Friday 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!

At 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.

Traction 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!

After 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!

A 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.

Jon 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!

I got up a few times last night, and peeked outside. I kept looking for any signs of snow, but only saw lots of rain. The snow didn’t really hit until I woke up in the morning. I was glad it was starting to stick, because frozen rain sounded too treacherous. I put my huge Trailbear 2.5 on the front, and aired it down to 22 PSI for extra traction. After bundling up and eating a bowl of oatmeal, I was off for the ride!

Early into the ride I passed the crossing guards that I see every morning, and one looked at me and said, “Ok now…that’s pushing it!”. Every person I encountered looked at me like I had three heads…a freak! It was snowing pretty heavy, and the cars were creeping. I was warm though, and I had plenty of traction. I know I was in much better shape then people in their lumbering cars though. They were bumper to bumper, and I was off in my own lane. It’s all about perception.

While stopping to take pictures in the park, a car pulled up and watched me. It didn’t leave until I rode off. With all my black clothes, maybe they thought a SWAT operation was going down.

My winter Tights. Notice the Fleece Knees! I got these Black Bottoms from The Bicycle Authority a few seasons ago.

When I got to work, I was one of the only ones there. Lots of folks were still stuck on the freeway between Carson City and Reno. About an hour into work, there was a gas leak at a nearby Casino. The maintenance guy came down to the basement, and told everyone to evacuate the building. We were instructed to go sit in our cars! I went outside and got out of the snow by ducking into the smokers shelter…after I made sure that all the cigarettes were extinguished of course!

Here’s a view of Carson City at noon time from the “Timberline” neighborhood.

My clothes still damp from the morning commute, I headed out for a lunch ride with Jon and Sandie. We stuck to the road for the climb up, but found some fresh snow covered dirt for the way down. Even though damp, my winter tights were still keeping me warm. My gloves on the other hand weren’t doing a whole lot for me. I’m going shopping this weekend for something more robust! My plan is to buy wool gloves and use a waterproof shell. A combo of natural and synthetic.

It felt good to get the first snow commute out of the way. Cold is not an issue. Snow is not an issue. The next challenges? Wind driven snow, and ice!