Monthly Archives: December 2007

Spooner Lake XC

Posted on by
1

IMG_0959In the winter months Flume Trail Bikes becomes the Spooner Lake Cross Country Ski Lodge. Cross country skiing is a great winter compliment to summer time cross country mountain biking. You get some exercise climbing the hills, you get to coast down the hills, and you even get to explore some of the same trails you do on your mountain bike.

Spooner Lake XC, less than a half hour’s drive out of Carson City at Spooner Lake State Park, has a great trail network and reasonable prices on trail passes and ski rentals for the whole family. They also have hot coffee, cocoa, and a wood stove back at the lodge to warm up after the ride!

More info at the Spooner Lake site HERE.

Last Lunch Ride of the Year

Posted on by
6

WinnerWe had winner of a ride on Friday, the last lunch ride of the year. You couldn’t have asked for a more perfect day for snow riding. The temperatures were just below freezing, and the light fluffy snow was falling. I met up with Jeff P and Jon, and we headed for Ash Canyon.

After Thursday’s icy boondoggle, it was wonderful to ride in such wonderful snow. The ground was frozen, and the snow was just the right depth to offer incredible traction. We rolled up the hill with less effort than in the summer sand!

 

Mountain Men

Mountain Men

 

Jeff PJeff P led us to the trailhead of a brand new, not yet named trail. The trailhead is near the entrance to the creek trail, but on the uphill side. The singletrack follows the contour of the mountain, and takes you all the way down to the rocked switchback on the Baldy Green trail. The grade is gentle enough to be enjoyed in either direction, and will be a great connector from the lower trails and the creek trail. Also, being on the south side of the mountain, it will be a great winter trail. And being up past the timberline, you get a great mountain experience. There are some nice trees, steep hillsides, and no view of the city!

 

New Secret Trail
New Secret Trail

 

Baldy Green TrailOnce we hit the Baldy Green trail, it was on! The snow was providing excellent traction, and you could ride at almost full speed down the twisty singletrack. I railed the twisties on the Jackrabbit Trail faster than I have ever ridden them. It’s great to be able to ride these trails every season, as each season brings different trail conditions, challenges, and feel to the trails.

Probably Not a Good Idea

Posted on by
9

The Creek TrailPeering down into the bottom of the canyon I said to Jon, “That looks rideable. There are tracks down there.” “Do you want to do it? I have enough time.”, Jon replied. We pedaled up to the drop in for the creek trail and began our descent into the canyon.

Like most things that you get yourself into, they start off pretty good. Otherwise you wouldn’t be getting yourself into them in the first place. The drop into the creek trail was frozen sand and provided excellent traction and a fast descent. It wasn’t until we got to the bottom that things turned slippery. The trail was snowy on the flat parts where you didn’t need much traction, but turned into an icy bobsled course when the trail pointed downhill and you needed traction most! It looked like previous trail riders had slightly melted and packed the snow, but then it froze solid after that.

The Creek TrailOn the steepest parts, we dismounted the bikes and tried to walk down the slippery slopes. We looked like a couple of geriatrics with walkers, because walking wasn’t much easier! It was hard to find a foothold that wasn’t slick!

I had some close calls, but Jon didn’t fare as well. He broke his front fender in one corner, and totally slid off the trail into the snow and rocks in another mishap. I looked back just in time to see him picking himself up out of the snow. He said the brakes were locked up and he slid for a ways before coming to a rest in the snow bank!

We finally made the half way mark, and looked at the early exit climbing up the hill. Shoot, we were half way already, and the standard exit was downhill. We chose not to climb out of the canyon, but continued on cautiously.

I had to laugh, because just ten feet to the left was dry ground. We were very close to the sun line where the snow and ice had melted, but there was no where to go but down the bobsled course.

JonWe finally hit some beautiful brown dirt and climbed out of the canyon. We decided that this had not been the best idea to come down here. On the other hand, we got some cool pictures, have some cool stories, and we even got a blog post out of it!

We finished off the ride with a fast run down the Jackrabbit trail. Normally this trail is pretty sandy, but today the sand was frozen. It was so hard that the knobbies were having a hard time digging into the dirt in some places. The morning started off at around 10 degrees, and had only reached about 27 at this time.

We headed back for the office, but I made a stop at the Bicycle Authority on the way to order up some goodies. Hopefully I’ll get to tell you about them next week!

News

Posted on by
5

From my friend in Berkeley: Full story HERE

When my daughter happened to pull off her helmet and toss it into the street, he actually stopped, backed up, turned his wheels toward it and deliberately ran over the helmet.

Should bicyclists be licensed to ride? Seattle discusses licensing cyclists. This story was highly discussed yesterday. Full story and commentary HERE.

UrbanVelo discusses the book Traffic Life HERE. There is a link to order the book, read more reviews, or even read the book online!

Traffic Life is a collection of short stories, poetry, cartoons, illustrations, sculpture, photography and even a jazz score—all from an anti-car perspective. Contributors include cycling cartoonists Andy Singer, Ken Avidor and Neal Skorpen, as well as a host of writers including science fiction magnate Ray Bradbury.

BIKESAFE – Barbara from Muscle Powered sent THIS LINK around yesterday.

The Bicycle Countermeasure Selection System (BIKESAFE) is intended to provide practitioners with the latest information available for improving the safety and mobility of those who bicycle.

Winter Road Ride

Posted on by
4

Sunday, Amy and I decided to take a twenty mile spin around Carson on our road tandem. With the unseasonably warm temps pushing mid 50′s, hopping on the road bike Longbikesounded better than slogging through mud on our mountain bikes.

