Ride the Lake

This is the story of how my big mouth can get me into things that otherwise might be passed off as a bad idea....

In November 2015 I was thinking it would be fun to have a Fat Bike to ride over the winter. Needing to convince my wife (Leah) that it was a good idea to buy another bike seemed to need some supporting usage plans.  I started by telling her that I was going to ride my new Fat Bike across the lake from Warroad to Kenora sometime during the winter.

This was not a commitment by any means but seemed like a good supporting conversation for the purchase of a new bike!

Shortly after this conversation was the Fall Lift party in Winnipeg which also made for a good Fat Bike shopping opportunity. At the party I was talking with Keith Holm about the bike dealers in Winnipeg and the subject of the Lake Ride came up. Keith said “Warroad to Kenora, I’M IN”!

This was now a commitment even though I didn’t own and had never even ridden a Fat Bike yet.

I bought new bike within a week or so and started collecting the needed gear for bike packing and winter camping. Tents, cold weather sleeping bag, sleeping pads, cooking gear, down layers, merino wool everything and much more…

I did a couple of rides and campouts near home in some cold weather to shake everything down and replace the stuff that didn’t work. Keith and I were both riding and getting into shape for a long couple of days.

The plan was to cross Lake of the Woods on Jan 1^st and 2^nd but the ice wasn’t going to allow that plan this year. I was able to do a 50 mile ride on the lake with an overnight camp near Rocky Point but the crossing had to wait.

From early January to early February I was travelling for work and not able to ride.

Once I returned, Keith and I started working on the plan again and picked Valentines weekend to give it a shot.

Keith drove to Roseau and stayed with us on Friday night, 2/12.

Leah dropped Keith and I off at the point in Warroad about 10 am on 2/13. At the lake it was up to about -26 degrees, after the morning started off from -36 degrees. We packed the last few items in our bags, poured hot water in our camelbaks and set off towards the North. We stopped after about 100 meters and turned around, heading back West on the groomed snowmobile trail instead of random snowmobile tracks that lead to who knows where. The groomed trail runs to the West towards Springsteel Island then back to the NE and around the tip of Manitoba onto a straight North course about 12 miles out from Warroad. The riding on the south end of the lake was good and firm. We were averaging about 10-11 kph for the first 4-5 hours. The wind stayed light and we were dressed well for the conditions. At the Northern end of Buffalo Bay the trail turns Northeast and the wind picked up a bit but still less than 15. This slowed us a little and increased the effort but it was still pretty good going. We stopped for a bit at the snowmobile warming hut at Driftwood point. This left about 15 mile to Young’s bay. We left the warming hut in the dark heading to Young’s Bay for customs.

We planned to make it to Young’s Bay to check into Canadian Customs and then head into the islands to find an adequate camp spot. As we got closer to Young’s the signs for Jerry’s bar and restaurant seemed to become more prevalent and the thought of a hot meal and some clothes drying near the heaters sounded really good. After about 9 hours in the saddle we arrived at Jerry’s and settled in for a hot meal and some drying out. About an hour later we geared back up and headed out to the customs phone. Keith called in and seemed to be taking a long time on the phone. I later found out that without a license # or registration to file they had to fill out a special form since we were on bikes without a vehicle registration number.

We were checked in and heading north at about 10 pm. The ice road from the NW angle to Kenora is like a superhighway, plowed down to the ice and about 50 meters wide! We rode another few miles into a strong headwind on the bare ice. Keith didn’t have studded tires on his bike and was nearly getting his tires blown out from underneath him by the wind.  We started looking for a spot out of the wind. After exploring one spot off the road by pushing our bikes through knee deep snow we needed to find a sheltered spot quickly and close to the road. We walked into the second spot that looked ok and that’s what we found, ok, but not great. Still windy and it was back down to – 20. The snow and ice was slushy nearly to the shore but we had a few feet of dry snow the set up camp in. We both got our tents set up, bags and pads in place and crawled in. The wind, cold and 10+ hours of pedaling kept the party to a minimum but we both stayed reasonably warm and comfortable overnight.

Day 2 started with a little snow and the SE wind that was still blowing. I made oatmeal in my tent with a little butane stove and the water that I slept with in my sleeping bag. I think Keith had cold breakfast of a Clif bar and few other snacks. We packed up our bags and tents, got geared up and headed out through the slush to the ice road. We only needed to make about 10 miles of Easting riding before turning North for the run into Kenora. The ride up the ice road was interesting and it was really fun to see the lake in this condition. We rode up French Portage Narrows, passed Rope and Crescent islands, rode over 12 mile portage and we’re nearing town. The Brewery was “calling us on”! We arrived in Kenora at about 1:30 pm after about 4.5 hours of pedaling on Valentine’s day. It was a fast pace and pleasant ride in lots of lake traffic at the end of two days on the bikes.

 Day 1 was made up of long stretches white ribbon snowmobile trail while focusing on pedaling and not thinking about how far we had to go to the next landmark. Day 2, on the ice road, was quite a bit faster and more interesting, looking at the changes to the landmarks when everything’s frozen and covered in snow.

The total ride from the point in Warroad to the Brewery in Kenora was 144.5 kilometers, averaging about 11-12 kph for the trip.

We had good luck with the weather, didn’t get any frostbite, both ate and slept well, which is a testament to the work that went in beforehand. The planning and preparation was extremely important.

The fact that you’re on your own out there and need to be well prepared is the same summer or winter!

This was a Great Adventure and many thanks to Keith and Leah for participating and helping out.

I can’t wait to see what my big mouth gets me into next!

Marty