Manitoba Part I

I've missed the woods.
It's not that I haven't been there. I have ventured into the woods and trails many a time over the past couple of years, most often on the cargo bike in the course of a necessary or whim-based route change, but I hadn't set out to specifically go riding a bike in the woods for ages until this February.

The recent E2L1 was my first time in a long time that I used a mountain bike for something resembling mountain biking. The bike, in this case, is a 1998 Nishiki Manitoba I had bought off of Salem before he went traveling. It was never a particularly high-end machine, but I like the frame for a few reasons.

1) Weird pedigree: It's a Japanese-branded chromoly frame, named after a Canadian Province and made in the USA.
2) Weird geometry: The frame is labeled 18", though it measures 17.5" max to the top of the seat tube and 15.5" C-C. It has a longish top tube compared to that-- 21" or 22+", depending on how you measure it. It's well suited to my own short-legged, torso-rich geometry. Anyway, it's sturdy, it's handy, and I like it but for one minor quibble:

I kind of hated riding it.

Here's the thing. I had picked it up a couple of years ago and did nothing to it beyond a quick pedal around the driveway to determine that it was due for a major overhaul. I set it aside and it sat, untouched, until the morning of the aforementioned Eel ride. I fished it out of a pile and went through it just long enough for a perfunctory tire inflation (they held air), brake check (they showed significant potential to reduce speed) seat swap (the supplied post was too short to raise to my height) and chain check (thoroughly worn out).

I figured I would just run what I brung for the Eel and deal with sprucing up the bike some other day. That was a reasonable plan but for the constantly skipping chain, clunky shifts, barely adequate brakes and painful saddle that increasingly detracted from what was an otherwise enjoyable ride. That said, I did like the way it handled in the woods and see potential for a nice low-budget trail machine. I'm not going to ride it again in its current state, but I will ride it again. It's worthy of a makeover. More on that soon.

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Drive train havoc

It's like the world is conspiring to turn me into one of those singlespeed evangelists. Just when I think I've fixed everything on one of my geared bikes, some other part of the drive train starts acting up.  In a race a few years ago, I knocked the rear derailleur of my Kona against a rock. The derailleur was bent beyond repair, but the hanger seemed ok. It probably wasn't though, because the shifting was always just a little off since. Finally, due to breaking the hanging last week on my other bike, I decided to go hanger buying crazy and get one for the Kona, too. It seemed to help, but a new problem of a worn out middle chain ring obviated any trouble free pedaling. Why would a new hanger make the problem of a worn out chain ring suddenly appear? That doesn't make any sense! I guess I also degreased the chain. Perhaps that's the problem.

Should I switch to a 1x9? Then I can replace the whole mess up front with a nice stainless right. Read more!

Sunday liquor sales

Apparently, after hundreds of years of oppression, we may be able to buy liquor on Sundays by the end of the year. See here. I'm not much of an expert on public policy, but I think this is a net positive for everyone. Tax revenue will go up and cyclists have less a chance getting run over between 7:30 and 8:45 on Saturday evenings (knock on wood). Additionally, poor planners like me won't have to worry on Saturday afternoon if there'll be enough Miller Lite in the fridge after a ride on Sunday.

Also, it's another blow to WASPy, puritanical hegemony of our lives. Maybe if we had alternated between Saturday and Sunday closures every other week to switch between shabbat and sabbath, it'd be a little more fair. Maybe someone should have made a 1st amendment claim about Sunday liquor sales.

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Too much time outside: get a cold

I had the slipping freewheel ride on Friday,the lunch with parents and Johanna ride yesterday, and the Ragged Mountain stroll today with Johanna. A combination of the snow on Friday and yesterday seems to have given me a cold. I guess I should have worn a jacket. Read more!

Vinegar shopping

 

Two inches of wet gross snow fell last night. I didn't want to let that deter me from having fun. So, I put a freewheel on my Colnago because I keep hitting my toes on the fender when turning with it fixed. I figured if I didn't have to pedal through tight corners, it wouldn't be a problem any more. I had a new 17t Dicta freewheel lying around, so I Romney'd (it's a flip flop hub, get it!!?) the wheel and rode off with the power of coasting. Things were going ok, but the steady drizzle and mid 30's made me abandon my original plan of riding out to that Arm and Hammer place in Collinsville for a beer. I was riding through Fisher Meadows in Avon, when suddenly the freewheel started slipping. At first I thought I broke the chain, but the chain looked just fine. I thought maybe it was a fluke, but every time go out of the saddle, it'd slip all the way through the down stroke. I flipped the wheel back over and went home fixed. Actually, I stopped to buy vinegar. I thought one usually started fixed, got tired and switch to free. I guess it's opposite day.

