Snowbiking

Off of work for the holiday week - thought I'd be able to get some time out on the road. The weather didn't cooperate; last Saturday the Snow came and has stayed all week. I got out on Saturday when the snow was just starting to come down and had a quick ride along the Canal path. There wasn't anyone else out, but I did startle a rather large wild Turkey.

The snow fell all day and night on Saturday, and we awoke to over a foot on the ground - so much for road biking.

I got a call from Chris this morning (Christmas Eve) wanting to know if I wanted a go at snowbiking. We met at Mercer County Park and slogged through the drifts towards the trail. Much of it was virgin snow that collected in the spokes and made the brakes useless. At times it was nearly impossible to get going, and we were forced to dismount and walk through the deepest spots. In other spots the snow was only a few inches deep and you could get some speed going. At one point we stopped to catch our breaths and Chris asked how I was doing. I said all was just fine and that my only goal was to keep my feet dry.

There are a number of streams in the park, and someone has improved the bridges over the past year. During the Summer and Fall, we don't hesitate to ride right across the bridges, but today, both Chris and I thought it was more prudent to walk our bikes across. Well so much for being prudent, first I watched Chris slip on the bridge, drop his bike and tumble into the stream up to his chest in the icy water.

Chris is a real trooper and didn't hesitate to get back on his bike and continue down the trail. As we headed back, coming across one of the bridges, I also slipped and went into the muddy stream. Fortunately Chris didn't have his camera.

As Chris pointed out, we weren't just snowbiking today. Rather we had a snow triathalon, complete with riding, walking and swimming.