Ever since getting my WR450F I’ve had my eye a snow bike conversion kit for it.  However, it’s quite a bit of $$ to get one without ever trying it out.  So, somewhere in the midst of my internet research, I came across a KSL ad for a snow bike rental.  It was perfect; new bikes with the latest 2018 ARO long track kits, all for a good deal and exactly what I was looking for.  I booked a bike back in December and picked a weekend in February thinking for sure we’d have good snow by then.  Somewhere along the way, my friend James decided that he would rent one of the bikes as well as opposed to hauling his sled down here, and he asked if we could slip the trip by a week.  Well, that made all the difference.  We were in full on spring weather the week we originally planned to go.  Temps were in the 50’s in the day, the tulips were blooming, and there was basically no snow below 9000 feet.  Then, all of a sudden Mr. Winter decided to wake up and we got pelted for a week.  We actually had to shovel our driveway for the 2nd and 3rd time this season.  All of a sudden things were looking pretty good for our snow bike trip.

The day finally came around and I picked up the bikes and met up with James in Heber.  We took off towards Strawberry Reservoir and started climbing up the canyon.  Things still didn’t look great, even at the parking lot.  There was like an inch of snow was all.  However, once we got on the bikes and gained a couple hundred feet of elevation, things started to look better real quick.  It turned out to be the perfect day for the snow bikes.  Probably the best day of the year.  Up at elevation, there was around 2 feet of soft sugar snow on top of a heavy base.  The snow bikes, or Timbersleds, were in their element.  We were able to side hill like a boss, weave between the trees, tackle hill climbs, and just romp all around.  We were able to get to a lot of places that would be very difficult, or impossible to get on a snowmobile, all with very little effort.  I was really glad that James was on a bike instead of his sled.  It just made it that much more fun, and it was great that we could get to wherever the other person was if we got stuck or needed help.

The bikes do have their limitations.  Really, they could use some more power.  In the deep stuff, we were almost always running at full throttle.  They were also a bit of work to ride on the hard packed trail up to the mountain.  Riding in the parking lot was the most tricky of all.  Also, the seat in nice and stiff, not a nice cushy seat like on a snowmobile.

I think the biggest plus these bikes have over a snowmobile is just how easy they are to ride and how effortless they are to ride in deep powder and on the sidehills.  I was in hundreds of situations that would have resulted in getting badly stuck on a sled where on the bike I could just ride right through no problem.  And you just don’t have to work very hard at it.  You don’t muscle the bike around like you do on a sled.  You just ride it.  One day on the snow bike and we were going places that would take years of practice on a sled.  I do think that it helps that the dirt bike experience almost directly transferred over to the snowbike.  I don’t believe the same is true for quads to snowmobiles.

Anyway, it was an awesome experience.  I don’t think I’ll be buying a conversion kit anytime soon, but I do intend to rent the bikes again next year.  Also, if anyone would like to try them out, reach out to Mark at Ride Rentals.  http://utriderentals.com/.  He was great to work with.  I highly recommend.

I think this shot of our GPS tracks gives the best idea of just how much fun we had.

We’ve sure had a warm January.  It’s felt a lot like Spring.  We weren’t the only ones a little confused when Winter didn’t really come back from Winter break.  There were birds out chirping, the tulips started sprouting, and the bugs started hatching.  However, sure enough, winter did come back from break and we got a nice dumping of snow and we’re back to feeling like winter again.  Here are some fun happenings worth noting.

This is Eliza’s first person drawing, completely on her own and unsolicited and unprompted.  We were so proud of her!

Ashley has been making huge progress on her letters.  She will sing through the alphabet to figure out what letters she’s missing and then fill them in.  She did all of these all on her own, again unsolicited and unprompted.

Eliza and Kathryn got to visit me at work for some Greek-n-Go grub.

These girls were so cute in church.  We had to stop and grab some pictures of them in the gym.

Eliza just being here spunky little self.

Ashley being a fantastic helper.  Once Ashley got out there and opened the coop, she discovered that Whitey was busy laying eggs.  She talked to her for a little bit and then headed back in.

We had a great weekend celebrating Kathryn’s birthday. Thanks Tim and Suzanne for watching the girls while we partied! Kathryn’s birthday party song.

Ashley and Eliza built a rocket ship!

December was a record short month.  The time just flew by.  Here are some of the highlights.  The pictures speak for themselves.

Ornament decorating

Heber Creeper North Pole Express

Hawker holiday party

Christmas up in Idaho

I got this Knex Big Ball Factory when I was a kid.  We actually found the home movie where I opened it which was pretty cool.  Lots of people pitched in to help build it and it was a blast.  Mom said it felt like someone snuck in and opened up a present when we were working on it the day before Christmas.  The kids spent several hours entertained by it watching it go.  Pulling it out and building it was everything I hoped it would be and more.  It was like getting it all over again.  The sound of the balls going down the different tracks brought back so many memories of childhood.

Kathryn organized a caroling group here with the jingle bells we got from Santa on the North Pole Express.

Christmas Eve candle light dinner.

Dad reading from the scriptures.  Adding in some sections from the Book of Mormon was fun.

Christmas morning

Eliza was so excited by the bear in her stocking she didn’t even bother to take it out!

We enjoyed some great musical performances.

Visit up to the Petersons.  We really wished we lived closer together.  It was so much fun to go see them.

New Year’s Eve party!

Happy 2018!

This year I’ve been having a lot of fun with the dirt bike.  I’ve been on quite a few really great rides, plus I got the WR450F this spring.  I’ve wanted to get a steering stabilizer for a long time now, and I decided to ask for one for my birthday.   We encouraged anyone who wanted to to get a present to contribute cash towards the purchase.  The prize for the most creative way to give cash definitely goes to Kathryn’s siblings.  They got a paper treasure chest and packet it full of $1 bills and the max number of quarters you can take to the bank without having to pay a wrapping fee (we have a banker in the family).

December has been uncharacteristically warm this year, and I took advantage of a really nice short sleeve Saturday to install the stabilizer on my bike.  It was a good size job and took a couple hours.  With the stabilizer installed, I really wanted to get out on a ride and try it out.  After a couple of people had to change their plans and couldn’t make it, I was worried the ride wasn’t going to happen.  However, we made a last minute audible and decided that Kathryn would come down with me.  Should’ve thought of that a lot sooner!  Bethany was awesome and came and watched the girls.  We packed the atv and the bike on the trailer.  Together, they took up 100% of the space on the trailer, but they fit and that’s the important thing.   Then we headed down to the dunes.  It was such a nice afternoon down there.  So peaceful and quiet, and we just had a blast.

The steering stabilizer worked great.  I can’t wait to take it out one some more rides, especially those rocky trails up in the mountains.  Thanks to everyone who pitched in for the present.  This was a great birthday all around.