[Joe's comment: It's been a while since KonaGirl posted here. But that doesn't mean she's been slackin'. Lately, she's been taking a serious bite out of my riding time to do some of her own. The funny thing is, I couldn't be happier.]
The first time I tried riding a bike in the snow was a few years ago on the Lake Accotink cinder trail with my 35 lb Schwinn. After thirty minutes of plowing in the snow and barely a quarter mile later, I quit. I believed then that biking and snow didn’t go together and swore to never do it again. The second time I tried riding in the snow was this month at the Shed with Mr. and Mrs. Singlespeed Outlaw and the extended outlaw family. It was nice to be at the back of the pack and let the guys at the front do the hard work of “plowing” the snow and laying down fresh tracks. In sections where the snow was deep, the trail becomes like bobsled tracks, bouncing you around when you deviate from “the line.” All of the climbs are punctuated with grunts, and I keep thinking I don’t want to do this again. It was hard and slow going but when you finish, you get this feeling of accomplishing something. Exactly what, I don’t know yet, but it was good. After the ride, all pains are forgotten and I am already thinking of the next one. So we did it again the next week and had a blast.
My fourth snow ride was nearby, at Wakefield – again with Julie, Cathy and Kathy. As we were getting ready to ride, I was thinking that our motto should be: the group that suffers together, has all the fun in the world… okay it’s not that catchy but it expresses my sentiments. I was ready for a slog, but I didn’t have to worry at all. The snow was packed and we weren’t even breaking the surface! It was smooth all the way…all the log piles were much easier, even the climbs. If SM100 is going to be like this, I’ll sign up right now [Joe’s editorial comment here: “It’s not”]. We were having so much fun playing on the logs and “encouraging” each other to try some stupid stunts. Fortunately we all finished the ride without any bruises.
The next day, I’m still itching to ride in the snow so Sagada and I headed to the backyard. She did some sledding and I rode my bike.
Some pics from Wakefield:
Kathy, Cathie, Julie and Gina's ride at Wakefield.
(Gina behind the camera)
Julie before take off
Kathy, the downhill girl, jumping logs at Wakefield.
Dr. Cathie at Wakefield
and the back yard...
Pic by Sagada
More pics on my new flickr site.
