home sweet home & a fish outta water

This time of year presents a side of Hall Ranch I really enjoy. Covered with the calm of winter & sprikled with wildlife the park presents itself in a much more relaxed manner than that of the crowded hot summer. I like to think of it as my Hall Ranch this time of year. Despite the cold weather I headed out Saturday to spend some time climbing the Antelope trail & heading down the Bitterbrush descent. I rode the partially packed trail hard & had one dab & one short hiking section before I made it to the bench. From there it was a good time heading down to highway 7. My 29" Kenda Nevegal 2.20s are really proving to be a good snow tire, the 29er gets rolling in that snow too. I found a fantastic pair of "winter" gloves at the gas station which I did a head-to-head test vs. my old school Pearl Izumi AmFIBs...yep the homeboys & girls down the street at Pearl Izumi really know how to make some winter riding gear. Their booties & gloves kept me warm enough on the cold day as I chose the pair of AmFIBs for the descent.
I was able to get the time up over an hour after getting back to town & hitting the local ghetto singletrack. I headed over to Redstone Cyclery for a post ride beer & good conversation with mtb mike & the redstone crew.
Sunday I changed gears & headed up to the mountains to hit the snow on err....more conventional snow equipment...my Rossignal skate skis. Like a fish outta water...I was a bit intimidated when our group turned into a handfull of local pro mountain bikers.a who's who of local pro mountain bikers hittin' the snow.(left to right) Jen Tilley, Erin Huck, Jen Gersbach, Megan Monroe, Brian Fuentes, me & Chris Butler.