This was my first ride of the year and it sure was an entertaining ride. It was a snow ride up at the Woodlot. Rob with his dog Bruiser and I decided that we would go for a spin as far up the hill as we could possibly go and ride down. We were both prepared with proper footwear and gloves. I had 1 extra thin layer on up top and it seemed to work quite well.
There was about 4-6 inches of snow at the bottom and rather than hike up the exposed trail that we would normally go up, we decided to walk up Shotgun. It was a very wise move as there was much less snow on Shotgun under the trees than there would be on the exposed road.
There had been a few riders down Shotgun before us as there were relatively fresh tracks on the trail. Once we got to the top of Shotgun and started up the logging road we could see that there had been a few people here the day before but we were the first up the hill today (arriving at 8:30am). I must say that trudging through the snow with a 40+lb bike is not easy going. We slowly but surely made our way up the hill. We then noticed that all the tracks that we were previously walking in were gone and we were making fresh tracks up the hill.
There was about 4-6 inches of snow at the bottom and rather than hike up the exposed trail that we would normally go up, we decided to walk up Shotgun. It was a very wise move as there was much less snow on Shotgun under the trees than there would be on the exposed road.
There had been a few riders down Shotgun before us as there were relatively fresh tracks on the trail. Once we got to the top of Shotgun and started up the logging road we could see that there had been a few people here the day before but we were the first up the hill today (arriving at 8:30am). I must say that trudging through the snow with a 40+lb bike is not easy going. We slowly but surely made our way up the hill. We then noticed that all the tracks that we were previously walking in were gone and we were making fresh tracks up the hill.
As we got higher and higher, the snow was deeper and deeper. What normally took us 30 minutes had taken us an hour and fifteen minutes. We decided to stop at Upper Toadstool and ride down from there. The trails had about 6 inches of snow on them, which makes pedaling down them very difficult, but as long as you are going down hill, all is good. The log ride on Toadstool was most definitely a walk as it was 1 big snow covered icicle.
From Upper Toad Stool we rode Lower Toadstool which had recently seen some trail work and a new bridge crossing. From there it was over to Hoots, which was a Hoot. All I can say is to ride in the snow, you may as well leave your front brake at home. And finally after Hoots it was the ride down Shotgun.
Because Shotgun had seen a few people in the snow, the trail riding surface was actually hard packed and it was allot of fun to ride down. The one log ride on the trail was also quite fun and being the first person down it since the snow made it even more fun.
Down to the cars loaded then up and drove away on the snowy roads. Overall a total blast in the snow.
