RR: Dark And Snowy First Snow Ride Of The Year

Hey all, you ever get those sleepless nights 'cause you know tomorrow
is going to be an exceptional day? Try and get to bed early, but you
toss and turn awaiting the dawn or period just before dawn, blackest
night.

I ride with a small group of roadies on Tues and Thurs mornings. Due
to the snow us MTBers decided to hit the trails instead. I've never
yet been on snowy trails in the dark. I was besides myself, tons of
opportunities but just to risky solo.

Today was the day.

5:20 am I must have gotten some sleep 'cause the alarm scared the
living sh1t out of me when it when off. Not only that but the leg
that kicked me out of bed kinda hurt too. Note to self, "Next time
use your watch alarm."

Check the deck, a good 3 inches of snow. Weather man said 26 degrees
F.

Check the bike (don't know what for) never any issues from the SS!
Batteries good, lights good, rear blinker good. Dryfit shirt, shorts,
tights, don the light weight shell, gloves... I'm good to go!

5:55 am hook up with two buds and we make our way to the Landing Road
entrance.

UNREAL, UNTOUCHED, UNBELIEVABLE! The shadows casts, the reflections
of the bright white snow, the sound (lack there of). I'm in awe of
how bright everything was for how dark it was.

Even though the temps were below freezing the trails were a bit wet
under the fallen snow. I still had surprisingly good traction for the
conditions.

First creek crossing. I new the area like my own yard and knew the
creek was only 2 to 4 inches deep. What was incredible was the fact
that even though our lights were blinding bright the small body of
water looked like a shiny black mirror. It could have been 20 feet
deep and you would never be able to tell. It was quite amazing. It
seemed as if we were riding through tunnels. All this was new to me.
I liked it!

40 minutes into the ride, all was going well. I had a few issues
dabbing and clipping in due to ice and snow but no big deal. Then
imagine the sound of a small firecracker, I instantly lost power to
wheel and spun as if no chain was on. Stopped to see if I could
repair the chain and to my surprise the chain hadn't snapped all.

Can you say Shimano BMX Free Wheel?.....Well don't! Aaaarg, I'm sure
the internals are nothing more than shrapnel now. I got 3 good years
out of it and it finally gave up the ghost. Well now everything
changes. I go for a sip of water and my tube had frozen....D'oh! what
next?

Plan; I know my way out to Landing so why don't you guys just hit the
trails and by the time you get home one of you get your car and look
for me walking my bike up Landing Road. I should be at least at the
trail head by then. Dawn was starting to break and things beginning
get light.

The walk out was easier then I thought. I was able to hop on and
coast down some hills. Feet stayed warm, body stayed warm and I was
still enjoying the silence.

7:20 rolls around and I was picked up without further trouble from the
trail head.

Note. I had a similar incident when my Homegrown hub locked up and
essentially made my bike a fixed gear with a derailleur. Talk about a
pain in the @ss.

In both of the incidents Shimano was the contributing factor.

Just ordered my ACS Claw 18t.

Peace, and yes I'd do this again even knowing that my free wheel would
give way.

Bill


The First law, Inertia: Unless acted upon by an outside force,
a body at rest tends to stay at rest,
and a body in motion tends to stay in motion.
Sir Isaac Newton

On Tue, 06 Dec 2005 21:16:12 -0500, Bill Wheeler wrote:
Check the bike (don't know what for) never any issues from the SS!

Not listening...lalalalalaaaaaaaaa.......

UNREAL, UNTOUCHED, UNBELIEVABLE! The shadows casts, the reflections
of the bright white snow, the sound (lack there of). I'm in awe of
how bright everything was for how dark it was.

Luscious!

7:20 rolls around and I was picked up without further trouble from the
trail head.

Good...snow epics = no fun.

gabrielle

Oh yeah: Nice!

Bill Wheeler wrote:
snip
UNREAL, UNTOUCHED, UNBELIEVABLE! The shadows casts, the reflections
of the bright white snow, the sound (lack there of). I'm in awe of
how bright everything was for how dark it was.


Cool. I've never done a night snow ride on purpose, but it sounds fun.
Moonlight skiing is also a blast.

snip
Can you say Shimano BMX Free Wheel?.....Well don't! Aaaarg, I'm sure
the internals are nothing more than shrapnel now. I got 3 good years
out of it and it finally gave up the ghost. Well now everything
changes.

Hmmm. I have one of those on my 1x1 I've been meaning to retire. Funny
how the cold makes stuff break. I just blew up the Sid (surprise,
surprise) I had on my SS on a kind of cold ride recently.

I go for a sip of water and my tube had frozen....D'oh! what
next?


Get this.
http://www.camelbak.com/rec/cb_prod....&product_id=38

snip
7:20 rolls around and I was picked up without further trouble from the
trail head.


That's good. I carry a space blanket bivvy sack and means to make a fire
in my pack just in case.

Matt

On Tue, 06 Dec 2005 18:36:57 -0800, gabrielle
wrote:

On Tue, 06 Dec 2005 21:16:12 -0500, Bill Wheeler wrote:
Check the bike (don't know what for) never any issues from the SS!

Not listening...lalalalalaaaaaaaaa.......

