Just the right amount of snow this time....

This morning we woke to about 2-3 inches of snow in the Denver Metro area with moderate snowfall adding to the accumulations blanketing the roads.  Now we're talking I thought as I readied Natasha for a ride in the snow.

I started off by heading east on Smoky Hill Rd, skirting the periphery of the Blackstone Country Club housing development.  It's a packed dirt trail with loose gravel but with the snow cover, the riding was smooth if a bit slippery at times.  Temperatures were in the mid to high 20s so keeping warm was easy enough with clothing layers and heated grips.  The skies were solidly overcast and the sun would not show up till after 10:30AM.

The southern edge of the Blackstone Country Club housing area borders on County Line Road.  I turned east once again when I reached this road and motored on mostly snow-packed pavement with occasional patches of clear pavement with blowing snow moving across it.

Looking west on East Count Line Road

I went as far east on County Line Rd as its junction with County Rd 17 where I turned around as I wanted to get back to the undeveloped prairies near Blackstone Country Club to check out riding conditions there.

I got on the undeveloped prairies with no issues, Natasha was getting good traction and the snow was not deep at all.  The only times where I worried, was when the front wheel would get caught in a deep rut that I couldn't see due to the snow cover.  Natasha would slide and lean sideways a bit but always she rode out the rut with no issues except for a slightly accelerate heart rate on my part.

Here's some shots of the snow-blown prairies as I made my way north towards the Aurora Reservoir.

As you can see, the snow clouds obscured visibility to less than a mile in any direction

 

 Not so deep right?

 

 Another view of the eastern prairie I was riding

 

 Here's a glimpse of the housing that has been built nearby, the present state of the economy I suspect has halted further development of the prairie I was riding

 

I made it as far as that building in the background and along the fence line.  The wide stretch of snow on the horizon is the snow covered waters of the Aurora Reservoir.

Once at the reservoir's boundary, I turned Natasha around as I knew that to continue was to traverse dirt trails with high degrees of sideways sloping.  It's "interesting" on a good day with dry dirt under me, didn't want to chance it with snow adding to a slope's slipperiness.

I made my way back towards the Blackstone Country Club's fence line with no issues; though I did have to stand on the pegs at times when I'd hit unseen bumpy areas on the trail.  I was actually quite glad to get to this point since I knew I was close to pavement:

 

 Back to civilization

The snow was "painting" the entrance way into the Blackstone Country Club nicely and so I chose to pose Natasha along the bridge leading into the development:

About two hours of riding in the gently falling snow today.  I'll be riding some more later on as well.

Update: a couple of youtube videos from the afternoon riding.  I was practicing the use of my oldest son's video camera.

One way to check the underbody