Baby, It's COLD Outside!

OK, 7 degrees is not all that cold. However, combine it with a strong West wind, and Baby, it's cold outside. Trust me, Laura does not at all resemble the picture above - that's just what you look like when you finish a 9 mile trail run with the final 3/4 of a mile directly into the wind! Think of pictures of people cryogenically frozen. Notice the frost on her cheeks and by her ears.

Eight of us showed up for a brisk little trail run/ride, including the five rookies in the MOO Crew (IMOO-07). The only MOO Crew member missing was our IM veteran Dennis, who was most likely out doing a 20 miler... This morning we had Pam, Laura, Ken, Gil, Scott, Tom F., Tom R. and me.

Once we left the Swallow Cliff parking lot, and got on the trail out of the wind, the run was actually pleasant. Although, we did notice that the snow cover from last week had diminished quite a bit, and there were large patches of very slick ice. And yes, I will admit that I took a fall running on the ice (surprising that there aren't pictures though :-).

Towards the end of the loop, we decided to run down to the creek crossing to see if we could cross. While the water level was down a bit, it was still not crossable. So MacGyver Scott and MacGyver Tom R. decided to build a make-shift bridge. MacGyver Tom made it to within 2 feet of crossing the creek without getting wet, but went into the water with both feet. MacGyver Scott, obviously thinking that something went wrong with Tom's technique and not the bridge, also went into the water. The rest of us, being capable of deductive reasoning, left those two to fend for their own frozen selves and detoured back to the main parking lot.

The bike ride, was icy. Very ICY. It was also cold. Most of us felt satisfied with a single loop, but the two studs of the group, Ken and Tom, headed out for a second loop as we retired to the local warming hut (Starbucks).

Somewhere under there is Pam (with a big smile on her face).

A group of people with warm hearts - because everything else is eff-ing COLD.

SAFETY UPDATE:
Tom was well protected this week - Which was lucky because he had this freakishly rare spill. Notice the sheet of ice underneath Tom - it's as smooth as a skating rink!

Off Road Fun and Safety Lessons

With all of the rain and mud lately, we had been banned to Waterfall Glen for several weeks. But now the ground is frozen (finally) and we have a little bit of snow. So you know what that means? Off-road fun on the Swallow Cliff trails. We had a small, but dedicated group this morning: Tom, Ken, Dennis (our own version of Dean Karnazes), me and... Gerry!!!

As usual, we ran the first 8 mile loop. The trail was in pretty good condition, but there were a lot places with very slick ice under the snow. Apparently, with all of the previous rain, the puddles froze solid and then were covered from last nights snow. We were a little nervous how this would effect the trail riding. Towards the end of the first loop we also discovered some changes at the big creek crossing. The rope bridge had been cut down, the makeshift tree bridge was gone and the big arch tree bridge was gone. There was no way across, so we took the road detour back to the trailhead.

After the run we headed out on the mountain bikes, using a modified route to avoid the deep creek crossing. We had enough shin-deep water crossings the previous two weeks (man those are cold when it is below freezing). The trail was actually better for riding than it was for running. There was just enough snow to provide traction over the slick ice, We stopped at the cars after the first loop and we couldn't find Gerry. So Ken and I took off in one direction and Tom went in the other. Towards the end of the second loop we met up with Tom (who had found Gerry, or Gerry found Tom...). Take a look a these pictures and find what's missing.





That's right - Tom went out on the second loop without his helmet. And you know what we call people who ride without helmets don't you? Thats right - Organ Donors. Tom, have you signed your drivers license? But not to worry, Tom is an excellent bike handler and NEVER goes down... The picture below was taken less than 60 seconds after these pictures were taken.



And yes, once again Tom escaped injury!

As a refresher, here are some previous pictures of Tom:





And then there was the little spill on the ice covered bridge last week at Waterfall Glen (and me without my camera).

So in review, don't be a "Topless Tom"