|   Follow the fox | Keiko
Jan 31, 2002 3:37 AM | | Saturday
I am getting fat.
My wife teaches baby swimming on Saturdays and this morning I took our two boys for swimming after her classes. I was standing on a scale, staring with disbelieve at the numbers, 87 Kg's and I am only 5,7.
I tell my wife that I have to go out for a ride, since my weight is escalating. She told me that she already knew, that I was getting thicker so I dress up for a ride. It is a beautiful day, about 20° F and thin layer of snow covering the ground. I head out for the mountain, struggling my way up steep hills, on ice-covered gravel road. I only have studs in my front tire and quite often my rear spins out, and I have to stop and find another line for climbing. As I pass the line for our groundwater at 1000ft, biking becomes easier and I keep on pedaling further up in to the mountains. The thought that it will not be to easy to ride it down again struck me, but I thought that was a problem that I could deal with at that time. At 1200 ft I saw tracks of some kind of animal in the snow. First thought was that this must be a dog that has been here, but I did not see any footprints of his master in the snow.
The frost in the last few days has changed small creeks into swollen streams, which flow over their banks, seeking for new routes towards the sea. The first I came to was just so beautiful. For a while I looked at it, with pleasure, without thinking that I actually had to cross it to keep on my ride. When that came to mind, I did not see the beauty in it anymore, just a task I had to overcome without getting wet. I made it across on thin ice and started pedaling my way along the singeltrack I am so used to ride at summertime. This time it was a bit harder. Hard packed snow was covering the ground, but in between there was this thick, mushy snow that seemed to grab my wheels, and hold them tight. I noticed that the fox's tracks had vanished. I kept on riding/hiking my bike, worrying that my trip had taken more time than I had planned. The mountains I was riding in started to cast shadows on the mountains across the walleye, it was almost getting dark. I did not have any lights with me, but almost full moon on the eastern sky promised me some navigation light, if I did not make it down before sunset.
Looking up in the mountain, I saw the tracks the fox had made. It had been running on hard packed snow higher in the mountain. I carried my bike up, and found out that it was much easier biking up there than on the regular track. Maybe I should make a habit of following fox-tracks. After some marvelous riding on this hard packed snow, I started my descending. This trail I was riding is a loop, so my down hilling is not on the same tracks as I had been climbing. I was kind of worried because of my rear wheel, and was not completely confident that I would clear the downhill section without falling. My Manitou X-wert was still giving about 1" of travel, so I decided to ride beside the road, since it was covered with ice.
On the second hill, my front wheel lost traction resulting in a fall, and a long skid on hard packed snow and ice for about 100 meters. I stood up, and found out that both the bike and me self were in perfect conditions, despite the long skid. I started my descent again, and made it home in the twilight.
I was really tired. Actually I had not been so tired after a ride, since my first MTB tour, ten years ago, not even after the two 160Km races I have participated in. I reached for my computer only to find out that it was missing. I must have lost it when I fell, I thought. I just can't go back to find it now, I will take another ride to rescue it tomorrow I thought, as I placed my bike in the garage. I had been away for two and a half hour and my wife was glad that I was home to take care of our boys.
Lesson learned
Biking at wintertime in the mountain requires studs in front AND rear. |
| Tracking... | DeRanger
Jan 31, 2002 7:23 AM | | ...can be a lot of fun - I remember backpacking the Sierra Nevada, and following a bear's tracks for almost a mile before I found him strolling along the trail ahead of me, a great big blonde black bear, one of the largest I'd ever seen in the Sierra. I crept along behind it - if it was a truly wild bear, it would bolt when it saw me. Unfortunately I was upwind, in a steep canyon, so it was inevitable that he picked up my scent, looked back, and took off up a slope at a dead run that would've had me on my hands-and-knees to climb.
I remember following a mountain lion's tracks while riding my bike here in Orange County last year - it had rained a couple of days earlier, so the tracks were nicely imprinted on the surface. It stayed on the fire road for a good three quarters of mile, and what struck me as funny about it was how little the tracks deviated from side to side - this was a cat who definitely knew where he wanted to go, and was following the shortest possible route along the trail. Funny.
Great story, Keiko!
DeR |
| Very nice post! Thank you-- | cleatgrrl
Jan 31, 2002 11:45 AM | | You've got a knack for transporting me to Iceland. I've got to join the weight-loss challenge too.
You must have very good gloves and shoes for winter riding, if you're comfortable in those temps. We had 70 degrees F yesterday, so I'm very spoiled. Saturday it will be only 40 degrees. That's a huge change, I'm scared. |
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