Meandering Velonauts

I figured Thanksgiving morning would be the perfect time to ride. The trails most likely will be frozen, and might still have a little snow on them from Monday. I decided to keep it local, so I rode the Ridgeline trail, here in Castle Rock. The temperature started off 40° F,and was quickly warming.

The first 30 minutes of the ride was perfect. Frozen mud trail, patches of packed snow,  and mild temperatures. The fat bike did great on the icy snowing stretches of trail. Traction was not a concern, and my line was perfect. I decided to stop at take some pictures with my phone.

I had a blast, then I realized just how warm it had gotten. Trails began to thaw, and forced me to ride the last few miles in slippery, muddy conditions.  While the bike left little or no tracks through the mud, it seams the mud left a few tracks on my bike. I took a few more picture once I was back at the car.

It snowed 12 inches in Castle Rock last night. I was happy to brave the below 30° F weather, and enjoy 3 hours of mountain biking around towne. I met up with Josh, a friend from mtbr forums, and we had a blast carving tracks in 8-10 inches of snow. I had so much fun, but need to hit the hot tub.

Mom, Dad, and Jen had their laughs and cameras ready. Enjoy the photos.

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Its snowing hard, and I expect at least 4-6″ by morning. The pogies are installed. Clothes layed out. Tires inflated to 10 psi. Its gonna be a blast.

Last night I added the finishing touches to my new aluminum 9:Zero:7 snow bike. Working on this project has been a blast. I am both sad and excited that it is over. To celebrate completing the build I woke up early today and got a 30 minute shakeout ride in. These bikes are so much fun to ride, and it is easy to understand why people are so passionate about them.

Here is some technical facts about my new ride:

• Hand made in USA aluminum frame
• Hand made in USA titanium fork.
• Fork uses 135mm front hub, instead of typical 100mm.
• Rims are 80mm and custom drilled to save weight.
• Tires are 26″ x 3.7″ and inflated to 10 psi
• Mechanical disc brakes have 185mm rotors
• SRAM X.0/x.9 drive-train, with stainless steel chain
• Bike weighs 29 lbs 8 onces total.

After my ride, once the sun was up, I took a bunch more photos of the new bike.  Enjoy this new album.

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… it won’t be long before we’ll all be there with snow.

That’s right campers forcast for this weekend? Its going to be wonderful white fluffy snow. How perfect that I finished my snow bike yesterday evening (pictures to come in separate post).

I fully intend on getting the most riding in this weekend with all the snow. I just wish I had Friday off.

Our forecast is provide by CastleRockWeather.org in conjunction with National Weather Service .