A short but long ride this late morning. Short in kilometers but long due to the ice and trying to navigate my way through on a very rare Winter visit to Cambodia. The first visit ever in fact. I have a feeling this new bike will bring a lot of firsts in the Winter all due to it's epic awesomeness.
The ride started in Capilano and I went straight to Rundle and rode the back side through incredibly awesome Winter conditions to Pogey trail. I rode that down slowly aware of ice and the ruts that wanted to suck me in and spit me out. In the end it was an awesome fat bike experience.
Then I rode Pipe Dream and the madness started. It was fine until I got to the switchbacks where the ice reeked havoc on my ascent trying to get to the top of the climb. I wished for Winter spikes in my shoes and had to hold onto trees and push my way up. The flats were fine as it was hard packed snow but anything going downhill or off camber was incredibly dicey. The off camber sections were tested and I slid but stopped myself from certain fate. Along the trail I could see the marks of fellow fat bikers sliding off the trail into the forest and my heart sank. "God rest their souls" I prayed as I rode by.
I did see lots of tracks with signs of crashing which made my trail decisions quite astute. Hence I walked quite a bit and slipped countless times. This trail which is awesome needs a good barrage of snow as well as the rest of the valley. This warm weather is not good for anything.
