Mondays ride

 After our ride on Saturday we didn't know if the riding season was over or not. Things changed on Sunday. Between early Sunday morning and early afternoon we picked up 5+ inches of new snow. So on Monday 3-1-21 we decided to get in one more ride. The snow we got compacted down to about 1-1/2" inches. With temperatures predicted to be in the 40's from tuesday onward for the next 7+ days and no snow predicted, I believe the season to be over for this year. 

We made a 41 mile loop in a counterclockwise direction. We took the long way around to make a stop at Art's house on the Chippewa Flowage for New York style Cream Cheese Cake with cherry or blueberry topping. It went great with a Crown and Coke.

You have to get off the trail system on the flowage to get to Art's house which led to a couple scary moments in the form of slush. The first one was the worst. I was following Gib and saw him get into it. At that point your only choice is to apply the power and get through it. It's an erie feeling, when you feel your speed start to drop and the back of the sled starts to settle in the slush. Give it the gas and power through it. The second one was near the boat launch but it was very small. We couldn't go straight in to the boat launch because it looked like there was open water. Gib found a way around it with just a small slushy area. The rest of the ride was uneventful and the trails were ok.

Our route for the day. We took the long way around to get to Arts house.

Headed out on trail 9 along side Hwy 77.

Ready to head out across Round lake, always one of my favorite parts of the ride. You get a chance to open it up a little or a lot depending on conditions.

Along trails 29, 30 and 3. Last pic is at I believe intersection 89.

Out on Chief lake, trail 3.

After leaving Arts we picked up trail 18 1 mile north of his house. You have to run the ditch alongside Cty Rd CC which works out just fine. The pictures are crossing Callahan lake. Where we leave the lake on the north end of the lake you can see how the sun just eats up the snow in no time along with having to apply the power to climb up the bank.

Trail 18 in the woods north of Callahan lake.

This is the outflow river from the Tiger Cat flowage. This is called the North Fork of the Chief River.

Here we are back on the Tiger Cat flowage only a couple miles from home. It was another great day for a ride. I wish we had had a longer riding season. It was only about 8-9 weeks this year. Shorter for me because I took two weeks off because of the extreme cold. I only put on 650 miles this year. I hope you have enjoyed following me and my friends on our rides this year. Spring is coming and it will be time to get the bikes out and do some riding. Until then be safe and happy.