Winter Riding

In preparation for the snow last night, I swapped out my knobbies for my studded snow tires.  I used to hate riding on the snow and ice, mostly because it hurts when you fall, and you fall a lot.  I smacked my elbow so hard once that not only did it ache for months but I also developed some kind of growth that eventually erupted in a pungent mess of green silly string like pus and small white flecks of bone (at least I think it was bone).  Not much fun.  So at the end of the winter of '09, I got fed up and purchased a sweet set of studded tires.  Shipping was slow and I ended up getting to put them on my bike the night before the streets finally thawed out.  I made up for it last winter, leaving the studded tires on for three months straight.  And I managed to stay upright the entire three months.   I swear by these tires.  I'll never ride another winter without them.

Since getting my tires, I've really started to enjoy biking on the ice and snow.  Its a whole new challenge.  You don't control the bike.  You just let the bike go where its going to go and correct it when you need to.  It's a little unnerving but if you try to control the bike, you are going down.

Russ vs. the Rock

On the Rims trail there is a drop off of a rock that has taunted me since the first time I tried it.  I landed the drop just fine and 120 bucks later, my bike was fine too.  The rock has freaked me out ever since.  But with my new mountain bike, I should be able to tackle it.  I did once, kind of skirting around it, but I've been itching to go back and try dropping off the face again ... but I've chickened out every time.

Here's a funny video of my attempt.  I post it here because I don't really want it shared on facebook, but I figured the few of you who actually read this blog might get a good chuckle.

Riding the Rims

11 Miles

Rims Trail

I took my helmet cam out for another ride today.  I wasn't really feeling it and made many, many mistakes but I had fun.  This is one of the more challenging rides that I do and since I haven't been on this bike for months (except last Monday), I'm not very comfortable on it yet.  It definitely wasn't one of my best rides.  I'm still getting used to the new mountain bike.  It's so much heavier and slower than my old Trek 4300 but it rides like I'm floating on a cloud.  It was built for downhill riding so any climb is a real challenge on this bike.  Oooh, but it makes that rimrock so much more tolerable. 

Helmet Camera

My parents gave me an early birthday present while I was home for Christmas, a helmet video camera.  Since I didn't have to work today I decided to try it out at Riverfront Park.  It was almost 50 degrees and the snow has all melted so I thought it'd be a good time to go.  I found out that it's still cold at Riverfront Park, cold enough anyway to keep everything frozen but with the warm air temperature, there was a thin layer of water on all the ice which made for a really slippery and muddy ride.  I would have taken the trails a lot more aggressively but I was sliding all over the place.

Anyway, I don't need to be real wordy about my ride, just watch.  Oh, and there's a little treat for you just after two minutes into the video.  And no, I was not injured in the filming of this video.

I didn't throw in video of the deer that I flushed up in the park, mostly because it was hard to see them on the screen.  In an attempt to get better video of the deer I left the trail and spent the next ten minutes trying to find it again.  Typical ride through Riverfront Park.

Thanks for the camera Mom and Dad!