Thursday, March 16, 2017

Porsche Bike S snow ride


With the warming weather, I ventured outdoors for a ride. Since the snow is melting and temperatures above 40 degrees, I thought getting a little sun would feel nice. I elected to take the 1998 Porsche Bike S mountain bike for the trip. I thought the roads would be too wet, dirty, muddy and snowy for the 2004 Porsche Bike X road bike. I was right.

I decided to ride the Truckee River Legacy Trail and avoid the cars on the main roads. The Legacy Trail is an amazing little paved path along the Truckee River from Glenshire to downtown Truckee. It's a short ride, about six miles, but absolutely beautiful scenery.

Driving through Truckee the last few days, I could the trail off in the distance and it looked clear. So I thought with the warm 50 degree afternoon I'd wear shorts and enjoy the sun. With all the rain and snow this winter, the Truckee River is really flowing.

Jumping on the Legacy Trail in Glenshire I instantly realized I was in a for wet and wild ride. The trail was mostly clear. Mostly. The rest was water, in some spots large pools of standing water, and sand, mud, dirt and even stretches with snow and ice. 

At first I tried to avoid the wet areas. Serpentine pattern down the trail. That didn't work very well so I just started riding through the water which caused a rooster tail behind the bike and all over me. Water spray from the front tire all over my face, back tire covering my backside. With the sunshine, however, the water didn't feel too cold.

Before I knew it I was playfully riding through the puddles and jumping over the little streams crossing the paved path. 

Then I hit the snow. You don't jam on the brakes in snow, you just plow through peddling hard. At this point I was glad I selected the 1998 Bike S mountain bike with the ultra fat Continental Speed King 2.2 tires. Speed King tires are built for these conditions.

The Porsche Bike S performed perfectly in the mixed conditions. I didn't set any new performance records today, but I did have fun and did my Legacy Trail 12 mile course in under an hour. So I was pretty happy with that.

The weather is supposed to hold tomorrow before more rain and snow this weekend continuing into next week. So I may take the Bike S out again for another ride before the weather turns.

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