Having "celebrated" the Winter Solstice (2008 version) on Saturday with the Celtic Solstice 5 miler a good old night ride on the day itself (i.e. Sunday Dec 21st) seemed only appropriate. Not a usual night ride night so "special dispensation" from SWMBO was sought and duly obtained. Out went the email - in a fit of solstice-inspired exuberance, aided by a couple more "sherbets", the email suggested that in time honored fashion the gods would expect to be worshipped by way of a NAKED ride. I assumed this piece of British style humor would have been appreciated by my New World riding buddies. The deafening silence in response to my email suggested otherwise!
A few phone calls later and many reassurances that clothing would be acceptable and a ride was potentially on the cards. Then the weather and some familial commitments scuppered the plans! BUT out of the ashes of the Solstice Ride rose.... wait for it! The Solstice + 1 ride scheduled for Monday the day after the solstice.
The gods must not have been annoyed because the conditions were absolutely magical! Dry and blisteringly cold - temp measured at 19 oF at the end of the ride. Trails were solid and had a rimey grip to them that only occurs when the temp is at it's lowest. Three takers for the ride, George, Todd and "Yours Truly" DB. Thermals, winter gloves and even ski goggles were in attendance. Headed out through Belmont and up to Ridge, then down the "Old Ridge" hiking trail (White?) to the road - this trail is amazing, in both directions, but tonight with the moonlight shining through the leafless trees and visibility good enough to enjoy the trail life was good, even the shaley section (made even more treacherous by a layer of leaf litter) was fun and no injuries to report.
On a night such as this the BC side was calling and the call did not go unanswered. Up Soapstone and round the Community College loop. At the top of climb (by the Maintenance sheds) the decision was made to hit Mission Impossible - Whoo Hoo! The riding was fantastic and no falls pretty much the whole way to the log crossing. After the log things were a bit more sedate for Todd and myself as we rode less and pushed more on the technical sections. George of course tried to ride anything that looked even vaguely plausible and he fell the customary few times. The stream was frozen over in places and the waterfalls were spectacular.
At one such waterfall it was decided that a group photo was in order - "right then lads, kit off!" was the rallying call and although Todd didn't understand the "Brit-speak" (how do I organize close captioning?) George understood and with a whoop started shedding clothes left and center! Despite Todd's pleas of "what the F and you two doing?" within two minutes George and DB were standing starkers in front of the frozen waterfall! Todd played his role in this madness by operating the camera and the rest is history.
In the time it took to take the incriminating photo the sweat on the inside of my outer shell jacket had frozen and it took a while for George and myself to regain feeling in any of our extremities!
The remainder of Mission Impossible passed in a hypothermic blur as I worked as hard as the trail would allow - mainly pushing the bike - to generate some body heat. The end of the trail as always is fun - the stupidly steep and stepped decent that Todd and I struggled to walk down with our bikes and George rode down!
Back across the swing bridge to HC and a quick jaunt across the waterfall to the Cascade trail, few more water crossings just for good measure - they sure are fun when it's that cold. And then back to the cars. At the cars I find my shoes are frozen to my socks and have to be torn way - luckily fresh clothes and shoes are waiting and then (in a departure from the norm) we congregated in Todd's automobile to make the post -ride beer a bit less of a challenge.
Ride was fantastic, trails were awesome and the gods (I hope) were appeased!
Cheers
DB
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