2 Much Snow 2 Ride; What 2 Do?

[Alcan Rider]

Originally Posted by HayDuchessLives

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I'm sure one of my adopted-dads, Alcan Rider, will roll his eyes after viewing this display of creative humor. He seems to laugh a lot when we ride together and jokes about how he doesn't know what to expect next when he takes me out in public. It good to keep him on his toes! ]

Who are you? Not anyone I know (I fervently hope).

Come to think of it, if you're the ditzy blonde (I know, redundant) who thinks DR's are good bikes, that's all the explanation necessary.

[HayDuchessLives]

Although I can't ride my lovely DR in the winter, I can still spend a little quality time with her. For example, she doubles as a saw horse, giving me a nice platform for hot-waxing my numerous skis.



I also spend time planning future road trips, including several long rides this summer and I enjoy looking at maps and atlases and dreaming of the upcoming riding season. My bike and I both drooled over the dozens of dirt roads that criss cross my home state of Wyoming, where we'll spend lots of my future vacations together, riding through the Rockies (and visiting family).



Like most grandmothers, I tend to wear out and need naps.



I'm darn determined to figure out a way to carry my skis on my bike so I can ride her to various trailheads and ski. One idea came to mind, about carrying my skis horizontally instead of vertically. Therefore I checked the width of my skis vs. the width of my SUV.



And then did a preliminary attachment of my skis to my bike.



With some modifications, it should work. If I can carry a bicycle on the back of my motorcycle, I should be able to carry skis! Grannies Gone Wild can be very determined and don't give up easily. Except when it's nap time.

[t6pilot]

Guess we shouldn't bitch here in SOCAL when it drops into the 60's burr

[marbee40]

Hay-D, you are one funny gal! My wife wanted to know why I was laughing. When I told her what your plate meant, she wasn't sure what to think.....It's hard to 'splain w/o introductions, so ya better come say hi at D2D!
Jim

[HayDuchessLives]

Uh oh... what now?

Well, yesterday’s snow storm pushed Anchorage’s snowfall this winter over the previous record. We’re now #1, having received over 11’ of snow. WOW! I’m HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY as this ski season has been fantastic, with countless days of great powder skiing.

Unfortunately, this latest snowfall further delayed my riding season, and once again I’m pondering “what to do” to alleviate my desire to ride. I bring baked goods on the few occasions I ride with other people, so I decided to take care of one of my favorite riding buddies, Alcan Rider, and make some fudge, which he super-duperly loves to eat.

A lot of people use “secret ingredients” in some of their favorite dishes, and I’m no exception. While sharing numerous meals with Alcan Rider, I noticed his odd habit of using tabasco sauce in his coffee. He’s very active and spry for his advanced chronological age, so I decided tabasco's hot spices must be his “secret” to living a long life, full of mental and physical vigor.

SHHHH!!!! Don’t tell him this, but I add tabasco sauce to his fudge and he said it’s some of the best fudge he’s ever tasted!




The secret is I don’t use just any tabasco/hot sauce. Since he rides a KLR, I use the “busted knuckle” brand, as it pertains to mechanical expertise, which he needs.




Alcan Rider has been kind enough to escort me on various rides, including the Dalton Highway twice, Manley Hot Springs, McCarthy, and the road into Denali National Park. (I’m beginning to think he likes riding with me for the sheer enjoyment factor of having somebody who poses for goofy photos, including pretending to jump off a bridge....) Anyway, along with providing escort services, he has also become a valued mentor, providing a wealth of useful advice. I made a special sign for Alcan Rider.



Since the term “escort services” may be misleading, I crossed it out and put “advice.” If there are any single ladies riding up to Alaska this summer who could use some of the most entertaining and knowledgable escort service Alaska has to offer, bring, or purchase, fudge to bribe Alcan Rider with! You’ll have to fight off his main squeeze Maggie, but she can be bought off with lots of Cheetos.