Speaking of opposite day, if your back up lights were messed up, maybe you'd try to avoid excessive driving in reverse, but not everyone feels that way. Coming up Ansonia just now, I watched a guy back a block and a half down the street on the wrong side of the road with his back up lights not working. He did have his hazards on, but still. Why not just do a u-turn?

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Damn log

As if singlespeeders needed another reason to feel superior, this happened to me today:

Luckily, that's a very popular Specialized derailleur hanger. Unlike last time I did this, it appears I broke the derailleur, too. I broke the old Dura Ace derailleur on my technium in the fall and bent the hanger (steel frame) and I still have got around to realigning the frame. Anybody want to let me borrow their alignment tool?

I have a replacement old XTR derailleur and a replacement old Dura Ace, but they're getting harder and harder to find. I need to be more careful.

Like this beaver:

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It's on!

For those fortunate enough to miss past inceptions of the Detour de CT, 2012 offers you another chance to end your lucky streak. But, now it's time to do your part to vote early and often for this year's date (late April/early May) at the super official ride website. Read more!

Chill Will and haircuts

If you've ever met Chill Will or me, you know that we're not haircut people. So, you can imagine my surprise when I went to get a haircut today at Degra's (home of the business man special) and the guy who cut my hair knows Chill Will. He even had a beat bike blog sticker at his spot. They do have a bike rack out front, perhaps that explains it. To boot, Mike, even mountain bikes. Read more!

You likem red light cameras?

February 16th State House event to support Intersection Safety Cameras legislation

What: Press conference to build support for red light safety camera enabling legislation.

Please attend to show your support for this important public safety legislation.

Who:
- Legislative champions Mayor Scott Jackson, Hamden Garry Lapidus, Physician's Assistant, Director of the Injury Prevention Center at Connecticut Children's Medical Center
- Christine Buhler, Brain Injury Association of Connecticut
- Ryan Lynch, Policy Director, Tri-State Transportation Campaign

When: Thursday, February 16th at 11:00am

Where: Legislative Office Building, Room 2D, 300 Capitol Avenue, Hartford, CT Contact: Please RSVP to Chris Hunter, 401-487-7771, chunter@advocacysolutionsllc.com

Read more!

Stealing my bike

Yesterday was Valentine's Day, so I had to buy romantic dinner ingredients at Whole Foods in West Hartford. Stop Shop just isn't romantic enough. I rode over from school, locked up my bike, shopped, loaded up my panniers and attempted to unlock my bike. It didn't want to do it. I tried very gingerly for a few minutes, but ended up snapping the key. I wrestled with it for a few minutes and took the lock partially apart, but I still couldn't get it to turn. Eventually, another person rolled up to the bike rack and offered to ask at the service desk for pliers. Apparently, Whole Foods doesn't have pliers. However, this nice guy had a swiss army knife. He lent to me when he went inside to shop and I was able to take the lock apart with the can opener. While I'm a little surprised that I was able to defeat my lock with a can opener, in a slight germane way I'm grateful to the fellow bike shopper for use of his swiss army knife. I dropped in his pannier and left. Hopefully, he found it and didn't think I stole his knife.

Sadly, Johanna's French snake lock that I destroyed is no longer manufactured. :( Read more!

Disc brakes on 'cross bikes and head injuries

Many are opposed and many are for disc brakes on 'cross bikes. I've ridden a 29er with discs, so I'm assuming it's the same thing: overkill. I guess I actually own that 29er, I don't just ride randomly one. I've never really had much a problem dragging the brakes after riding through gunk, except on like two occasions. Once, in a race a few years ago, I had frozen stuff on my rims and I tried to brake going into a corner and nothing happened. I careened into some trees and lost a position. Yesterday, I was riding on this sort of boardwalky thing: little sections of planks with gaps in between the sections. It was kinda technical and there was mud in between two of them. Since it was technical, there wasn't a lot for room for the brake dragging, so I had to use the brakes instead of dragging them before I used them. Needless to say, they didn't work so hot, I went off the boardwalk and landed on my head.

