The End of Winter

The thermometer reads 57 degrees. It looks like winter is officially over here in New England. I rode to work today in knickers and a light jacket, still had to wear gloves, but doubt I will need them on the way home. Don't think we've seen temps in the high 50's since last November. Usually I would be excited to see the end of the cold weather and snow, but this winter was different. Instead of hanging up the mountain bikes and taking eight weeks off from our Tuesday night rides, we forged through and were able to ride almost every week since Christmas. How did we do it? Snow bikes. George built up five Fatbacks, which kept us riding all winter long. All I can say is this, riding the snow bikes is the most fun I've had on a bike in a long time. We rode at Otis the first couple of weeks in January, but then when the real snow came in late January, we headed north to Plymouth. The trails at Myles Standish State Park offered us deeper snow and more consistent trail conditions right up through the second week of March. Best conditions seemed to be a base of hard snow, topped by a couple of inches of fresh powder. Not so good in really deep, unpacked powder, or ice, but we still managed to do more riding than hiking, which is always a good thing. Here are a couple of pics to give you an idea of the trails that we had to ourselves all winter.

Super Bowl Sunday- While most people were sitting at home watching some football game, the three of us were riding snow bikes in the woods, at night.

Late February, still plenty of snow at Myles Standish State Park

The snow is all gone now, and we are switching back to our regular mountain bikes this Tuesday, but the memory of riding the snow bikes will keep me smiling until the flakes start to fall again next year.

Listening to: Bill Laswell- "Imaginary Cuba"