Good to get out

Well it wasn't a marathon trek across a national park, and it wasn't a singletrack filled epic ride but it was still good to get out. Jill and I took the pooches for a hike at a very snowy Lion's Gulch and then came home for a bike ride around Longmont.

Lion's Gulch has more snow than I've ever seen it before, which made for some interesting ascents and descents. At one point we just decided it easier to sit down and slide on our rears down a steep section of trail. After doing so, we decided it to be so much fun that we both went and did it again. Its been too long since we were able to get the pups out, and they were quite excited to get to go. We just did a 3 mile hike, nothing too long but definitely enough to wear them out.

Upon getting back home, we grabbed some lunch and then decided it was nice enough out so we'd go for a quick road/bike path ride to scout out some potential routes around town. I broke out the freshly cleaned SS (man this bike is fun to ride) so I could see how my gearing would work in townie mode.

Jill hadn't been on the bike in quite some time, so it worked well for me to be spinning my trail gear along. The plan was to do a 5-6 mile spin, but that plan was quickly obliterated as I meandered along with no real direction. We tried a new route to get to the newly expanded bike paths, but quickly decided it wasn't the best route.

On our way back home, I got adventurous to avoid riding a mile of highway shoulder. It proved to be a bit of a mess as the new path ran out leaving us to trek through a snowy/muddy dirt road unsure of where we'd ultimately end up. The 29" wheels smashed through the mud really well, allowing me to ride the whole section. The mud clearance on the Niner is really good as well. Jill's 26" wheels packed up with so much mud that she actually had to stop and scrape out the mud to get her wheel to turn.

The muddy section ended and we made short work of the small climbs back up to our house. Another quick wash of the bikes (I love the simplicity of cleaning a rigid SS) and we called it a day. A bit chilly, a bit longer than Jill wanted and definitely a bit muddy but good nonetheless.