FoldsinHalf

Yesterday turned out unexpectedly sunny and warm (almost 30F) here in the 'Junkyard, so of course I had to get out and enjoy a little bike ride. From past experience, I knew there was a paved bikepath down there somewhere:


About 4 miles of bikepath and highway brought me to the Tabeguache trailhead, which is the main gateway to the network of world-class mountain biking trails just outside town. I've been enjoying these trails (and others in nearby Fruita) in the dry for the last month, but this would be my first time to tackle the so-called "Lunch Loops" in the snow:


I took the Tabeguache doubletrack to the first singletrack junction, Eagle's Tail, which soon joined with Pet-E-Kes. I was laying down "first tracks" by a bike, although there were plenty of footprints left by hikers who had (hopefully) found the right trail beneath the snow:


Pet-E-Kes is a marvelous, foot-wide ribbon of lightly-technical singletrack bench cut into the red rock, and is a favorite "climbing trail" here. Below, it appears as a thin white strip, climbing up from right to left before switching back to the fine vista spot shown:


In the dry, I climb this trail on the mighty little Dahon with only a handful of places where I get stuck on some technical outcropping or otherwise flame out. In the snow however, Pet-E-Kes became a serious challenge on 20s, and I walked numerous stretches where I either couldn't find the traction to climb, or just didn't feel like risking a slip and taking a tumble down the mountain. FWIW, I made it maybe 50 feet beyond the photo op below before spinning out and taking a little walk:


The bike's tires looked to me, just like a frosted Christmas tree, as it posed with the Colorado National Monument canyons beyond:


With snow packed in between the knobs, traction was, well, not excessive, and I was doing almost as much walking as riding during the climb so I cut over to the Tabeguache at the midway crossover point and headed down. The descent was definitely more exciting than my top speed of maybe 10 mph would normally correspond to. Keeping it between the rocks and off any side-sloping ruts were the biggest challenges. Had a couple of emergency bailouts when the bike would jump suddenly sideways on me, but I generally just slipped and slid my way back down, sporting a big grin.


So that wrapped up one of the shortest (about 3 miles) but most interesting and scenic trail rides I've had in a while (and I've had some doozies...will try to get caught up and report on those soon!). I retraced the pavement back to the motorhome and treated the bike to a bath in warm water. It's now standing by, ready for our next adventure. Hope y'all enjoyed the recap and are having some fun out there this winter too.

maranen

Great review and pictures – thanks. Am I wrong to conclude that the bike is adequate for the terrain & weather, but the tyres are not?

TrekJapan

Being a fellow Jetstream XP owner I really dig what you did to that bike, especially the disc brakes.

You can keep the snow though.

John in Sunny warm Okinawa Japan

FoldsinHalf

Well, I'd rate that conclusion as "semi-accurate". I was indeed limited by lack of traction many places that I can normally ride. That said, those places are pretty challenging to roll on 20s in the dry, due to steepness, roughness, or some diabolical combination thereof. There's really only so much one can expect to accomplish when there's several inches of powder covering fairly steep, rocky trails, methinks. It would help a lot if the snow were packed--that stuff rides amazingly like regular dirt.

On the more reasonable segments of trail (and certainly the pavement), I'd say the MaxxDaddy 2.25s worked fine, given that they're not really meant for snow.


Thanks! Yeah, the disc brakes are what really makes the bike for me. I absolutely love having them.

It was pretty painful to have to buy new wheels for a brand new bike that came with very nice and very blingy wheels... but hey... if I gotta spend $650 on wheels to be able to mount $120 worth of brakes... well, I eventually decided to disregard the madness of that math and just go for it. Besides, those fancy Dahon Kinetix Pro wheels didn't exactly go to waste--they've transformed Debbie's KHS Westwood into a 24-speed bikepath speedster:



Have fun over there on the warm side of the world (?) on your XP.

EvilV

Fantastic scenery. Envious of that ride.

badmother

This is something I`we been thinking about, using the 20" wheels in snow and rough terrain. Trying to get rid of some bikes, and keeping just my favourits. I am hoping to get rid of some MTB`s, but it depends on how the folders do in the snow.

I am rebuilding a folder now, "chopping and dropping". I`we got the same tyres as you, and I intend to make chains for it. Made some for my MTB and they are great. I am thinking of running hub brakes front and rear in the winter.

Small wheels in this type of conditions makes me worry about the wheels digging into the ground and snow and me flying ower the barsin a less elegant way, but I guess it is just a matter of trying. As soon as this x-mas thing is gone I`ll be building again. Great pix!