Bunce School Road

It is now 2011 and the annual Rocky Mountain Rock Hoppers New Years Day Ride at Bunce School Road was a blast to say the least. This is winter ATV riding and we were expecting a cold ride with temperatures in the teens. I was the first to arrive at the staging area and was wondering if any others were going to show because it was a brisk 2° F at 9:00am when I pulled up.

By 9:45am twelve other riders had showed up, unloaded and were ready to ride. Bunce School Road is normally a very simple ride but add some snow and it gets real fun. The trail gets its name from the old Bunce School house built in 1888 still standing in Boulder County, Colorado.

This year there was not that much snow, only about 4 inches with some drifts in some parts but it was the temperature that produced the most challenge. I did not have time to install my heated grips so I made due with my ATV Mitts, some new mittens with hand warmers in each. My thumbs would get cold but my fingers stayed warm, so each time we stopped I had time to warm my thumbs with the hand warmers.

Some of the other riders only had gloves on and that did not work out very well as most of them cut the ride short and went back to the staging area. I believe the ATV mitts really helped because the wind chill temperature was below -10° F and I don’t think the mittens with hand warmers alone would have been effective.

Due to the lack of snow we were able to cover the whole area in a couple of hours. We did, or I should say I did manage to find a snow drift to get stuck in, twice! After getting winched out the second time we all were able to blaze right through the drift and continue on the ride.

After some of the riders went back to the staging area due to the cold the remaining eight of us were able to ride at a faster pace, power sliding through most of the corners, climbed some hills and played on some rocks. Tooo Much Fun!

We got back to the staging area about 1:00pm. By this time the wind was really blowing and the temperature was still where it was when we arrived, 2° F. Even with the cold I had a great time and wished there was more trails to ride.

This area is usually crowded with 4×4 rig, ATVs and dirtbikes but not this day as we did not see anyone else on the trails, don’t figure. I guess there is something to say about a group of people who would challenge sub zero temperatures for the chance to ride and embrace the sport they have all learned to love so well…. Insane!

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