2008 Frozen hog

This year we got storm after storm and ended up with 2-3 feet of fresh snow right before the race. It quickly disintegrated from a bike race into a stroll in the snow, oh and i just happen to have a bicycle along. It was a 3 mile loop that we rode twice. After the first loop, I had to wonder if I should just quit, but decided that if I started this race, I am gonna finish it. It is stubbornness like this that gets idiots killed, I know. It also helps the idiot finish the race.

I wore some of my snowboarding pants to keep the spray from completely soaking the backside of my, hm... backside. But because I didn't want to get the pants caught in the chain, I rolled them up and then added the knee pads that I wear when going on downhill slopes. It left the bottom of my calves bare to the elements. Like a moose, I figured that by churning my feet enthusiastically I would keep blood running down the length of my legs and thus keep pumping warmth down there.

This would have worked if it were not for the fact that it was quite easy to fall in the snow. Which I did. Over and over again. Going down hill was possible in the trail cut by riders before me, but also easy to veer off into the side of the snowbank, halting your front tire's forward progress and sometimes twisting the wheel. Which means that you go over the handle bar, around the frame of the bike, and sometimes don't actually disentangle yourself from the bike you are trying to ride - directly into the 3 foot bank of snow exactly 20 inches on either side of the trail you are currently sliding down. My last count was 3 major crashes (where I was lying full length in the snow) and 17 minor ones where I was just standing in the snowbank with my toes growing numb while other cyclist rode pass.

It was a blast. I can't wait till next years race.