Sunday, June 21, 2009

Father's Day Stumble Through the Woods



The Tour de Talcott has become a Father's Day tradition for me, and now that James has joined me twice he's stuck; it's a tradition for him now too. Hopefully the weather we've had these past two years won't become become one as well.



Maybe it's the hours I've been on the bike (11:39 this week, over 22 in the past two; my usual this time of year is 8-10 hours), but I was fumbling all over the trail.



I just built Mary Jane up again. After breaking a spoke on my main rear wheel, I was running my back up wheel. When I was adjusting the brake, I noticed a lot of oscillation in the freehub. Must be a bent axle I thought. Maybe I bent it when I was riding fixed over the Winter? Swapped it out, easy peasy. Still oscillating. The hydro calipers on the Soma don't have as much clearance as the BB7's Mary Jane's been sporting, so instead of dealing with a slight rubbing when I rode through puddles, I decided to build the Ol' gal up again (frame, fork, headset, and bb were together).



So maybe getting re-acquainted, was on my mind?



Whatever was on my mind it wasn't the trail. Log after log I slid off the trail. James finally had the good sense to take the lead, instead of being stopped by my carcass laying in the trail.



Things started going better once I started following James' lead. That is until I started thinking about how things were going better following James' lead. On the floor again.



Maybe it was the Bloodhound Gang. I just couldn't get Three Point One Four out of my head.



I can't blame the bike; other than some skewer slip (operator error), she performed flawlessly.



Can't blame the trails; after all the rain we've had, I should be used to riding in this slop by now.



I guess some days are less "graceful" than others.



But I guess that's OK, 'cause I had a blast!



I also had the privilege of being on Selma's debut ride. Super Schweet rig. Beautiful, beautiful bike. James is going to rip it up on that thing! Other than me slowing him down, he's taken to the Salsa quite well.



happiness is

that's tight

1 comment:

James said...

I'm sure it was just from all the riding you've been doing. My arms and legs are cooked today. That must be from not riding enough on my mtb.
I also had a blast and would do it again today if I could.
Thanks again for hooking me up with the ignitors and bar/stem/seatpost. I can't wait to try the ignitors tubeless. It's all I can think about today.