Alcan Rider invited me to ride with him down to an Iron Butt meeting in Colorado, where he’s one of the exalted speakers. He suggested I think about preparing for an Iron Butt ride beforehand, so I can attempt to get an Iron Butt designation on our ride down. He mentioned the terms Iron Butt, saddle sore, 24 hours and bun burner. Bun burner? Yikes! I have no idea how to safely prepare for a iron butt bun burner, but "blonde logic" said this might be a good way to prepare for a painful iron butt ride.



I couldn’t bear to watch as the iron descended on my butt, in preparation for the "bun burner." Ouch!



While I used to enjoy doing the Buns of Steel workout, I don’t think an Iron Butt Bun Burner designation is in my future.

(I wonder if Alcan Rider will offer to escort me back to Alaska after we ride to the Lower 48? He may just leave me and my lovely bike down there, far, far away ..... )

[Alcan Rider]

I think I need to talk to your Doc about the meds he's been prescribing for you.

Or have you been getting your "prescriptions" filled at the unregistered pharmacy down on Fourth Avenue?

Now I'm beginning to figure out why that fudge is addictive.

[AK_Troyer]

Originally Posted by HayDuchessLives

And then did a preliminary attachment of my skis to my bike.



With some modifications, it should work. If I can carry a bicycle on the back of my motorcycle, I should be able to carry skis! Grannies Gone Wild can be very determined and don't give up easily. Except when it's nap time.

I wouldn't carry my skis like this...could snag on something. Try running one ski and pole up each side of the bike, so the tips/baskets stick up and out the back. Your legs go over the skis, behind the bindings. Too bad you don't have crash bars to strap the tails to...maybe a strap around the gas tank?

[Alcan Rider]

Originally Posted by AK_Troyer

I wouldn't carry my skis like this...could snag on something. Try running one ski and pole up each side of the bike, so the tips/baskets stick up and out the back. Your legs go over the skis, behind the bindings. Too bad you don't have crash bars to strap the tails to...maybe a strap around the gas tank?

She wasn't serious about carrying them that way. Despite that fact that she's blonde and applies her "blonde logic" to many situations, she's really not that...

On second thought, maybe it's a good thing you pointed that out to her.

[Rackemcrackem]

HayDuchess,

If lashed securely to your DR, those skis might make excellent tip-over bars. Many grannies might find it easier to pick up a bike that is only tipped over 20 or 30 degrees from vertical!

Of course, lane splitting could get a little tricky. Depending on the flexibility of your skis and the speed of your bike, you might get sort of a reverse slingshot effect, a little like having a reverse gear on a Goldwing but with much less rider control!

[ADVBMR]

If I'm not mistaken, you have to keep the iron in place for 36 hours for the Butt Burner.

[beamertwin]

HD....me thinks those skies make your back end look wide....nothing a Corbin couldn't fix though.

[HayDuchessLives]

We still have LOTS of snow in the mountains, so I'm enjoying backcountry skiing while I still can, neglecting my poor motorcycle. Today we skied back towards Williwaw Lakes, in the Middle Fork Valley, enjoying lots of warm sunshine. It was so warm we didn't need to wear multiple layers of clothing. I'm proudly wearing one of my "Grannies Gone Wild" shirts.



Williwaw Peak (5,445' elevation) is in the center background. I've climbed that mountain before!

While we stopped for lunch I got my daring descent device out and slid down a boring "bunny" slope a couple of times.



This slope is definitely more mild than what I usually descend and the snow was slow (kind of like Geezerly slow), so I decided to head on up the valley to find steeper slopes to get my adrenaline flowing. At this point my friends turned around, but I continued skiing up the valley to cross Williwaw Lakes and head up to the pass on the left of the photo.



I skied partway up the pass, but used my skis to descend instead of my sled. It was pretty fast!

I think it's about time to change the oil in my bike as I might get her out for a quick spin on Sunday, depending on how long I go skiing again....

P.S. Jack: yes, it's time to get my medications checked. I totally agree.
BeamerTwin: I do have a new Corbin seat and panniers to hopefully make my rearend look smaller.
Skis: I was joking about carrying my skis horizontally. They'll have to go vertically, probably in a pack, or horizontally in my friends' cars and I'll just ride my bike to the trailhead and unload my skis from their car.