Ice Bike Racing - 2009 version

The Minnesota Human-Powered Vehicle Association's 18th Annual Ice Bike Races drew a small enough crowd that I was able to win my class. (No other women showed up -- the only way I ever win these things.) Temperatures hovered just below zero Fahrenheit (minus 18 C), and the ice was rough. It had rained a few times early in the season, ruining the surfaces of most area lakes. Nonetheless, we had a little group of loyal ice bikers and a few spectators when we met on Medicine Lake, just west of Minneapolis. I rode a Greenspeed GTO recumbent trike this year, but the overall winning times were put in by riders on conventional 2-wheelers.

Fastest guy on the planet!!

Sam Whittingham has bicycled at 82.33 miles per hour under his own power and broken the (one-tenth) sound barrier, winning the DeciMach prize. This prize, which has come tantalizingly close to being claimed several times over recent years, celebrates the first human to bike at over one-tenth the speed of sound.

On the road to Stevens Point -- Osseo to Stevens Point

Bike route 69585 - powered by Bikemap 

The third leg of our ride to Stevens Point was longer than we might have liked -- over 100 miles -- but the time spent laying out a low-traffic route in the hotel the night before was a good investment. We rode south from busy Highway 10 and followed quiet country roads, watching goldfinches and indigo buntings fly up from the ditches, occasionally spotting some sandhill cranes or wild turkeys, and often enjoying the shade of a roadside tree. The downside of the quiet country roads is that they have very few places to eat. We were glad to find a roadside bar and grill just when we thought we couldn't go any further. (Look on the map for a little detour off the road at the location of the restaurant.) The traffic from Highway 10 came to us, because there was a small bridge out on 10, and a detour brought quite a few large trucks to Highway 73, but we were soon able to leave that road and get back onto the smaller ones.

We were pleasantly surprised to find that this route across Wisconsin, despite the detours and construction, was reasonably safe and not too hilly.

On the road to Stevens Point -- Woodville to Osseo, Wisconsin

Bike route 69509 - powered by Bikemap 

On our second day cycling to Stevens Point, we started from Woodville, Wisconsin and rode to Osseo. The day started on quiet roads. At one point, a bald eagle flew across the road, then hunted back and forth along the road just in front of us for a mile or so. We soon found ourselves on Highway 29, which was being resurfaced. We had to wait to ride past the newly-asphalted section, and we were glad to be able to turn south on the Red Cedar Trail. Wisconsin state trails require a trail pass, which we bought in the visitor center. We ate a picnic lunch along the river, then followed the Chippewa River trail to Highway 10. The highway had a paved shoulder that was wide enough for our trike tandem, but it was both less scenic and less relaxed than the country roads, but it was fast and not as hilly as some of the smaller roads. Since we were riding about 80 miles (130 km), we wanted to avoid difficult terrain. In Osseo, we stayed at the Osseo Inn, where we were given a room on ground floor, so that we could bring the trikes inside. We ate pie at the regionally-famous Norske Nook restaurant and planned our long ride for the next day.

Another Route Option

We've been continuing to explore the routes across Wisconsin, using BikeMap.net as well as Wisconsin's own online maps (click the header for a link), which show even the smallest roads, with color-coding to identify the bike-friendly ones. The route in the previous post was quite direct, but it showed up in red as a high-traffic route not suitable for cycling, so we tried a different option. Here's what we came up with:

Bike route 62197 - powered by Bikemap 

It is still pretty hilly, but that may be unavoidable.

Choosing a route

We're planning a bike trip to the Recumbent Rally at the Hostel Shoppe in Stevens Point, Wisconsin. Our previous long-distance bike trips have been in Europe, using the splendid bike routes and maps of the Netherlands, Austria, and Germany. One reason for not doing multi-day trips near home has been the difficulty of identifying suitable roads and getting information about them.

We're experimenting with a route-mapping system developed in Germany by Bikemap.net and building on Google Maps. (Click the header for a link to the site.) It provides detailed topographic information and allows for GPS device imports and exports. Riders can share their route information on the site or draw proposed routes and look at the distances and elevations to see whether the ride will be practical. Here's a route that we are considering (we'll report back on whether it works out):

Bike route 61416 - powered by Bikemap 

We can see already that there are some big climbs and drops; we will try drawing up some other routes and see if anything looks gentler.

Independence Day 100-mile Ride

July 4, 2008: The Twin Cities Bicycling Club celebrates Independence Day every year with a "Watermelon Ride" in the northeastern corner of the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. We live in the southwestern corner of Minneapolis and had skipped this ride in recent years to avoid driving there with our bikes. This year, we decided to ride to and from the event and make a 100-mile day of it.

The weather was perfect, with occasional clouds, temperatures in the high 70's, and a light breeze. We rode a recumbent trike tandem combining a Hase Kettwiesel on the front with a Greenspeed Anura behind. Setting a gentle pace, we finished the ride in 12 hours, including rest stops, a picnic lunch (with watermelon, of course), and an ice-cream stop on the way home.

We are trying to do more of our cycling near home, with less flying and driving to events. It's a celebration of energy-independence.

Ice Bike Racing

The Minnesota HPVA Ice Bike Races have had some bad luck with conditions over the years. This year our usual lake froze just as the first snow fell, and the ice surface was unrideable. We moved to an impromptu location on Lake Nokomis in Minneapolis, using some paths that had been cleared for a pond hockey tournament the week before. Temperatures were warm -- in the 20's -- and the ice was pretty good. The bikes and trikes were, as usual, splendid!

Trike trains

We were out riding around Minneapolis on Veteran's Day with two "delta" recumbent trikes (one wheel in front and two in back) hitched together, when we encountered two different folks with trikes that could hitch on to make a 3-trike train. Both of them enjoyed the fastest trike ride of their life, and we had fun making new friends.

We rode the two linked trikes on the St. Paul Classic ride on September 9 this year, going just over 50 miles (80 km). I rode the rest of my 100 miles (160 km) for the day on a two-wheeled recumbent to complete my fourth "9/11 Century" ride.



In the still photo above, the front trike is a prototype of the Greenspeed Anura, the second one is an older-model Kettwiesel from Hase, and the third one is a SUN EZ-3. In the video, the third trike is a newer model aluminum Kettwiesel. Linking trikes like this is a great way to let people with visual or mobility impairments enjoy cycling. As many as a half-dozen blind riders can ride with a sighted leader this way. People whose strokes have left them with one-sided weakness and poor peripheral vision can safely ride in groups or traffic. Other delta trikes that can be linked in this way include those from Lightfoot and the Sinner Comfort. Hase in Germany, which introduced trike trains, has taken it to greater lengths than anyone else, with its 2007 chain of 93 trikes. (Trike train videos on YouTube)