This is so awesome. On Thu, Feb 5, 2015 at 8:33 AM, Mark Reimer <marknrei...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Whew, ok. Sorry for the delay, I'm in the middle of moving so there is > lots to do! > Back to the story, and answering questions. > > I recently purchased a North Face synthetic bag off a friend. The bag is > rated to -30C and I've been itching to try it out. Over the last two weeks, > the temperature has been sitting between -10 and -20C, so I figured an > overnighter was in order and it would probably be pretty comfortable in a > -30 bag. I recruited two friends, Graham and Ian, to tag along. Graham is > the gent on the cover of the most recent Bunyan Velo, which is from a story > I contributed. Ian is an experienced winter camper and has been a great > source of knowledge for me. > > The plan was to ride as many trails and river paths as possible. The > mighty Red River is now frozen solid, and a 10km section has been plowed > into a skating and cycling path. We met at a cafe at 8:30, by which point > the temperature had already dropped to -20. Hmm, maybe this wouldn't be a > mild night after all. > > Ian led the way, taking us down a bunch of trails I had never ridden > before. We creeped through various suburbs as we hugged the banks of the > river. Eventually we reached the Seine river, which is more of a creek > really, and that's where it got really slippery. > > > <https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-Fk77eHRefMU/VNOVGqtTCfI/AAAAAAAAJmw/M55H4r640qQ/s1600/Feb%2Bs24o%2B2015%2B%28220%2Bof%2B70%29.jpg> > I said earlier that it has been mild lately. So the paths were full of > foot prints which had then frozen. It was like riding on butter on glass, > with ball bearings thrown in there too. Graham came around a corner and > went down immediately. I tried to ride around, which only caused me to hit > the deck as well. Falling on lumpy ice sucks. I smashed my left knee and > tore off a pannier, but in the end all was ok. > > Or destination was a section of the river bank near the University of > Manitoba, where Ian works. That way he could get to work on time without > much difficulty. Graham didn't work till the afternoon, and I had the day > off, so it was perfect. > > We found a clearing in some pine trees and Ian had stashed a bit of wood > there the night before. When we arrived, we had ridden about 35km over > three hours. Slow going, but it was mostly icy single track, so... > > We quickly got to work on making a fire. The temperature had now sunk to > -30, and our camp site was not protected from the wind. Nothing is really > protected from the wind in this area for that matter, it's just too flat > and the river acts as a wind funnel. With windchill it was considerably > colder. > > > <https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-ajK6QBCln50/VNOWBaJ_g8I/AAAAAAAAJm4/8_SFTCtg-pQ/s1600/Feb%2Bs24o%2B2015%2B%28232%2Bof%2B70%29.jpg> > Still, we were in high spirits! It is absolutely critical in weather like > this to stay dry. Once you sweat and become damp, you can't do anything > until you dry off. I've found that soft pedalling the last 5km or so is the > solution. We were taking it easy anyway, but slowing down a bit allows the > wind to dry out your clothes (always wear soft shells with some > breathability) without cooling off too much. Once we got to camp, I threw > on a down jacket from my bag and put some chemical warmers in my mitts. > Feeling good. > > > <https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-k1iK0rwQttY/VNOWfLuMe0I/AAAAAAAAJnA/-tJmcBiezV8/s1600/Feb%2Bs24o%2B2015%2B%28237%2Bof%2B70%29.jpg> > My beers had frozen solid in the bottle cages (a real rookie mistake) so I > had to leave them by the fire to thaw out. You can see the frozen beer ice > forced the cap off a bit and oozed out. > > > <https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-1fkRgR4ATQc/VNOWsQYFIHI/AAAAAAAAJnI/bbrorqkJ8Sk/s1600/Feb%2Bs24o%2B2015%2B%28240%2Bof%2B70%29.jpg> > > I setup my tent, a North Face Mountain 25 4-season tent, which was pretty > awkward in the foot-deep snow. Usually I can have it up in about 3 minutes. > This time it took me closer to 15. I had to do it with mitts on, as even 30 > seconds without gloves would cause frost bite. > > Once camp was set, we sat around our fire, ate chips, drank beer and > scotch, and felt pretty warm and merry for until 2am. Reluctantly we all > made our way to our sleeping bags. Graham and I were sharing the tent, and > Ian was in a bivvy