From sun and rock, to ice and clouds — how quickly my fortunes change.  After all of that riding, I came home exhausted and terribly hungry with an impressive pile of laundry. While I was happy to get home and back to my little boy, it was bittersweet to return to the real world.

VAST Trail between Waterbury Center and Little River Rd

After a few days recovery to eat, sleep and eat some more, Sunday I got out for an exploratory local ride on the fat bike. I would call it a snow bike ride, but conditions around here are remarkably sparse for mid-February. With a general route in mind, I rode from home towards rt 100 and a section of the VAST snowmobile trail. Temperatures were hovering around 15 degrees with a nice bit of wind, but some pale sunshine and being able to stick to the woods and dress for the weather meant that it wasn’t too bad out there.

winter biking - not one of my more attractive looks

Bridge over Little River

The trail was only thinly covered by snow and some sections were glare ice from seep from the ground. I had never traveled that way before and it was interesting to see the terrain unfold.  There was a big climb followed by a steep, icy descent to the bridge over the Little River, and it got me reconsidering my route back home.

on the ice

Why not take the reservoir back instead of returning the way I came? So I climbed up Little River Road to the dam and the canoe access, rode right onto the ice and did just that. Very cool. Despite the odd winter we’re having, the ice was really solid. There wasn’t really any snow on the ice and I noticed my traction disappear if I attempted to put any power into my pedaling, so I just took it easy and enjoyed the novelty of riding my bike in the middle of the res.

I rode over to the Waterbury Center State Park Beach Access, from there it’s an easy mile back to my house. But it got me thinking, using the res as a shortcut think about all the riding I can access within a three hour ride from my house. There’s more exploring to do and routes to put together but there’s a lot of really exciting possibilities. Lets hope for just a little bit more snow to cover up some of the ice though.