infinitely sustainable pace

notice the icicle hanging from the bottom bracket

fortune smiled upon my bike riding schedule today. i had a clear afternoon, and knew that I would have to work in the evening - so i took advantage of the time to get out for an actual outside ride.

I’d recently met another woman in the area who is actively out and riding this winter, we’ve both got jobs and kids to juggle but managed to get together for a ride. our goal - snowmobile trails. 

It’s been warm, then cold. then really cold. then a little warm and more cold. weather conditions which pack the snow and make it pretty stable. we decided to explore the trails in her neck of the woods figuring we could always bail and do a dirt road ride if the conditions sucked or if the snowmobilers were too ‘fresh’.

we lucked out. it was beautiful. i wish i had some photos of actually riding on the snow covered fields and through the forest - but i didn’t actually want to stop to pull out the camera. would have ruined the moment.

I rode my Vassago Jabberwocky - singlespeed. I think my riding partner was a little dubious about my lack of gears, but our trail selection today was pretty good for my gearing. I could actually stand up and pedal on the snow without spinning out. The worst problem was snow build up in my cleats, and a few hills that were just too steep combined with not being able to get into my pedals to really work the climb.

best snow tires

After some serious discussion, I opted for the Continental Mountain Kings as my tires of choice. And I have to say that these out performed all the other tires I’ve tried in the snow. They’re so soft with huge, widely-spaced knobs and they dub right into the packed snowmobile trails. These are now my go-to snow tires.

However, they were crap on ice. We were headed out to start the ride - down her long driveway hill and I dumped the bike on a sheet of ice. She must have wondered what kind of idiot she was taking out on a ride and if i was going to make it back alive. She had the spiked Nokia Gazza Extremes, which were definitely an advantage on her icy driveway and on a couple of the descents. But overall I don’t think they were really worth the extra weight on a ride like todays.

To get to and from the trails we did a bit of dirt road riding and got an early taste of the upcoming mud season. Filth. Absolute filth. Today was a lot of fun,  I think we’ll do it again.