To the sane, riding a bike in the winter is a bad idea. Put that bike on a frozen lake, and the idea gets even worse. Let’s be honest, nobody reading (or writing) this is sane when it comes to bikes. Since you’re just as crazy as we are, we’re here to help you make a great bad bike decision on Saturday, January 16th.

Trainers are on sale for a limited time only. Want some great deals on clothing, wheels or that bike you’ve always wanted? Check out the remaining closeout specials on our web site, in this newsletter, or stop by today for in-store specials. The CompuTrainers are ready for indoor group rides!

Ice Racing on Lake Minnetonka

As part of the Lake Minnetonka community’s Arctic Fever event, we’ll be holding an ice race. The details for this event are still being finalized, but we do know it’ll be going off in the early afternoon, so it’ll at least be warmish, relatively speaking. The course will run partly on the XC ski race course being used earlier in the day and partly on the open, super slippery ice. The distances and exact costs are still being dialed in, but we plan to offer a couple different distances and keep registration costs to a minimum to get as many people out to give it a shot as possible. The goal is to make the race accessible even to the non-racer, so there will be classes set up to make sure everybody races against people of their skill level.

We’ll be sure to get the exact details out to everybody as soon as they’re set in stone, so keep an eye on our newsletters and the excelcycle Facebook page.

What Do You Need to Ice Race?

You’ll need a disregard for your warmth, a willingness to maybe take a couple minor spills, a bike that can accommodate studded tires, and a gnarly set of studs if you want to be able to really let it rip on the glare ice. You can get around on the ice with a minimally studded tire, but you won’t be going fast and you won’t be able to turn well. You may make up some time in the snow on a less aggressive tire thanks to the lower rolling resistance and lighter weight, but you’ll give that time and then some back on the ice.

If you don’t want to buy studded tires, check around online for a number of how-to articles on making your own using stuff from the hardware store. It’ll take some time and it’ll be the end of that set of tires in terms of non-studded use, but you’ll be able to absolutely motor when others are getting cautious.

We plan on making the icy section tough enough to reward technical skills, so choose your tires accordingly.

What Kind of Bike Should You Have?

To be blunt, you’ll want one that you won’t mind packing up with snow and potentially crashing once or twice. You’ll slide when you hit the ice, so crashing isn’t nearly as catastrophic as it is on pavement, but you probably ought to leave your $10,000 cyclocross bike at home for this one.

Aside from that, just set up something that accommodates your tire of choice. Mountain bikes and cyclocross bikes will be the most prevalent, but you could get by on a hybrid or even an old road bike with a boatload of tire clearance – a serious boatload because the narrowest studded tires we can get is the 700×32 size.

What Else is Going On That Day?

There are a lot of other events going on in Excelsior and surrounding communities that day, ranging from the races to human bowling to sleigh rides. Right in Excelsior, there’s a movie tent, ice skating, snow painting, reindeer, and quite possibly another tent with live music from excelcycle’s favorite band. We’re still working on the tent and the band, so we’ll wait until it’s confirmed to get your hopes up too much.

There will be a lot more of our usual weekend treats available at the store, and we’ll set up the scorching hot cider pot, too. Even if you’re not going to race, which you should, come on out and enjoy the events in town and stop by to say hi.

What’s Up at The Store?

The biggest thing to report right now is that our trainers are on sale. All Kinetic trainers and the majority of the CycleOps trainers we offer are 10% off through the end of the month. Need a holiday gift for your bike nut? Get ‘em a trainer, which is really giving them the gift of not getting a beating from their buddies when they get back on the road in the spring. Sale prices are good online and in-store, and online trainer orders get free shipping.

Our CompuTrainers are getting some serious miles put on them now that the weather has turned. Come on in for a session to check them out, and then pick up either a 10-session card for $80 or an unlimited season pass for $150. With the season pass, we’ll even store your bike at the shop for free!

Winter Hours

We’re open from 10 am to 8 pm Monday through Friday, 10 am to 5 pm on Saturday, and Noon to 5 pm on Sunday.

Facebook Group Ride Discussion

We set up some discussion forums on Facebook about our group rides. Each scheduled ride has its own thread, so feel free to add questions or comments, use the forums to see who’s coming on a ride, or even make plans for a post ride drink.

Subscribe to the Rides Email List

If you want to get on our rides email list, just send an email to rides-subscribe@excelcycle.com to sign up. There’s also a new rides list specifically for the Women’s rides. To subscribe, send an email to womensrides-subscribe@excelcycle.com .If you’re planning on coming out for a ride and the weather looks iffy, call ahead to make sure we’re still on.

We Want Your Input!

What do you want to read about in our weekly newsletter? If there’s something we’re missing or something you want more of, shoot us an email and we’ll do our best to write an article about it.

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