The First Ride of Winter - and more

Text: Greg
Photos: Trina and Greg



I guess we can dispense with all that "before winter" hoopla now, as it is officially and astronomically Winter. Yes, the shortest day of the year is here, and now the days will be getting longer and longer, swooping us ever closer to Spring, which is practically here already! Well, except for the intervening two or three months of icy cold we still have ahead of us.



The winter storms hit our valley this week, stealing the sunshine and bringing thick clouds which dropped moisture upon us. None of which has thus far lived up to anything that strikes us as "wintry". No, it has not been very sunny this week. We got one light dusting of snow. But most of the moisture that has fallen has been nice, gentle rain. And not much of that. Relatively warm temperatures, even at night. Breezes that have blown the surface of the earth dry again.

All of which have conspired to allow me to present: The First Ride of Winter.





Sprocket and I rode out of town and hit the trails. The moisture had added some tack-o-grip to the soil, which made cornering fun and fast. We met a good friend out there, which subsequently made some of the cornering even more fun and fast. To the point that, according to the friend, Sprocket ended up using his entire 9" of travel as he ran along behind me through the dips.

But winter isn't just about riding. Or...? Er, no. It's also that time of year when we eat a lot of crap. With that seasonal spirit in mind, we made some cookies, er, well, Zeek and Sprocket helped us make some interesting cookies. We took them to a cookie party where they met with some degree of skepticism.





Winter is also about, so far, cooking, baking, and wandering around outside enjoying the aesthetics of dry, dead stuff.