Accumulations

Angry cat lady and Steven met me at Punch. We convened a little earlier than usual to try and out smart mother nature's plans for white. Yeah, like that would work.
A fairly pleasant trail ride to Strawberry Lane, where we met up with Ron and his trusty side-kick Roger. Roger could've been a little more cooperative today. A broken fender bracket and flat were how he showed his appreciation about riding with us.
It was great to see Ron. Way too long since I've ridden with him. Nice to catch up. He's got a kid in high school already. Ron took over ride control, and almost immediately things started to deteriorate. First he took us through Carver Park. Very beautiful, but it was closed because of a special hunt, yeah, with real bullets. Ron seemed to think it would be OK to ride around the barriers and through the hunt zone. I suppose my Windstopper jacket didn't make me look too much like a deer.
Having made it through the shooting range, next was a trail? I really never saw a trail...lots of leaves and branches, which got caught in my spokes more than once, and this kick ass hill. At this point Amy was no longer in her happy place, but remained relatively civil, not talking, but civil. You didn't want to look her straight in the eye though. Steven was in his element loving every second we were off any trail.
Now Amy's bike needed to be dealt with. Her front derailleur was not being agreeable. Force was used to persuade it back into position.
A short reprieve, and some very scenic country, then we even got on some asphalt. Short lived, the dirt road we turned on to was a washboard set at an incline. That was it, Amy broke out with a "WHERE THE HELL IS THE TRAIL?" She knew the Luce Line, that it would be flat, smooth and headed home. Ron could only point in the direction of the pending intersection. Oh Yeah, it had started to sleet.
Amy was right and the Luce Line Trail's crushed limestone seemed like newly laid asphalt. Unfortunately we had to split up. The Luce Line is where Roger decided to flat. The weather was worsening, and neither Amy or Steven were dressed to stand around for 10 or 15 minutes. They went on, and Ron changed Roger's rear tire. Ron and I were back up and riding with the sleet now turned to snow. It didn't phase us.
Said goodbye to Ron in Minnetonka, and with about 4 miles to go the lack of a food stop caught up with me and I bonked. Slowed to 11 or 12 miles an hour, but got myself home, and quickly made my favorite winter time post ride recovery drink.
Evil performed very well in the first snow ride of the season.
This ride was actually a blast. We were on the right bikes, with the right clothes, and when that snow started I didn't want to be anywhere near a road. A delightful layer of ice lay just on top of the asphalt.
It was great to ride with Ron again. He can still climb and descends even better now than he used to. This was really fun. I'm looking forward to some more winter rides like this one. Amy took winter's start hard, but I'm sure she'll be back at it like always. 62/14.5
Tire Accumulations
Derailleur Accumulations
Trail Accumulations

Waist Accumulations