Snow!!!!

The unexpected has happened... we have snow!!

When i was younger snow was a given.. there are countless images of me at christmas as a child in some 'all in one' winter suit.. but as i have gotten older snow at this time of year has become less likely so any opportunity to make the most of it has to be taken.. especially when in 6 weeks i'll be lining up for the Arrowhead 135.

Today was a good chance just to play with my gear.. with only a light hour left to do for in this weeks training plan i took the opportunity to get some of my Arrowhead gear out and go for a spin.

Since Montane (Montane.co.uk)came on board i've had a big box of clothing sitting waiting to be played with... admittedly i have been wearing the Flux down and Extreme jackets alot but the Terra salopettes were yet to be tried and tested...



Today i got to try them out... it wasn't quite cold enough to warrant either of the Montane jackets so i went with the Madison soft shell over a Montane polartec fleece.. the mitts are some old Extemeties i had from snow boarding... On my feet i had Alpkit socks underneath Smartwool hiking socks and the New Shimano MT91 Boots.. after a minutes pedalling i was toasty warm.

Lastest addition to my snow bike is the front rack... after much head scratching Martin ( also the man behind all my current wheelbuilds:)) and Murphy at Ride Cycles managed to get a standard Blackburn front rack to fit with some 'manipulation' ... works great and will hold a few light bags and keep my sleeping bag roll clear of my front tyre.




Still alot of testing to do... i have some interesting stuff lined up with Leeds Met University courtesy of Alpkit then of course the Alpkit trip to France in January.

Sure all of this prep will go someway to helping me but in no way totally prepare me for what lies ahead... time to man up i think.