Riding the Gauntlet

We came around the last corner on our way to the trailhead of C1, and there was the gauntlet. Two forest service trucks and a 20 man inmate fire crew. We didn't waver, but instead decided to ride right through the middle of them all. The inmates stopped their work and stared at us riding through. I felt thankful that I didn't have my tight shorts on this day. Patrick in his tights, and Ryan in his tight blue shorts, took most of the stares. From the gazes we got, you would have thought we were a bunch of high school cheerleaders prancing through in our skirts. An awkward moment for sure...

A week of snow

Ohhh what fun it is to ride, in a one horse open sleigh... hey!

Rainbows and Simooms

Today's ride started off with a pretty Rainbow, but quickly turned into a hell born simoom-like wind storm. We attempted C1 today...a climb that normally takes about 5 minutes. It took us about 20 minutes today. We had to stop occasionlly to curl up as the 50 mph wind gusts pelted us with sand and ice. Our tracks in the deep mud looked like those of a drunkard's. At one point, the wind blew Patrick into a complete U-Turn. I looked back to see him heading back down the hill...at first I thought he was deserting me. It was so hard and miserable that it was actually funny. And that's what made it enjoyable (if that makes any sense). The ride ended with a squishy mud down hill that turned out to be pretty fun. Patrick lost his water bottle at some point...maybe when he tossed his bike across the ditch. And to think I almost didn't go today.

Brrrrrr....

It was only 25 degrees out during yesterday's ride. It was cold starting out, but was actually quite pleasant once we got moving. The cold packed powder was perfect for riding on. There is nothing quite like riding down a snowy hill at 15-20 mph. You are barely in control of the bike, and a crash could come at any moment. We all crashed or spun out at least twice yesterday. No injuries though. Clipless pedals were not a good thing. They had packed up with ice by the time we hit the downhill, and were nothing more than slippery spindles.