Three riders and two snowshoers...That was all it took to make a fun MNO - Monday Night Outing. Chris, Dale and I on bikes, Dave N and Paul on snowshoes. Good times and I think we all got a hefty workout in. We had a few inches of new snow and it was enough to make things slick on the bikes. You would slide on the fresh powder right into the hardpack edges of the old snow trail and end up off your bike. I actually lost count of the number times that I found myself with my bike sideways on the ground and I'm running alongside the trail after getting thrown off. While this doesn't sound like that much of a good time, it was.
Chris and Dale making their way back to the parking lot
I forgot one piece of mount for the GoPro, so I was video less for the night snow ride. It would have been a good one to record as many times as I fell and saw Chris just topple sideways while still clipped in. I really don't remember Dale falling at all, or even having that much trouble at all for that matter. For once, the skinny prevailed over the fatties!
Stomp stomp stomp
For my second lap, I aired down the tires a bit and suddenly the Endos and the Larrys were grabbing the trail much better. What a big difference a few psi can make! Dave and Paul helped to pack down the trail, and we ended up making a full loop on the north side of Fort Street, including the wetlands and behind the houses. Thanks guys for helping us two wheeled addicts out!
Chris' custom made jacket. Half snow, half dry.
Chris was making snow angels everywhere
It just occurred to me, what if we didn't have that part of Tranquility to ride? Where would we have ridden and snowshoed all winter long? The older north side is sometimes impassable because of the heavy snow sitting on the pine trees. And the southside would be terrible with the wind and amount of snow in the fields. We did a snowride around the creek leading to the kiosk. But the sectioned loop is so short (basically from the kiosk to the gravel road and back along the creek) that after awhile and much difficulty, it gets kind of boring.
I had forgotten that I put this sticker on my seatpost. Appropriate for snowbiking, this end up!
For those of you who have never tried snowbiking or didn't get out on the bike this winter, you don't know what you're missing! While cruising along and trying to catch Chris last Monday, I realized just how much fun I was having and how I wished we could snowbike year round. It's true that you won't be getting a ton of miles in. Heck, we were doing about 4 miles total in about 2 hours. Does that seem slow on paper? Yes! But on the trail, fumbling around on the snow makes time fly. There is a lot of pushing with your foot. Lots of balancing acts and trackstands. There is a lot of sweat and hard work to get from point A to point B where your friends are waiting for you. Call us crazy if you want, but we're out having a blast in the snow while most people are sitting inside on their couches with the heat turned up.
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