Two Red Foxes on the Red River--Fat Tire Biking at -10F

Got back to Fargo at 1pm on Thursday, January 9th, a day later than expected due to travel delays. I headed out for a ski at 3pm. I knew there had been a big snowfall here, but what I found in breaking trail from our road to the ski trail is that there must have been some rain or something too because the big mass of snow had a glaze on it. Breaking trail reminded me of a toasted marshmallow--crisp on the outside and heavy and gooey in the middle.

See the glaze on top of the snow?

I headed down to the classic trails and found them to be poorly groomed and walked on. The divots had filled with leaves and the leaves had been dragged through the tracks by previous skiers. As a result, there was not much gliding to be had, as my kick wax picked up debris and either dragged my ski or stopped it rather suddenly. I trudged on, thinking each new section of the trail might be better, but it wasn't. At least, I thought, when I get near I-94, I will pass through a section with no trees or bushes that should be clear. However, when I got to that section, I found it partially covered with dirty globs of snow from the road having been cleared. Yuck! I skied home, disappointed.

Today, I decided to switch to fat tire biking. I have a Specialized Fat Boy that Enrico gave me for Christmas one year, and last year he gave me some new toasties from Apocalypse Design in Fairbanks to go with it. It hasn't really been cold enough to use them, but this morning it was -16F, so I put them on before heading out. It was a bit chilly riding on the bike path--I had to pull my neck gaiter up over my nose for a bit--but once I got into the woods in Gooseberry Park across the river, I was going more slowly on the narrow trail, and I was warmer. Of course, my hands stayed toasty warm, thanks to the toasties.

Here's what the bike path looks like now, and you can see my toasties. 

It's been a while since I have ridden on a narrow trail, so I felt a bit awkward at first. Once I let go of the death grip on my handlebars, the little balancing moves came back to me, and I was able to do a circuit of the trails without falling. Most parts of the trail were firm, but a few sections were softish, which was no problem for my Fat Boy. I had fun on the corners and the little ups and downs, laughing to myself. 

Here's what the Gooseberry trail looks like today. 

Because of the cold, there was no one else out--no other bikers, skiers, or dogwalkers--and only one squirrel. On my ride back home, I was musing on how I had not seen any animals while out today, when I came to the section of the river just upstream of the water treatment plant and saw TWO RED FOXES right in the middle of the river. One ran downstream, while the other stayed sitting and looking at me the whole time. Coincidentally, not 5 yards behind that fox, just on the river bank were he was sitting, was a deer, just hanging out, watching the fox, like I was doing. 

The foxes were so brightly colored in the sunshine against the snow and they were so FLUFFY too. They looked really orange and white, like a creamsicle. It made me happy to see them. I hope they eat the rabbits in my backyard before gardening season!

It was a bit cold for taking selfies, but I just had to anyway. When I'm too old or sick to do this, I want to re-read my blog and remember how happy I was. Nothing like laughing in the woods in subzero temperatures!