A Quiet Sunday Ride in the Country...

We're in the throes of the first major blizzard of this Winter, Storm Rocky, kind of a silly name but then again the one before that was "Q".

We woke to about 2-3 inches of snow in my neighborhood, I went out after breakfast to do some snow-blowing or what my youngest son Miles referred to as a "snow job".  I got to talk to him about colloquialisms one of these days.

Job done, there was already a 1/2 inch of snow where I had cleared the earlier snow!  Oh well, it was time to go riding of course.  I geared up and motored out of my neighborhood on Valencia, my 2011 Ural Patrol Sidecar Rig.  First it was a brief cruise through the neighborhood to gauge conditions, traction was fine though the snow was still falling and causing slight visibility issues for me and the gopro camera.

I rode out to Smoky Hill Road and eventually ended up in the ranching neighborhoods off of Piney Lake Road and Bronco Road.  This is the same neighborhood where I went for a lunchtime ride this past Thursday, I was curious to see how the additional snow had affected conditions.

As you can see in the pictures above, the roads had a lovely amount of snow, perhaps 3-4 inches tops, and I only had to engage the 2WD on the steeper parts of the road due to the pusher tire slipping without the help of the driven sidecar wheel.

I wandered all about this neighborhood and soon it was time to go back towards my home neighboords.  The streets were slushy in spots but mostly snow-packed.  The plows were having trouble keeping up with the falling snow, which by now had gotten stronger and the winds had increased as well.

I got to the rear parking areas of the local High School eventually and practiced some donuts, you knew I was going to, didn't you?  You definitely need to engage the 2WD, otherwise all you end up doing is some wide sliding.

Fun over with, I headed on back home, arriving just before lunch with no issues.  Some cars on the road but not too many, saw one pickup truck that just kept fishtailing on the turns, he was the only one seemingly not able to handle the snow.

Here's a movie of my ride through the neighborhood, the ranching neighbood, the ride to the high school and the donuts, and finally the ride back home.  I hope you like it.

 Nearing my home neighborhood

 Home again, safe and sound

 Check out the icicles emanating from the hub...


Previously: Snowy Lunchtime Ride