On 2/1/2018 12:20 PM, Joerg wrote:
On 2018-02-01 09:09, Frank Krygowski wrote:

Have you never tried it? Then I suggest doing so while it's still winter.

Yesterday I rode 24mi, mostly on muddy singletrack which feels a bit
like deep snow. Sloshing through muck, sliding, riding with the bike
pointing a bit sideways ... fun! Except maybe for the part where the
rear shock mount shook itself loose on a gnarlier section but that was
fixed in a couple of minutes with a 6mm Allen wrench.

Back in the day, I did quite a lot of mountain biking. I led and
participated in club rides where we explored abandoned or little-used
railroad rights of way (in one case, for 50 miles). We rode abandoned
strip mines and an off-road 4-wheeler recreation area, doing things
scary enough that I would never try them now. I remember riding one
(permitted) trail in Yellowstone, and turning back upon seeing a
steaming pile of bear scat.

I first made my "mashed potatoes" remark sometime in the 1990s, when my
best riding friend at the time bought his mountain bike. (I'd had one
for years.) We celebrated by taking them to explore a gas line
right-of-way through some nearby woods. And we both agreed plowing
through deep snow on a bike was no fun. There's just too much continuous
resistance. We both greatly preferred XC skis for such work, where at
least you can get some glide.

--
- Frank Krygowski