We got our first major snow of the year on Friday. I took an extended lunch break to go ride the levee trail in the snowstorm. There must’ve been five or six inches of snow, and even on my mountain bike, it was very difficult to ride. This made me long for a Pugsley. That’s not likely to happen, but maybe I can at least get some wider tires at some point.

I was really glad that I found a way to get to the trails with only a few blocks of riding on the road. Even the roads were snow-covered, and my bike was not handling well. However, I think cars had it worse, as they were sliding around more than I was.

To give you an idea what it was like, it took about an hour and a half to go just under 6 miles. Even riding on flat, straight, smooth pavement, I was in my lowest three gears the entire ride, struggling just to go straight. It was difficult, but also a lot of fun.

Toby Creek

The Levee Trail — some sort of four-wheeled vehicle seemed to have come through here. Kids were sledding nearby.

My wheel, sinking in

Snowy Drivetrain

Crossing the tracks

After crossing the tracks, I rode down into the woods, to the unpaved trail. The trail surface made little difference with all the snow, except for a few spots with slick leaves under the snow. This area was more secluded and quiet and feels a bit remote, even though it isn’t.

Going down to the unpaved trail

Looking back at my tracks down the hill

Close up, you can make out where my pedals struck the surface of the snow while riding

Looking across the Susquehanna River toward Wilkes-Barre

Bike

Grassy trail

Berries

Market Street Bridge, river, and city, through the lacy forest

The Reflecting Pool, looking slightly less reflective than usual, but still offering a good place for personal reflection

Bench

The trail passes under the bridge, but I turned around. Now sleet stings my face

Pond

More kids sledding

Pumping station

Tanks

Me

It was another great ride. I love seeing familiar territory in all different conditions, so I didn’t mind that this was such a routine route. The riding was harder than I expected, but it paid off with great scenery and a huge fun factor.

This ride was also a good test of my eyebrows and eyelashes. As you can see in the above photo, they are doing a find job of catching snow before it can reach my eyes.

File under: Bicycling, Mountain Biking, Snow