Portage gets prime

Hannah at Portage Glacier (1.15.11)

I’m generally of the opinion that when life hands you lemons, you should throw them at the bastards who are pissing you off. Screw that lemonade crap. Mother Nature hands you non-lethal projectiles, it's your freakin' duty to use them.

But when winter melts the snow and hands you ice, there’s no one blameworthy to throw it at, so you just have to ride on it. That’s what I did with some friends and my daughter last weekend after I heard—for the first time in several years—that riding conditions were prime on Portage Lake. Riding to a glacier isn’t an everyday opportunity, even in Alaska, so you have to take advantage of it.

A scenic lake ride is a nice reminder that there is beauty to be found even in the darkest, ugliest moments of winter. Plus, it keeps a guy from drinking too much tequila and shooting the trash cans full of holes while waiting for snow to fall.

Take some thick ice and some thick fleece, and mix them with some thick-headed mountain bikers determined to ride 12 months a year, and you can cook up some pretty special rides.

This is the season of big-screen TVs blaring the sounds of roaring crowds and colliding football players every weekend. You can have them.

The booming and cracking of ice is way more interesting.

Especially when you’re standing on it.