With no specific ride plan in mind, we pedaled north towards our usual route, but at the last second I decided to take a right turn at Oak Ridge Drive. Our change of direction brought us a pleasant surprise when we noticed Oak Ridge Drive is now a through street, connecting with West College Parkway. This new connector provides Carson City’s west side residents with a bicycle friendly side street to Starbucks, Eagle Fitness and Save Mart. We stopped at the new John Mankins Park, which Jeff M wrote about a few weeks ago. We then headed off to the Carson City Freeway Multi-Use Path.Bike Path 1

Convincing N-Dot to build this path was one of the first achievements for Muscle Powered. This was our first time to ride the entire path, and we were impressed. The path starts one quarter mile east of North Carson Street, at the intersection of Silver Oak Dr and Imperial Way. It crosses Northgate Lane and N. Roop St., and ends after one mile at the Wal Mart shopping complex on East College Pky. bike path 3After crossing E. College Pkwy we continued east, until we hooked up with the next, and best, section of the multi-use path. About two miles in length, we cruised this uninterrupted section at 27 mph. I contribute our speed to either the slight downhill grade or Amy’s awesome power. Tandems are like VW bugs; the motor is in the rear.

Unfortunately, the path ends where the freeway ends. I look forward to when both the freeway and bike path are completed in 2010. As for now, the bike path does exactly what it should. It connects neighborhoods to shopping centers, and provides a car free route for cyclists and pedestrians to accomplish their shopping needs.

Phil’s house, which is on Carson River Rd., was to be our next stop. We meandered on quiet side streets, working our way towards Deer Run Rd. Within the first mile on Deer Run we came upon three ladies who were off to the side of the road repairing a flat tire. We stopped and asked if they needed assistance. They said they had everything under control, and we then learned they were Muscle Powered members; Kelly, Theresa, and Vicky, out for a spin in the unusually temperate winter day. Two of the ladies were riding their new Christmas bikes for the first time when a flat tire temporarily stopped the paceline.
We said goodbye and off we went to Phil’s house. He wasn’t home, so we rode on and followed our usual route to East Fifth St., Hells Bells Rd (Amy waved to her horse,Flicka, stabled at River Bottom Ranch), the roundabout, Fairview Dr., and finally home.

This was what I consider a perfect winter ride, warm weather and easy spinning (Amy was doing the hard work).

Break the law in Nevada and awake every morning with this beautiful view.

Friday Riding

Posted on by
3

Line of StumpjumpersFriday morning I was roused out of bed at 4:30 AM because of a problem at work. Since I was already up, and the problem was taken care of, I decided to just go into work early. What the heck…I’m late every day, let’s try something new!

The marquee at Mills Park said 12 degrees! I believed it, and was glad to have made the decision to wear my fleece vest under my windbreaker. I can always tell when the temperature drops down to the teens, because the moisture on my beard freezes instantly. I thought I was pretty tough, but of course you always see someone tougher than you. Or maybe just stupider. I saw some high school kids walking to school in summer gear. Fashion before function when you’re that age I guess!

KristyAt lunch I hooked up with Kristy, Amy, Sandie, and Brent for some snow riding in Ash Canyon. Once again the temperatures were in the low 30′s, and it kept the mud frozen and the snow crisp. For the most part anyhow; there were a few mushy parts that sapped your strength on the climb. A few trucks had been there before us, and they packed the snow down into nice little singletracks.

Brent and SandieTraction in the snow was quite nice, even on the steepest climbs. On one particularly steep climb, I had to use a different climbing technique. There is a lot of torque going to the back wheel on the 32:16 singlespeed gearing which causes wheel slippage if you’re not careful. With each pedal stroke, I leaned back a bit and pulled back on the bars, causing the back tire to dig a bit deeper into the snowy hill. It was one of those hills where you get to the top and you can’t believe you made it up!

Ash CanyonAfter my commute home on Friday, I was completely done wearing tight lycra and microfleece for the week. I declared a loose fitting cotton weekend, and didn’t touch my bike once. I rejuvenated my spirits with winter brews and let my body heal.

I hope everyone has a nice Christmas filled with friends, family, and plenty of bicycle bling!

Winter Storm

Posted on by
5

TracksA winter storm moved through the area yesterday morning, decreasing visibility on the commute as the wind driven snow stuck to my glasses. I was still plenty warm in spite of the weather though!  A water resistant wind breaker and a neck gaiter kept me dry and kept the bitter cold wind out.

As I rode up the bike path at Mills Park, I was approaching a man in my lane. So I changed lanes. And then so did he. I changed lanes again, but then once again he did too. As I got closer I realized the guy was pretty drunk, and he looked homeless. It’s one thing to make a choice to go out in this weather, but to be forced out in it is pretty rough. Hopefully he had some place warm to go.

By lunch time the storm had ended and the sun was out. The landscape was just stunning! It was still cold, and the foothills only received a couple inches of powder snow. These are ideal conditions for snow biking! Shallow, cold powder offers plenty of traction, and you can almost ride full speed through it as long as you have some decent knobbies.

GregJon has been bringing his friend Greg along, and I believe this was Greg’s introduction to snow biking. He rode in the rain with us last week, and he even thought that was pretty fun.

After climbing up the hill, we had a nice long descent down the north ridge above Vicee Canyon. The snow deadened the sounds around us, and our tires made a pleasant crunching sound as we flew down the hill. Once at the bottom, Greg exclaimed how cool it was to live in Carson City. I’d have to agree!