"Slush day" doesn't sound like a whole lot of fun, but it was, surprisingly so. Last weekend we got 2 feet of snow. This past weekend, temperatures jumped into the 50s. We weren't too sure how conditions would be for riding, if there would just be deep slush everywhere that would make for a miserable, …
Powder day.
This past weekend, "Winter Storm Jonas" dumped almost 2 feet of snow on us. This meant the end of singletrack riding for a little while (or until we get some trails packed in) and the dawn of the age of snowmobile trail riding. Luckily, there are a number of options, and since the snowfall came …
Frozen Fat, Part 2: The Purple Dragon.
The morning began with coffee and bagels at Rothrock Outfitters. Then a drive out to Allegrippis, where fat bikes just kept pouring into the parking lot as we suited up for the second day of Frozen Fat: Sunday Funday. Sunday's ride focuses much more on silliness than endurance. It's a rolling party. Costumes are generally …
Frozen Fat 2016, Part 1: Fire & Rain
This year was my third Frozen Fat, and it was definitely my favorite one ever. More fun, less "race-like," and at this point, I know most of the people who keep returning year after year, so the event has the feeling of a reunion. The "frozen" part was missing more most of the weekend, so it was …
Push through the mud.
I'm going to risk sounding like an egocentric, self-obsessed, narcissist for a minute here. I love this photo of myself. Of all those that exist, it's remained a favorite ever since it was taken in November 2013. Evan and I had decided to ride from our cabin to town via the shoreline of Raystown Lake, a …
Therapy.
For a while, I was convinced that I'm not a people person. Large crowds freak me out. I need plenty of alone time in my life to feel sane. A lot of people tend to sap my energy. In the extrovert/introvert scale of things, I've always pegged myself as an introvert. But to be honest, it's …
Sleeping outside.
I woke up at dawn, on the ground in a sleeping bag, the warm down surrounding me like a fluffy cloud, the trees reaching for the sky above, the first rays of sun glinting through the branches. The evening before had seen the thrill of flying through the darkness on a bike, the peacefulness of …
Singlespeed.
I recently came across the following as a draft of a post that I originally wrote 3 years ago, when biking with any regularity was new to me, and I was a total rookie on two wheels. To someone who had ridden geared bikes all her life, the concept of a singlespeed was a little odd. …
A soggy day at Greenwood.
Greenwood Furnace State Park is 7 miles from our house. The park offers a network of trails which were originally designed for cross-country skiing (though most of them seem terrible for that activity), but have more lately fallen victim to neglect, as skiers are few and far between and there was never much of a push …
Hike-a-bike.
Why ride a bike when you can carry it? Sometimes while exploring we find trails we can't ride. But we keep going, because that's what exploration is about. I'm becoming a lot more adept at carrying my bike. I figured out a new technique today---grab the chainstay instead of the top tube. My arm is …
helena kotala 