Snow Daze
by Walter Skrzypek
Well, 2005-2006 winter amounted to few heavy snow days and therefore left me to ponder hanging up the cross country skis as early as January and getting out the fixie again. The Dawes was eager to break out of the basement...show off her new decals on the downtube and the headbadge re-mounted again. Yep, I mounted up the decals that I got from Nick at Lloyds in England...great place if you ever need decals or other vintage rarities to class up your bike. So I put on some nice looking Dawes script decals that match the 50s Red Feather original design...pretty! and I remounted that Dawes headbadge and she looks great...gotta love her. The weather has been strange this year...I have even managed to ride my motorcycle in every month throughout winter at least once or twice due to some strangely warmer days.
So I head into the cold day, barely an inch or so of snow...into the realm of winter I go. The Dawes has always been such a solid performer for me...like a trusting relative you can count on in times of need...you know...like mom or dad were reliable to kick you 3 dollars of lunch...always reliable. always tracked so well no matter what type of abuse I dished out to her. The 27 inch wheels have always been an awesome match for the frame, working in perfect unison...together with all the parts...it is just SOLID.
I head into the woods nearby to hit the fields near my home. The trail is a bit choppy from the freezing/thawing cycle. It takes some good effort to keep rolling along the dips and bumps...and crossing each puddle that normally has a rock solid bottom in the summer...you know the type. you can buzz the puddles and get soaked but it is solid...no mud and no muck...now...they are solid on top. ICE. So it takes a steady steering hand to keep from jostling about and pitching yourself into the ground...or worse yet the fragile ice. It's a fun ride that is challenging...you keep your balance and agility tuned and you get a work out all the while.
Once you clear the puddles you have a gentle incline to tip off and then to the fields you go...the speeds you can crank out on your way to the fields are awesome. It is flat...solid ground...it is an old farm road no longer used. barricaded off and shielded from any traffic. You can crank along so fast and steady and you can see the light of day closing in from the forest shadow as you go through the wooded tunnel and pop out into the wide open field...the road leading into the field is shielded by trees and therefore has very little snow cover...the field has drifted areas of depth and snow in various degrees of inches throughout...so in one place you can fly....another you hit and push hard to clear. Always a blast to keep the burn on in your legs.
Now comes the really fun part of the field loops...the wicked downhill, level, then turn...the turns are handled in the snow in a way that is only duplicated when you were a child...locking up the rear brakes on your bicycle as you wiggled your rear tire back and forth leaving black traces trailing your every path...the field corner is much the same....lock up the rear of the fixie and just kick that rear of the bike around and start pedaling again...each lap gets more interesting...because each lap is long, about 3/4 miles loop, you start to get more and more tired...the terrain varies with lots of climbing on the up portion...then the blast to fun on the flat and down portion...each time you hit the corner...the snow and surface seems to change...leaving it a mystery.
I find myself, even though I am tiring, pushing harder and harder each lap to try and top the last lap...my breathing gets faster, deeper, I feel the burn more each time in my legs and lungs. Exhaustion starts to kick in until finally I slide out in the corners lying there laughing to myself and yelling it up. What a rush. I don't need no alcohol...I don't need no drugs...just give me a few runs more and I will be enjoying that Biker's High that I remember always feeling when racing...without the competition...it is pure heavan! Pure Enjoyment. Finally pedaling homeward...the chill is no longer there...your mind is in an "ease" state...just hovering there...enjoying the solitude of life around you...the silence of the trees...the gentleness of the breeze....you enter into your own Snow Daze!