed to be still riding in snow. But as recent memory recalls, last year was even more unusual-the first turkey season found me slogging thru six inches of snow in search of the big “V” of a tom turkey-few were found. But this year-come on, really? So many days of record minus 30 and deep snow that seemed to never end (not that I mind that!) but it IS April. Just to give us all one last kick in the pants, Mother Nature tossed another wintery mess our way this week. Rain, sleet, driving snow and wind-not exactly what us cyclists want to see. But for some of us, having a fatbike in the stable, the snow affords us one last “one last ride.”

With morning temps on this day hovering between 10 and 15, I could be assured the nearby forest lanes and snowmobile trails would be frozen down. A 3” deep fresh blanket of snow covered everything and was unbroken save for a very occasional deer, coyote and ermine track. As most rides start out, I had a plan in mind of where my venture would take me. But as the dead end road turned into a skidder trail, the effort required to pedal forward was a bit much, nixing my undertaking. Option B was a shorter route- just as much work, but I figured I could slog through and make it back alive.

Fatbikes are perfect for snow riding, but several inches is tough-my nearly walking pace spinning the granny gear was humbling, but also allowing me to take everything in. Rain had preceded the snow, so the forest was coated in jewel-like crystals. Every branch glaze coated with mini icicles and frost clinging to smaller brush. There is a certain joy in laying down the first tracks in snow, evidence of one exploring in uncharted territory-kinda. A few critters beat me to it for it is their home, anxious to find a few nuggets of food here and there I suppose and for the steeping sun to melt it all away. I'd been tired of snow too, but for now, it provided a clean sparkling surface to ride on.

A county park was ahead and relief expected as I could jump into truck tracks, making the pedaling effort insanely easy. Turning onto a town road of packed snow and ice (this time of year, thoughts of plowing are long gone) the big tires sang a whirrling knobbie song and a tail wind made me forget the earlier struggles. By afternoon, with the bike tucked away, everything changed. The high sun quickly deleted most of the new snow cover and softened all surfaces, turning them into sloppy mush. Any thoughts of riding again soon would have to wait, making me perhaps more thankful for getting out the door early. I have no doubt April will fool us with a few more snowflakes and raw temps, and if so, the fatbike will roll out again to happily greet it. 

Home Stretch-Arndt Road

April-Arndt Road

Wedges Creek Trail

Beach Ride

The Beach

Clark County Beach?  Well, not many and too small to qualify as a suitable location for a beach ride.  I’ve always been a bit envious of the fatbike stories I see about riders who maybe live close to Lake Michigan or Superior and have the opportunity to roll along for miles on end on uninterrupted sand.  Ironically,  located 150 miles from the nearest great lake, we actually have miles of uninterrupted sand as well.  So it’s not a beach, and there is no water edge, but we do have sand, the Clark County Forest ATV trails with no shortage of motorheads churnin up the soil, produce gobs of it.

Although the locals here call Levis Mound home, we do venture off singletrack from time to time to explore or at the very least,  have a change of scenery.  The subject of a “beach ride” came up over a few beverages and since fatbikes are our ride of choice, it was a perfect match.  Back in the day, we used to organize a mountain bike century-the “Quad Quiver”, but now, ATVs have the old trails tilled up into miles of deep sand-unrideable for normal mountain bikes.

Being fairly smart-the plan was to get onto the trails early in the morning (ATV riders seem to sleep in) when traffic is low and temps cooler.  Our jumping off point being Rock Dam, north west of Neillsville and ATV central.  Good friends and fatbike fans Dan and Laura happen to live there and with their Pugsleys,  and a quick dip of tires on the public beach, we headed out.  It soon became apparent that even in deep powdery sand, the big treads float very well and we could make our way smoothly down the white ribbon of trail.   The forestry department if often awarded ATV maintenance funds from the state gas tax, so in some parts of the forest, the “trails” are very much like gravel hiways.  Here, the terrain is fairly flat, so the natural sand, a few inches below the top soil, is what makes up a majority of the riding surface.  Our itinerary was to ride a 5 or 6 mile loop in the Rock Dam area to see how we felt.  The wheels rolled along well, and soon we passed by our return loop and ventured further-why not, the fatties were performing great in the loose sand.  Dan had ATV’d some of these trail many years earlier and there was some uncertainty as to exactly where we were.  Some east and west power lines and north and south forest roads helped with dead reckoning luckily.  We stumbled on what may be the only “waterfall” in Clark County-a little gem on the South Fork of the Eau Claire River.  A perfect place to just relax for a while and debate where we were. 

Knowing we needed to head south to return, we followed a forest road-fresh with skidder and logging truck tracks into a huge oak timber sale.  The road dead ended with no clear way out, so reluctantly we reversed course until hitting the powerline again, and decided to bushwack down that-luckily, the fatbikes handle about everything and we were able to mow down tall swamp grass and hidden ruts and make our way back to civilization, a few miles from our starting point.  Riding a bit of pavement back set our tires buzzing we rolled into Rock Dam no handed and feeling good after the three hour adventure-our first “beach ride” a success.  Nothing wrong with a little fatbike exploring and getting lost for a spell.  As J. R. R. Tolkien  said: “Not all those who wander are lost.”  I couldn’t agree more.

The Frozen Water Ride

Snyder Lake Ice

With each passing ride, I discover why I'm loving this bike so much...it takes me places I normally couldn't explore. The lack of snow this "winter" has been a blessing and curse in many ways.  I am a cross country skier and if a snow-less December had happened in previous years (it has) I'd be skulking around, depressed from a lack of kick'n and stick'n.  I realized the other day, it hasn't bothered me so much-kind of surprised me, but because the fat-bike is now in the stable, I just suit up and head out the door for the next adventure.

I frequently ride past a small made made flowage just a mile from my home.  Snyder Lake (and park) is part of the Clark County Forest and sits on the banks of Wedges Creek, which eventually empties into the Black River.  I ride the 29er on ATV trails and logging roads nearby during the warm months, a convenient change from riding singletrack at Levis Mound all the time.  Because we've had plenty of cold days, and no insulating snow, ice formed early on the water and even bridged the small rapids upstream from the lake.  Rain a week or so ago made parts of the big water unrideable slick ice, but where a skim of snow remained, it was perfect.  I found pedaling on the ice almost effortless-the flat hard surface making just a slight rumble-crunch under the big tires.  The ice allowed me to explore side creeks, although thick tag alders soon blocked my progress and shell ice finally gave way under me.

Ice Bridge & animal Stories

As I traveled upstream, I'd have to jump off the Mukluk from time to time as I hit a patch of bare ice...no problem, I just scootered across until the next patch of snow.  Water levels on the creek had been higher earlier this winter, so when I ventured deeper upstream and more rapids, I also ran into pushed up ice jams-slabs of ice cantilevered upwards- jumbled in tight high-banked corners of the stream.  These  spots were criss crossed with tracks of otters, who could scoot under the ice into open patches of water gurgling beneath my wheels.  Fisher, coyote and fox tracks also zig zagged back and forth here along with an infrequent tom turkey crossing the now frozen slush.  I love tracking, so I spent as much time as I wanted reading the stories they tell before hopping back on the bike.  The pressure of the moving water finally created a jam and enough open water to prevent travelling any further upstream...I so wanted to keep going for the creek winds on for many miles north.  I found an ice bridge to tip toe across and then up a high bank to a nearby skidder trail and back on dry oak leaves and dirt for the long ride back home.  The fat-bike and the ice I'd just ridden left me wanting more, so in the days ahead, instead of rolling down familiar singletrack, I'll search out ice, snow and sand that can take me deeper to places I've yet to explore.  Happy New Year!