~ cold and snowy foothills ride ~

On Sunday, Elizabeth and I rode Corrals during what I thought was supposed to be the warmest time of day... 2:00. The temperature was 28 degrees when I left my apartment, and I wore an extra baselayer to keep me warm - - by the time that I arrived to our meeting place at the corner of Hill and Bogus Basin Roads, I was feeling overheated. I removed my outer windbreaker in anticipation of the climb up Bogus Basin, and we proceded to hammer up. While we were riding up to the trailhead, I started getting really cold. I decided that I needed to generate some body heat, so I rode away from Elizabeth and put in a good effort to warm up. By the time that I arrived at the trailhead, my arms were FREEZING. I then re-dressed myself in my windbreaker and we rode up Corrals, generating body heat. In hindsight, now that temperatures in Boise are barely scraping above ten degrees, I suspect that the increase in cold that I experienced on this climb was an actual increase in cold and not merely a perceived increase. Anyway...

Along the main road of Corrals, we ran into my Dad and his dog. We stopped and had a lengthy conversation, during which point I began to lose some of my body heat.

Then we continued riding along. Once we started riding up the backside of the mountain, there was snow and ice on the trail. And it was slippery. At one point, my bike suddenly slid out from under me after hitting an icy section, but I was magically able to catch my fall.

At the top of Corrals, I was delighted to see that someone had established a festive Tumbleweed Tree with holiday ornaments.

Around about the time that we got to the summit, it started snowing. Also, despite having just climbed up the trail, we were shivering. We stayed to admire the view only briefly before beginning the long descent. As can be guessed, it was awesome and loads of fun. I took Elizabeth down Trail 4 and Hulls, both of which she had never ridden before - - and I was very impressed with how confidentally she rode the trails, rolling over all kinds of rocks and offcamber sections. It's difficult to believe that she's been mountain biking for less than a year.

Aside from all of the awesome fun we were having, we also got really really cold. When I arrived home, I checked the weather again, and the temperature was down to 25, with a feel like rating of 15... and I think what we were experiencing descending through the wind chill on the foothills was considerably colder. I'm anticipate that my next gear acquisition will be a pair of pogies / handlebar mitts.

Posted by jennifer at 8:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)