Biking on Snowmobile Trails

It is amazing how you learn different aspects of riding your bike. This goes from dry & cool weather, switching over to the heat of the summer, watching for leaves & branches during fall rides, and then what to do in the winter time for fun bike riding.

Three years ago I would have considered it crazy to ride my bike in the winter in Buffalo, NY. That is what rollers or trainers were for but man are rollers boring and I could not even imagine riding a bike stuck to a trainer for 2 or more hours. Then I found out about the TransIowa bike race and realized that if I ever wanted to compete in that I would need to learn how to comfortable ride in the winter.

Two years ago my sister and I were walking around Frisco, Colorado and I found some studded snow tires that would work on my Bianchi SS Muss mountain bike:So I bought them and took them back home with me. You should have seen the looks that I got in the airport carrying these around on my backpack. The questions were unreal also - you ride your bike in the winter? Now I do :)

Oh they were the Nokian and I love them. I don't use both right now. More on that later.

The first season was a learning experience. I did not understand the basics of deflating the tire to provide proper flotation so I stuck to the roads and the tires worked great. Last season I spent a lot of time on the bike but stuck with my mountain bike tires and stayed away from snowmobile trails because my first experience was a poor one, to say the least!

Well this year I made it a point to learn about snowbiking for 2 reasons:

1) Jill Homer - need I say more!

2) Arrowhead 135 - A dream of mine someday

So I put my 2.35 tires on the Bianchi, went to a lower gear combination (don't ask I have terrible memory about boring stuff like that!), and started reading. We had some great snow early in the season and the trails got put into use. I lowered my pressure and off I went.

My first trek was from Cole to Scherff just to get a feel for it. Once I became comfortable I started taking it from the other side of Scherff to Chestnut Ridge Park and then back home. One night I forgot my flat tools and ended up hiking back home 3 miles from the park because I put the bike down hard - it was that or a tree! - and I destroyed the valve stem.

Last night was a great night (or so I thought) for some riding. It was not warm - still below freezing - but the snow softened up too much and it was great fun. I did an awesome endo trying to cross a little summer water ditch that was full of soft snow. It was quite funny and I wish I had a camera crew with me at the time. Then there was the adventure onto the new trail I had yet to ride. Went from a ride to a hike-a-bike in a couple of sections. That is tough walking on ice with bike shoes!

Lessons learned: When in doubt, let air out
Always have your lights on in case of snowmobiles on the trails
Never dress warmer than necessary because you are going to be working hard!
The air temperature over the snow covered ground is about 5 degrees
cooler than bare pavement
It is a blast!!!!!!

Get out there and ride your bike!

A Walk to Work

Downtown Buffalo in the wintertime: The Skyway - Southern Lake Residents way to work/home

The Erie Canal Inlet to Lake Erie
USS Little Rock at the Naval Park
The HSBC Tower from right underneath it
4 solid columns of these - wonder how much that would cost today.
My work - The Liberty Building

This is what happens when I get to work early and decide to take a walk instead of coming right into the office. I am glad I did this though!

January - The Recap

We started January off in Florida for a little family vacation. New Years Day was partially spent driving to the Tampa area with a friend that I met doing Trans-Iowa. We did some mountain biking in the Florida rain! It was a blast. We topped it off with some great Mexican food - yummy.

We headed back to Buffalo and then the snow started falling pretty regularly. It snowed quite a bit and I got some nice cross country skiing and snowmobile trail biking in. Towards the end of the month I headed to the Las Vegas area for work and was privileged to see three awesome areas; Hoover Dam, Mojave National Preserve, and Death Valley National Park. I would return to Mojave and Death Valley in a heart beat. The Hoover Dam was inspiring as well but that would be seen with the family in the future, not solo again!

At the end of the trip I stopped off in Colorado to see my family and then the body decided I had done enough training and went sick on me. First the flu and then a pretty good chest cold. In the mean time the weather warmed up and the moisture came in the form of rain so my great snow base disappeared into Ice and Muck - very disappointing.

The last 1/2 week of January the snow returned and I was able to get some biking back in and also 1 nice cross country ski trip. All in all it was a typical month for me and now I need to start ramping up for Trans-Iowa. Under 3 months left and so February and March are going to be high intensity months for me with intervals and boot camp conditioning classes mixed in. April will be long slow recovery rides and then we head to Colorado again before Iowa for some high altitude training - I wonder if it will help as much as I am hoping!!!

