MNR - The 5k edition

Usually the 5k refers to a distance. This time, it was the 5k, meaning five krazies that will bike no matter how cold or what the weather. Chris, Dale, Paul, Dave N, and myself made our way out to Tranquility this past Monday for our weekly Monday Night Ride. Will anything cancel the ride? Yes, rain and muddy conditions. How about left over snow dustings and below freezing temps? NOPE!

Our first encounter with snow for the season.

Seasoned MNR and cold weather mt bikers know to dress warm. Neoprene booties, good gloves, and some head protection is a must. The same goes for layers whether it be long underwear or baselayers. They're all good. We actually built up a sweat last night! Or at least I did. Haha. You go through cold phases and warm phases on the trail. Creek area tends to be a little more chilly. Also while riding the trail area behind the houses you can feel the warmth from the dwellings. Stop too long and the cold will turn that sweat on your back down right bone chilling. Gotta keep moving...

Trail was much different than the muddy mess it was on Sunday. It was near frozen, crunchy at times. Traction was good, or at least in our minds it was. It was really hard to tell knowing that the trail was frozen, could it be icy? It was anyones guess!

Did some stop, drop, and roll action...

I did manage to fall on the compost pile. I saw Dave N ahead of me bypass it and I should have followed suit. Chris was trying to make his way up, yelled that it is slick at the top. Heck I'll give it a try. I decided to stand up and had most of my weight over the handlebars. Which was my biggest mistake. My back tire spun in place, probably a full rotation. The fatness couldn't grab the meat of the trail. Spin. I eventually fell forward and racked my little boys. Hard! Then I fell over sideways which finally released my pedals from my nearly frozen feet. Once I cleared the falling bike I proceeded to roll down the heap of compost like I was doing a stop drop and roll campaign to an elementary school. All I could do was yell profanities then start laughing. It was like a roller coaster ride in 5 seconds flat, with me in pain down below. Oh well. It happened. I cursed myself for the first time ever for not buying the smaller framed Mukluk. What can you do but push on?

Eventually Big Mike on his Pugs caught up to us and it was time to head over to Paul's to get some warming chicken noodle soup. Thanks everyone for showing up and to Paul for the warm up your core soup after. Much appreciated!

One handed night biking, photography taking, and staying on the narrow trail is not easy. I purposely didn't use flash, but they turned out just way too blurry.

Come on snow...we're all looking forward to your presence at Tranquility tomorrow!