Doing What At 10 Below?!

I woke up feeling wrung out this morning after a cold day of guiding yesterday followed by some time riding the rollers in the evening.  But this was my first Sunday off in a while and the Fitzy crew has been doing Sunday group snowbike rides, and I had never been on a snowbike...

The thermometer actually showed -5 fahrenheit when I left the house on my old commuter bike.  (Brandon thoughtfully offered to let me use Scott's bike for the ride--what a guy.)  There was a whole crew sitting around sipping espresso in the warm cafe at the shop when I walked through the doors.

I showed up expecting a mellow Sunday spin with a bunch of friends, which is how it all started, up Baseline and the Old Jackson Highway under a brilliant sun.

And then JayP turned us up Rush Hour.  Now this is one of my favorite trails when it's dry and buffed--fast, flowy, and fun.  

Today it was none of those things.

Well maybe fun, but a crush-my-nuts-on-the-toptube, retrospective kind of fun.  Definitely not fast or flowy.

Apparently some people, like Rio, have experience with this whole snowbike thing and can successfully ride along the skinny little track of packed snow.  Picture riding a bicycle down a railroad track--not in the middle, but up on one of the rails.  The instant my front wheel rolled off the track it sunk to the hub and it was all over.  Add to that Scott's refusal to install a front brake on his bike and the term "singletrack" took on a whole new meaning.   Brutal.

Remarkably technically challenging, this whole snowbiking thing. To say that I loved it would be excessively hyperbolic, but I did enjoy it inasmuch as I generally enjoy getting my ass whupped.  

Room for improvement?  Lots.  Will I try it again?  Definitely.

And here I was getting all confident about my ability to steer a bicycle...