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 Ride Stats
Distance: 11.65 miles Route: Long Prairie & Stone Bridge Trail Time: 00:00:00
Avg Speed: 0.00 mph Max Speed: 0.00 mph Avg HR: 0 bpm
Max HR: 0 bpm Calories Burned: 0 Weight: 193
Altitude Gain: 0 ft Terrain: Off: Flat Bike: Salsa Mukluk Fat
Club: Ice Bike
Weather Conditions: Mostly Cloudy. N Wind 5-10 mph. 28°.
Ride Description: Maiden voyage of the Mukluk. From R.O.F.P. SBT end to end.
No computer yet, used SBT Mileage from a previous ride.

Saw 1 XC skier, 2 dog walkers, 2 snowmobiles and 1 walker.
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Maiden Voyage Of The Mukluk.

Got a call yesterday afternoon from North Central Cyclery in Dekalb, It was Tobie, saying my Mukluk was in.
So Sue and I went down to pick up our new bikes, she bought a sweet Project One Trek Madone.

There was a "Frost Storm" last night, leaving a frosty snow covering on most of the trees, it was a beautiful trip to Dekalb. I wish I would have stopped for a few more pictures. This one is from inside a moving car.

My first decision was, should I mount my computer... Naaa, I'll do it later, I only have so much daylight left...

I'm new to fat biking, other than a couple very short parking lot rides on a Pugsley and another Mukluk, I wasn't sure what I was getting myself into.

This is a funky bike, the geometry is unlike any other bike. It has a very long wheel base, tall head tube, long and low top tube, really wide handlebars, and of course those enormous tires.

Conditions of the Stone Bridge Trail were perfect. After the thaw-freeze-rain-snow we had a couple days ago, I was expecting icier conditions. But it was almost all hardpacked snow. (from the snowmobiles)

The first thing I noticed... I haven't ridden a fully rigid bike in a while, but the bumpy sections were not as rough as I was expecting. I noticed some flex from the Salsa Enabler Fork, and with 10 pounds of air in the fat Larry tires, it was a fairly smooth ride. They kinda "bounced" a little bit on one faster section, but nothing uncontrollable. I may drop the air pressure a touch if the conditions get bumpier.
Tire pressure update...
I finally got out my tire pressure gauge and discovered why I was bouncing, I actually was running 17 psi on my first ride! After dropping it down to 10 psi, the bounciness went away. And when I dropped the air pressure down to 7 psi, the traction and ride was amazing in the snow. Experimenting with tire pressure is the key to fat biking traction and ride quality.

And this funky geometry also makes a very comfortable ride. This might be the most comfy bike I've ever ridden. A small (15" frame) would have given me a bit more stand over height, which would be nice, but this medium (17" frame) is pretty close to a perfect fit. And no toe overlap!

I couldn't tell you how the bike shifts, because I left it in the same gear the whole ride! I guess I'm used to riding my singlespeed Super V-1.

This bike gets an overall fun factor rating of 5 smiley faces...





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