Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Sweetness

I had to borrow a copy of this photo by my friend EndoRando, because it's sharper and sunnier than anything I've shot on Speedway recently. The late winter conditions are so good right now, it would be crazy to not ride, especially if you have the advantage of a fat bike when the trails turn soft on warm days.

One of the great things about winter riding is the metamorphosis that trails undergo when snow falls. Roots and rocks disappear, angles and lines change, traction comes and goes. Having access to the same trails in summer and winter is like getting a two-for-one deal.

Some trails are more fun to ride in winter, especially those with summertime mudholes, barely passable creeks and swamps that turn into pure, white sweetness during the darker months. Hell, there are trails I ride all winter than I rarely even see from June through September.

Now that there's some light stretching into the evening, warmer weather won't be far behind. And when it comes, the winter trails will dissolve into a horrendous goo that'll leave mountain bikers in the purgatory of springtime for six weeks or so.

Get some. While it's still good.

2 comments:

Banger said...

I couldn't have said it better. I found an awesome trail this winter that I know I won't ever get a chance to ride this summer because it will be an impassable quagmire in another month. Luckily I have had the last few months with it, and I'll see it again next fall like an old friend.

You are also completely right about spring, I feel it coming and I am not looking forward to the hideous deeds it will perpetrate on our trails.

Grill Meister said...

I've only "cleaned" Speedway in the winter. I've done it once last winter and once this winter. That's something for someone like me that is a crappy bike handler. I haven't even come close to "cleaning" it in the summer.

Grill Meister