Snowbiking!

To say that I've endured Dave's snowbike obsession these past few months is truly putting it mildly. Since last fall, I've had to navigate around assorted fat bike parts that have been occupying my living quarters while he built his custom titanium snowbike. Along with the Pugsley he bought last year, that means we have not one but TWO extra large bikes taking up too much space in the house.

Part of my frustration with this whole thing is that I just didn't get it. I mean, who in their right mind would ride in deep snow and freezing temperatures for fun? And with the mildest winter we've ever had here in northeast Ohio, the whole business seemed to me a serious waste of time.

But then we had a mini-snowstorm last Sunday.

I was watching the snow come down, looking for an excuse to blow off my indoor trainer workout.  I was having a really hard time generating the activation energy to overcome my resistance to the 2-hour workout that my plan called for. So when Dave announced he was taking his Carver out for its inaugural ride, I immediately invited myself along.

I adjusted his Surly Pugsley to fit me, threw on some winter gear, and we hit the snow-covered road. Luckily, the forecast called for a warm-up by the next day, so the road crews weren't too concerned about plowing. With our big fat tires, we were able to navigate the sidestreets just fine, and when we got to the Hike and Bike trail it was like riding in a winter wonderland.

For as big and fat as the snowbike is, it really felt effortless to ride. Of course, we weren't going all that fast anyway, and the trail is pancake flat. But there was something about riding through snow-globe flakes that just felt like the coolest thing in the world, in a way that riding on a windtrainer in front of a Tour de France DVD doesn't.
Riding along a snow covered trail is almost meditative. This wasn't a 'workout' by any means, but that didn't matter. I was outside, on a bike, riding through a late-winter flurry - and I was loving it.
So, I'm happy to say that now I kind of get it, the snowbike thing. I don't know if I'm ready to move to Minnesota or start using words like "Iditabike", but I kind of hope we still have some winter weather left before the charms of spring awaken...