With all the good weather up in Dubuque, I called back to see if there were any rides going on... and sure enough, even at 5d F a hearty group of three (Bill, Karl & Traci) ventured out on the Triple D course to do a little recon for a bridge detour that will need to be incorporated in to this year's route. Also, they found the GATOR that I brought back with me the last time I visited DBQ. But it doesn't look like he's doing to good where I let him loose... so sad. Photos by Karl (Karl's always the only one who remembers to bring the camera, but we rarely see any pictures of him... but looks like someone got his camera and snapped one of him laying down on the job).
Trail report: Snow machines are already out packing it down... good riding (about a 4" base).
With all the good weather up in Dubuque, I called back to see if there were any rides going on... and sure enough, even at 5d F a hearty group of three (Bill, Karl & Traci) ventured out on the Triple D course to do a little recon for a bridge detour that will need to be incorporated in to this year's route. Also, they found the GATOR that I brought back with me the last time I visited DBQ. But it doesn't look like he's doing to good where I let him loose... so sad. Photos by Karl (Karl's always the only one who remembers to bring the camera, but we rarely see any pictures of him... but looks like someone got his camera and snapped one of him laying down on the job).
4 comments:
Hi Lance,
I bicycled Dubuque to Dyersville and back multiple times since the flood damage, there are two bridges down, and a third one that has sections out. I was on the trail Sunday and my Nokian W240 700X40C were not cutting it. To much spining out. Looking at a Trek Fuel 80 with the fatties for future travels. Trail pics on my blog http://mrdaveygie.blogspot.com/
YA I KNOW! Thanks to our wonderful State Government which is holding up a million dollars of FEMA $ which was already approved for replacing these destroyed structures!!! But what fun would it be if we didn’t have a couple little single track bypasses like last year.
The pics were from one of the washed out bridges... we'll be constructing temporary bypasses at each one, similar to what we did on the “third bridge” that has had the sections out for the last 3 years.
700x40 is a difficult tire to ride snow on (it can be done but conditions need to be favorable. A good solid packed base with a couple days of warmer weather followed by a hard freeze. However, that can be said about any tire, even the massive 4” Endomorph by Surly (in fresh snow even those monsters don’t cut it) Sometimes in winter biking you just have to get off and push and be happy about it, it’s part of the sport.
The Nokkian's are awesome tires for ice riding… when the Mississippi freezes up I'll head out with a set of those on my mountain bike and have one hell of a great ride. If you ride the river go the first time with Karl S. He's one of the best guides in the area for pointing out the hidden springs and weak spots.
Hey Lance
I was out riding last night and I came across a Huge washed out bridge maybe a mile or two passed Graf. The trail then turned into a corn field which lead to a road. I was just wondering where to get back on the heritage trial? I wondered maybe a couple miles down the road and could not find where to get back on the trial.
Who asked that question?
You did the corret thing, take the bypass to the gravel road, go down the gravel about 1 mile, look for a sender pvc pipe with a reflective marker on it, this will lead you back south to the trail.
I'll decide to use these bypasses a couple days before the race as they are not packed as well right now and may not support standard bikes... did you see the big hole in the water crossing with bike tracks leading into it (went for a cold swim yesterday, probably just before you got there).
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