1 glacier and a lot of moose

Monday 14th December, another epic ride with Kevin, Its been way to long buddy.

This all started on Friday when Kevin messaged me and asked if I was working Monday, I was but a check of the schedule at work and some rearranging with Amanda meant I was able to go and play on my bike.  

We met at Backcountry Bike & Ski in Palmer where Kevin works.  We got our gear sorted and hit the road, riding from the store.  We cruised the 9 paved miles to the trail head before the real fun started.

Crossing the Matanuska river

Cruising the road on fresh legs

Selfie time

Our target was the Knik Glacier though with a couple of creeks/rivers to cross we were unsure if we would actually make it.  From the trail head its approximately a 40mile round trip. 

Once off the road network we started along the glacial valley, the trail was a mix of silt, rocks, ice, snow and the occasional open section of water. We also counted 15 moose though unlike in Anchorage when you made noise the moose just ran off.
Picture dump follows

Trail head map

Silty trail 

Stopping to refuel and admire the view

Swamp buggy snack stop

Open water crossing

Open water crossing

And here is me crossing the same section

Our first unobstructed view of the glacier

working out a way to get a closer look

Admiring the view again

Onwards!

Another great view!

Bikes and a view does it get any better than this?

Well yes it did 

Bikes and blue ice

And happy riders with blue ice

Crossing some more open water

The sign of a good ride, needing lights to finish.

I totally agree

So all in all an epic ride, we rode from the Jim Creek side and only had two open water crossings to deal with, one we were able to ride though see above video, the other we used some willow to get by. 

Getting Amanda's bike prepared for winter

This year Amanda's bike is having a few make overs to enhance her fun whilst out riding.
I am doing three things.
1. Hydraulic Brakes, mainly as they have a carbon fibre lever so feel warmer. (Avid X0 Brakes)
2. Studding the tyres to ensure we can ride even if it is a little icy
3. Converting the bike to a 1x10 drive train with a range extender, this is happening so we can speed Amanda up a little on the climbs, as a bonus it will save a little weight.

This is the process for studding the tyre.
 - Buy studs, this is the most difficult part as they seem to go out of stock really quickly.  This year I was able to purchase 10 packs of 100 studs which will be good for 4 tyres.

One of Ten packets of studs

- Put a good movie on (and/or drink a nice beer, I was doing this before work so no beer for me).  Studding one tyre takes about 1.5 hours including removing all the debris, the movie helps relieve the boredom (I watched Batman Begins and the Dark Knight).
 - Using a small flat head screwdriver remove all debris from the stud pockets.

Debris from one tyre

 - Using the handy tool, insert stud into pocket, this tool can also be used to remove studs from the tyre.

Inserting stud into pocket

Half way there on this tyre

Once I had studded both tyres I started to install the range extender and given this is Amanda's bike a little bit of extra purple.

The range extender allows a 1x10 drivetrain to replicate the range of a 1x11 drivetrain.  This should leave Amanda and I on about equal gearing but only time will tell on that matter.

11-40t out back and 30t up front.

That is all from me for now. 

Until next time enjoy yourselves.
Nick