Start temp: 28degF. Max temp: I believe was around 37deg.
Checklist:
Clothing:
I was able to get by with a wicking shirt, long sleeve wool shirt, and Showers Pass rain jacket. I had my hydro pack on the outside of my jacket, but the tube did end up freezing about 10miles in, so I put the hydro pack under my Showers Pass jacket. I wore Craft Nordic ski pants at the start. At Park Falls I added rain pants. It rained a lot on this ride. On my feet I wore a base sock, RAB VB, wool sock, 5.10. shoes, and NEOs. My feet got soaked by the time I reached Park Falls. I ended up adding a VB over my base sock, wool sock, and another VB (bread bag) and then my shoe. My shoes were soaked, the 2nd VB was an attempt to keep my thermal wool sock dry.
Ride Report:
The 40 miles to Ojibwa, 1st checkpoint, went smooth. The temps were in the high 20s and the trail remained solid. This distance took me around 5.5hrs. I snacked a little, filled my bladder, and took off. Short stay. It started to snow/rain about mile 30. Ojibwa to Park Falls was around another 40miles. By this time the snow turned to constant rain. Ice was building up on my bike and glasses. Fortunately, the trail still was holding up. This section took me around 5.5hrs also. Park Falls was my longest rest. I had to eat their soup and grilled cheese. I also put on rain pants and dry socks. Leaving Park Falls and heading back to Ojibwa the trail really deteriorated. It was still raining. This section took me around 7 hours. At Ojibwa I filled my water, snacked a little, and hit the trail. Another short stay. Ojibwa back to Rice Lake was around 40miles and it took me about 14hrs. Trails were slush and mashed potatoes. I made it to Birchwood gas station which is about 20miles from the finish. At the gas station I took around a 2 hour break. I didn't make changes to my clothes, I just had some coffee and tried to recuperate. After heading out of the gas station I became slightly annoyed about constant bike dismount, push, mount because the extreme poor trail conditions. I ended up dropping air pressure in my tires until I could ride on the snow. I was riding dangerous air pressures with tubes, about 2psi front and 6psi rear. I was finally able to stay on the snow and pedal, but this low of psi makes for a slow sludge. I finished in around 32 hours.
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