First Cold Ride of the Season

Snow at the summit of Alpine Loop

There have been a few cool rides, but last night's ride was the first really cold ride of the season. After work I put on what little warm gear I had, a Pearl Izumi soft shell jacket and thermal tights, got my lights going and jumped on the fat bike and headed for the canyon in pursuit of some snow. It had snowed as low as 5,000 ft earlier but then it warmed up. So I wasn't sure if I would be able to find snow even though the top of the canyon is at 8,060 ft.

Of course climbing I was plenty warm. The fat bike isn't particularly fast so I didn't hit the summit until about 11pm. There were remains of snow starting at Salamander Flats and continuing up to the summit, but never any real accumulation of snow.

I had to be careful on the decent because I really wasn't dressed for the combination of cold and wind on the way down. Used a lot of brake to keep the wind chill down, but still got my hands, feet,  and legs cold. Once I got out of the canyon and could start pushing again everything warmed up fine, but the cold on the legs resulted in a bit of leg cramping and pain in the knee.

I have decided I really don't like the tubeless setup on my fat bike. It just seems the low pressure of the tires and aggressive riding tends to break the seal too much and I loose air a lot. I had to pump up my rear tire three times during the 55 miles and 7ish hours of riding. I definitely won't be going tubeless on the South Pole expedition. At -40° F the sealant would freeze and overall it just hasn't been reliable.