sack. > > > <https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-h3GMB9nx_uI/VNOXTU4i3xI/AAAAAAAAJnQ/N-zzfOPdLLk/s1600/Feb%2Bs24o%2B2015%2B%28241%2Bof%2B70%29.jpg> > The final temperature reading was -33C, with a windchill of -38C. I > changed into dry wool socks, put on some toe warmers, put my boots into a > plastic bag and shoved them into the bottom of my sleeping bag (to keep > them somewhat warm over the night. It sucks getting into frozen boots, > you'll never warm them up the next day) and went to bed. For the first 10 > minutes I was quite warm and cozy! Then I started to cool right off... > > "What kind of maladjusted social misfits are we to be out here tonight?" > said Graham. I was starting to agree. > > Proper ground insulation is key in cold weather camping. I only have a > lightweight summer sleeping pad, and it didn't do much to keep the chill > out from the ground. I think that was my downfall. Over the course of the > night I woke up constantly from the cold. It wasn't shivering > uncontrollable cold, just cold enough to not sleep. When I woke up, I was > greeted by 4-5 owls hooting back at each other right above our tent. At > first it was so cool. Then it got annoying, they were so loud! > > Eventually morning came and we were eager to pack up and make it to the > breakfast joint 5 minutes away at the university. I stuffed all my junk > into my panniers as quickly as I could. It hadn't warmed up at all in the > morning, but actually stayed below -30 throughout the entire next day. > > "I think weather like this is why people invented houses" - Graham. > > > <https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-3uMCNgiBB_4/VNOYwlh-hWI/AAAAAAAAJns/TlwQ6MANqgw/s1600/Feb%2Bs24o%2B2015%2B%28252%2Bof%2B70%29.jpg> > > > > <https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-tUtWGiy4GL4/VNOYis_gmDI/AAAAAAAAJnc/qsLgOtQ3w1I/s1600/Feb%2Bs24o%2B2015%2B%28242%2Bof%2B70%29.jpg> > > > <https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-6Hd6-203YeA/VNOYpgoDzzI/AAAAAAAAJnk/usM-O0mQaIc/s1600/Feb%2Bs24o%2B2015%2B%28251%2Bof%2B70%29.jpg> > > > <https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-z_fiZ4hD0GY/VNOZIxQmGtI/AAAAAAAAJn0/fbKkNjnOwGM/s1600/Feb%2Bs24o%2B2015%2B%28257%2Bof%2B70%29.jpg> > After eating a hot breakfast and drying out of gloves, neck warmers and > hats, Ian went to work and Graham and I rode back on the Red River. We were > met with a stiff North wind, biting deep into any exposed skin it could > find. > > > <https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-uXEVAklHmFk/VNOZ1pK_fTI/AAAAAAAAJn8/UBJncVcRpoU/s1600/Feb%2Bs24o%2B2015%2B%28259%2Bof%2B70%29.jpg> > > > <https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-lZqhaHVpwII/VNOZ76ROJYI/AAAAAAAAJoE/hVFwiY4ilpQ/s1600/Feb%2Bs24o%2B2015%2B%28262%2Bof%2B70%29.jpg> > > > <https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-G1JiT6ayUUE/VNOaDEf54OI/AAAAAAAAJoM/bFYQ_ukpP7g/s1600/Feb%2Bs24o%2B2015%2B%28268%2Bof%2B70%29.jpg> > > > <https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-lIQxnvu4ukE/VNOaPw1jGDI/AAAAAAAAJoU/9FEgZicZsYg/s1600/Feb%2Bs24o%2B2015%2B%28273%2Bof%2B70%29.jpg> > > > <https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-8Mf-mOYcQoc/VNOaY3ToeLI/AAAAAAAAJoc/QqGGn7_bvyU/s1600/Feb%2Bs24o%2B2015%2B%28280%2Bof%2B70%29.jpg> > > > <https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-tJrfr7BE8DQ/VNOahzS253I/AAAAAAAAJok/mEFDX_5xYEY/s1600/Feb%2Bs24o%2B2015%2B%28282%2Bof%2B70%29.jpg> > By 11am, I was back home and had a hot hot hot shower. Overall it was a > great experience, but I have some definite refinements to make if I venture > out in this kind of cold again. I think I would have been plenty warm in > -15, maybe even -20. Below that, different story. Ian indicated that other > than cold feet, he was very comfortable and warm all night. Perhaps a bivvy > is the way to go, with a warmer sleeping pad. We'll see. > > Tonight my wife and I are going on a hike out to a ski warming hut next to > some lovely rapids. We'll be camping out inside the hut overnight. > Thankfully this time I'll have a wood stove to keep warm.. > > > On Wednesday, February 4, 2015 at 4:48:36 PM UTC-6, lungimsam wrote: >> >> Wow! >> How did you keep warm through the night? >> >> > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "RBW Owners Bunch" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. > Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > -- "I want the kind of six pack you can't drink." -- Micah -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
