Biking Tow Hill

We've been to town a few times recently, and it seems like there's almost NO snow there. Come on out to Stormstown if you still want to see snow and some really truly ultra-icy driveways and lanes!

It was morning, and the online weather radar appeared to show some big rains coming. So I quickly went out and got on my bike, carefully crab-walked it and myself to the end of our slick driveway, and headed up Tow Hill for some exercise and fresh air before the precipitation, which looked like it would begin by 9:30. 

I even tucked my sunflower umbrella into the pocket of my daysack, almost HOPING I would have to ride my bike back down Tow Hill in the rain while holding my umbrella over me; oh my, if only I could get a PHOTO of that. You know I'm a rain lover. Come on: bring it!

However, as it turns out, my quick response wasn't actually needed, though you couldn't have proven that to me at the time. The showers sort of parted, and dried up, and went around us. Over the course of the whole day, we only got a mealy-mouthed drizzle or two; that's all. Not enough to melt the everlasting ice on the driveway.

But I did get out rather early, and it was a nice ride. I am not a FAST rider, mind you; I'm more one of those "stop-every-three-minutes-to-look-at-stuff" kinds of riders. I parked and looked at every icy driveway, and of course, I fondled the decorative grasses (see extra photo here) at the top. Ha ha! Just try and stop me!

I went all the way up and surveyed the access road to the Scotia Barrens parking lot. It was a frozen, scary, white piece of slippery, treacherous, icy hell. I know people sometimes do ride bike on stuff like that, but that seems foolish and appalling to me. 

So I turned around and came back down. Here is a photo of my bike, parked in the middle of the road on Tow Hill, just before I hopped on it and went flying down the hill toward home!

A quick piece of helpful advice: If you are going to the woods planning to go hiking, access roads and parking lots may not be in very good shape, and you may encounter a fair amount of ice still in the woods. Wear decent, grippy treads, and be prepared to do the crab-walk if you want to avoid a bad fall.

Our soundtrack song is the Pretenders, with Middle of the Road.