So, frozen mud and technical 'cross bike riding seems to be the application of disc 'cross bikes.

Also, the title of this post is sort of misleading because I didn't actually hurt my head. My neck was a little sore, though, but now it's better. Read more!

E2L1

Despite the terrible snow storm yesterday, six intrepid men with facial hair, five with old mountain bikes, four who have at one time written for the beat bike blog, three with twitter accounts, two without cantilever brakes and one with a pea coat (21 people, by my math!) set off into the bowels of Hartford. I can't go into too much about the route, because I have no idea where we went. However, I know that it involved Olive St. and the geologically significant sand dunes near the go-kart track in Keney Park. I don't know why you didn't come.



Additionally, if you've ever wondered why we call it "the eel," here's why. Read more!

Eel: undeterred

You may have heard that it is going to snow tomorrow. That will make the ride more fun.

10am Hyland Park on Fairfield Ave. Email me if you've got any questions. Read more!

It's the Culture, Stupid

"If I run into you, and you're on a bike, you're dead. My truck, we'll just bounce"

Laughter.

"They're so stupid. Why do they think they get to be up against cars."

More laughter.

That brilliant, mature, and sensitive exchange came direct from the mouths of Generation Y. The best and the brightest. The ones who are allegedly going to take the reins and lead the country.

I heard this conversation on Wednesday. Cringed. Made a conscious decision to not leave my office to interrupt and preach law at them. I bit my tongue, hoping they were not as assholish as they seemed.

After all, this generation is marked by the myriad and mirrored hall of self-representation. Their identities never static, never 100% honest.

Is there an app for curing stupid?

I stewed and went about my day.

Then yesterday, as I woke up, before I even got out of bed, I read about a time when those in a car did not just bounce. I saw photographs of a horrific one-car crash a few blocks from my house. The car's roof had to be removed in an attempt to remove the victims. The passenger died.

If someone so much as hears about a person getting mugged on Allen Place, he will avoid that area. But the Almighty Automobile? We have come to view accidents as an acceptable risk if it means a trip to the grocery store takes five minutes instead of twenty.

Later yesterday, sitting in the same office, I read that a cyclist was struck in Hartford.

Another.

Hit hard enough that he required CPR.

The photograph on news sites shows his belongings strewn all over the street.

The news, they don't even know how to deal with this kind of incident. The victim is at once described as a cyclist and a pedestrian. There is no rush to describe him. Most articles do not even try, giving no indication of sex, age, or race. The one that bothers to: male, somewhere between childhood and AARP.

One report states the driver stayed at the accident scene. Others don't say this. One comment suggests the driver's license may have been suspended.

The way our culture regards people using transportation outside of privately-owned vehicles indicates that we are all in critical condition.

Recklessness behind the wheel receives such a light slap on the wrist that one could believe no consequences could ever come for one's crimes. Motorists could slow down. They could stop. They could look where they are going. Really look. They could scan the roadway for objects beside other motorized vehicles.

They could think before they act.

Last night, for reasons unrelated to the car vs. cyclist accident, there was a large DUI enforcement checkpoint set up on Asylum Street. Even with ample media coverage of this, several individuals were arrested there.

They were especially warned to think about their actions, and several were still unable to put the safety of others ahead of themselves.

Of the three arrested for driving under the influence -- including one who had been driving with a suspended license -- what are the odds that all will be back behind the wheel within months, if not immediately?

Our culture fosters this mentality that if we can afford a vehicle, then we are entitled to drive. And to take that "right" away, we have to repeatedly and brazenly fuck up.

That's the message sent to those on foot or on bike: You have no rights. No recourse. Me in this car? I'll just bounce. No permanent damage. Read more!

Followed me home, can I keep it?

Oops, I did it again, brought another bike home. The real irony here is that I did it to pare down the number of bikes I have. Hear me out, the idea is to figure which of my various bike functions, presently served by multiple bikes, can instead be performed by a single steed. That means finding more generalist bikes that blur the lines of my current specialists. See, more is less.

