November 17th (Morning)

MY FIRST SNOW RIDE!!!

Yep, it snowed last night and we woke up to a blanket of white stuff over the lawn and trees. I actually was excited to get out and ride in this stuff, strange I know! I’m sure once the novelty wears off, I’ll be digging for bus tickets…

The temperature was supposedly 2°, but it felt much, much warmer than that. I guess snow will do that, though. The first stretch on the streets across Juniper was just wet and nasty, but once I hit the trails it started to get fun. There was a very thick, low hanging fog cover which required me to have my light on full time again. The trails that tend to see the most traffic were clear (just wet), but once I got onto the higher single-track trails on Frolek’s land the trails were well snow covered. And it was quiet amazing, really. So gorgeous, still and absolutely quiet! At least, until I needed to use my wet brakes at which point it sounded like 20 kids all honking their little rubber bike horns…

A quick shot behind me of the sweet looking snowy trail…

And another shot looking in front with the snow covered bush and trees and the low hanging fog.

It seriously was a really sweet ride. I was getting a bit nervous as I got closer to the long, straight steep hill down into Peterson’s Creek. Would it be covered in snow? Would I have traction? Would I suddenly lose braking power and careen down out of control? However, none of my worries were merited as the trail was clean and clear (maybe too steep for the snow to stick yet?), and my brakes worked fine. Going up the other side was good too, with no issues except at the boardwalk where the snow had piled up about 2-3 inches deep. I slipped a bit on the first, steep section but after that maintained good traction and managed to clear the boardwalk OK.

Once I hit the streets, however, it stopped being fun. Now it was just wet, foggy, and a bit nerve wracking wondering if approaching motorists would be able to see me well enough in the fog! Up in Aberdeen and Pineview, the wet roads turned more to icy and slushy, making corners a bit of an issue with traction. But, I took the corners slow and managed to stay rubber side down.

If I was to continue riding through the winter (which would be cool), I would have to buy studded tires. However, they’re like $80-100 EACH, so that’s out of the question! Not to mention the extra gear I’d need once the weather turns to -15° or more (like it’s supposed to next week). It kind of sucks to have to quit because of finances, but I will not have fun without the right gear. So, maybe next year if we finally can sell that dumb acreage!