With the arrival of the first big dumping of the white stuff, I decided to take my (white) Salsa Beargrease out for a spin behind the house and tour Griever’s Nature Preserve. The trail is about 2.5 miles and rolling out of our unplowed driveway and taking the “back entrance” onto the trail, I discovered virgin snow, as nobody had been back there yet! I got my bike a little over a year from the Trek Bicycle Store in Battle Creek (at the time, Team Active) and was gone most of the winter months, so I didn’t get a chance to ride it in the snow. Today, that all changed!
Enjoy this snippet of my ride in the woods and don’t judge (too harshly) on some of the washouts and “not-so-graceful” dismounts. It was quite a bit more challenging (and slippery) than I expected, but it was a fun ride and looking forward to heading back out there again!
Big thanks to the shop for hooking me up with some sweet 45 North Cobrafist Pogies last year (and was excited to put them to the test this afternoon). Despite the fact that it was 23 degrees outside and snowing, all I wore on my hands were my regular summer-weight, full-finger mountain bike gloves. That’s it! When I got done, my hands were toasty warm. Now I only hope Santa brings me a pair if winter cycling boots to keep my toes just as warm.
~Eric, WSI