Here on th east coast we say "nananananaaaaaa"

;-)

am i really that bad?

Bill


The First law, Inertia: Unless acted upon by an outside force,
a body at rest tends to stay at rest,
and a body in motion tends to stay in motion.
Sir Isaac Newton

On Tue, 06 Dec 2005 22:15:40 -0700, MattB
wrote:

I go for a sip of water and my tube had frozen....D'oh! what
next?


Get this.
http://www.camelbak.com/rec/cb_prod....&product_id=38


Does it work?

Bill


The First law, Inertia: Unless acted upon by an outside force,
a body at rest tends to stay at rest,
and a body in motion tends to stay in motion.
Sir Isaac Newton

Bill Wheeler wrote:
Hey all, you ever get those sleepless nights 'cause you know tomorrow
is going to be an exceptional day? Try and get to bed early, but you
toss and turn awaiting the dawn or period just before dawn, blackest
night.

I ride with a small group of roadies on Tues and Thurs mornings. Due
to the snow us MTBers decided to hit the trails instead. I've never
yet been on snowy trails in the dark. I was besides myself, tons of
opportunities but just to risky solo.

Today was the day.

5:20 am I must have gotten some sleep 'cause the alarm scared the
living sh1t out of me when it when off. Not only that but the leg
that kicked me out of bed kinda hurt too. Note to self, "Next time
use your watch alarm."

Check the deck, a good 3 inches of snow. Weather man said 26 degrees
F.

Check the bike (don't know what for) never any issues from the SS!
Batteries good, lights good, rear blinker good. Dryfit shirt, shorts,
tights, don the light weight shell, gloves... I'm good to go!

5:55 am hook up with two buds and we make our way to the Landing Road
entrance.

UNREAL, UNTOUCHED, UNBELIEVABLE! The shadows casts, the reflections
of the bright white snow, the sound (lack there of). I'm in awe of
how bright everything was for how dark it was.

Even though the temps were below freezing the trails were a bit wet
under the fallen snow. I still had surprisingly good traction for the
conditions.

First creek crossing. I new the area like my own yard and knew the
creek was only 2 to 4 inches deep. What was incredible was the fact
that even though our lights were blinding bright the small body of
water looked like a shiny black mirror. It could have been 20 feet
deep and you would never be able to tell. It was quite amazing. It
seemed as if we were riding through tunnels. All this was new to me.
I liked it!

40 minutes into the ride, all was going well. I had a few issues
dabbing and clipping in due to ice and snow but no big deal. Then
imagine the sound of a small firecracker, I instantly lost power to
wheel and spun as if no chain was on. Stopped to see if I could
repair the chain and to my surprise the chain hadn't snapped all.

Can you say Shimano BMX Free Wheel?.....Well don't! Aaaarg, I'm sure
the internals are nothing more than shrapnel now. I got 3 good years
out of it and it finally gave up the ghost. Well now everything
changes. I go for a sip of water and my tube had frozen....D'oh! what
next?

Plan; I know my way out to Landing so why don't you guys just hit the
trails and by the time you get home one of you get your car and look
for me walking my bike up Landing Road. I should be at least at the
trail head by then. Dawn was starting to break and things beginning
get light.

The walk out was easier then I thought. I was able to hop on and
coast down some hills. Feet stayed warm, body stayed warm and I was
still enjoying the silence.

7:20 rolls around and I was picked up without further trouble from the
trail head.

Note. I had a similar incident when my Homegrown hub locked up and
essentially made my bike a fixed gear with a derailleur. Talk about a
pain in the @ss.

In both of the incidents Shimano was the contributing factor.

Just ordered my ACS Claw 18t.

Peace, and yes I'd do this again even knowing that my free wheel would
give way.

Bill


The First law, Inertia: Unless acted upon by an outside force,
a body at rest tends to stay at rest,
and a body in motion tends to stay in motion.
Sir Isaac Newton

Coolio. Is your hub a flip/flop? Are those BMX freewheels prone to
failure in snow?
Maybe a freewheel on one side and a big fixed gear on the other in case
of emergency (or Duncan psychosis)?
/s

Bill Wheeler wrote:
On Tue, 06 Dec 2005 22:15:40 -0700, MattB
wrote:


I go for a sip of water and my tube had frozen....D'oh! what
next?


Get this.
http://www.camelbak.com/rec/cb_prod....&product_id=38



Does it work?


Down to about 5 or 10F it works well. Colder than that you have to tuck
the tube inside your jacket.

Matt

"Bill Wheeler" UNREAL, UNTOUCHED, UNBELIEVABLE! The shadows casts, the
reflections
of the bright white snow, the sound (lack there of). I'm in awe of
how bright everything was for how dark it was.

Even though the temps were below freezing the trails were a bit wet
under the fallen snow. I still had surprisingly good traction for the
conditions. Just ordered my ACS Claw 18t.

Peace, and yes I'd do this again even knowing that my free wheel would
give way.

Bill

Great story. I've had the claw for 5 yrs now and never noticed it, and
that's a good thing.

Keep riding, and whoops, I almost forgot----

Nice.

CDB



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On Wed, 07 Dec 2005 08:32:25 -0500, Bill Wheeler wrote:

am i really that bad?

No.

gabrielle