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I once wrote about the “in-between season” before snow arrives where one changes outdoor equipment, bikes to shotguns, shotguns to skis. In the “spring” it usually reverses and skis are traded back to bikes or turkey guns or bows. With the advent of fat bikes, the two wheels were never tucked away, and ran right alongside the skinny skis more or less.
I hope I never reach an age where nature doesn’t surprise me. It hasn’t, and maybe that’s why if given the choice between spending a day inside, no matter what the weather, or outdoors, I’ll always take the latter. There are always little things to discover in Nature or maybe a new way of revealing itself. I’ve always hunted and fished, so I think I’ve been in tune with the outdoor world and getting older I’m appreciating any and all time I can spend there.
The holy grail of cross country skiers-skate skiers, are the few rare days, sometimes just hours…..each spring known as “Crust Skiing.” Until this “spring” I’d never considered that as something any other sport might long for. I was wrong. Enter “Crust Biking”.
This winter has been long. And I love winter. I love the snow, the crispness on my face, the cleanness of the white, the quiet of the season. As Ruth Stout put it:
We’ve all done it. We see some of the same people at a trailhead from time to time, even recognizing their vehicle or their bike or the skis they snap into, but for whatever reason, we fail to introduce ourselves.
The Fatbike scene is not going away and there is more than enough interest among fatbike riders to gather together as frequently as possible to pound the pedals. We organized a small fatbike race last winter to provide that opportunity and brought it back, with double the entrants this year again.
First of all-is it “Snowbike,” Snow bike,” “Fatbike,” “Fat Bike”or “FatBike???” All of the above? I guess in writing about the big bikes, I’ve used about every version and now in winter, I tend to go the snowbike route in my descriptions. In any regard, they are the big bikes with big tires that love to go places normal bikes fear to tread (pun intended). So where are those places to ride, those trails and how do they get there?
A recent trail editorial addresses some of the issues the booming Fat bike craze brings to trail systems. Great comments here as well-check them out!
Blogger Steve Meurett is a cross-country skiing coach for the Special Olympics team representing the United States at the World Games in South Korea this winter. Below are a series of reports written by Meurett over the last week:
As it happens so many times for me, a photograph often spurs a thought or an interest-it shouldn’t be a surprise, I tend to be a visual person. That was the case when I was treated to the image taken by Wisconsin DNR pilot Beverly Paulan during a recent wildlife survey flight. Before I even closely identified what was in the image, I was struck by the composition, the color and patterns in the winter scene (the photographer in me I suppose).
I had an interesting conversation with an older gentleman recently who had just finished up a fat bike ride on our packed singletrack trails at Levis Mound. He talked of his early days skiing at Levis at a time when there were few trails, no facilities and no grooming. The good old days? He asked when I started volunteering here and if I’d skied some of the old treacherous goat trails we had at that time (I had) and how I came to work there.
What a difference a year makes.
Here is a link to my favorite images of the past year-a retrospective of photographs that in one way or another worked their way into the top of the list.
We're in the midst of a major winter storm today-heavy snow and blowing wind-perfect time to reflect on the past year! The Levis Mound trail system is located in south west Clark County in the 133,000 acre county forest. It hosts one of the premier cross country ski and mountain bike trails in the Midwest. It's also home to some breathtaking scenery, comprised of towering sandstone bluffs, surrounding pine and mixed forest and nearby lakes and rivers.
Paddle: Paddle Namekagon covers 92 miles of the Namekagon River. Visit http://www.scrapaddle.org for more registration information and additional details. Registration has begun and is limited to 80 participants. More events | Events map
Turkey Season Celebration: The Pulaski Area Turkey Chasers chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation will host their event at the American Legion Hall, Pulaski. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. with a buffet at 7 p.m. Cost is $50 for individuals and includes NWTF membership; $95 couples; $30 jakes; $270 sponsors. The event includes door prizes, raffles, auctions. For more information contact Ken Jaworski at 920-680-0090. More events | Events map
Birding: Find wetlands, prairies, and forests in abundance at Crex Meadows, along with more birds than you can dream of ... but not more than you can count! Andy Paulios leads this event from 4 a.m. to 2 p.m. in Burnett County. Register at https://www.cvent.com/events/great-wi-birdathon-big-day-trips/registration-941aca6cd282454189211661afb27a0a.aspx. More events | Events map
Canoe & Wooden Boat Show: This event will be held in conjunction with Wisconsin Canoe Heritage Day outside of the Wisconsin Canoe Heritage Museum in Spooner. For more information visit http://www.WisconsinCanoeHeritageMuseum.org. More events | Events map
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