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| Ahh! Remember when January used to be a snowy month? |
Generally speaking, it used to snow right around Thanksgiving time. That typically was enough to effectively shut us out of the trails, in terms of cycling, and the only alternative to cycling in the woods then was XC skiing or snow shoeing. For me, we never really ever had enough snow cover to make snow shoeing necessary, or even fun. I got spoiled by the Winter of 2000/2001. (36" of snow in December alone!) Anyway.......
So, I did XC skiing, and back in those days, you could lay down a classic style two-track from the Ansborough access all the way out to Shaulis Road and it would never get ruined by walkers or, of course, cyclists, at all. You pretty much had the woods all to yourself in those years. Of course, it wasn't too many years later when snow shoe rentals became a thing, and by 2011, fat bikes started roaming the woods and now there is no way in the world two track XC skiing would survive the Green Belt in any section. It's certainly a completely different dynamic now.
One could say that "getting more folks in the woods is a good thing", and I would agree, but I also miss those quiet days in the cold snow looking at virgin white, undisturbed, snow covered trail. There was something kind of special about that.
I am glad I got the chance to experience that here. I highly doubt we'll see anything like that again in my lifetime these parts. Of course, that goes without saying unless we get a real Winter again!
1 comment:
I remember when we had 5+ feet of snow on the ground at this time of year, every year, a time when re-gaining the trail after a mis-step to the side was a feat in itself. Now we struggle with cycles of snow/sleet/rain and ice. My Blackborow 1, although heavy in its current configuration, rides through it all like a tank, and with care on my part gets me without incident to my destination. How I wish I had such a bike 30 years ago!
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