Frozen Water Bottles and Chili

Greetings to all in 2010! Just finished riding in the annual Golden Belt Bicycle New Years Day Bike Ride. Just a little ride that Doug Chambers puts together to help kick off the new year.

Fifteen hearty souls braved the cloudy 20 degree Kansas weather for a mountain bike ride on the Arkansas River trail at Great Bend. We headed down Main Street to the river trail and whenever I make this short trek I always think how fortunate we are to have such an awesome 30 mile trail just 5 minutes from our local bike shop.

We sprinted up the river dike and shot under the 281 highway bridge and headed out to do the "West Side" trail first. As is usually the case, once the trail dropped into the trees, the wind was gone and there were no more thoughts of how cold we were. We really were not sure what the trail conditions would be but considering all the snow we have had recently they were in great shape. There were small patches of ice and snow but the extreme cold had really firmed things up nicely and the mud was hard as concrete. The group rode at a brisk pace and we made it out about 8 miles to an area that runs north of the tree line with an open field bordering on the right. Unfortunately, the recent wind and snow had created numerous drifts in this area and we were forced to turn around. We retraced our path back to the 281 bridge then headed east to do the "East Loop".

As we headed east we were riding face first into an unusual easterly wind and we were again reminded that it was indeed January. The "East Loop" of the Ark River trail is definitely designed for the patent rider. This section has some of the most twisty and tightest trail that a rider will ever see. It is heaven to those riders who have good bike handling skills. After finishing the loop, with the wind at our backs, we headed back to the bridge and then the short ride back up Main Street to the Bike Shop. I say it again, we are very lucky to have such a sweet trail right in our backyard. This trail was featured recently in a trail blog in Bicycle Magazine. I will do blog post on this in the near future

Once we returned to the shop, we had some of Doug's famous chili waiting to warm us up. The chili and conversation is always a highlight of the ride and this year we also enjoyed some homemade cinnamon rolls fresh from the oven of Teresa Dutton.

Another successful New Years Day ride is in the books and it was indeed a great way to kick-off the 2010 bike season. We have finalized the race schedule for 2010 and I will be posting that within the next week or so.

Until then, stay "Clipped In and Crankin".