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February, 2007
Winter Mountain biking
By Deb Moulton
One cold Thursday afternoon in February while riding home with friends from skiing all day, one of the guys speaks up and says "anyone want to go mountain biking Saturday?"
It is supposed to snow on Friday, with temptures in the low 20 on Saturday, but consensus is to post the ride on the Rage On website and see who shows. Starting place: my house.
My house has become a central point to start mtn bike rides, especially when the weather is iffy. I think mostly because the only roommate I have to work around is my dog Charlie. My neighbors don’t mind the cars and trucks parked on the street and it is a short road ride of a mile or less to about 3 trailheads in the Portland area.
Saturday morning, I drag myself out of bed and look out the window, 3 to 4 inches of new heavy wet snow greets my eyes. I wonder who will show, if anyone.
Rider number one, Jim, arrives. By 11a.m. there are a couple more. So by 11:30 four of us are all decked out in a several layers of fleece, winter jackets and insulated leg gear. Our biking shoes have toe warmers in them, and Neoprene covers. Myself, I have my heavy duty pink North Face above-the-ankle snow boots with fake sheep fur lining inside and around the top. Mike has passed out hand warmers to everyone. Ave and Mike have studded tires. Jim, regular tires and I put bike chains on my front tire.
We climb onto our bikes and off we go across the street, down the cemetery road to trail head number one. Once we are off the plowed road we are on unpacked snow about 4 inches high. Going down hill is helping, but we still have to get off out bikes and hike for a few hundred feet to the next down hill. Next, we come to a section of the Eastern Trail, still unpacked 4" of snow. We try to ride on the flat terrain, but Jim and I end up hiking, the other two with studded tires are faring better, but still have to stop and walk their bikes every 40 to 50 feet. We have worked up a sweat and are definitely warmed up. We decide to bail onto a side trail and take the road to the next, hopefully plowed, section of trail.
We arrive at the next section of Eastern Trail, it has been plowed, but the trail is still covered with snow and ice, about ½ inch thick. However there are drifts and snow banks to crash through, so off we go. As we work our way toward Bug Light, we crash through as many drifts and snow banks as we can find. Ave buries a wheel on one and goes over his handlebars. We pass by the local ice skating pond. There is a short debate whether to go out on the ice or pass on by. We agree to stop and play on the ice on the return. .
At Bug Light the trail has been blown over making it hard work to pedal through. I can stand putting all my weight of 110 lbs on one foot on one pedal, and my bike does not move. The three other guys are having a little better luck. I tell them it is because they are bigger and weigh more, they insist it is skill. We work our way toward the boat ramp and off to my left is a flight of 15 or so steps covered with snow except for the edges of the stairs peeking out.
I say, "lets ride the steps" and head up the hill and down I go, my front w heel pounding on every step. Uhhhhhhhhhh. Ave pulls his camera out. Now they all have to go. Camera out, the girl made it down, so, everyone goes down the steps. One at a time, trying to pose but mostly just saying Uhhhhhhhhh to avoid jarring our teeth together. We even try racing down hill vs. down stairs. We receive some interesting stares from passersby, out walking dogs. After picture taking and racing we ride the coble stones up to Bug Light and walk around the lighthouse a couple times, enjoying the clear bright blue sky and the sun warming our faces. A winter breeze is coming off the ocean. Time to head back.
Remember the ice pond? When we arrive we head out onto the ice avoiding the skaters and hockey players. Perpendicular now becomes a must: any angle to the wheel and down a person can go, landing on the hard ice tangled up in bike. Ave pulls out his camera. Jims takes the first fall as his bike slides out from underneath him and down he goes. Ow. The studded tires do the best: no spills for Mike or Ave. My back wheel slips and I put my foot down, avoid the crash. Jim is doing ok with regular tires, but ice is slippery so he keeps around the edges where there is still some snow. I am trying to convince the guys we could get hockey sticks, a tennis ball and play mtn bike hockey. My dog Charlie is becoming proficient at catching a tennis ball, if we tethered him to one side of the pond, he would make a pretty good goalie. I am voted down. So we head home. 30 more mins of crashing drifts and a short road ride and we are back. We have been out for nearly two hours. I think it might be up to 22 degrees. Everyone packs up their gear and heads off for the rest of their Saturday obligations. All agree: Great ride. !!! Anyone up for next week? I’m still working on that hockey game.
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