What a weird time to be alive. I've been sitting at home for what feels like forever (actually just over a week), things have been pretty quiet outside, no school, low traffic, people trying to avoid each other and, of course, ... shortages of toilet paper.
Anyway, the last weekend I had a long-planned trip to Vermont and at first I questioned whether I should still go. I would be spending 2 full days in a group of 10 people after all - and that's maybe not the best idea in times of social distancing. But then, I thought that since most of these people would be from rural Vermont and I likely have a higher chance of catching any illness by just going to my local grocery store, I decided it should be safe to go.
The "2020 Eira Experience" organized by Analog Cycles, was originally planned as a fatbike ride through the snowy Green Mountains of Vermont. However, since this winter has been unusually warm, there was no snow left, not counting a few frozen patches deep in the forest. We did face plenty of very mushy mud though and some flooded trails.
Since I don't own a fatbike, I decided to rent one and generally, it worked great. We rolled through some soggy snowmobile trails and often (ok, way too often), we pushed bikes uphill. Basically, it was lots of pushing and crawling.
We ate tacos, shared stories, drank bourbon laced with maple syrup and sat by the fire. (Plus some of us decided to consume mezcal grubs for a midnight snack.)
The next day morning was noticeably colder, with only 23F (-5C) outside. We had breakfast, slowly packed up and head back to the shop. It was a great way to break up this winter, even though it unfortunately had to happen in the middle of virus outbreak.
Let the warmer days arrive.
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