Southern Snow Ride

Jeff, Thomas, Dewy, Jonathan and I went on a 5 man singlespeed attach on winter today. We went down to Tanasi with hopes of warmer temperatures and a full tour of all the trails, but when we got to the White Water Center everything that wasn’t paved had at least an inch of snow on it and I knew the day was going to be different than planned. The group kept a positive attitude as we changed clothes in mid twenties with a 10-15 mph wind wiping through the lot. After some tire and shock adjustments five hardy souls all on singlespeeds (one rigid and one 26er) set out in a mood of nervous anticipation. .

We decided to keep to the river/left trails instead of heading up to Brush Creek. The first climb we were all giggling at trying to climb through the snow. As we headed up onto the Chestnut trail it was apparent this was going to be an epic event. Laying fresh tracks for the first hour our snow skills sharpened with every turn. Steep technical climbs were tuff, but rolling and descending terrain was about as much fun as I’ve ever had on a bike.

My tires (resolutions) hooked fairly well in the snow but they packed up with a snow/mud/leaves mixture the jammed up anything around the tire. If you stopped for more than a minute all the goop would freeze up solid and your tires wouldn’t turn.

Ever wonder why that wool jersey is so warm, it’s because sheep love snow,



Monocog in flight,



Typical trail conditions,





Survey the damage,








I didn’t get any pics of Jonathan or Dewey. Jonathan was on fire today, he led out more climbs as the day went on and made all the tough climbs with the minimal traction. This was the first out-of-town ride I’ve gone on with Dewy, I suspect we will se him out on some more adventures with us again soon, he had a blast.


So the basic rout was Bear Paw/Chestnut/Thunder Rock Express/45/West Fork/Chestnut/Quartz Loop/1330 Bypass/Riverview/Chestnut/Thunder Rock Express/River trail back to the car. 20 Miles and about 4 hours.

Snow rides in the south are truly a rare thing. Check over at Show up and Blow Up or Harvest the Ride for further trip reports.