Please read this report with the knowledge that grooming conditions change quickly.
1-15-19. (North of the Houghton Bridge)
Harvest Rob, two of his friends and I rode out of Houghton and all trails to the north, 17, 130, 3, 134, 124 and 122 and all conditions were quite good. The sun was out, temps were at 30 and the view from Brockway MTN was as far as you wanted to see (trail through Copper Harbor had good snow on it).
Lunch was excellent at the Beer Belly as usual.
Not much else to say except thank you groomers, traffic was reasonable and I am sure this helped.
1-16-19 (South of the Houghton Bridge)
Again, Harvest Rob, two fine fellas (don't think they want their names posted) and I rode out of Houghton (9 degrees) on 3 south to 12 west (fyi, all road riding west of Rousseau bar has plenty of snow) to a short piece of 109 (the part that is in groomer no mans land, wasn't too bad though), a short stint on 15 north to connect on 14 east headed through L'Anse (5 miles west of L'Anse the trails were ungroomed due to the swamps I believe, but trails through L'Anse and east of the Krist station had decent snow and were groomed. We then continued on 14 east to Big Bay which was great riding and was groomed. We did hit a group of very slow riders about 5 miles west of Big-Bay who would not pull over, all had mirrors, knew we were there and were douches (you know who you are). Next we ate at the Lumberjack in Big Bay, interesting place run by the owner (super nice man) who serves a excellent hamburger (likely some kind of local cow) and a homemade chili that ain't bad on a cold day.
Next, we went south on 310 (with a little jog on 321 I think) and then west on 8 through Michigamme and then a short westerly ride on 8/15 another short ride on 109 through groomers no mans land (nobody seems to groom this short piece).
I must say all trails except for a few spots mentioned so far were outstanding, had plenty of snow and we rode nice and quick. Thank you to all areas of grooming, we likely rode through 6 or 7 grooming zones.
Now for the worst, we continued on 109 north (from intersection of 12) through Alston, MI and on up to 3.
I am told this trail has not been groomed this winter yet which is fine (they have their reasons), but IT TOTALLY SUCKED! DO NOT RIDE THIS TRAIL!
FYI; if you rode south from 3 near Krupps down 109 I would say the first 9 miles are good, then it turns into peeky stutters and moguls all the way to 12.
Anyway, CLOSE IT OR GROOM IT PLEASE!
Again, other than HORRIBLE 109 and a few isolated spots, 90% was outstanding riding, plenty of snow so more cold will help with trails. If you want to duplicate this ride it was 330 miles, 11 hours (including 1 food and 4 gas stops).
Thanks to Harvest Rob and the two fine fellas (don't think they want their names posted) for two days of great riding.
Bear
1-15-19. (North of the Houghton Bridge)
Harvest Rob, two of his friends and I rode out of Houghton and all trails to the north, 17, 130, 3, 134, 124 and 122 and all conditions were quite good. The sun was out, temps were at 30 and the view from Brockway MTN was as far as you wanted to see (trail through Copper Harbor had good snow on it).
Lunch was excellent at the Beer Belly as usual.
Not much else to say except thank you groomers, traffic was reasonable and I am sure this helped.
1-16-19 (South of the Houghton Bridge)
Again, Harvest Rob, two fine fellas (don't think they want their names posted) and I rode out of Houghton (9 degrees) on 3 south to 12 west (fyi, all road riding west of Rousseau bar has plenty of snow) to a short piece of 109 (the part that is in groomer no mans land, wasn't too bad though), a short stint on 15 north to connect on 14 east headed through L'Anse (5 miles west of L'Anse the trails were ungroomed due to the swamps I believe, but trails through L'Anse and east of the Krist station had decent snow and were groomed. We then continued on 14 east to Big Bay which was great riding and was groomed. We did hit a group of very slow riders about 5 miles west of Big-Bay who would not pull over, all had mirrors, knew we were there and were douches (you know who you are). Next we ate at the Lumberjack in Big Bay, interesting place run by the owner (super nice man) who serves a excellent hamburger (likely some kind of local cow) and a homemade chili that ain't bad on a cold day.
Next, we went south on 310 (with a little jog on 321 I think) and then west on 8 through Michigamme and then a short westerly ride on 8/15 another short ride on 109 through groomers no mans land (nobody seems to groom this short piece).
I must say all trails except for a few spots mentioned so far were outstanding, had plenty of snow and we rode nice and quick. Thank you to all areas of grooming, we likely rode through 6 or 7 grooming zones.
Now for the worst, we continued on 109 north (from intersection of 12) through Alston, MI and on up to 3.
I am told this trail has not been groomed this winter yet which is fine (they have their reasons), but IT TOTALLY SUCKED! DO NOT RIDE THIS TRAIL!
FYI; if you rode south from 3 near Krupps down 109 I would say the first 9 miles are good, then it turns into peeky stutters and moguls all the way to 12.
Anyway, CLOSE IT OR GROOM IT PLEASE!
Again, other than HORRIBLE 109 and a few isolated spots, 90% was outstanding riding, plenty of snow so more cold will help with trails. If you want to duplicate this ride it was 330 miles, 11 hours (including 1 food and 4 gas stops).
Thanks to Harvest Rob and the two fine fellas (don't think they want their names posted) for two days of great riding.
Bear