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NYD Ride – Decorah, IA

The Decorah NYD ride is a 13 miles gravel route to the Blue Collar Friendly Randy’s Bluffton Store.

Temps in the 20 Degree range.  55 to 60 MPH head wind on the way out. 25 to 30 riders. 3 Moonlanders. 2 Pugsleys. ? Barley pops and a jug of Home-made Apple Pie Moonshine.

This was my first spin on my Moonlander. Obviously the ride feels cool. I bombed around town on Saturday night, rode it in the local bar and let my friends crash into tables and bar stools. It’s a great drinking bike, especially around people who don’t know that much about bikes.

The Sunday morning ride was a hard start. The ride starts out on about 2 1/2 miles of blacktop before we get to the gravel. Bikes and backpacks loaded down with beverages. The wind was brutal and right in our faces. Once we got on the gravel there was some relief from the wind, but there was a whole lot of ice. It made for an interesting ride, a few crashes, and a crazy derby session.

My impression of the Moonlander is that it is a snow specific bike. I’ve been riding my SS Pugsley around town as a commuter and in the mtn bike trails for a couple months now. I think of my Pug as a big wheel mtn bike and I ride it as such. I don’t think the Moonlander would handle the same on Single Track. It didn’t feel like a fatter mtn bike, and unfortunately we don’t have enough snow to speak of in the area, but I’m really curious as to how it rides in deep snow. Maybe there is just a transition period from Pug to Lander, just like there was from my 29’er to the Pug. I still have some tweaking to do regarding the set up, but I’m planning to deck it out as a snow specific bike.

As far as the ride, it was great as always.  Already looking forward to next year.

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