When Your Day Goes To Shit!

By Jason Snow

BEEP BEEP BEEP…5:30 AM, my alarm clock goes off. Today we’re riding the Taylor’s Brook Road (TBR) region and as you can imagine, I’m a just a little excited. This isn’t a region that I ride frequently so I’m always super stoked to explore a new area and today was no different. I quickly jump out of bed, shower and then wake up the little monsters…sorry, I mean kids! The only way I get to ride during the week is if I get up extra early, trying extremely hard to avoid my wife who’s already crooked and a little jealous that I’m going to be riding while she’s at work and help prepare the kids for school and then drop them off in Pasadena before I venture out. Today was no different, except that we awoke to a snow storm…GREAT (this is where the enthusiasm starts to die). I figure it’ll burn off because there was nothing forecasted for today so I push on. As I get closer to Pasadena, I receive a call from my frantic wife who’s only a kilometre ahead of me and she’s yelling about blizzard conditions! To make matters worse, her windshield wiper has blown off and now she has pulled over to the side of the TCH and I’m expected to pull up and perform some miracle…

YES, DEAR! I bite my tongue, knowing full well that any resistance here will not end well for me and pull up behind her with my trailer in tow. With zero visibility conditions and morning commuter traffic, that she wouldn’t dare venture into, I’m expected to find her missing wiper. Remembering that I’ll soon be on my sled, I get out and begin searching the highway, VRRROOM, VRRROOM, VRRROOM…with near zero visibility there are vehicles just whizzing by me and I’m sure they all think I’m nuts…thankfully, I’m wearing bright colors but in the back of my mind I start to wonder just how jealous my wife really is and if that wiper really came off on its own…lol

To my amazement I actually find the wiper, re-attach it and send her on her way…WHEW crisis adverted! I quickly drop the kids at school, gas up and then b-line it straight for Taylor’s Brook Road where my buddies are waiting. Upon arriving the skies are starting to clear and there’s potential for a blue bird day, I can feel the optimism returning! We quickly unload the sleds, gear up and head out. I guess Mother Nature had been talking to my wife because as quickly as the skies had cleared, they clouded over and the snow began. Right on que, the winds picked up, the temperature plunged and within no time we were right back into blizzard conditions. Holding tightly to that optimism we kept going and going and going! 50 kms later we happened upon a little shack along the trail and decided to take a break in hopes that Mother Nature would show some mercy. Unfortunately, she wasn’t going to cooperate…these women really do stick together!! Regardless, after an hour of waiting around and stubborn as mules we decide to push on in hopes of finding a valley where we might get under the weather. Another 15-20 kms further in the trail and we find just such an area so we start playing around in the trees while picking our way down to a pond. Desperate at this point, everyone breaks out onto the pond and starts boondocking through the fresh powder…WOOOOHOOOO……SMACK! I see snow, then sky, then trees and all of a sudden I’m under my sled and not really sure what just happened! I push the sled off and get up knowing full well that this can’t be good. I look the sled over, re-adjust the handle bars, hand guards, gps and pray to God that nobody just seen that! 

This is where my day really went south! After looking over my sled I realized that I had just sacrificed an A-Arm to the early season powder all because Mr. Rock thought I was having too much fun and decided to jump out in front of me…again, I’m convinced that wifey had something to do with this too! Fortunately, it wasn’t broken completely and it was still rideable. My day was over but guess what… the skies cleared once again, the wind died off a little and the friggin sun actually came out! Wifey’s not happy now I knows! Anyway, not wanting to ruin the day for everyone, I tell my buddies to stay and play, enjoy themselves as I would be fine picking my way back to the truck! They were reluctant but I eventually convince them and then I began the ride of shame back to the truck.

Now at this point, I know exactly what you’re thinking, count your blessings that it’s only a broken A-Arm and go home…I agree…but…that wasn’t the end of my day unfortunately. By this time the temperature had dropped to a minus 20 or better and the slow ride back was getting colder. Unbeknownst to me, my hands had become mildly frost bitten by the time I finally reached the truck so this discovery was not a welcomed surprise either. I finally get the sled up the ramp and into my trailer, not as easy with a broken A-Arm but I manage. Relieved and defeated, I start removing my gear and go to unlock my truck to store everything away…NOTHING! The key fob is frozen and won’t work! GREAT, like I needed something else to go wrong on this day! Luckily, I have the physical key as well so I unlock the door manually…BARMP, BARMP, BARMP, BARMP…now the security alarm is going off and the truck won’t start! It takes me a few minutes, placing the key fob in areas I won’t mention, to try and warm it up enough that the truck recognizes it! After what seemed like an eternity the truck finally announces that the key has been detected, the alarm stops and the truck starts. As you can probably imagine, with all the ruckus, I’ve acquired quite the audience. There are people up in their cabin windows and clambering to get dressed and come to my aid or perhaps to tackle a would-be thief…I don’t know which but I didn’t stick around long enough to find out. I jumped in the truck, flinging my gear anywhere it would go and high tailed it out of there.

Let’s just say that TBR did not leave a good impression and this is a day I soon hope to forget.  However, for all the things that did go wrong on this day, upon reflection, I quickly realized there are folks in the world with real problems.  My broken A-Arm was replaced with a new set of Trenchers A-Arms and I’ll get to ride soon enough…maybe this time, the Wifey will join me too.