It’s winter time here and we’ve had a week of stormy weather, rain at the house and snow up in the hills. Today it was clear and time to go riding! I can ride my XR100 out of my shop, down my street and up into the hills. After gaining about 1000 feet in elevation on a fire road I started to get into deep enough snow that my tires did not make it down down to the dirt. I was able to keep going up for about three miles in the snow. In a few spots I had to help the bike by pushing, finally when the rear tire was packed with wet snow it was time to head down.
Down hill in the snow it crazy fun! The snow slows you down like deep sand so you have to give it full bunny to go anywhere. The straights are not very, mostly long weaves where you gain speed. The curves are a blast, you have to go in at full speed without backing off because you will be slowed down by the deep snow. Sometimes you get a nice long slide with the rear hung out and sometimes the front pushes. The goal is to keep both feet up and not back off. Crashing is no problem because the snow is soft.
Todays ride was a good one and I can prove it. I got home with a flat front tire and my rear fender was carried back inside my jacket. After making repairs I’m planning to take my friend Lenny with me tomorrow. When you see Lenny you can ask him how I broke his finger on one of these rides.