It's cold outside right now. Really cold. The kind of cold that, regardless of whatever "cold weather" gear I put on, pretty much limits any ride to just about an hour...which is about how long it takes my toes to freeze. Once my toes freeze...I'm done riding. I usually go riding once or twice during the week between Christmas and New Year's Day. This week I managed to ride three days in a row. Three extremely cold days...and three very cool rides!
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| Wrapping up a super cool urban mountain bike ride in the city of York, PA. -- December 26, 2017 |
On Tuesday morning I sent Mark a text to see if he wanted to take a cold ride. He suggested that I meet him at his house in York City for an "urban" ride. What I was treated to was a ten mile ride zipping in and out of the city of York...which was split evenly between pavement and off road. I've lived in York County since 1995, but I've never seen the city from this perspective.
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| Mark Lentz and Dave Raymond on Old Farm Trail in Gifford Pinchot State Park. -- December 27, 2017 |
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| My Stumpjumper at the intersection of Ridge Trail and Old Farm Trail in Gifford Pinchot State Park. -- December 27, 2017 |
Yesterday, Mark and I pull on our cold weather gear for another ride. He suggested that we head over to Gifford Pinchot State Park. Again...I've lived here since 1995 and I've never mountain biked at Pinchot. I've always been told that the riding there was minimal and not worth the trip. Not the case at all...at least not yesterday. In a very cold hour of riding, Mark and I pedaled nearly eight miles of ultra cool single track. It was fast, fun, and so much more than I expected.
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| Cold fun on the Parkway Trails in Harrisburg, PA. Dave Raymond, Mike Alicea, and Brent Shirk. -- December 28, 2017 |
| Today, I had a planned ride with my neighbors Brent and Mike. We originally were going to head to Patapsco State Park in Maryland...but the extreme cold made this trip not practical. Instead, we took a twenty five minute drive up to Harrisburg to bike on the Parkway Trails. The air temperature was around 12 degrees when we began and peaked at a balmy 14 degrees by time we ended! We managed about seven total miles of riding before calling it quits. Those seven miles included some of my favorite trails on the Paxton Street side of the trails...PAX 1, 3, and 4. GoPro footage taken by Brent Shirk on PAX 1 -- December 28, 2017  |
| Mike Alicea, Brent Shirk, and Dave Raymond on the Parkway Trails in Harrisburg, PA. Toes are frozen and time to head home. -- December 28, 2017 |
Three very cold days...three very cool rides...with all of our toes intact. You can't ask for any more than that!
Life is a journey...not a destination.
David A. Raymond -- December 28, 2017
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| 14 degrees! It 14 degrees in Harrisburg, PA when we ended our ride. It takes a special kind of crazy to mountain bike when it is 14 degrees outside. -- December 28, 2017 |
Here are the GARMIN maps and data from the rides featured in this post...
Interested in biking or hiking some of the trails featured in this post? Check out the TRAIL MAPS and TRAIL HEADS tabs on the ALL TRAILS LEAD TO ICE CREAM website.
All of my posts are available at ALL TRAILS LEAD TO ICE CREAM and, if you get the chance, be sure to visit HIGHPEAKSHIKING.COM and
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