Yesterday and today, the weather has been hovering around +3C and I got in a couple of shorter rides.
No pictures taken yesterday as I didn't go out until later in the day and it was more about a quick ride and getting home before it got cooler and darker.
Route:
Today was a much nicer day, with lots of sunshine and not much wind and for the first time since I got my winter tires, I ventured out into some single track areas.
Route:
There were lots of walkers out today and when on the main paths it got a little crowded.
My normal access is via MUP, but today I took a different route and entered the park from a parking lot and followed a maintenance road that has a LOT of washed out areas and is considered closed. Everyone, including me, uses it anyways, and the deep ruts and eroded areas are no big deal for a bike. There was a lot of packed surfaces as well as lots of areas where the gravel surface was bare
I decided to take a rare selfie and as many of friends remark about my helmet - there IS truth in advertising.
The hardpacked snow was really easy with the Schwalbe Ice Spiker Pro's, although if for some reason you had to stop on an uphill spot, it was tricky to get going again. I was riding with my Suntour suspension post rather than my dropper, as the hardpack was a very uneven surface and could probably shake a filling out if you were riding without some sort of suspension.
As you can see, the surfaces are varied.
I hadn't charged my battery up before I went out, and also hadn't put my neoprene battery blanket on either, so I chose a main path out, but ran into some pretty big ruts.
I took a picture of one section as it wasn't rideable without a potential crash and my shoulder is not up for that.
I had an ultrasound on it in the morning and although the technician couldn't tell me what he saw, his answer when I asked "how does it look - it feels like crap", his response was "when do you see your doctor again"...
I had a nice chat with a fellow who was out on his Fat Tire MTB (studded tires as well), and his wife who was walking their clearly elderly Golden Retriever, and he was smiling when he said "ah, one of those cheaters", and then he asked me a zillion questions on how I like my bike and my favorite routes on the hill. He was moaning about the climb he was about to make and I told him that it was my intended route as well. Rather than make him feel bad, I took off before him so I wouldn't have to blow by him going up the slope.
All in all, a super couple of hours out on the park. As usual, I was listening to an Audiobook - this time Ian Rankin's "A Song for the Dark Times".
There's other threads to discuss that issue and let's leave those discussions over there please.
I judged my battery well, as I got home as I hit the 5% level - I could have babied it a bit more, but I didn't need to.
Lovin' the studs!
As I said to
@LouLouLePew last week - "Studs on Studs!"
Today I decided to try my cycling shoes for walking in the snow and ice and they were super grippy, hopefully I will get to use them on the bike again soon...
