Moab, the adventure....day 1!

Last Thursday at around 3-4 pm we (wife, me, and the dog) made my break for it.  The truck was loaded the day before, including the camper, bikes, and enough gear to stage an outdoor assault on a small country!  For the record, it's amazing what a small truck will handle with some suspension upgrades.

I'd been watching the weather all day and it looked great.  We left work with sunshine, temperatures in the 60's, and light winds.  Jump ahead about an hour as we tool along highway 50 out near Sand Mountain.....temperatures are dropping the the rain is starting.  About 45 minutes later, "spring break" is a misnomer and it's snowing (hard)!

As darkness fell, it turned into a complete blizzard/white-out.  We were plugging along at an amazing top speed of 35 mph because you couldn't even see the center line.....just the rumble strip divots through the snow covering the road!  By now we were just about to Austin, and with the weather it had taken the better part of 4 hours.  We gave up and decided to camp for the night and get an early start the next day.  It looked a little something like this:

Definitely time to call it a night.  A beer and then bed!

The next morning.

Beautiful low lying clouds for the first few hours and a perfect new coat of snow!

So that's the lead in for the first day.  Tune in tomorrow for day 2....more snow and finally Moab Red rocks!

My 15 miles this morning.

This was my route this morning...

Please note their are no pictures, as I was pretty much holding on for dear life.

All told this was my normal commute along the river, continuing on to an early morning dentist appointment (about 15 miles, if I started the GPS properly).  Not sure if you looked outside this morning, but SNOW.  Don't get me wrong, I actually like riding when it snows (or rains for that matter).

The problem is, this was just the perfect combination of temperature for snow/slush.  This means snow and ice form perfectly inside the fenders when you ride in the soft snowy parts and eventually the bloody wheels just don't turn without some serious effort.  Turns out these conditions make up the entire bike path and most bike lanes where no traffic has used them.

The solution is to ride more in the lane and get into the slush zone.  The slush doesn't pack against the tires and riding involves a whole lot less friction.  This is a good thing.  The bad part is this means taking the lane.  A risky endeavor in Reno on a good day.  Again, SNOW.  People in Reno loose their minds when it snows.  I tried reasonably taking the lane, meaning just using the far right side.  Idiots continued to pass within inches of me in conditions where they could barely control their 2 ton cages.  This included a plow driver and a couple of NV Energy guys in huge trucks!

I finally took the center of the lane and things improved from a safety point of view but I bet they weren't happy with me.  Anyway that was my morning.  Oh, and I have a cavity....so I have to go back for a filling.

If you're as nuts as I am and still riding today, stay safe.

A riding editorial.....wooo hooo!

Woke up this morning to snow on the ground.  Woooo hooooo!  Now given the winter "conditions" (or lack there of) to date I certainly have not put the studded tires on the xtracycle.  So, break out the mountain bike and air down the tires to 30 psi!  Ready to go!

Out of the drive way and on to the neighborhood streets!

I definitely had the best road conditions....the unpacked snow on the shoulders wasn't hardly slippery at all!  You do want to watch out for the off angle sections though.  The biggest concern is the drivers who don't seem to know that a 4x4 may accelerate just fine, but it doesn't stop any better than a car.

Down the hill to the i-80 bridge.

My chuckles at the state of highway traffic were audible enough to get a responding comment from a guy out walking his dogs!

At the next intersection I watched as two cars both tried to stop as if the streets were bare at a 4 way stop...yeah, not so much.  The both slid right through for a lovely low speed fender bender!  You should have seen the absolute looks of dismay on both drivers faces, priceless.  I gave them a huge thumbs up and headed through the intersection (sorry, no picture....if I hung around after the thumbs up my life might have been in danger!). 

The rest of the ride was quiet with a few early passing pedestrians and just a couple other brave riders.  The fresh snow muffled everything but the river and made for a really relaxing commute!  I'll wager that most people can't say that if they drove in this morning!

The only part of the ride that got my heart beating a bit faster was when I left the river path for my short section on Rock Blvd.  An inch plus of ice on the roads and the snowplow extras pushed into the bike lane.  The traction and the riding weren't a problem, but the traffic was pushing it at 30+ mph and sliding around (and way to close to me). 

 After watching no less then 3 cars slide through red lights at the corner of rock and mill, I made it safely in. All told it took about an extra 7-10 minutes compared to my normal commute (and a lot of that was my stopping to take pictures).  One of my office mates told me his commute took 30 minutes extra today.

So lesson of the day.  If you want a low hassle snow commute.....break out the bike!  Enjoy the snow day!

An ode to fenders!

There are people in this world who do not appreciate fenders on a bicycle.  They say they make a bike look dorky, clunky, and complain of the weight they add.  I heartily disagree and today I am far drier because of these marvels.


So without further ado....

Fenders are flashy and curved just right.  Fenders protect from the slush that arrives in the night.  Fenders you say slow me down, take away.  At least my rear end is quite dry today.

The streets in my neighborhood this morning.

Fenders in action!

Ok, so I might not be publishing as a poet any time soon.  But all the weight weenies and guys who think fenders aren't necessary in Nevada have a rear end that looks like a giant skid mark this morning.