[williswall]

I had visions of an epic day, biking from Longmire and skinning at least to 8 or 9000 feet, then the joys of all down hill. I've done something similar before, biking to Paradise then hiking to Muir, or biking to Paradise to my waiting truck and then skiing, but I've never tried to carry all my stuff solo. Turns out the added weight of skis and boots kind of kicked my ass, plus the logistics were interesting where I had to dress for both. In retrospect this kind of trip needs to be done in May, when the fricking gate doesn't open at 9:30...yup, cars lined up and they were still 30 minutes late opening the gate. The sign says "no hiking or skiing" but I didn't want to take the chance of a $125 ticket, which was discussed here before. So I lined up with the rest of the vehicles and proceeded up the hill, soon wondering why I was doing it. By the time I arrived at Paradise my legs were pretty shot, but I secured my bike to a post and headed up the hill. I was determined to at least hit Pan Point and managed to get good practice in skinning up that face without losing a ski or falling down, both of which I have done in the past. As I skied down on grabby snow (but not awful) I chuckled at the amount of work I had to do for such little vertical. As I was packing up for the downhill bike, a nice couple offered to give me a ride to Longmire (must have seen the pain on my face) but I thanked them and told them that was the best part. I experimented with a different GoPro mount with less than desirable results....boot mounted for ski and leg and arm mounted for biking. Turns out that the chest mount is best for both of these, giving something in the foreground for perspective but capturing the terrain whizzing by. Anyhows, I will probably return in a few weeks and try this again, or at least after they keep the gate open, to see if I can manage some decent vertical without being knackered. Yeah, I know it's a lot easier to just drive to Paradise but biking prolonged this fantastic day, not too hot or cold, just perfect for both endeavors.

below Pan Point

bike shot from arm

Mt Adams

Pan Point

securing the steed

DCIM\145GOPRO

ski still from boot

Tatoosh Range

waiting for gate1

[Frodo Barefoot]

I actually think it's really cool that you ride your bike there. I remember your last post about it and thought it was cool then too.

[iron]

have you tried mounting your gopro to the bike? i'm curious as to a good method. i bought some knockoff gopros last year in an attempt to provide documentation for the next time a car hits me while bike commuting. i have one for the front and one for the back. just need to mount them.... thought about on the helmet for both so i can easily take them in to work to charge, but we'll see if that works.

[williswall]

[iron]

yeah, problem is there's already a front light and back light. i don't want my head to snap off...

[reststep]

Thanks for the report. Do you have a picture of the bicycle loaded up with the skis and everything?

[williswall]

Iron, in that case you can mount the forward one on your handlebars and the rear one on your seat post. Especially if recording in "tall/960" this will give you all angle coverage for left and right traffic. Reststep, I carried everything except my boots on my pack, which you can see in this sorta reflection and the shadow shot. The boots I carried in my saddlebag, along with some repair stuff and the lock.

DCIM\145GOPRO

bike shot from arm

securing the steed

An interesting side note, I was talking to a Bavarian lady, probably in her 70s, that said she used to bike 50 miles with skis attached to the bike, do their skiing, then bike back...she said this was the cheap way in the 50s when she had little money. Then she proceeded to snowshoe away, I saw her again at Pan Point. Very cool.

[bobbi]

awesome as always...way to mix things up!