Twas a cold day in Colorado – After thinking nobody was going to show up at the Bus station, I was surprised to see over 20 people there!! All decked out in the proper attire for riding in 24 degree weather in Nederland – and the snow falling quite heavily. the Intergalactic Pilot with helmet and full Gore-Tex body suit, Brandon Dwight in what looks like a Japanese crossing guard's outfit – yellow helmet and all, Travis Brown, Greg Randolph (New Boulder convert!), Nathan "the Savage" Schultz, Scottie Daubert--the Trek team mechanic, Kurt "Top Pro" Perham–on the Fleet Streak (a clunker old Diamondback MTB with a slacker head tube than Joey Ramone and bars that came up to his chest), Jeremy Horgan Kobelski and Heather and Brian and Margell, Jon, Judd, etc, etc. just to name a few– all on singles.

We all started out at Annie's for breakfast after untangling our bikes from the bowels of the bus (we definitely hit maximum bike capacity!). At the bus stop were local Nedites Dan "the animal" Vardamis decked out in the best outfit of the day. He was the Wookie! Tail and all! With him were Dave "King NIMBY" Kingsbury, and Marcus "dada" Luscher--among others.   It seemed most were unwilling to sit and eat breakfast, even after a night like last night where (if you were there) you would've seen more top pros more than a little tipsy dancing the night away at SOMA till 2am. Anyway, Travis, Greg Randolph and myself sat and feasted on the most amazing breakfast – as the others derby'd in the dirt parking lot. (It's ok, we'd be fueled for many hours.) It's rumored a case of Bud and a bottle of Schnapps was imbibed before 9 am right there in that there parking lot as the snow came flowing down.

After a group picture, we started the ride. We start up Sugar Magnolia and make our way to the Habitrails. The trails were in such perfect condition that if you weren't there, you missed out SO badly it's sad! Twas a light dusting of snow on the ground, with the dirt semi-frozen to enhance grippage around corners. The ones who "know" had to venture first cause the trails were off-white compared to the surrounding white – therefore Kingsbury took the lead, and I helped out. There was much anticipation, for who was to attempt the deathstar bridge with snow abound? One must really stay on target to pull that off today! Well, The Pilot pulled the bridge in fine style – just look at his face, helmet and jacket! The Intergalactic Space Pilot led us then to bridge number two and safety stop number – well, I've lost count. Heather gets the award for the largest "ovaries" for the day from the women's side – she did ALL the bridges and wacky parts of the trail flawlessly!

Scottie decides to get warm by lighting his CO2 cartridge on fire (the ones with butane in 'em) and Scottie, The Pilot and myself warm our hands. Scottie then rides away with it still lit! It looked as if his ass were on fire! I don't even want to think what would happen if he let one go! Smokey wouldn't be too happy. We were wondering where the Fleet Streak was just about when Judd came flying over the bridge (and then over the bars) with the Fleet Streak up and over his head! That's about when we started wondering if the Fleet Streak was going to make it home. We keep riding the Habitrails, snow coming down a little harder now (true Ned ride form) and we head back down to the high school. At the high school, all start to wonder where Jon is – until we see him carting his bike--just built up--down the trail with a serious taco for a front wheel – fighter pilot down, must fuel up and repair at the local shop..we decide to stop and warm up at Happy Trails.

Happy Trails is the local bike shop and it's in an old abandoned train car with a wood-burning stove, lots of hot coffee, and the best Magic bars in the galaxy – a cross between pecan pie and a brownie. Sitting there, me and my shoes getting warm next to the fire, drinking hot coffee and looking outside at the weather, I really want to kick here for longer, you know, watch a movie, eat cookies, etc. But no, this is the IGSSC and we must rallyŠfor we are OFS'ers YFP-and we have another 3 hours until we get back to Boulder and it's already 12:30!

After getting warm, we depart for the Ridge Road galaxy.  The ultimate single speed experience-a close second to the Habitrails. Up and down, winding through Lodgepole pine and Aspen trees, floating over the newly fallen snow oh so quietly. We do a trail I call "Sex Mad" after one of my favorite NoMeansNo songs. It's a crazy trail that not many people know about--and I like it that way. We rally down that and end up at Switzerland Park where we wonder if the Fleet Streak and its pilot Kurt have made it through that treacherous trail – and yes, here he comes, seat bent back and all, no grips, and a huge smile. Classic I must say.

Now we must climb a few miles straight up to get the hell out of there. Yes, this was everybody's punishment/reward. (It was difficult to stay warm unless you were going uphill.) Yes, I was starting to see pekid looks on some people's faces – there was a "good" bailout point ahead where you could take the road (four letter word) back down to Boulder.  Yes, I knew it was to happen. I won't embarrass them by stating their names, but over three people bailed out before the grand finale of the day!

Yes, we were heading to the snow covered Arkansas Mountain where lay the infamous Espresso/Santa Cruz trails. To my knowledge, no soul has attempted this trail complex in this much snow-it's dangerous enough dry! All of our arms pumped from "Sex Mad" and climbing the long hill we just climbed – I knew we all would have difficulty holding onto the bars on Espresso.  I was the first to attempt this feat and the first to go down. My left hand was cold and my left arm was pumpedŠhence I flew over the bars from being behind my seat. Scottie, right behind me, was somehow able to stop before rear-ending me, thankfully. (I think Scottie was the only one to clear the whole trail by the way!) I know for myself that didn't happen, and I heard Randolph flew so far off the trail that it took him a good 10 minutes getting back to his bike that was still waiting for him on the trail! PURE COMEDY!

Needless to say, we were all covered in snow by the bottom of the trail. The Intergalactic Space pilot had some serious transmission problems at the bottom of Espresso – he had freewheel both directions! Natron the frickin Savage being the technological whiz that he is, figures he'll tinkle on the freewheel portion of The Pilot's drivetrain to make it work again – and guess what? It immediately starts to work again! Go figure?! Watch for this fix-it tip in Mountain Bike's 100 tips that don't suck.

Now with that fixed, we bomb down Santa Cruz where the last obstacle of the day lay – the Santa Cruz bridge covered in quite a few inches of snow.  Some walked the plank, most rode it-with the Intergalactic Space Pilot playing guinnea pig – and we headed to "Sanford and Sons", a trail that bypasses the private property ahead – this dude has Army Jeeps in his back yard! (Must be careful around these parts!) Sanford and Sons must be ridden with singing the tune to the TV program with a tap to the last hubcap on the tree at the end of the trail – nevermind if that makes no sense. Down a short stretch of road, we head for the bike path and home, frozen to the bone.