Moved: New Place, New Rides, New Bike?

[metalheart]

Short story, we moved from our home of 30 years in northern California (Rescue) to the Northwoods of Wisconsin. A moving company took our belongings on June 2 and delivered them June 16th. In two cars we drove our two dogs and cat starting June 4 and arriving June 8 and used a blowup bed and ate lots o take out until our stuff arrived. I shipped both my bikes ahead of time, one with Bike Flights the other with ShipBikes and everything arrived fine. The moving company experience is its own story or horror story.

This will be an adjustment for us, but we have 6 acres on a small 22 acre lake that does not allow any motors. We failed at downsizing: our Rescue house was 2800 square feet, the Wisconsin house is 4800 5 bedrooms/4 bathrooms. We wanted something smaller but the location sold us: one a small lake near my wife's family.

I have been on a couple of rides and each taught me something. The roads are pretty rough, but not any worse than the California roads. Wind seems an everyday thing to deal with, along with a large population of mosquitos. I used Ride With GPS to make some routes only to find out that large portions are dirt/gravel roads and my 25mm tires will not work on those road. I have 28's on my other bike and I will try those, but I may need 30/32 if I am going to include the dirt/gravel roads in my riding. Those roads open up more options than riding only on pavement, but in the past I have only rode on pavement. I need to sort out if my Holland Exogrid can take the larger tires. I seem to recall a discussion here that Gravelkings are good multi-surface tire option.

Another issue is that GPS signal here is spotty. Before, I used GLYMPSE so my wife can keep track of me, but that is not working here so some sort of GPS tracker is on the shopping list. I know there are some options out there.

It is cooler here, even on warm days, but there have not been many warm days. Different riding clothes are on the list, heavier jerseys and a better cool/cold weather jacket and gloves. I hope to ride throughout as many seasons as I can, but this is clearly going to be a learning experience.

The process of buying and selling a house, moving our animals, and in general turning our lives upside down has been stressful and just the couple of rides I have done have helped to relieve the tensions. Today it is going to be windy again and warmish (low 80s) but I am going out for a ride to clear my head.

It will be a fun adventure learning about riding here and expanding my cycling opportunities. Then after a ride I can go out to our dock and enjoy the view...

[saab2000]

Nice! The spotty GPS coverage may be more due to the tree canopy than anything.

[Matthew]

Welcome to the upper Midwest! !! You're gonna love it! Well, maybe not winter. I hear Wisconsin has lots of great riding. Definitely invest in some good cold weather gear. You're gonna need it! Being from Michigan there's times Ive had to wear full tights in late May. And the mosquito is our unofficial state bird. Your property sounds nice and the lake looks beautiful. Will be interested in hearing your thoughts in the coming months. If you do any traveling after settling in, West Michigan is a beautiful area from top to bottom of the mitten. Matthew

[weisan]

We failed at downsizing

It's funny how we have threads like "If you can live/afford anywhere, where would you move to", and we invariably pick "people" over "place" - close to family. We are social animals afterall.

All is not lost. It's more a state of mind and the attitude than anything else. Focus down to the "bare essentials"...everyday and you will enjoy the new home a lot more.

[Andy sti]

Get your registration in for the Birkie now!!!

[skijoring]

Get your registration in for the Birkie now!!!


Yes, even as a hack in the last wave I had a ball in the minus 6 temps with wonderful volunteers handing out banana chunks in diesel smelling sno-mo gloves!

At least do it once; get on some skinny skis.

[KonaSS]

Find a bike that will take Specialized Roubaix 30/32 tires https://www.specialized.com/us/en/roubaix-pro-2bliss-ready/p/155483

I do recommend setting them up tubeless. You will be fine riding roads and taking them offroad any time your heart desires. They are great mixed use tires. :banana:

Let me know if you have specific questions on cold weather clothes. If you want to ride into the winter months, must haves include insulated cold weather shoes, and good gloves. Yes, you will need a warmer jacket, but there are lots of good options out there for those. Then we can talk bar mitts......

[NHAero]

I see a Fatbike in your future!
I lived in west central NH for 35 years and mostly the bikes got hung up for the winter, partially 'cuz the roads get so much salt. Two options are a fatbike (mine was very early, before 4.8" tires) and an old MTB with big studded tires. I have a set of 26 wheels with Nokian Freddy's Revenge tires, over 300 studs. We don't get the snow here on MV (which I am glad of!) but when we do, that's the bike that gets out.

[Blue Jays]

All that extra square footage ensures a SWEET new bicycle room! :hello:

[Gsinill]

Based on the little I can see, it looks like a dream house to me!

[robt57]

Get your snow blower pre-season rush is all I can say. ;)

Enjoy the new explorations, sound awesome...

If you weigh more than 180lb, get some real tires, and a bike to fit if you don't have one...

Suggest you do not settle on a bike that fit only up to a 32 tire. Especially if you are a Clyde. 38s is as small as I will go for off piste personally. 42s optimum I find for my 200 lb self..

[Ken Robb]

What size clothes do you wear?

