Snow Ride, Take it Easy

Another Tuesday snow ride on Nordic trails is in the books! Last year, we got the wild hair last year to check out Buchanan Pass in the snow. We assumed that a majority of it would be packed enough for riding we were right! We even had so much fun we went the following week as well.

With the warm temps we've been experiencing, we figured yesterday's Tuesday ride would be a prime opportunity to get in a little nordic style action. Peaceful Valley and Buchanan Pass were the ticket.

The trails had been packed in, warmed, then re frozen to form a perfect layer of bike on snow traction. Early on, the singletrack was in PRIME condition. No snow bike needed. The trail was smooth and flowy and faster than it ever is in the summer.
Once we got higher up onto Buchanan Pass, a snow bike would've been a little more useful. There was a very tight, packed line to follow. Once your front wheel wandered offline, it would sink. Fork tip deep snow in this pic. Experiencing an "off line" moment would stick your front wheel immediately and send you flying over the bars.
We rode up past the waterfall on BP. On second thought now, it may have been prudent to turn around at the falls since the snow above it proved to unruly for riding up or down. There was hiking involved.
The rest of the way down was spent flying over the bars higher up where the snow was deep. As we got closer to the bottom, though, we were ripping stellar conditions on packed snow. It got fast enough you could drift thru corners and hammer up the climbs. Friggin perfect I tell you.

Next week? We'll see...