By Erin Woodrow
The snow has been dismal this year in Helena. We had a huge storm at the beginning of October that dumped 2 feet of snow and then another one not long after that where we saw another foot of snow. And then barely anything followed by unseasonably warm temps in the 40s and 50s which is way unusual. Based on what others are saying, it sounds like the West has been seeing weather like this everywhere.
Needless to say (but I’m going to say it), it’s been hard to get excited about fat bike season which I personally think is the most wonderful time of the year. I had been actively training for the 200k Fat Pursuit since September, hoping to improve my skills over last year where I finished, but it wasn’t pretty. Yes, there was snow. Yes, it was brutal. But I was out there for 41 hours and barely ate or drank the last 12 hours I was riding. I only slept about 20 minutes of the 4 hours I was in a sleeping bag. My setup was garbage. This year, I’ve changed some stuff and hope I’m smarter (don’t we all!).
Alas, the FP was turned into a virtual event and while I’m still hoping to ride the course, it will be much different than the actual event since it will be fully self-supported. I signed up for the Winter Wild Way to get some time on a fully-loaded fat bike and manage some things better.
I had a really fun time with this ride. Temps were in the mid-20s to upper 30s with some sun and a bit of spitting snow and about 2/3 on snow-free gravel roads. I crossed the CDT twice and attempted to get on the Great Divide MTB route but the road up to Chessman Reservoir was fairly treacherous with a couple of inches of snow on top of a sheet of ice. Even studs couldn’t conquer it, and I was slipping everywhere trying to push my bike. So I turned around and headed back to town on asphalt and finished with another mostly snow-free gravel loop. I listened to almost an entire audiobook on the ride. Fueled better. Managed my temperatures better. Hydrated better. I’m glad I did this ride.
71.55 miles
5,801 ft elevation gain
Total time: 10:43