The best advice that I can give you for winter riding is, “Watch out where the huskies go, and don’t you eat that yellow snow.” Frank Zappa.
Get out there and ride, friends!


The best advice that I can give you for winter riding is, “Watch out where the huskies go, and don’t you eat that yellow snow.” Frank Zappa.
Get out there and ride, friends!
We got to Stephens early and stuck around for a bit until after the snow started. Just wanted to hear the sound of snow falling on the leaves. What can I say, it just brings back good memories of winter magic. LOL.
Side note – I’ve been trying to teach a friend of mine into riding the jump at top of Trestle for months. I show him how I jump it. He watches and listens to my pointers, but he’s just not ready to take the jump for himself. I don’t push. People need to decide for themselves when they are ready. So today as we got close to it, I said, “There’s that jump”. Then he pulls ahead, says “What jump?” and just went for it! It was glorious to see him finally send it! A minor victory and I’m happy I got to witness that.
Sunset Trail. Stephens.
Trail work at Stephens on Sunday was fun. Went to help out a JORBA crew. Got there and saw that NICA was also there. So all-in-all, more than 50 awesome people showed up!!! The energy of the people was the best.
The moment I stepped out of my car at Kinney Road, we were swarmed by tens of thousands of mosquitos, gnats and other assorted flying insects. They followed me and my entourage around the lake, over the mountain, through the woods, over brooks. Every rock garden, every jump, every rock roll – they were there. They followed our every pedal stroke for the entire 13 mile journey. I never felt so loved in my life. I don’t want to disappoint these die-hard fans. I’ll be back soon.
One of my friends said “Charlie your entire head is surrounded by a cloud of gnats.” I turned around and looked at him, and his head was also surrounded by a black cloud. So I just busted out laughing!!! We both looked like that Pig-Pen character in Charlie Brown. Then he said, “I can’t see in front of me. My eyes are blurry. I think I need glasses.” I’m like, Dude your eyes are fine. It’s the cloud of fans that’s following you around, obscuring your vision. Their love is so unyielding, they only want you to see them and nothing else. That’s why they say, Love is blind. Their love is so undying, relentless, that nothing could hold them back from their heart’s desire.
Inhaling them is inevitable. On the one hand I want to put a screen mesh over my face. On the other hand, it’s a free electrolyte snack!
It’s hot out there. If you see Santa on the trail, give him some water so he can cool off. He could probably use some bug spray too. I’m thankful he decided to take shelter in the shade, under a leafy green sprout.
Stay cool out there friends!
This is the confluence of Hally, Tally and White at Stephens. Usually I climb up Hally. Today I rode down it. If you love technical switchbacks, you’ll love Hally. Didn’t hear anymore spring peepers (frogs) today. But saw some people on horseback and they let me feed carrots to their horses! Beautiful creatures. So fast and powerful too.
Stephens. Sunday. There was about 1 inch of snow near the top. Couldn’t ride as fast as usual, but it sure felt great to be outside! Did 13 miles too.
Here’s a shot with the fire tower in the background.
Stephens. This photo was taken somewhere in the vicinity of Skeezix and Cooler. Super awesome ride! We’re 2 months into 2023, and so far this year I’ve ridden Lew Mo, Sterling, Wildcat, Jervis, Dickerson Mine and Stephens. The weather has been unbelievable.