Two insestual Treks in the backyard

(in case you're curious, it's a front hub lashed to the rear rack for a mount)

(in case you want to try it, be sure to pad the towed fork blades, fork geometry created by the raised front end makes for a very floppy bike which can hit the rack)

So, today a 1995 Trek 930 made the trip from Enfield to find a new home in Manchester. The plan is a drop bar conversion that will have this bike replacing my rugged road bike and touring bike. As an added bonus, two Asian frames are being replaced by one of US forged steel that was TIG welded and delivered to the bike shop duty-free. I'm not particularly nationalistic and I'm far from xenophobic, but I do like the idea of cutting down on the number of metal molecules shipped back and forth across the Pacific Ocean.

Any bike that say "OX" on it has to be good!

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Do-Over

For the second Tuesday in a row, we had another unseason- ably warm weather forecast, so I went ahead and followed the basic formula that had worked so well the previous week. Once again, I rode the Yuba something a bit shy of 30 miles, passed farms, got very hungry, consumed a lot of eggplant grinder, headed home, and finally got around to publishing a post about it one week later.


This go-around was more refined in nearly every way:
-This was a more thoroughly planned trip/route*- I was tabling for Bike Walk Connecticut's bike education programs at an all-day event in Cromwell. Their tabletop display fits nicely on the cargo bike, which made packing easy.
-More farm animals and equipment- There were goats, ducks, geese, chickens, and vintage tractors to be seen along the way.
-Superior eggplant grinder- my return through the South End made for a well-timed stop at my favorite grinder shop. So very good.

This was my first ride through Wethersfield on the packed gravel surface of the Heritage Way Bike Trail since last September. It was definitely more muddy and rutted this time around, but still passable on semi-slick tires. A good freeze would fix the mud issue in a jiffy, but who knows when that will happen? As nice as these rides have been, I'm finding these warm temps disturbing.


*which is not to say that thorough planning is necessarily better, just that it is more refined. Read more!

Chemical warfare

I am tired of getting chased by people's unleashed dogs. For some reason this warmer weather has led some dog owners to think that they don't need leashes any more. On the road it's not that big of a deal, but in the woods or when there are multiple dogs, I'm tired of getting nipped at. Any recommendations for dog repellent? Pepper spray? Are there little pepper sprays that fit in a jersey pocket? Does pepper spray work? If I controlled my bike and me like people control their dogs, I'd either be dead, in jail or living in a box with no bikes from getting sued so much.

Another plus about riding in Hartford vs. the suburbs: no unleashed dogs. Read more!

The Bike Move Rocked my World

Read all about it.  Thanks to all the hardy, foolish, beautiful souls who came out and dragged my stuff six miles.  Couches, workbenches, a Lazyboy, and oodles of bags and boxes.  Spectacular!

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Ridden to Distraction

Last Tuesday afternoon greeted me with a combination of mild weather and several errands to run. I had some potential carpentry work to scout out in Farmington near the country club, after which I needed to pick up some groceries, pick up a new bottom bracket and finish assembling a bike.

I called around to locate a 113mm square-taper bottom bracket and struck out repeatedly. Mini-rant: The majority of the bikes I see being ridden have square-taper BBs, yet bike shops seem averse to stocking them because they are "obsolete" Grrrr...

I set aside the BB quest for the moment and made the time-sensitive Farmington visit the first errand on my list. I made it to the appointed location on time in one hour and 11 minutes, a personal triumph not because it was particularly fast (not even for a cargo bike), but because I had estimated one hour and 15 minutes. It's rare that I am even remotely accurate in my estimates, rarer still that I err on the expedient side.

Post appointment, I rationalized a less-direct route back to Hartford with an arbitrary quest. I was in Farmington off of Town Farm road and decided to see for myself if there was actually any farmland on this bifecta of agrarian naming. I headed north. There was a polo club, which I decided was too toney to count as a farm, but I had a bona-fide farm sighting just before crossing into Avon. Things were getting so rural, there was even a red-nosed reindeer crossing sign.


