Another Winter Weekend

Saturday
Another winter weekend in Erie and guess what… surprise, it snowed! And snowed and snowed. Temps were low on Saturday, in the teens, but then things warmed up on Sunday into the balmy 20s. But that doesn’t mean you can’t get out and play! I spent most of Saturday studying and lounging around with Jess before I finally got motivated enough to do the six mile run I had planned. The studying (CFA Exam) has been going fairly well but this spring will be another battle for time between studying, training and my husband duties. I always have to give on one thing and it’s not usually Jess or the studying…

So anyways, got in a good run on Saturday. Ran from the house down Parade St. and then took Holland St. down to the bayfront. It was quite cold…

Balmy weather for a run...

…but I must have been dressed right because I was plenty warm. It started snowing pretty good by the time I got down to the Bicentennial Tower, which made for a pretty cool view of the city.

On the Bicentennial Tower, facing the city...

The rest of the run was uneventful. It took me a total of 50 minutes (8:20min pace) to cover the six miles, which I felt was pretty good given the slippery conditions. Running on the sideways in Erie can be an adventure. About a third aren’t shoveled, so you basically have to high-step those, and then you have frozen footprints to deal with and the occasional snowbank to hurdle. It’s completely different than trodding along the sideways in the summer and reminds me a lot of trail running. I think that’s why I’ve been enjoying it so much.

Sunday
So it snowed a ton Saturday night; not so much in the city as in Edinboro, which of course was where I was headed in the morning. Bill had an epic biking adventure planned that included two long sections of snowshoeing/hike-a-biking. I left the house at about 8:15 and it took me about an hour to make the drive down to the Boro. After some grumbling (“yes, I know it snowed a foot and no, we aren’t crazy”), Matt decided to join us. so I stopped at his apartment to get ready before heading over to Bill’s. I think it was either in the high teens or low 20s when we started, but it was actually rather comfortable with no wind and given that the temps had been in the single digits just a few days ago. I only added a fleece under my riding jacket and was warm, and at times hot, for the entire adventure.

Yes, adventure. I’ve found that with Bill’s weekend rides you get one of two things: there’s the all out training ride where we have to go such a distance or ride for such a time, and then there’s the “I’ve got this cool route planned…let’s see if we can finish this thing…”. Sunday was a “let’s see if we can finish this thing”. (Note: You can always count on one thing with Bill’s weekend rides: you’ll definitely be exhausted by the time you finish, and likely, before you finish.)

So we started out with a short ride over to a field that we snowshoed across carrying our bikes. Roads were snow covered, but I’ll spoil the ending… no one wrecked. The field was about 3/4 to a mile across and we managed to make it across, without a break, in about 40 minutes. Not bad considering we were in knee-deep snow and carrying a bike on our backs. Here are some picks from the first hike…

The first hike-a-bike...

Bill then Matt...

I got my snowshoes from my parents on Christmas (thanks Mom & Dad!) and the pack I was using my brother bought me (thanks Mark!). The pack is a Dakine heli-skiing pack which my snowshoes strapped to perfectly. The pack also has a place for hydration bladder, so I was set. Anyways, the hike was followed by another couple of miles of back road riding to a game lands that Bill and I frequently ride through. I managed to fire off some pics while skating down the road, below is one of them…

Ridin' up Miller Station Road to the game lands...

The game lands hike took us about an hour and afterwards we guessed it was about 1-1.5 miles (forgot to pay attention to the Garmin). About half way through I think we were all starting to get a little tired of the hiking. The hiking itself wasn’t bad, but the bikes were starting to get heavy. Here are a few pics I snapped in the game lands…

Matt, appreciating the snow and the scenery...

...and miles to go before I sleep...

The ride/adventure was capped off with several more miles of dirt road riding back to Bill’s. All said and done, we covered 18 miles in 3 hours and 50 minutes. Of course the distance doesn’t seem impressive, but that wasn’t the point. It was a blast to just be able to get out and play, and a tough four hour workout in January should serve us well when we’re trail running in April and riding in May.