Today I took my Nokian WXC 300 out onto the ice at Lake Mitchell. This is the
first really great winter ice riding day of the winter. Up until now it’s been
either too warm and windy for ice to form, or too cold and windy to do
anything.
This last week the ice reached then surpassed the foot-thick mark. However, it
was a foot thick in snow as well. My wife and I cross country skied a 4 or 5
mile loop over lunch each day. Then…yesterday it got warm and melted all
that snow. Then last night the temps dropped to the low 20’s. Bingo! Excellent
ice!
This morning it was warm–mid thirties–and there was no wind, so I spent about
two hours riding a 12 mile loop on the ice all around the shore–and sometimes
out in the middle. It was quiet except for the ice and remaining snow
crunching–and an occassional yell from a surprised ice fisherman.
The best comment–a grizzled old ice fisherman sitting on a plastic bucket,
huddled over his hole in the ice, clenching a cigar in his teeth for warmth,
“If I caught something like you, I’d sure as Hell throw it back!” Then he
smiled.
The Nokian tire grips the ice the way John Childs grips a bottle of beer. I
know Harper, you need pictures. It’ll have to wait. The ice fishermen don’t
carry kodaks, and my nephew was at a friend’s house.
More to come as I get more miles in on the ice.
David Maxfield
Mitchell, SD