[Tickdoc]

Beautiful. I'd like to see a pic say, mid January? I bet she is thrilled to be close to Family and enjoy the new digs. Any local bike shops?

[Ken Robb]

You might find a bike from Rivendell to work well in your new area.

[Coffee Rider]

Although I can't imagine living anywhere other than where I do now, I really enjoy getting to see all the other places that people live and ride. That view of the lake just makes me think about how much my dogs would enjoy it.

[crownjewelwl]

Nice! The spotty GPS coverage may be more due to the tree canopy than anything.

agreed...gps should work everywhere

that is a sweet deck!!

[robt57]

that is a sweet deck!!

Dock ?

[benb]

Moving in the middle of this mess sure sounds stressful, congrats on doing such a big move and not getting sick!

I would not be able resist a little sailboat and/or stand up paddleboard and/or kayak on that lake! How cold is the water though!

You might be looking at a gravel bike if you've got that much dirt around.. if you're not trying to go super fast and there is a lot of dirt I would think about being able to run tires in the 35c-42c range.

Be prepared winter is going to be a shocker!

[kppolich]

If you are close to Cable or Hayward, you might want to get a MTB and check out Chequamegon.
https://www.cheqmtb.com/

[Ken Robb]

Although I can't imagine living anywhere other than where I do now, I really enjoy getting to see all the other places that people live and ride. That view of the lake just makes me think about how much my dogs would enjoy it.

We might be neighbors! Do you take your dogs to Fiesta Island?

[Coffee Rider]

We might be neighbors! Do you take your dogs to Fiesta Island?

I'm up in Carlsbad, so I've only taken my boy to Fiesta Island once. He really enjoyed it, but took in so much water that it made him sick. This reminds me that I need to head down to Mt. Soledad soon since it's been way too long. Another forum member used to live about two houses away from me before moving a bit further down the street, but I didn't realize it at the time.

[Ken Robb]

I'm up in Carlsbad, so I've only taken my boy to Fiesta Island once. He really enjoyed it, but took in so much water that it made him sick. This reminds me that I need to head down to Mt. Soledad soon since it's been way too long. Another forum member used to live about two houses away from me before moving a bit further down the street, but I didn't realize it at the time.
I'm told there is a very nice dog park in Encinitas but we have several much closer to our home so I haven't been to that one. One of our dogs likes running in the surf but the other doesn't so when we go to Fiesta we just walk/run across and around the big open area in the middle. Both are 13 pound rescues. One is a malti-poo and the other might be a havanese or a shih-tzu with too long a nose. Both are party animals. :)

[charliedid]

Oh, real good then.

Walleye.

[metalheart]

We have been in the Northwoods of Wisconsin a little over a month after our relocation from northern California. Riding is different, the physical environment and climate is different, our living circumstances are different, and local culture is definitely different. It is an ongoing adjustment process in all of these areas. I am finally getting about 3 rides a week which is less than the 4 plus I would usually be doing this time of the season. My mileage is down and my rides are shorter, but I am riding.

Initially I thought a gravel bike would be necessary, but I have found plenty of pavement routes and the more riding I do the more I find. The roads are very rough and my bike with 28mm tires is getting more road time than the one with 25mm tires. The terrain is more rolling than I remember from a riding visit last year and a 10-15 mph wind is common. The wind makes up for the hills that were usual in my Norcal rides and it is a good workout riding into a strong wind on a relatively straight road. There are also a lot of bugs: stopping for a flat can mean being swarmed by the current bug that is in season.

The is a relatively sparsely populated region and other than the weekends — when tourists visit — traffic is light. Even weekend traffic is not bad., although the speeding ATVs on the roads are unnerving. Humidity: it is around 85% today and there have been many consecutive days
of high humidity that zap me more than the high heat days in Norcal. I hope to get used to it.

There are no bike shops per se, but there are a couple of sporting goods stores that have bike mechanics, although knowledge about di2 systems is thin. DI2 equipped bikes are just not common here. So, looks as if I need to do more wrenching on my own. As Fall and Winter approach some new cycling and regular life clothes are on the shopping list. I have a couple vests for cool days, a jacket that can be layered over a heavier wool jersey and that keeps me warm to about 45 degrees. A warmer jacket, winter weight gloves and who knows what else will be needed to keep me riding until the roads are snow covered.

I do miss Norcal, but there are substantial benefits of the Northwoods beyond being close to my wife’s family: I can go out before and after dinner and fish from my dock, my new/old Grumman sport canoe is available anytime, I can walk in the woods with my dogs anytime, and lookout over the lake on a clear night and see a sky full of starts. The cost of all this is less convenience for a variety of everyday things we are accustomed to for shopping, medical care, and access to services. It is an adjustment process and it will take a while.

[weisan]

Metal pal, thanks for giving a real world report of your new home. My daughter just moved to Madison for a job. I hope to visit her in a year or so.

[isaacneff]

Not sure how close you are to Madison, but if you need some wrenching done, come on down!

So much great riding all around Wisconsin.