Today was my last ride for 2011, and it just so happened to take me over the 18,000 mile mark for the year. I had originally thought I was going to be short of 18,000 miles, but I noticed after my ride on Monday that I was reasonably close to try and make it there by the end of the year. Also, I had 2,134,824 ft of climbing … that’s the same elevation gain as climbing Mt Everest 73.5 times starting from sea level.
Screenshot of strava stats for 2011
I also ended up winning the Strava climbing competition for December and for 2011.
2011 Studio Velo climbing competition overall winner
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- It’s so cold even the water bottles have to wear gloves!
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- Salem Lutheran Church
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- Terminal Morraine in the direction of Timberland Hills
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- Rolling hills heading towards the morraine
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- This is almost a categorized climb
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- Church in the highlands
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- More snow at nearly 1500′ elevation
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- Fire tower near the Timberland Hills lighted ski trail
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- Ice age national scenic trail spanning the entire state of Wisconsin – my father-in-law is hiking all of it over the course of the next year
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- Welcome timberland hills west lighted ski trail
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- Lights, grooming equipment, warming hut – the only thing missing is the snow!
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- Confused yet? The small green signs on the left say “public hunting and fishing grounds”. The sign on the tree is a “posted no tresspassing” sign
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- Co Rd J – the hilliest road in the area with several 10+% rollers including one that maxed out at 14%
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- 14% max gradient on one of the hills on Co Rd J
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- More of Co Rd J with blowing snow in the distance
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- My first barn/silo picture of the trip … these are everywhere but it is not always easy to be in the right spot to take a pic of then while riding
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- 25.4 degF – a bit warmer with the approaching storm – 3-4″ of snow expected tonight
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- Snow biking with the road bike – yes, it’s possible, but not recommended. That is an ice covered road, the snow was much easier to ride on
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- A lot more climbing today
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- I can pretty much guarantee that this has never happened in Alabama before – kids taking turns pulling each other on a sled across the frozen lake using a 4-wheeler
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- I think this was somewhere near the 18,000 mile mark for the year
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- Snow drifts on the lake. You can ride your mountain bike on the lake as long as you stay in the snowy areas. It is fun to try to map out your route from one snow drift to the next to minimize the areas of open ice that you have to cross. It is also possib
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- Trickiest part of the ride was navigating the driveway — all good!
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- Frozen slushy anyone?
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- Recall governor walker
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- Screenshot of strava stats for 2011
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- 2011 Studio Velo climbing competition overall winner
