Another winter ride and it was pretty glorious!
As is usual, I was mostly up on on the park that's just west of me, and at -5C and mostly sunny, I couldn't ask for much better in February.
The paths are packed by walkers, but in some locations, mainly those exposed to sun and wind, sometimes we're back down to prairie grass.
Heading west onto the hill a couple of blocks near the manor where my mother lives (I try to drop off treats - today fresh baked oatmeal cookies), I did the climb up to the plateau.
It was not too bad as it gets a lot of foot traffic. There's a certain point where I have to decide either left or right, and today was left.
This took me up this slope and from there I continued south and then back to the east to a fun MTB area with lots of slopes. There I stopped and took some "bike" shots south overlooking the city.
This was a view to the east looking over the various communities that border Nose Hill Park.
Heading south from there (after taking one of the milder slopes) I started fending my way south than west before descending down a fairly long slope at around the 8km mark.
It maxes out at -15 degrees, but the Ice Spiker tires were absolutely stuck to the hardpacked surface.
The first picture is just before I started down and the second is in the general direction I would take without the snow.
Once at the bottom of that slope I really just turned right and climbed back up to the same elevation again.
A lot of the surface had a narrower riding surface. Once you got off the packed surfaces, it got dicey, but you could ride through it if you kept your concentration. I'm getting much better at handling the looser stuff.
Next stop was a short break at a spot I often use for that purpose. From there you have a great view to the Rocky mountains to the west. More bike photos of course..
I often take off in tis direction in non-snow conditions - there are some fun areas back there. Not today...
From there I headed north via the normal paths and some sections I documented on the ride on the 16th.
My favorite section was in really good condition and with the better light, I bombed it pretty quickly in both directions to and from my brother's house on the edge of the park.
Just below the final climb out of the park, I stopped and chatted with a couple of younger guys on their analog bikes.
They asked me a LOT of questions about my bike and the routes I ride up on the park.
As it turned out - we shared a lot of the same likes and dislikes.
We also shared the fact that we are all on the same tires - Ice Spiker Pro's!
On the way home I took one of the main East-West paths and came across a small snow structure someone had built along the path.
I know this path took me to a nice downhill (max 19 degree) slope as I headed for home.
One last stop for photos before the normal pathways to home.
All in all a really enjoyable couple of hours.
It may not show up in the Strava stats, but I rode a lot of the sections much faster then I've done before, as I'm getting a much better feeling for the grip of the tires.
I also tried out a different jacket and it was perfect for the day but would likely be too warm if it were any warmer than -5C.
Audiobook for the ride was Peter May's "I'll Keep You Safe". Almost done and I'm enjoying it.
Next up will be Anthony Horowitz's "Moonflower Murders".
We're back to warmer weather for the next week (+2C tomorrow), and a lot of the paths on the west side of the park are likely going to get too soft to ride.
We'll see...
... upon returning home, I went on the forums and read more about the experiences others here have with riding through water, as there had been quite a few muddy puddles I had to go through and I wasn't sure how safe it was to take a brand new expensive bike through these conditions. However, I am assuming that R&M makes these bikes for these types of conditions, so ... let's hope 
