Winter brings a nice new dynamic to riding in general. Fat biking is probably my most favorite type of riding so I’m anxiously waiting for the snow to arrive & pack.
In the meantime, gravel is still good and offers a nice change to the scenery.
Partly through my usual weekend loop I decided to deviate and (naively?) see what Marlboro had to offer.
With limited snow and frozen conditions I figured this would be as good at it gets for the year (apart from late summer when it’s dry and mosquitos are limited).
The first part of the trail had some freshly broken ice. The ATVs were out in force making sure this soon-to-be skidoo trail was well marked. While there was a LOT of water in Marlboro, this was the most difficult passage.
Pretty much all of the other parts of the forest were frozen over.
Shiny & smooth = bad! Frosty & white = smooth sailing.
After a bit I popped back out onto a familiar section of gravel.
The gravel didn’t last long, continuing on my adventurous theme I was back in forest within a kilometer.
This southern portion was quite a bit drier, or at least the routes leveraged higher lines.
Having said that, there were a couple of big ponds back there.
The last part of my loop I took an unmaintained road which ‘connects’ Paden Road to McMullen road – effectively bypassing Cowell Rd. Despite the favorable frozen conditions this route was pretty slow and not something I’ll be adding to my future rides.
All this exploration was nice to see but NOT something I recommend adding to rides in this region. It’s pretty safe to say that Marlboro Forest should not be included in any gravel rides regardless of the time of year.