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

..
"Jonesy" wrote in message
om...
...like no riding I know.

snip


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


The Eskimo's have many words for snow because the conditions can vary so
much, and that's the problem with snow riding. Three inches of semi frozen
slush can spin you out but the same amount of fluff is a blast. It's like a
box of chocolates ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,. You just have to try, some times your
the pigeon, some times,,,,,,,,,,

-- I'm not from Scandinavia but we do have some snow here, New England.

DTW .../\.../\.../\...

I've spent most of my money on mountain biking and windsurfing.
The rest I've just wasted

Jonesy scribbled on a scrap of paper:
...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.


13" here at my house, it PUKED on the mountain so while you were struggling
with your car and your bike, I was in knee deep fluffy freshies all
morning...(hint, not on a bike....)

NW got hit by some storms in case no one has heard.

Penny

Penny S wrote:
Jonesy scribbled on a scrap of paper:
...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.


13" here at my house, it PUKED on the mountain so while you were
struggling with your car and your bike, I was in knee deep fluffy
freshies all morning...(hint, not on a bike....)

NW got hit by some storms in case no one has heard.

Penny

We got some too. I skied 6" of fresh yesterday at Monarch. They got another
17" over night and more is on the way. The bikes will stay in the garage for
a while now.
Now I'm just trying to work out the kid watching with my wife (who gets to
ski which day this weekend) and weather or not to ski my new tele skis or go
with the old standby alpine boards (whichare safer for the shoulder).

Tough choices!

Matt

MattB scribbled on a scrap of paper:
Penny S wrote:
Jonesy scribbled on a scrap of paper:
...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.


13" here at my house, it PUKED on the mountain so while you were
struggling with your car and your bike, I was in knee deep fluffy
freshies all morning...(hint, not on a bike....)

NW got hit by some storms in case no one has heard.

Penny

We got some too. I skied 6" of fresh yesterday at Monarch. They got
another 17" over night and more is on the way. The bikes will stay in
the garage for a while now.
Now I'm just trying to work out the kid watching with my wife (who
gets to ski which day this weekend) and weather or not to ski my new
tele skis or go with the old standby alpine boards (whichare safer
for the shoulder).

Tough choices!

Matt


we only get season's like this once every few years, tomorrow I'm going back
for day 4!!!
You need to get that kid out on leashes soon. g

Penny S wrote:

Jonesy scribbled on a scrap of paper:

...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.



13" here at my house, it PUKED on the mountain so while you were struggling
with your car and your bike, I was in knee deep fluffy freshies all
morning...(hint, not on a bike....)

NW got hit by some storms in case no one has heard.

It hit 70 degrees today. We wore shorts, opened up the windows, threw
the kids and dogs out of the house. It won't last. You can smell the
rain coming, and the cold behind it.

Kathleen