Flights booked! Going to try and psych out Ian by throwing the complimentary peanuts at him throughout the flight.

Extra calories. Bonus :)

Ian wrote:Extra calories. Bonus :)

Anyone using the next two months or so as an exercise of eating as much as possible to fatten oneself up?! I'm trying my best to add some winter insulation to my 9 1/2 stone skeleton

Won't tyre choice largely depend on snow / ground conditions?

I'm crazily jealous of you guys going to do it

s8tannorm wrote:Won't tyre choice largely depend on snow / ground conditions?

Largely based on Floaters that I've got fitted or Vee 8s that I took off. Not sure if the Vee 8s would be good in any snowy situation.

Looking at the large sections of River and Lake that make up the route "Floaters" might be best......

66 North Rov 150

I'm taking snow as a given ... but, fresh snow, old frozen snow, packed snowmobile trails, wet snow, powder snow?

Ben98 wrote:I'm crazily jealous of you guys going to do it

I can't quite believe my missus agreed!

It's -4 and Snowing as I type!

s8tannorm wrote:I'm taking snow as a given ... but, fresh snow, old frozen snow, packed snowmobile trails, wet snow, powder snow?

Hence me probably just sticking with Floaters. Fat tyres are a bit pricey to have kicking about as spares. Best pick the least worst option!

s8tannorm wrote:I'm taking snow as a given ... but, fresh snow, old frozen snow, packed snowmobile trails, wet snow, powder snow?

You get different snow? Why did no-one tell me that?!

Can you imagine the Finnish version of singletrack forum, what tyre for wet snow... etc!

Anyone found a bike bag big enough for a Fatty? Tempted to just fit it in a pair of cardboard frame boxes. The box it arrived in fully built was humungous.

As Mrs M is from Finland, we've been skiing a few time to near there - never seen any bikes. Locals all use XC ski or skidoo to get about
Daylight is indeed short and depending on the weather it can feel like..

- a bit nippy (usually down to about -10oC) feels more like here when its frosty, but a dry cold so you dont notice so much
- best make sure my hats pulled down (down to -15oC) frosty earlobes
- Cover up as much as possible (-20oC and below) only nose showing and that feels cold when you breath in. if you touch anything metal then you can feel the rapid heat loss through thick gloves

Mart wrote:if you touch anything metal then you can feel the rapid heat loss through thick gloves

Which is why I've gone for carbon bars on the bike...

Whilst you're out there, and cruising along head in the clouds, could you guys let me know if you would consider this event on a 29+

FLV wrote:Whilst you're out there, and cruising along head in the clouds, could you guys let me know if you would consider this event on a 29+

Confident your Rooster will appear by 2016?

While I'm pushing in waist deep slush I'll consider if 29+ would be an upgrade or not.

johnnystorm wrote:

FLV wrote:Whilst you're out there, and cruising along head in the clouds, could you guys let me know if you would consider this event on a 29+

Confident your Rooster will appear by 2016?

While I'm pushing in waist deep slush I'll consider if 29+ would be an upgrade or not.

Already bought a Krampus. Rooster will never be riden by me.

Thanks
I like to ride this event, but would not like to buy a bike to do so

johnnystorm wrote:Anyone found a bike bag big enough for a Fatty? Tempted to just fit it in a pair of cardboard frame boxes. The box it arrived in fully built was humungous.

My mukluk (15 inch) fits in my very old, standard non padded bike bag but only just. Wheels off, seat post off, stem off (running carbon bars just like Ian because of the cold), so don't want to have to take a torque wrench to Finland. Best find out now rather than the night before though

Just back from the local outdoor shop with a pair of shoes for the race

That was the biggest item on my list of things I needed.

Ian wrote:Just back from the local outdoor shop with a pair of shoes for the race

That was the biggest item on my list of things I needed.

What did you get?

I was thinking about riding it next year (not happening now) but one thing that put me off was the expensive extreme weather kit needed.

I've bought a pair of Hoka One One's: http://likeys.com/acatalog/Hoka-Mens-TorSpeedWP.html
Not massively cheap, but hopefully something I can put to use in winter over here too.

I think it's fair to say that your first snow race will not be a cheap outing...

That's not prohibitively expensive.

Can't remember what I was looking at (I suspect it was via a suggested kit list from somewhere) but the boots were in the 400€ region - ouch!

I can't help but hope that you've got some very warm socks to go inside those boots Ian?

Gairy, I've gone for some insulated snow boots that are rated to -30c or something. North face chillKats and I've gone up a size for wool socks too

Currently -20C


Brrrr!

voodoo_simon wrote:Currently -20C


Brrrr!

Excellent :)