Ice-biking Lake Superior

A few weeks back I met up with a group of fatbikers on a Saturday and we rode out on the ice of Lake Superior.  Much of Lake Superior doesn't freeze up reliably but this was on Chequamegon Bay which is relatively shallow and also relatively isolated from the bigger stretches of this enormous lake and so has thick ice each winter. 

Most Saturdays the North Coast Cycling Association puts on these rides.  They usually start at the Coal Dock in Washburn, WI and head out on the ice.  There are constant cliffs and rocks that are rusty-red sandstone that bleed tannic acid-laced water that is also rusty red.

It hasn't been a terribly snowy winter here in the northlands and snow is maybe ankle deep in most places.  I'm not exactly sure of all the physics involved but there's even less out on the ice.  So whatever the reason for the thin snow the upshot is that you can ride almost anywhere out there - no trail required.