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Saturday, February 5, 2011

40 miles of snow plowing

YIKES, well we all got the 7th worse one day snow storm in Dubuque ever this week, with 35 mph winds to boot. So mood, deep snow, and nursing some sore shoulders from flying off the bike a few times and jamming the shoulders, I did nothing but work, eat, and sleep all week.
So today I was destined to grind the pedals. It was all hard work to ride the snow mobile trails today. The middle of the trail was too soft and 4 mph was pushing the pace. I tried to ride the edge of the trail the best I could, the problem was there was lot of soft spots in the snow, my tire would drop down, and I would try to

keep from flying off the bike. There was a real thin line between hard and soft


Sometimes I managed to stay on the bike and sometimes I didn't. I got my arse whooped. I'm sore tonight, hurt'n to walk, hope I can get er up and do er again tomorrow. 40 miles today took over 6 hours. I hear there is some big football game tomorrow that everyone is supposed to watch. I'm thinking of biking if I can move. :-)


Sometimes you gotta rough it out here in the frozen tundra, however I decided "# 2" could wait.



I looked at myself in the mirror pushing my bike up a hill and asked myself, "Isn't this fun?" I didn't answer back.



As you can see by the next picture it's just beautiful out here, some of the snow mobilers were flying by me at frightening speeds. most of them are pretty good, slow down when we pass. I pull over when the trail is too narrow for both of us. I wave at each one. I consider this is their trail in the winter, and I am the guest. In the summer I am the owner.



Stopped and chatted with some of the endurance skiers and runners I see out here often, Mike and Annette and Tom and Mr. T. It's a common bond that just happens, birds of a feather I spose.

Hope your day had some fun in it too.
Thanks for stopping
DAve.

8 comments:

Craig said...

That toilet looks cold.

dawn marie giegerich said...

Do not look at the man in the mirror - he will lead you astray.

Harry Legge's Cycling Blog said...

I'm glad you had some sun. None up here.
Hope you're out again on Sunday.

Dan O said...

That little outhouse - looks really comfy....

How many snowmobiles use those trails? Do you see a just a few per ride? Is there a speed limit?

Just curious...

mrbill said...

Dave, where he is supposed to be, on a bike ride, glad you had fun. Our weather has been nasty too, I hope the roads are good enough for me to get in a few miles today, I'm not riding any ice, my ass can't take it.

MrDaveyGie said...

Hi Dan-O.
Sometimes I don't see any snowmobiles. On a weekend day like yesterday, with all the snow, I saw over 50. There are some speed limit areas other places not. I had some go by me 60 mph about 2 feet from me, was a little scary, I think they were protesting me being there.

tainterturtles said...

Boy oh boy, you winter cyclist just amaze me. I was clinching my jaw as I read your post....and then I read Harry Legge's post as well. You guys are made of steel! Hope you aren't too sore today to ride.

Hey, tell Birgit I received the bears....so cute. I will send her an email today.

MrDaveyGie said...

Oh those were your bears, I made them actually. Just kidding. Well I did witness the creation of em. :-)