The Sounds of silence

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Or the sounds of bike tires crunching on snow. A string of freezing days after Saturday's snowstorm left a few inches of crisp and dry snow on the shady trails. The trails exposed to the sun were melted but frozen, making last night's ride nearly perfect. The temperature was a little chilly but the trails were quiet and the air still. It was just me and Stacy for the night's adventure so we met at my house, bundled up and headed to Stratton. Once we got on single track the only sounds were of our tires crunching against the dry snow. It was cold enough to freeze my breathe but the steady pace as we meandered thru Stratton and up the Chutes. At the top of the chutes we stopped to admire the view. Colorado Springs sprawled out I front of us, the city lights twinkling in the frigid air.

Then onto Columbine. We took the second drop into Colimbine, opting to enjoy a little more downhill. Normally I would put warmer gloves and another layer on for the downhill but decided not to. I was pretty comfortable and we weren't going that fast on the downhill. I'm still a little cautious around those switchbacks at night! But the trail was in good shape and I was able easily clean them with the light from my Ameobas. We were both having a great time until just before the bridge. Then all of sudden the temperature plummeted. Probably because we were getting close to the creek, but my fingers, toes and nose went numb in a matter of minutes! We reached the bottom of Columbine and Stacy asked what I was thinking. Did it just get really cold? Since we were both freezing and she didn't have another layer, we bolted down the road back to my house. Time to warm up! It took a while but the ride was worth the thawing pain. It's always fun to be able to get out on such a quiet night and ride with friends!

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