Drove to Anderson Wednesday night under clear skies with a half moon sailing just above the mountains and the occasional aurora display off to the north. The auroras were special being the first for my friend Janis's niece Kari who's here attending UAF and riding down with me for Thanksgiving dinner.

Got up early Thanksgiving morning to clear skies and about -17F temps. Visited with Janis and at 10am we cracked a bottle of wine to start the celebration. Instead of breakfast the wine washed down poo poos and other items I was testing for the big feed and thusly fortified preparations for my first real bike ride of the season began. Slipped into my gear which included a new pair of sheepskin slippers that went inside my NEOS over boots and freshly modified Powerclip Elites, a strap on clipless setup. Hadn't been on the AMP since April and it sure felt good to be back on it now that's it's a winter only bike.

Rode the mile or so thru a quiet Anderson (very small town, population probably less than 100, which is the bedroom community of Clear Air Force Base) out to the slough to find the conditions I'd hoped for. We are having a snow drought so the overflow was perfect for riding, generally covered with a 1/2 inch or less of snow and although no snowmachine tracks were visible the ice looked solid and safe enough with lots of fox and coyote tracks.

Long shadows at midday

Couldn't help but notice the delightful embrace of sheepskin on my feet, warm and oh so soft it was darn near erotic. It felt a little cooler on the low river bottom but my thermometer read about -15F, very still and quiet. Worked my way around the higher ground where the overflow ice hadn't reached and melted the snow, the snow was 8 inches deep powder there and ridable with effort. Upstream and downstream following the larger channels and narrow fingers which took me towards the main channel about 1/2 mile away as the raven flies or 2-3 miles via my haphazard course. Crossed a snowshoe-walking trail a couple of times and finally had to ride it a ways to get to the main channel. It was single track conditions and I let some air out of my tires to stay on top of the lightly packed rough trail.

From the moment I'd first dropped down to the river bottom I would stop occasionally to listen for water running under the ice as it was hard to determine where the main channels were running. Kept hearing a gentle noise off in the distance I took for open water. Altogether the slough is one to a couple of miles wide and the water is only running in a few channels 10-20 foot wide maybe 1-4 foot deep. While the ice was good I'd rather not stay right on top of where the water is running, thankfully with the large area this is easy to achieve, predominantly by chance. Coming off the trail to the biggest open area where the main channel runs I saw what was expected, a few hundred yards of river running open bordered mostly by fresh or still forming overflow.

Open water, happy biker

It's a little spooky riding right up to this stuff and even more so when you stop and can hear all the noises of the water pressing on the ice as it cracks thru and forms overflow, crunching, popping, squeaking, tearing, a muted chorus of sounds which incites wonder and excitement mixed with a underflow of low-grade fear which instantly peaks and subsides with each new noise. Steam rising off the crispy water in the cold rigid air added a nice touch to the scene.

Surrounded by overflow

Took some pictures, stretched and noticed a definite feeling of coolness in my toes, bummer as the slippers were so comfortable and I was sure they'd be too warm for conditions. At least the modifications to the strap on clipless setup were working perfectly. Explored a bit while picking a route to other areas of fresh overflow and open water, riding over and thru some fantastic ice crystal formations.

Rode thru a acre or more of these ice crystal formations

During the entire ride there were spots where my tires would break thru a top layer of ice to another layer a few inches below. One was forewarned by a hollow sound and about half the time I could pedal thru these spots. Mount McKinley made regular appearances with a halo of clouds around it's silhouetted bulk. Absolutely perfect overflow river riding while the sun was slipping even lower into a narrow band of clouds just above the horizon and turning into a stunning sunset.

Time to head back, toes were cold for sure and visions of turkey and fixings had my stomach talking. Rode back generally following my tracks out with a couple of side excursions. Followed a section of the foot trail I'd missed coming out and came upon 3 carcasses hanging almost over the trail.

Skinned coyote?

Hmmmm, looked canine and I guessed coyote, later talking to a dinner guest and local outdoorsman he seconded my guess after seeing the picture saying the area was thick with them. Usually trap lines are marked, especially this close to a populated place and run via snowmachine or dog team but I suppose ice conditions and lack of snow was keeping them off.

Back at Janis's opened the entry way door to be slapped by the mouth watering smell of baking turkey and other delights. The ride took almost 3 hours and probably covered 7-9 miles with all the wanderings. A prestigious start to the riding season.