13 miles, 2.5 hours = complete bliss

Met up with nine others at Big Creek this morning to try and ride he snowmobile trails again. Brothers in crime included Sumpter, Blackford, Bach, Webb, Sedore, Resse, Bennett, Benson, and Squirrel. Squirrel, Bach and I met up with Sumpter and Blackford at 10 bells. Everyone else was running a bit behind. The trails were not as packed down as any of us had hoped, and the first sections of the trails were very difficult to ride on.

After meeting up with Rick and Sumpter the Pugsley Riding Bastard, and letting my heart rate drop down below 175, we rode back on the road and met up with everyone else. Everyone else was not all that thrilled about riding on the snow trails, but by this time I had dropped the tire pressure on my Nanoraptors down so low that the sidewalls were wrinkling when we were on the paved roads. While everyone else stood around and tried to figure out a plan, I blew through and onto the next section of snowmobile trail. THIS was now completely different. kept it in the 24x32 and just started motoring forward. With the trails not being rutted by the others I was able to keep flying along. Rick and Sumpter caught up to me, and we spent some time riding around on the lake. After meeting up with the rest of the crew, we split up, with Blackford and Sumpter heading for home, and Squirrel off riding the pavement and gravel around the lake. We spent the next hour or so riding the trails, and either pushing or riding bikes across a couple of hay fields. Oddly, riding in bottom bracket and hub deep fresh snow was easier than riding the snowmobile trails. We finished off the mornings ride with some pavement and gravel back to the parking lot. After getting home and snagging a quick shower, I quickly noticed the day's effort in my quads and hamstrings. We weren't moving fast, but it took a lot of work just to keep moving.

Track of today's ride is here.