Riding in snow and ice 2 Hwy 32 to Butte Meadows

[dakariste]

With the inspiration of those Alaska photos I was willing to venture off Hwy 32 and ride my usual dirt roads. Well they have a bit more snow on them now but it was melting today and the 4 wheelers had preceded me so....

off I went. Mostly staying in the track of the trucks. Eventually the impact of the snow bent my gear shift lever in, towards the bike!



Pretty warm afternoon, and not too much water in creek (blurry at top) Note Chris: this is the bridge shot.

I was still relieved to make it back to the road. No dangerous black ice here. ha ha
Good thing too, it was way too slippery to walk on.

Hmm, no other bikers at lunch stop: Bambi Inn.

[motowriter]

Woah! That's just nutty, Paul! The road to Jonesville, eh? Had no idea it got that kind of snow up there! Yikes!

Bent shift lever, eh? Guess how I bent my brake lever? Who said the snow was a good place to land?

Thanks for the pix!

[dakariste]

Weird thing is I didn't fall! I think the rut got deep and pushed it/bent it as I rode!

The last 'ice' road pic is before you get to Butte Meadows. Jonesville is a snowmobile park this time of year. I heard there was 200 of them yesterday doing a poker run.

The dirt road pix are from 32 into Butte Meadows. I didn't make the whole
crossing, only 3 or 4 miles.

[motowriter]

Originally Posted by dakariste

Weird thing is I didn't fall! I think the rut got deep and pushed it/bent it as I rode!

Ouch! That just won't do! If a lever is gonna get mangled it ought to be the result of something memorable! Bent my brake lever again today. Memorable spill on a mud road. This has been my month for learning how to deal with the slippery... the hard way. Sounds like you have a handle on it, and very cool that yer getting out there regardless of the obstacles!

[Gnomad]

A stop on a snow covered bridge without any visible rails......priceless!

What tires are you using? You get around pretty well it would appear. And it is a lot of fun to show up in a sled zone on a bike, most of the sledders pretend not to see you.

[MyLife on TwoWheels]

Looks a lot like Colby Mountain Rd, about a hundred and fifty feet from Hwy32, but it's kinda hard to tell with the snow...

[Gnomad]

It snowed here Saturday night so I did what every guy does with fresh snow-track it up!




Life was good until my faceshield froze up for some unknown reason....



Still trying to figure that out.

Funny thing was that the bike was doing better in the snow than the cage. Well sure, if I put studded knobbies on my car it might go in the snow as well as the bike, but Kenda doesn't make Trackmasters in P215/70R16 so I guess I'm out of luck on that one.

[dakariste]

For winter tires this year I down graded from the full knobbies. I figured that I spend alot more time on wet paved roads than dirt roads in the winter, so I wanted something smoother for the pavement. It seems to be the best choice yet as they even feel ok on the gravelled levee roads. I have avoided the heavy mud, but nothing really feels good in that stuff on a bike this heavy.

The tire: Metzeler Enduro 3
http://www.americanmototire.com/inde...rget=d224.html

Ray, I didn't go up Colby Mountain. The snow was packed too deep and no car or truck had passed that way. I went south off the same exit on 32 for a few miles down to the connector to Scout Road, that leads straight to the Bambi Inn. The creek I crossed is called Smokey Creek.
There were only a few tracks on Scout Road from the west end. It was late enough in the day that I had enough adventure-of that type! Or I chickened out if you will. But if you want to lead me, I'd be willing to try next weekend.
As I study the topo map it looks like it's the same elevation all the way across. Probably passable. Easy enough to make one of those 30 minute, buried in snow, u-turns!

Scout Road is marked in Red, Soda Springs Road is purple. I don't remember
seeing Soda Springs Road open even though it's lower. From the Bambi Inn, Scout Road was melted down pretty good with plenty of 4wd tracks.

[GS-RON]

I could take the Zuk and make a road up Colby from Hwy 32. The problem is you end up on the groomed snowmobile tails. The gate is closed at Jonesville for that reason. I think there is a hefty fine if you get caught on the groomed trails with a wheeled vehicle.
Paul great write up and an awsome adventure, keep the pics and the stories coming. Someday we will both end up at Ozzie's at the same time and can meet. Oh and there is always the pick on Lily, Sat morning meeting with Twowheeledfish .

[dakariste]

Good point about crossing paths with the snowmobilers! I didn't reach that elevation, I'm willing to ride when the snow is down at the 4500 foot level or lower, but above that I will leave to the more skilled!
Say hi to Diamond Lil Saturday. I've seen her ride in a bit of snow at Butte Meadows. She a strong rider who is fearless riding in the fog.
Do cut me a path on Scout Road from Bambi Inn to 32 on the Zuk.

What's a Zuk?