Summer of the Bike

 Just like the Chinese calendar has "The year of the dragon, rabbit, horse, rooster. . . ,"  I have officially named 2012 - The Summer of the Bike. I've always biked, sometimes more and sometimes less, but I decided today when Bryant and I were looping around trails at Kepler Bradley that so far I've biked more in April, May, and June than I have in past whole summers.  Bryant picked up a road bike in April and he replaced parts on my road bike from the college days last summer.  So now, road biking or mountain biking are choices that we now have to motivate each other into action.    

Top of Hatcher's Pass

In Alaska, we always fight the weather when it comes to outdoor activities, and biking in the rain is a lot less comfortable than running in the rain.  On Saturday we lucked out; we biked to the top of Hatcher's Pass and it was 76 degrees.  I'm not sure if all my sweat came from the unusual heat or the elevation climb of 3,900 feet and 65 miles that we did that day.  I do like wearing shorts and a T-shirt all day and not getting cold. 

Palmer to Moose Creek Old Railroad Grade

Unlike last weekend where I'm only smiling in this picture because it was before the thunderstorm and where I climbed a big steep cliff carrying a bike to the highway to ride the last 6 miles back to the car in a downpour.

We decided to explore a new trail: Palmer to Moose Creek Railroad Trail.  The write up said it was an easy to moderate trail with a few mud slide washouts. Had we turned around at Mile 5 that would have been true, but when the write-up says its 6 miles, we figured we needed to do it at least once to ride it to the end.  We carried bikes over several more washouts and beaver felled trees only to find a swamp and sketchy trails. The GPS on the I-Phone gave us a general direction to the road because returning on the old railroad trail was no longer an option; it was that bad!  About the time we heard the first clap of thunder, we saw a faint trail heading uphill. 

Whether it be a mountain bike or a road bike, weather plays a role.  And I can always hope that "The Summer of the Bike" gets its fair share of rain free days.  All the wishing in the world for sun filled days, won't make it happen, so I'll just go with rain free!