Tuesday February 12th, 2013

Greetings and welcome!

We are finally below freezing tonight with low 20s as of 1am. Monday was right on the edge of freezing, but once the sun set it dropped.

The storm was a mixed blessing. We had a lot more rain than was ideal, but once it freezes there will be a lot of ice base. Most of the trails looked like they took it pretty well. Low spots definitely gathered water and there are puddles and slushy spots

The trails along F between Silver Cliff and Lakewood all looked good. The railroad grade along 32 was ridden and packed with a little slush staining, but no obvious thin spots.

Once all of this freezes in it will make a heck of a base. It is going to be whatever was there when it froze up, good or bad.

Heading to the store Monday the driveway was 1-2″ of slush with ice under it, and an interesting ride on the big hill. I was too busy yesterday to do anything about it, and it will be a mess when it freezes in.

I am thinking that will translate into a good thing on town roads and forest roads that are snowmobile routes. The county roads still held a lot of ice Monday, and I’d expect that the side roads and forest roads have a nice layer of ice cooking right now too.

We will be able to ride this weekend, but there will be some icy spots and frozen over puddles. Check out the trail pictures from Jeff Schwaller’s 500 miles in 5 days on 5 different vintage Yamahas adventure.

We are expecting a high of about 30 today, and mid teens tonight. Wednesday and Thursday could go into the mid-30s, but then the bottom drops out. A clipper Wednesday night into Thursday brings a chance of a couple of inches of snow, followed by high temperatures in the teens and low temperatures in the single digits through the weekend.

Speaking of the weekend, here are some events.

1st Annual Human Ice Bowling
Benefit for the Stephenson VFD – starts at 2pm – Sponsored by Thornton’s Bar.
Two person teams, $10 team entry. One member pushes other team member down the lane on a saucer to see how many inflated bowling pins they can knock down, just like bowling with humans. Huge Meat raffle, D.J.

I saw that there are Fishoramas on Wheeler and Crooked Lake this weekend, I will try to find an ad or poster.

Hat tips to Kurt who left this comment the other day-

Just letting you know, the Oconto Falls Sno-Jokers will be hosting the ISR World Series Ice Drags next weekend Feb 15,16,17, on the Oconto River in Oconto Falls. Testing and tech on Friday, racing on Sat and Sunday. There will be a heated food and refreshment tent on the ice, the band Renegade, will be playing Saturday night from 6 to 10 and there will be fireworks on the ice at 8 pm Saturday. Sunday we will also be having a vintage show and shine if anyone would like to bring their sled in for the day. Admission is $2 per day. Come on out and watch the races, There is everything from super mods, 4 strokes, to vintage classes.

I haven’t had a chance to read the local paper yet, there are probably more events. Comment if you know of one that I missed.

Have a good Tuesday and thank you for visiting!

RJB