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"

Riding in the Snow

No, I didn't buy another bike. I borrowed a Surly Pugsley from Corner Cycle. We've been riding mountain bikes almost every Tuesday night since late October, but with snow on the ground since before Christmas, the riding lately has been difficult. Last week Geo built up three snow bikes, so now we are able to ride all winter. This past Tuesday night we rode the snow bikes at Otis for an hour and a half, conditions were perfect, a couple inches of fresh snow on top of three or four inches of hard packed snow and ice. I was surprised how well the bikes climbed in the snow, and the downhills felt like you were skiing. We received more snow last night, so tonight I rode by myself on some local trails near my house. All I can say is it's the most fun I've had on a bike in a long time.

The Pugsley is cool for sure, but the other two bikes, Fatbacks from Alaska, seem to have the snow bike thing really figured out. The Fatbacks are made of aluminum, so I suppose they are lighter and less prone to rust over the years, but the real cool thing is they have a 170mm rear hub (the Pugs has an offset 135mm), which allows for a symmetrical wheelset. If I were to build one up I'd probably make it a 1 x 9, I don't really see a need for a triple, save some weight, and less places for snow to collect (see pic above). Either way, riding in the snow is a hoot for sure, it extends the winter mountain biking season, and beats the hell out of riding on a trainer or rollers.


Listening to: Art Blakey- "A Night at Birdland, Vol. 1"