There's no riding like snow riding...

....like no riding I know.

Took today off with the intention of doing a little snow riding on my
favorite trails. I shoulda known not to bother.

1.) Dumped about 8 inches of snow last night. Nice for XC skiing,
but sucky for XC biking.

2.) Get out to the car, the AWD one that's been sitting for three
weeks. I think I got one full revolution of the crank before the
battery cried "Uncle!"

3.) Put the car on the charger for an hour while I putz around in the
garage. Shovel the walk, the porch, the deck, the driveway. Check
the air in the tires of the bike. In the car. In the WLO's bike.
Get out the compressor and air everything up to the proper psi.

4.) Mount the bike on the car with it's new transport cover. ****
around with that for 15 minutes, trying to figure out a way to explain
to Penny EXACTLY what mods this thing needs to be useful for a bike in
an upright carrier rack. It's be nice of the damn thing protected the
bars, levers and fork stantions. I expect too much from a $25
transport cover I guess. Sheesh.

5.) Drive 20 miles to trailhead, blazing a set of tire tracks up to
the parking area. Thank god for snow tires.

6.) Get out of the car, dump 500 pounds of snow into my shoes. ****.

7.) Get the gear on and the bike down. Move away from the car, climb
on, spin out in the snow, fall down. Snow down my neck. Double ****.

Here's where I might have said, "**** it" and just climb back in the
car an go home. But I wouldn't have had the "fun" of riding in 10
inches of powder with absolutely no grip. The last time I rode, it
had snowed and the previous trail users had packed down a nice 6"
section that then refroze to produce some amazing traction. The
previous knobbies had left a pattern that hooked up my tires really
well. Other than the fact it was pretty cold out, it was a good ride.
When the snow was really slushy, and the trail sucked, I could at
least ride the logging road along the ridge, because the wheel tracks
went through to the gravel.

I don't know how you Scandinavian folks do it. There must be some
technique that I am missing, because it was a tough slog to go 2
miles, and I actually had to pedal some coming back, which I have
never had to do before. I was totally gassed by the time I got back
to the car.

I spent a grand total of 1 hour out and back. But I can tell that I'm
gonna pay for this one tomorrow.

Happy new year to all, and pleasant football to everyone. Cougar
fans, was that ending to the Holiday Bowl exciting enough for ya?

We now rejoin our preferred winter bicycle sport (maintenance and
upgrades) not already in progress...
--
Jonesy