Saturday, January 8, 2011

Finally Out on the Trails...

After three weeks of dealing my own illness and my father's hospitalization I was
finally feeling good enough today to get out on the Pugsley. It could not have been
a more perfect winter day.

The temps were in the low single digits this morning, but eventually warmed to around 10-12 (F). Warmer than expected temps along with the absence of wind and perfect trail conditions made for a primo day on the trails.

I generally shun snowmobile trails, but today decided to give them a try. I didn't regret it and definitely plan on going out again in the morning. Some of the single track is groomed and in excellent riding conditions, but I just didn't feel like turning laps. At least on the sled trails I could cover more ground and see more of the park.

In two and a half hours I only encountered two sleds and they seemed happy and rather surprised to see someone riding the trails on a bike. The snowmobile trails in and around the park are rather narrow, unlike the super highways found elsewhere, so most people tend to ride
them at lower speeds which definitely increases the safety factor in my book.




Upon my arrival back at my car I was visited by a park police officer. For moment I was expecting to be reprimanded and fined for riding on the trails that were not designated for "biking." Turns out he just wanted to talk and ask me about the Pugsley. He said he had never
seen anything like it before.

4 comments:

Snakebite said...

Wow, the trails look to be in great shape!

Doug said...

I'm always amazed at how few snowmobiles I encounter. At least 75% of them give me a friendly wave.

However, this time of year I always try to be out on the trails during NFL games. Traffic is definitely lighter when football is on.

LvilleTex said...

Ah serendipity. Don't you love the unexpected generous or kind gesture? So rare. And great he was interested in the Pugs. Everyone should be.

Apertome said...

It looks beautiful all right! I had a similar experience in PA. A park ranger stopped me, I thought I must have broken some arcane rule (I was just riding on the roads), but really he had seen my blog and wanted to say hi. Love stuff like that.