Walking the Bear - my day with the Salsa Beargrease

Having rented such a wonderful bicycle for the day, I set out to fully enjoy it.  That meant some trail riding, but mostly it meant retracing the routes I commonly took growing up in Ottawa.

Although the paths of my youth would look much different covered in a foot of snow, and some 30 years later, they absolutely succeeded in resurrecting a lot of good memories.

Starting from the far east, the route traces back to itself counter-clockwise.  Turns out the route that took me four hours (including a couple of rests) was only 27km long - but it sure felt a lot longer than that.  I would equate the workout to doing 60km, full-out, on the road.

Salsa Beargrease

I arrived at Phat Moose Cycles with the impression that I had booked a Salsa Mukluk II.  I had never been on a fat-tire bicycle before and to say I was looking forward to it is an understatement.  They opened at 10 and I was there for 9:55 in full gear.  

 
The weather was ideal and although I wouldn't have the time to get to any of the  recommended trails, I had a route well planned out that would include a variety of challenges.
 
I was stunned when the two guys at Phat Moose had instead prepared for me a  Salsa Beargrease.  Holy cow. It was like getting the ultimate, free upgrade at Budget Rent a Car.
 

Are these streets half clean or half dirty?

I think you need to be an optimist if you choose to commute by bicycle.

After a few days of heavy snowfall I was finally able to safely get onto the streets of Hamilton by bicycle.  Here's what the bike lanes looked like.

They sort of disappear for a bit, then reappear a little further on.

Yet Another "Day of Rest"

There's no denying I love a snow day.  They really don't happen very often.  Can't get to work by car, bicycle or bus.

It bothers me that I haven't managed to get on my bike in days, and this didn't help.  Makes me feel like a fair-weather cyclist.  However, I plan to get in the home-shop and do some wrenching, and it's certainly a good day for that.

I haven't done any bike-centric posts recently,  but hopefully I'll get back to that as well.

A Weekend Retreat (without a bike)

Whisked away to the (even snowier) north this weekend for a retreat of sorts, and as always, on the lookout for signs of the year-round-cyclist. I can't prevent my thoughts from dwelling on the recurring fantasy of carving through the icing sugar forests whenever I am in an environment like this. 

I am sentenced to live vicariously through other's BLOGS - which although I appreciate very much - I hope only serve to satiate my yearning until I join the ranks of the fat-tire revolution.

An Ottawa dealership maintains that they cannot keep Pugsleys and Mukluks in stock because of the demand but I have yet to see any evidence of that this winter.

I did find this lonely and abandoned fellow outside the dining hall but given the condition of his rear brake lever I chose not to disturb his winter's sleep.

I certainly have no right to complain when I have this as my fall-back plan though.

Good cycling, everyone.