I eventually ended up north of Route 44 and found myself en route to Simsbury. I remembered that there was a bike shop on Hopmeadow Street worth checking out, though I couldn't recall the name. Also, Simsbury has food and I was feeling a bit peckish, having polished off the last of my on-board snack rations.
The Simsbury sojourn was a success. The Bicycle Cellar came through with the bottom bracket and I was able to refuel and top off by demolishing an abundantly large eggplant grinder at the pizzeria next door. Have I had tastier grinders in my lifetime? Yes. Did I care? Not a whit.


Happily sated, I looped around northward to cross the Drake Hill Road Bridge and rode over Talcott Mountain through Bloomfield and back home as night fell. It occurred to me a bit late that it would have been wise to wait a few more minutes between stuffing myself silly and doing a sustained climb on a heavy bike, but my stomach took it like a champ. I never made it to a grocery store, but I was too full to mind. My afternoon to-do list was in for some culling, but I chose to not beat myself up about it for one day. It had been a while since I had ridden any significant distance and I realized more and more how much I had been missing it. As the sky grew overcast and the temperature dropped through the afternoon, my head felt increasingly clear. I needed that.

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Eeeee L

Ok ok. I think the world is passable enough so that we can do that thing we were going to do a long time ago. This time, the ride will almost all be in Hartford and if you've ridden with me, you've probably ridden some of it. However, I don't think you've ever ridden all of it in one fell swoop. And some, I'm pretty sure you haven't ridden. So, Feb 11 meet me at 10am at Hyland Park (or my house) for the fifth or so riding of the Eel. Email me if you have any questions. More details to follow. Ride a bike for mixed media. Read more!

Glove final

I'm sure everyone is really interested in what my final determination was on the gloves. The new ones I bought from REI were not good, so went back to old reliable. And, they're on sale right now!

Also, this weekend I was able to live out my life-long dream of riding on a lake. It's difficult to take a picture while riding on ice, too much unbalanced movement.

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Workbench from Heaven.

Just a short errand ride this morning.  My route was prescribed by the unnoticed ejection of my cable lock the night before while riding home from Hartford along the slippery Hockanum River boardwalk.  Heading back along the boardwalk just past the transfer station I found Salem, his bike rubber side up changing a flat.  We bs'd shortly about how bikes are great because you can jerry-rig just about anything.  Salem's rim strip had snapped during the repair, so he tied a knot in it and was cutting a piece of plastic candy wrapper to cover the gap.  On to the post office, I changed my address to downtown Hartford and if I'm lucky the closing will come off on Tuesday.  Bike move will follow on Saturday (2/4) and I hope to find one or two friends that think this will be a fun adventure.

My next stop was the Glastonbury Home Depot, but I decided to detour along the path that starts behind Kahoots.  Passing under the bridge I noticed that the hut was being rebuilt.  You may remember that Brendan bemoaned the burned camp in a recent post.  I stopped and started up a brief chat with the fellow who has been living at this industrious camp.  Carl (name changed) said that he'd gotten out of the hut before getting crispy himself, meaning he must have been inside when it started.  So far no one seems to bother him, and it looks like he's up-sizing his accommodations.  My initial impression was that Carl is a friendly sort.

While rolling along Main Street doubled up for a while with a fellow from Portland on a short road ride.  I kicked it up a notch to ride even and show that even with knobby studs, jeans, and panniers his pace wasn't that impressive.  Can't seem to kill the competitive bug, although I've been able to hide it mostly.  Being slow helps.  At Home Depot I reviewed their appliance selection and decided to pick up a couple of Rubbermaid bins and miscellaneous home goods.   As you can see, they fit nicely onto a rear bike rack - hint to those that might want to help me move stuff to Hartford.

Just a block from home (in East Hartford for now) there was a curbed home made work bench, complete with a functional bench vise. No shit.  From heaven.  I walked back and lugged the awkward and surprisingly heavy load home.  How did the universe know that I needed a workbench?  I can't wait to install my TS-2 and true some badly neglected wheels.   

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Briefly noted

If you've traveled the hockanum river trail in east hartford from the mouth to kahoots, you've probably noticed the little cabin under the bridge. It was neatly kept and was developing a lot of lawn furniture as of late. I regret to inform you that it has burned. I hope everyone is OK. I had on occasion seen guys huddled around a fire in a barrel there and there were always friendly. I assume it happened during the cold snap, because Tony and I rode passed a few weeks ago and it was fine. It's really too bad.