Poetry that I attempt for some reason

The Beginning The End? by Bill Graves

You made a promise that has stood the test of time

You Son is White as Snow, we are covered in grime

We often question events that occur

Do we ever slow down to think so things are not such a blur

Mountain peaks sit dusted in snow

Valley floors await the melting waters flow

Their place is not to be impatient

The beneficiaries wait and fight thirst with resilience

Father, You are The Alpha and The Omega - Feed us

Lord, You are The Beginning and The End - Fill us


The Fall by Bill Graves

Where have you gone to

What is to come

The deep greens

Overthrown by Heavenly Golds

Heat and Humidity are replaced

New scents take us back to years of old

Summers beginning are a blur

Now we wait for winters cold and snow

But this is transition time and we take hold

Of Fall

The Chief by Bill Graves

Your cracks have been filled by the fears of the fearless.

High above the valley floor the mighty hang.

Some quietly contemplate, some loudly cry out for strength;

some shed tears, but through it all they push onward and upward.

You feel their needs through the placement of fingertips.

Strength exudes through the placement of feet.

Sweat pours on your face.

Hearts race, you feel the pounding on your steadfast granite.

They are a selfish lot; they look to be shaped, they turn to you for clarity.

How do you share your story? When do you get to be heard?

The day begins to close, Your voice prepares to boom.

Your counsel is strong, You long to be honored.

You speak through awesome splendor; you speak through a ring of gold.

Your peace has been spoken, Your tranquility has returned.

Traveling Lately

Well last week found me out in Nevada for some work (and play) and then I spent the weekend in Colorado visiting my family.

The first day in Nevada I worked a little and then headed out to see Hoover Dam and Lake Mead
That is a long way down huh?

Ever been in 2 places at 1 time?

Well I worked the next morning and early afternoon and was wondering what else I might be able to see around the Las Vegas area that did not entail gambling or shows in the hotels. I found out that the Mojave National Preserve was not that far away so I headed out for some desert traveling: Yes, that is snow in the desert - pretty cool huh?

Kelso Sand Dunes - I was going to climb to the top but the weather had other ideas in store!

I was chasing this rainbow out of the park on the way back to Las Vegas - I saw the beginning and the end but my camera could not do it justice.

Well on Friday I was heading to Colorado in the afternoon and had some extra time so I went to see Death Valley. They had a lot of rain over the week and a lot of it was closed due to mud and flooding but I got a good enough picture of it that makes me want to return in the future!
This was just awesome to see in person

Another beautiful shot of the terrain around Death Valley

Well I did not get to spend a lot of time there so I headed back to the airport and flew to Colorado. Saturday morning I woke up and went hiking at Green Mountain and saw the sunrise - worth the lack of oxygen and sleep to see this!


Hope you enjoyed the pictures. One day I will figure out how to it quicker into an album so you can see them all but one step at a time!

Fight Jenna Fight

There is a 17 y/o girl at our church who had been experiencing severe abdomen pain since the holidays. We received news on Saturday morning that they found a grapefruit size tumor wrapped around the lower portion of her abdomen area and vital organs.

It is non-operable and they are starting chemo treatment to try and kill it today.

She is still in severe pain and her parents are very concerned.

Please keep Jenna and her family in your prayers.

This is where being a good writer would come in handy like The Fat Cyclist but I don't have that in me - I will just pray.

Fight Jenna Fight

Small Change Makes Big Difference

As I mentioned yesterday - the hat choice I made was a poor decision. So last night as I prepared for my Wednesday night ride I grabbed my wind protection hat and I was toasty comfy all night long!

Wednesday's have been my main riding day for about 3 years now. This is how it started: Our church has a large young boys and girls night on Wednesday (Stockade and Pioneer Girls - a lot like Boy & Girl Scouts but a lot more Christian theme to it) and I was heavily involved with it because of my son for about 4 years. It came to the point where he liked it as a downtime away from dad so I found a local group ride on Wednesday during the nice months that I would do.

Now I get home from work, have some dinner with everyone, get changed, and still ride on Wednesday nights as long as conditions don't most likely lead to possible death - blowing snow or ice - bad stuff. Rain, light snow, cleared roads with 6' snowbanks on the side - Those are all good!

Last night I was still lazy and left the mountain bike with it's flat front tire in the garage and I took my single speed cross bike out for a spin - Good times! Here is a picture of one of my favorite bikes in my stable (top 2 and pretty close to being #1 but I don't want to offend the others!)
We also got our 1/2 of a 1/2 of a cow from some friends. 52 pounds of beef that should last a couple of months hopefully. I cannot wait to taste the chuck roast next week though!