Myrna CG Mibus - Idyllwild

Happy New Year you all! Yes, it's 2020 and I haven't posted anything on this blog for, oh, a couple of years. Oh well. Here I am now writing a quick update because I got out and rode my fat bike in the snow today. I didn't make it a mile and I went slower than molasses in January (how appropriate for the first day of January!) but I am still happy about the fact that I got out on my bike. Why? Well, let me tell you. I haven't been on any of my bikes since summer so getting out today for even a super short and slow ride feels like a huge accomplishment. Correction - it is a huge accomplishment. There have been things, physical things like tennis elbow and weird tailbone muscular pain and a less-than-fun surgery  that I'm still recovering from this past year and then some other stuff that have made bicycling next to impossible. But today, on the first day of a new year, I decided to get out on my fat bike and give it a go in the fresh snow. Rocket the dog loves t...

We got a couple of inches of snow in the night. And while I'm certainly not ready for snow with things like coats and gloves and snow boots for the kids, I managed to forget how unprepared I am for the season when I saw the sun shining on the snow this morning. Sunshine on fresh snow makes for an absolutely beautiful morning! And, even though I had to get going and start my work day, the beautiful snowy morning kept begging me to grab my fatbike, Bear, and go for a ride. So I did. It was a short ride, less than a mile. And I was quickly reminded of how much work it is to pedal through fresh snow. I feel totally out of shape and I'm tired now (and running behind schedule). But, boy, it sure was worth it to get out and make the first fatbike snow tracks of the season.

We have about six inches of fresh snow on the ground at last! Trouble is, it's very slippery to ride in. I got out yesterday with the intent of riding through the new fluffy stuff and quickly realized that wasn't going to work well so I got out on the road instead and rode in tire tracks. Today I decided to get out on my snowshoes and create a fat bike track in my back yard. I tromped around the yard a few times to pack things down a bit then grabbed Bear and tried out my new track. Uh, it didn't work very well. I spent a lot of time jumping off my bike and pushing my way around the back yard. What biking I managed to do was slow biking to say the least. I worked my way around my back yard track and checked Map My Ride on my iPhone to see how far I'd gone. What? Only .19 miles? Geez. I kept at it until I logged a half mile. That half mile was probably the toughest half mile I've ever spent on a bike. I'm assuming my slow speed and difficulty getting arou...

As of this moment we have about a foot of fresh snow on the ground. It's been falling since daybreak and still coming down. With great excitement I got on my biking clothes after lunch and headed out on Bear to ride in some deep snow on the still unplowed streets of my neighborhood. Owen joined me on his Mukluk. We rode for about 30 minutes and probably went 2 miles. We laughed a lot, got a good workout and had a blast! Here's what I learned on my ride today: Deep snow is hard to ride in, even on a fat bike But boy is it fun! Snow is slippery and you can skid a lot This results in a lot of laughing And some happy screaming And a few near falls I'm better at controlling a bike through skids than I thought I was But look forward to getting even better It's easier to ride in the ruts where a car has already driven Pedals quickly get packed with snow making your boots slip even though the pedals have those little pins (12 per side on the VP Vice Trail Pedals I...