I was hoping to put some serious time and miles on the Nokian Extreme 294 studded Ice Bike this weekend. But, House cleaning, warm weather (39°), high winds (20-30 mph) and rain kept me from riding on Saturday.
I was curious to see what the Long Prairie Trail looks like this time of year, (I don't know if it gets plowed) so on Sunday morning after breakfast Sue and I went to Roland Olsen Forest Preserve to take a look.
But, as we got out of the car Sue mentioned that she had never been in the park, so we went for a long hike in the park. The roads are closed and very icy and hazardous to walk. The equestrian and hiking trails were quickly melting with the temperature around 44° and expected to get to 48°. The grass was showing in a couple areas already. And with 20-30 mph winds and a 60% chance of rain, I think it was best to investigate the trail before taking the bike on it.
We had a nice hike until Sue started to feel a little sick.
The half mile or so of Stone Bridge Trail (From the parking lot to the Long Prairie Trail) was pretty hard packed icy snow from the snowmobiles. Perfect for ice biking. But the warm weather made parts of the trail kind of sloppy. It might have been soft enough to feel like riding in sand, which would not be fun.
When I got to the Long Prairie Trail, it looked exactly the same as the Stone Bridge Trail. Apparently snowmobilers don't understand that a picture of a snowmobile with a red line through it means snowmobiles are not allowed on the trail. There is also a huge No Motor Vehicles sign on the kiosk.
The "Stay On Trail Or Stay At Home" sign is rather amusing.
The Stone Bridge Trail does allow snowmobiles, but the signs are a bit confusing since the first sign under the Stone Bridge Trail reads No Motor Vehicles. (!?)
So, no ice biking this weekend. Maybe I'll charge my lights and check out the trail at night. That might be fun. The temperatures are supposed to drop this week, with possible snow on Tuesday and Thursday.
Maybe next weekend.
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