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Exciting glove shootout!

Good. Bad. Unknown.

Gloves are important. Some people say mittens are important, but I think mittens are for five year olds. It was a big deal in my life when I started wearing gloves instead of mittens, because it meant that I was growing up. Since I don't want to revert to being five again, I continue to wear gloves. Twice I have bought these gloves from EMS. They're great, but after a year the palms get blown out. I have just noticed that they're on sale and feel kind of stupid for not buying another pair. Oh well, sucks for me.

Since REI is easier to get to, I've been trying to buy gloves there. First, I bought these North Face gloves and they were terrible. The label said something about stopping the wind, but they didn't at all. I have now decided to try these. The reviews seem to indicate that I should not reach into rivers and streams with them without expecting my hands to get wet. I can accept that. If they're terrible, I guess I'll return them and buy the old reliables. I wore them home from the store and my hands were happy.

That's my story about gloves. Do you have any glove recommendations? I prefer to spend less than $40 unless they last for ten years. This post leads me to the conclusion that the beat bike blog no longer gets stuff to review because our reviews suck. Read more!

Ice Beard, the Winter Bike Pirate?

Salem and I went out for a snowy ride on Saturday during the first real snow storm since Halloween.  We followed the Hockanum trails and several other miscellaneous trails on our way from Manchester back into East Hartford.  Four inches of snow really changes the trail dynamics and speed only exists in the amount of time it takes Tony to go horizontal, which I did several times.

Our ever growing ice beards reached epic proportions.  Snow shovelers and passersby couldn't quite process the bright yellow, ice bearded, abominable snow bicyclists.  We did spot a couple of tracks along the bike path and passed a couple walking their bikes down by the Connecticut River, with whom we shared a hearty greeting.

Oh yeah - I'm organizing a screening of Bicycle Dreams, a documentary on the Race Across America (RAAM).  The screening will be held downtown at the Wadsworth Atheneum Aetna Theater on March 7th at 7PM.  We're also planning a bit of a social hour at a TBD Hartford establishment prior to the movie.  A portion of ticket sales will go to Bike Walk CT, your favorite and only statewide bike advocacy heroes.  Personally I don't understand what would possess someone to race across the US in 10 days while being trailed by a support vehicle, but hey, folks don't understand why I like riding my bike with ice on my face.    Maybe I'll learn something, and in the meantime we'll notch some bike culture points for Hartford.  Help us spread the word with this Facebook invite.  Get your tickets here. Read more!

Ski free

True to form, I went skiing this weekend. There wasn't a ton of snow. Well, I guess there was way more than a ton of snow, but not a lot of snow. It wasn't enough for places with roots and rocks, but I tried going there anyway on Saturday. It was uncomfortable for me and the skis.

Today, Johanna and I went to a place with fewer rocks and roots and slightly more snow. It was great. It's supposed to rain and be warm this week, so perhaps we'll be mountain biking again by the end of the week. It was a really nice weekend for being outside, hopefully you were.

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A stolen bike

Someone stole a strange looking extracycle in East Hartford and now its owner can't haul things around anymore. Using something called crowdsourcing, I'm going to put a picture of it on this blog and the bike will be returned to its owner. I've never seen another bike that looks like this and I bet you haven't either. So, if you see it, it's stole. You can email us at beatbikeblog@spiney.com, because I don't know if the bike's owner wants his/her email published in this den of inequity. Also, the number of the East Hartford police is (860) 528-4401. I guess you could also call 911. If the dispatcher gives you lip, say the bike cost a million dollars or something.

Here's a picture:

And here's the movie:

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First tracks

I cannot overstate how pretty it was! 

We got a little bit of snow and it was a beautiful day. So, I went to Case and Gay City. There's about 1-2" of snow, but it's been cold, so I feared that there was ice under neath. Also, I have these studded tires that don't get nearly enough use. They may have been free, but they say "deserve them" on the sidewall. I want to live up to the sidewall slogan, so I used them. They saved me from two crashes, but not a third. Other people got out, too, mostly hikers whom I didn't see, but I saw two other mountain bikers and two other sets of tracks. I really can't stress enough how pretty it was today.

Tomorrow, hopefully there'll be a post about xc skiing. I'm still not very good at it, but I look forward to it.

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