Today’s vocabulary example is a term I hadn’t heard of until recently. So to all of you that tink I am a know-it-all, well that just isn’t true! Even an old mountain biking codger like me can learn something new!

As with many old mountain biking terms, the root origins of the terms meanings are usually derrived from surfing or skiing. Such is the case with “Death Cookies”. It is a term originally used in skiing vernacular.

“Death cookies” refers to frozen chunks of snow left behind by ski grooming machines that can knock you down, or off line, as one skis down a ski slope. Many times mountain bikers can experience the same thing.

Many times you will see these “death cookies” sitting on the trail, or half buried in the dirt. Woodland mountain bikers may encounter the “death cookie” at unawares due to their being covered by leaves. Always an exciting encounter! At any rate, these little obstacles can and do knock you off your line, or even cause you to “lawn dart“, face plant, take a digger, or cause “yard sale“.

Whatever type of wreck the “death cookie” might cause, they are certainly not a cookie that goes well with milk!