Crazy Winter FUN!!!

Crazy Winter FUN!!!
Well as a Canadian I am not the most crazy person around these parts. This year in the Quest I have dine some long rides. And it's been a real fun time for sure. My fitness level is better for all the extra km I have ridden this year. The snow is here but that won't stop the Quest. Bring on winter, I'm ready!
           With those words said, my fellow rider  said to me: "You should race that Quest this winter!"
            And I replied: "What race would take me?"
            Pete said: " The Actif Epica. "
            "It's a 135 km endurance event with no bike rules."
            "It takes place in February. I ran a Recumbent in it in 2012."
Well that sound great to me. No bike rules! Well I checked it out. Most of it runs on roads and bike trails, but some of doesn't. Part of it runs on a snowmobile trail. How did he run a recumbent? This is how!

Monster Recumbent of Pete Mc Adam.

 I checked out the rules on the website. Actif Epica 2013 site. and sure enough I could run the Quest in it if I was crazy. Well I'm not quite that crazy. The real crazy people are those who run the race instead of riding. I found a video on YouTube about the race and that made me think.
Here is a link to the Video: Actif Epica 2012. I could do it but not in a Quest. You need a bike that you could carry or drag though the deep snow but could be fast on the roads. Something that could handle the rough trails. So I got on the internet and this is what I bought myself for Christmas.

The Trike was built for me with some extra changes. Larger front wheels for the off road portions of the race.

Notice the two twist shifters for the 9 speed cassette and the triple up front. There is also a small shifter on the left bar for the extra 3 speeds in the SA hub. This setup would give you 81 possible ratios. Of course some would be duplicates. But this gives me some really low gearing to push the bigger rear tire I want to run for the race.

 Now you will also notice the rear wheel has a brake on it. Well in a race with no rules why can't I build some skis to put on the front wheels for when I have to run on snow. Of course with skis on the front I need a rear brake to stop. The bike is being shipped right now so it won't get here for at least a week. That gives me a couple of months to modify and test every thing. I have to also mount a rack to carry the skis and other stuff I need for the race. I will report as this crazy project goes on.