Sunday turned out to be a great day to get on the phattie and ride. The missus got a little taste of riding while in Hamilton when we tried Blodgett Canyon the day before. Unfortunately, conditions prevented us from exploring too far but it was a good teaser for her of the possibilities.
On Sunday, we headed up to Maude S Canyon in Butte and rode up the canyon to the scenic vista and then headed back downhill to the railroad tracks where we took the tracks for a few miles until we got to the railroad trussel. We went over the trussel and then turned around an traced our steps back to the car. I was curious to see how the huge snow/sand tires would handle the bumpety bump bump bump of the railroad ties - it was better than being on a regular mountain bike tire but still pretty bumpy.
The climb up to the vista through the canyon is a great workout where the blood moved and the body temps went up up up - as did the elevation. There is a 1,000 ft gain in about 2 miles. It is bit of a grinder getting up but the payback on the way down is worth it. Ordinarily I don't ever ride Maude S at all but it happens to be pretty well tracked during the winter such that the snow is packed down and is rideable.
view from the top:
topo of the ride
The challenge is figuring out how to link rides together in order to make for a longer ride. It might involve just sucking it up and doing laps on stuff, or snowshoeing trails to pack them down enough. The other option is to check out the snowmobile trail network to see if any of those will be rideable on the phattie. More due diligence needed
On Sunday, we headed up to Maude S Canyon in Butte and rode up the canyon to the scenic vista and then headed back downhill to the railroad tracks where we took the tracks for a few miles until we got to the railroad trussel. We went over the trussel and then turned around an traced our steps back to the car. I was curious to see how the huge snow/sand tires would handle the bumpety bump bump bump of the railroad ties - it was better than being on a regular mountain bike tire but still pretty bumpy.
The climb up to the vista through the canyon is a great workout where the blood moved and the body temps went up up up - as did the elevation. There is a 1,000 ft gain in about 2 miles. It is bit of a grinder getting up but the payback on the way down is worth it. Ordinarily I don't ever ride Maude S at all but it happens to be pretty well tracked during the winter such that the snow is packed down and is rideable.
view from the top:
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