Great Lakes - Biking on the lake..... Bad Idea when:

Well this afternoon I had my first, and last, experience with biking out on iced-over major bodies of water.

I fell through the ice about 200 yards from shore on Lake Monona... regular madison riders will note that there is a pressure ridge extending from the Monona Terrace to the Olin-Turville Park, its not safe to cross over.

Short version: I was crossing that very large pressure ridge on foot with my bike next to me, took one step to the other side and fell through the ice up to my waist.

That was almost the end of Severian. :(


I managed to get to somewhere warm (Machinery Row) and change into the dry clothes I had in my bag. Took a taxi the rest of the way to work. I still have all my extremities and all my skin is intact so I did no major damage. But, I'm sure to have nightmares for the next little while.

Wow! Glad to hear you made it out okay with no major damage to yourself.

Omfg!! Glad you're ok!

Glad to hear you made it back okay, I went through the ice about 70 feet from shore a couple of years ago on my snowmobile, it was terrifying to be that far out and having the ice break underneath me while trying to crawl back towards shore.

Good thing the water wasn't very deep! and glad you made it out okay. :)

I've XC skied quite a bit on a local 15 acre pond and although I never had any problems, I always had some home made ice pics in my pocket or around my neck. Once when checking the ice with a 5 foot pipe it went right through and disappeared ... sploosh - GONE! I've been on bigger bodies of water too ... we once skied the length of Pewaukee Lake (~5 miles) and kept checking in with people ice fishing to see how thick it was, and one time I drove on Green Bay on one of the ice roads out there - SCARY! :p

Wow! I would have bet a LOT that the lake was completely safe. It is right around this time of year that they've had the Kites On Ice festival right in that area, right? Isn't the ice nearly a foot thick?

That had to be just incredibly scary. Glad you're ok!

Good thing the water wasn't very deep! and glad you made it out okay. :)

I've XC skied quite a bit on a local 15 acre pond and although I never had any problems, I always had some home made ice pics in my pocket or around my neck. Once when checking the ice with a 5 foot pipe it went right through and disappeared ... sploosh - GONE! I've been on bigger bodies of water too ... we once skied the length of Pewaukee Lake (~5 miles) and kept checking in with people ice fishing to see how thick it was, and one time I drove on Green Bay on one of the ice roads out there - SCARY! :p

I think the water's at least 20' deep there.. where I was.

I used to have an apartment right next to the terrace but not on the lake side.

This afternoon I was crossing the bridge over my local lake and looked down to see three sonowmoblie tracks. Each ran near to a hole that an earlier one had dropped into but escaped.

I can never understand why people feel the need to go out on the ice. Maybe to fish, but to travel? Beyond me.

Because you can. :)

Hello smokes! Glad you are ok. I've seen dumb dumbs (I'm not calling you that, BTW) who have been ice fishing in the MGE spillway "danger zone."

My rules - 1) do not go on the lake unless it has been frozen for at least a month, with no days above freeezing in the interim.
2) Step only where footprint are already present.
3) Avoid cracks.
4) Stay within 20 yards.
5) Walking only.

There is a drainage flow right to the west of the end of Monona Terrace. That was probably a big culprit.

I have been in front of Monona Terrace and off of Picnic Point on Lake Menona -but when the surface was nice and smooth and frequently trodded.

RepWI - I don't fish or travel. The only reason why I do it is for perspective. Since I don't have a boat, I just want to see visually what the Terrace and the rest of the shoreline looks like from the ice. Not worth the risk, I know, but some would say the same about biking on the road too.

You should watch "Ice Road Truckers" on the Discovery Channel. Now there's a group of drivers that are brave or nuts!

YIKES! Just saw this thread. Glad you're OK! That story is enough to keep me off the ice.

The big thing is to know your local lake / pond / whatever. You've gained a lot of knowledge already this year ... "don't cross the crack!" :)

Holy crap! I was tooling around the lake last weekend.

Damn, glad you're ok. Well, I'm swearing off lake riding too then.

what to do (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysnKtuUTt8k)

what to do (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysnKtuUTt8k)

Great video. That is one tough man.

Reminds me of one of my all time favorite songs from the '90s:

Jack Pepsi - by TAD

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=il066mCId1s

Check out the lyrics:

"Well we got out on that ice and started spinning around doing 360s and 180s all over the ice slugging down Jack Daniels as fast as we could. That’s when I heard the most horrible sound I ever heard in my life and I knew we were going through the ice! ... "

Man, I love winter. :love: :roflmao2: