The Surly Mountain Biking Thread

[wd40 1976]

after much blood, sweat, mail order parts and beers, I finally got the 12sp dialed.  took it to cat today.  first time there in a while.  50T got me up the hill, where I promptly punctured the rear on a rocky landing.  

my tire went all Ron Swanson:  give me all the bacon and Stan's you have.  literally.

so I cut the ride short.  

just as well.  ended up having a perfect day of sailing up on Buchanan.  pretty steady 17kt wind, surfing the SW swells on the way back, just skimming along.  hiked all the way out, dragging the sheet hand in the water.  wife blowing up my phone, inaudible in the dry bag, wondering if I'm ok.  fuck yeah, I am.

[Al_4_ISU 12661]

On 6/7/2022 at 9:06 AM, TwiceHorn said:

Gah.  Is the price of gas giving any of yall qualms about driving to somewhat faraway trails?  It's not going to break me, but it feels kind of frivolous to drive 40 or 50 miles round trip to go to a trail, and that's not even the really far away ones.  

I'm trying to get in a ride today, but closest Harry Moss is still closed.  Some of the souf Dallas trails are actually reasonably close (20 mi round trip), but have descents that I want to avoid until I get my brakes more squared away.  River Legacy is open and is a good place to continue brake bedding, but it's a 40+ round trip.  Not to mention all the travel time.

Maybe I should just ride the singlespeed on the street.

Yeah.  I'm not driving to the trail systems more than 20 miles out of my usual course of travel this summer.  We're doing a staycation at the end of the month where I'll take my bike with and ride some of the stuff in western WI that I've posted in here before, and I have a tripped planned to northern Minnesota in August, but I've been very much keeping it close to the vest this summer.

[jw4381 3251]

New area to enjoy hot blasts of wind:

[TwiceHorn 32104]

This wind has been something else.  I guess I normally don't pay much attention to it, but riding on the street this spring has brought it to my attention pretty strongly.

When I see a windy day, I try to plan an MTB ride, because it's less of a factor in our woody trails.  But even that, with these crazy winds can add some resistance or challenge to a ride, especially if there are any open sections or thinly wooded.

I went out to OCNP this morning at 10ish-11ish.  Temp and humidity were pretty tolerable and it's a 21mph wind day, so breezy, but you could feel it out in the open, bigtime bro.  No graunching on the descents this time, so that was very nice.

I ultimately solved the hose-rub issue by unbolting the front caliper and rotating it 360 to change the bias on the hose so it's pointed away from the head tube.  Fairly obvious solution, but it took a while to come to me.  Clips and shit did not work.  So, I'm posting that as a PSA if you have hose/cable rub issues.

Apparently, though, I somehow fucked up tightening the caliper because I was getting a sporadic click with firm/hard application of front brake during descents.  Acting like an actual mechanical engineer this time, I immediately suspected the caliper and did a trailside realignment and tightening and no mas problemas hoy.  I feared maybe making it worse because the 5mm on my multitool is short and not ideal for smoothly torquing certain bolts, like the ones on the front caliper, but it worked out fine.

Amusing anecdote.  After the ride, I leaned my bike against a tree and sat on a picnic table at the trailhead to finish off my water and cool down.  I was hot but am getting pretty fairly acclimated, so not about to heatstroke or anything.  Nevertheless, I glanced at my bike and it seemed to be slowly moving, back and forth, like my vision was fucking up.  So, I was like "whoa, wtf is going on, am I about to stroke out"?  Then I heard the treetops groaning and clicking against each other above me and realized the tree I leaned it up against was swaying back and forth in the wind, and so was my bike.

Edited June 14, 2022 by TwiceHorn

[TwiceHorn 32104]

Oh, hell.  I gotta tell a tale on myself from this weekend.

I rode Rowlett Creek with my most consistent riding buddy and a couple other guys that sometimes join. We rode this Loop 7 that is a little confusing and got into some sort of new stuff.  Loop 7 at some point turns into Loop 14, which is a black and regarded as kind of dangerous in parts, so, to avoid getting strung out on 14, it turns out I had been cutting loop 7 way short and I am riding all of it for the first time in years.  So, we're tooling along, and I'm a little cautious because the trail is unfamiliar.  And my speed is a little off because of that and to avoid riding up the ass of the guy in front of me.

So, we come upon this very exposed, very steep off-camber section with a little climb at the end.  By exposed, there's an edge and dropoff, not just a downslope, but it isn't super dangerous, just full of brush and water, so unpleasant to fall into, to say the least, but not a legbreaker or anything.  Turns out I had seen this type of thing the very first time I rode loop 7 like five years ago, and had told myself I had gotten onto loop 14 by accident.  Well, wrong.

Anyway, I don't feel like I have enough speed for that little climb, but am afraid to pedal because of the off-camber slope.  So, I bail to the high side, and, sure as shit, it's loose af and I immediately go down on my ass and bike starts sliding toward the edge.  I grabbed the bike, but I'm on my ass like a turtle on its back, between holding onto my bike and the loose dirt, I can't get myself up.  So someone has to come and hold my bike while I get up.  I didn't even want to walk that shit.  I was simultaneously cursing and laughing at myself.

Edited June 15, 2022 by TwiceHorn

[jw4381 3251]

This was a good one yesterday with a great view at the end. 
 

 

 

[TwiceHorn 32104]

Nice.  Reminds me that the riding I/we do down here is more like woods and creekbed riding.  I see all that open and think hott af.

[jw4381 3251]

It was about 80 degrees. Cooler with the clouds at times. 

[TwiceHorn 32104]

31 minutes ago, jw4381 said:

It was about 80 degrees. Cooler with the clouds at times. 

Yeah, that's reasonable.  Gotta be diligent with the sunscreen.

[sasquatch69 626]

Covid barreled through our house the past couple of weeks. I got it first, then my kids and now my wife. I’m now 10 days past first symptoms so I’m feeling mostly normal now save for a slight lingering cough.

I tried riding for the first time yesterday morning at RCP, and did a slow 7mi on the trails north of the parking lot. That went well, so today I tried Erwin. Mistake. I started at 9am which was really too late, and ended up bailing after an hour and about 4 miles because I wore out so quickly. Normally I can handle Erwin in full without struggling, so clearly I am far from 100%.

Also, two knuckleheads on e-bikes were riding the trails today without helmets. They didn’t even bother with pedal assist - they were just letting the bike take them up hills without pedaling. 🤬

Edited June 25, 2022 by sasquatch69
Stupid typos

[TwiceHorn 32104]

15 minutes ago, sasquatch69 said:

Covid barreled through our house the past couple of weeks. I got it first, then my kids and now my wife. I’m now 10 days past first symptoms so I’m feeling mostly normal now save for a slight lingering cough.

I tried riding for the first time yesterday morning at RCP, and did a slow 7mi on the trails north of the parking lot. That went well, so today I tried Erwin. Mistake. I started at 9am which was really too late, and ended up bailing after an hour and about 4 miles because I wore out so quickly. Normally I can handle Erwin in full without struggling, so clearly I am far from 100%.

Also, two knuckleheads on e-bikes were riding the trails today without helmets. They didn’t even bother with pedal assist - they were just letting the bike take them up hills without pedaling. 🤬

Yeah, my riding buddy likes to go to Erwin.  I have been having to work for a living and not riding quite as much as usual because after noon, I just can't do it.  I have been dreading him texting me about meeting at Erwin, because of the heat if nothing else.  I don't have the covid excuse, though.

The "switchback climb" up that hill in the sun makes me want to gag, but I could probably do it.  It's also a 60-mile round trip for me and that seems a little luxe these days.

That said, I just finished the fourth ride of the week (one road) at Harry Moss.  Humidity was low, so surprisingly pleasant.  I've been staying on the mild trails in this heat until I feel acclimated.

 

Edited June 25, 2022 by TwiceHorn

[sasquatch69 626]

1 minute ago, TwiceHorn said:

Yeah, my riding buddy likes to go to Erwin.  I have been having to work for a living and not riding quite as much as usual because after noon, I just can't do it.  I have been dreading him texting me about meeting at Erwin, because of the heat if nothing else.  I don't have the covid excuse, though.

The "switchback climb" up that hill in the sun makes me want to gag, but I could probably do it.

That said, I just finished the fourth ride of the week (one road) at Harry Moss.  Humidity was low, so surprisingly pleasant.  I've been staying on the mild trails in this heat until I feel acclimated.

 

How was HM? Last time I rode there this time of year, the trails were so overgrown they were barely passable in some spots.

[TwiceHorn 32104]

3 hours ago, sasquatch69 said:

How was HM? Last time I rode there this time of year, the trails were so overgrown they were barely passable in some spots.

It's good.  Yeah, a couple of weeks ago, or not long after the most recent rains, it was hard to see the trail on purple and lots of face-slappers.

 

I should add that the crew does a great job there, overgrown is not the usual. 

Edited June 25, 2022 by TwiceHorn

[Al_4_ISU 12661]

Between some weekend rains and weddings in early June, I haven't gotten near enough riding in this summer.  In the next 7 days, I should get 3-4 rides in, including this Thursday at Sidie Hollow over in Viroqua, WI.  Lots of really nice machine cut trails over there designed by some trail building firm out of Madison.  Only rode there once, but I loved it.

[TwiceHorn 32104]

Went to Arbor Hills in Plano this morning.  Relatively cool, breezy, and low humidity, but it's also a fairly open trail exposed to the sun, so hottt.

Pretty decent ride, but an unpleasant incident that was a first in my MTB "career."  Some stinging insect crawled up the leg of my shorts and stung the shit out of me while riding.  I immediately used my right hand to reach up there and get it out, and braked with left/front hand and ate it, but not bad as I was not going very fast and slowing down anyway.  I also dropped trou right in the middle of the trail to try to get a look at it and make sure the critter was gone.  Good times.

 

Fucking ow. 

It did pretty much stop hurting but I was afraid of an allergic/anaphylactic reaction, so I cut the ride short, which still required 15 minutes of riding or so.  And I encountered this fellow, or gal.

Thought about moving him/her off the trail, but I don't think turtles enjoy being picked up and there wasn't much traffic.

 

 

 

Edited June 28, 2022 by TwiceHorn

[Al_4_ISU 12661]

I rode last night and Sunday at the county trails super close to my house.  They aren't the ones I usually post pics from (but I've posted a handful of pics from here).  It's an area the county has been maintaining much better the last two years and I've been making more of an effort to ride in order to keep them used and get a little more clearance from them to start building legit single track (these trails are mostly mowed grass with probably 1-2 miles that are basically singletrack out of the 4-5 miles of unpaved trail).

Had a slow moving bumble bee fly right into my chest last night.  I have no idea how I didn't get stung.  Kinda pasted him.

[TwiceHorn 32104]

1 hour ago, Al_4_ISU said:

I rode last night and Sunday at the county trails super close to my house.  They aren't the ones I usually post pics from (but I've posted a handful of pics from here).  It's an area the county has been maintaining much better the last two years and I've been making more of an effort to ride in order to keep them used and get a little more clearance from them to start building legit single track (these trails are mostly mowed grass with probably 1-2 miles that are basically singletrack out of the 4-5 miles of unpaved trail).

Had a slow moving bumble bee fly right into my chest last night.  I have no idea how I didn't get stung.  Kinda pasted him.

Yeah I have had things fly in my mouth, get under my glasses for a sec and just generally hit me.  But no stings.  It was kind of a freak-out event.

[jw4381 3251]

I’ve been stung by bees twice, both while hauling ass downhill from ski areas on my road bike. Good times indeed. 
 

Here’s today’s fun:

 

 

Edited June 30, 2022 by jw4381

[TwiceHorn 32104]

17 minutes ago, jw4381 said:

I’ve been stung by bees twice, both while hauling ass downhill from ski areas on my road bike. Good times indeed. 
 

Here’s today’s fun:

 

IMG_3407.MOV 47.56 MB · 0 downloads

 

 

Nice, but that's ass-backward.  Nice long descent that you pay for at the end with a climb. 😬😬

[jw4381 3251]

Lol. No shit. 

[Al_4_ISU 12661]

Biggest ride (100 minutes) of the year yesterday at Sidie Hollow in Viroqua, WI. One of the best spots in the Driftless. Managed every grade there, but a few climbs destroyed me. Hiked today, riding again tomorrow.

[TwiceHorn 32104]

So, my dropper, a KS-Rage, drops slightly after some seated riding (over mild stuff).  It drops less than an inch, just enough that when I hit the lever it thunks back up.  It could be that it isn't going all the way up on "normal releases" and is going that last little bit after some vibration and weight application, but my spidey-sense says no.

It is, overall, nothing more than an annoyance in that occasionally, after some seated riding, I hit the lever and thunk it back up.  I think, but it may be psychological, that sometimes I can feel hips or knees starting to twinge when it gets low.

So, when I took it to the shop for the brake debacle, I mentioned it, and they couldn't get it to drop, presumably after pounding on it.  I let it go.

I got froggy this weekend and decided I would pull it out and have a look for kinked cable or something obvious.  I got it out and the cable almost immediately detached from the actuator at the bottom of the post.  Ok, no big deal.  So, everything looks ok with the cable and I start trying to put it back together.  While I am fiddling with it, a "prong" breaks off where the cable end/lug attaches to the actuator.

It's some kind of shitty pot metal, but I didn't think it would actually be critical to the operation, so I got it back together, replaced the post, replaced the lever and bingo, it works.

For like three actuations, then something goes click and the cable goes slack.  I thought, ok, the cable is detaching from the actuator.  But no, I remove it again and it's still attached.  Hmmm.  The barrel adjuster on the shitty lever is worthless, but I pulled the cable tight through the pinch screw and it doesn't even want to move.

What the hell is going on?

 

Edited July 3, 2022 by TwiceHorn

[Braff Zacklin 13676]

Haven't been home much, and hadn't been on a bike since October ... so my first trail ride of 2022 wasn't until Saturday. Took a tougher, longer route today and surprised myself.

Happy Fourth, everyone. Hope y'all and your families and friends are doing well and enjoying their summers.

 

 

[Al_4_ISU 12661]

Great rides this weekend at my usual trails yesterday, and up in La Crosse WI today. The La Crosse system expanded back in 2020 with a bunch of professionally built trails. Some of those rival what you see in NW Arky in terms of quality layout. Felt like I was a little more winded than normal, but my climbing strength was better. I powered through some climbs that have wrecked me before. Hard to explain.






My ride started at those buildings way off in the distance. 550’ straight up.

[jw4381 3251]

We’ll this didn’t suck:

https://caltopo.com/t/12EQU06CN8

I’ve never done lift served downhill biking. It was way more fun than I expected. 

[Pescado_Rojo 19593]

Is that the German restaurant at the bottom of Taos mtn? They have the best Spaetzle I've ever eaten. It could be because I'd just done the Williams Lake hike and burned about 3,000 calories, but that shit was heavenly. 

[jw4381 3251]

Yes. The Bavarian at the base of lift 4. 

[TwiceHorn 32104]

PSA if anyone is looking for a new bike.  Ibis knocked $1000 off the price of Ripley AF and Ripmo AF, so they're cheaper than when introduced, making it probably the biggest steal in MTB right now.  Deore level is under $2800, N/GX is $3100, and SLX is $3200.

Edited July 15, 2022 by TwiceHorn

[Austinvines 318]

PSA if anyone is looking for a new bike.  Ibis knocked $1000 off the price of Ripley AF and Ripmo AF, so they're cheaper than when introduced, making it probably the biggest steal in MTB right now.  Deore level is under $2800, N/GX is $3100, and SLX is $3200.

Those are great deals. I’m thinking that the inventory shortage is becoming a surplus.

[TwiceHorn 32104]

19 minutes ago, Austinvines said:

Those are great deals. I’m thinking that the inventory shortage is becoming a surplus.

Rumor seems to be that Ibis is moving to a new facility that will include more mfg.  Still, I don't know why it would just be the AFs.

And, like most everyone else, they just raised the price and added container shipping charges.

Weird.

[Pescado_Rojo 19593]

8 hours ago, TwiceHorn said:

PSA if anyone is looking for a new bike.  Ibis knocked $1000 off the price of Ripley AF and Ripmo AF, so they're cheaper than when introduced, making it probably the biggest steal in MTB right now.  Deore level is under $2800, N/GX is $3100, and SLX is $3200.

Man a Ripmo AF Deore build would probably make a super fun Spider Mtn/Bike Park bike. 

I looked and Cascade makes a link for the AF for $209 bucks. Takes travel up to 151mm, and increases progression from 19% to 31%. If I aired it out a little more, that would be a great bike. 

[TwiceHorn 32104]

Great ride at Rowlett Creek this morning.  Wheels down at 830 and the temp was just 85, 89 when we finished.  One small nice thing about the scorching heat and lack of rain is the RH is tolerable in the mornings.

Fattest guy on the oldest bike wound up setting the pace at about 9 mph for 11 miles.  That was pretty cool, and I cleaned all the features, such as they are.  I was a little extra happy about that because the features pretty much require good gear selection, and while I love the gearing on the Deore cassette, the last ride there was a pretty epic fail because my "muscle memory" from the old cassette had me downshifting too much or carrying too high a gear.

We didn't ride Loop 7, though, so I didn't get to improve on my "turtle on my back sliding down the hill" performance from last time.

I had been off the bike for about 10 days getting that busted part on my dropper replaced.  Sometimes those layoffs can be beneficial and sometimes they leave you sucking air.  I didn't suck any air today.

[Knoxtnhorn 6312]

On 7/17/2022 at 11:50 AM, TwiceHorn said:

Great ride at Rowlett Creek this morning.  Wheels down at 830 and the temp was just 85, 89 when we finished.  One small nice thing about the scorching heat and lack of rain is the RH is tolerable in the mornings.

Fattest guy on the oldest bike wound up setting the pace at about 9 mph for 11 miles.  That was pretty cool, and I cleaned all the features, such as they are.  I was a little extra happy about that because the features pretty much require good gear selection, and while I love the gearing on the Deore cassette, the last ride there was a pretty epic fail because my "muscle memory" from the old cassette had me downshifting too much or carrying too high a gear.

We didn't ride Loop 7, though, so I didn't get to improve on my "turtle on my back sliding down the hill" performance from last time.

I had been off the bike for about 10 days getting that busted part on my dropper replaced.  Sometimes those layoffs can be beneficial and sometimes they leave you sucking air.  I didn't suck any air today.

Hit RCP - literally - last Friday.  Wiped out big time going down a hill.  I'm not sure what happened.  I just recall flying over the handlebars and rolling.  Not too much in the way of bodily damage; however, I have now wrecked pretty hard two of the last three times I've MB'd.

[TwiceHorn 32104]

On 7/19/2022 at 12:47 PM, Knoxtnhorn said:

Hit RCP - literally - last Friday.  Wiped out big time going down a hill.  I'm not sure what happened.  I just recall flying over the handlebars and rolling.  Not too much in the way of bodily damage; however, I have now wrecked pretty hard two of the last three times I've MB'd.

Which loop?

[Knoxtnhorn 6312]

25 minutes ago, TwiceHorn said:

Which loop?

I forget which numbers go where.  If you are parking at the end of Castle, it'd be the loop to the right of the parking lot.  Not even a technical spot.  Both wrecks have been within a mile of the parking lot in either direction.  Hence the reason I haven't tried the black diamonds in a couple of years.

[TwiceHorn 32104]

I have heard from some pretty good riders that the Black trails at RCP, 13 and 14, are a beating and a bad wreck waiting to happen.  I have no intention of ever riding either one.

To the north of the lot, it's 1, 7, 14, 8, 12, 13, 10, 11, and 9, in that order, if you ride them all.

To the south, it's 2 through 6.

[TwiceHorn 32104]

Well, hell.  I have been feeling kind of proud of myself for keeping riding in the heat, although in the mornings.

It turned gray yesterday and we had a small chance of rain into today.  Before I rode, I checked the temp and RH, which were in the mid-80s and about 50%, which is higher than it has been, but not the disgusting 70-80% that can make a morning ride gross.

So, I went up to Arbor Hills in Plano, which is a climby little trail of only 2.5 miles.  I managed everything, but it felt really hot and gross compared to recent rides, so I didn't ride the loop a second time for what I normally consider a minimum distance of five miles.

When I got in the car, it said 91 degrees and RH in the 40s, both of which I usually consider tolerable.  But there was no breeze.  And it said "feels like 101."  I don't normally pay much attention to "feels like" or heat index when riding, instead relying more on humidity.  Whatever it was, it was pretty nasty and a not terribly fun ride, although it felt like a decent workout considering the short distance and duration.

[dillbirt 12]

On 7/15/2022 at 1:26 PM, TwiceHorn said:

Rumor seems to be that Ibis is moving to a new facility that will include more mfg.  Still, I don't know why it would just be the AFs.

And, like most everyone else, they just raised the price and added container shipping charges.

Weird.

They have moved to a new facility, not sure where or how big. My son and I were in Santa Cruz a couple of weeks ago and stopped by the Santa Cruz factory for a tour and beers with the staff, then popped over to the Ibis HQ a block over but it was empty and had a big for lease sign on it  

[TwiceHorn 32104]

Strange experience today at Harry Moss.  On some of the low lying loops, I smelled some putrefaction.  Gross.  Then I came upon the carcass of a raccoon.  Didn't study it for cause of death, but it was bloody.  It didn't just expire, it was killed by something or someone. Weird.  

Never seen a carcass of anything other than snek on trail, and even those tend to disappear if you do the loop again.  Seems like something would have dragged it off and chowed on it before the stench set in.

Also a bit odd.  We got a tiny bit of rain, almost nothing in the area of Moss, as demonstrated by the extra crispy texture of the trails.  However, Moss is on White Rock Creek, which does extend pretty far north, where I understand the rain was more substantial.  Several of the really low-lying areas were blocked off and you could see they were swampy, I guess runoff from parts north.

Also, weather was pretty similar to yesterday, but a bit more breeze.  I started later, so hotter, but Moss is less climby than Arbor Hills.  Pretty good ride from that standpoint.

Edited July 22, 2022 by TwiceHorn

[Braff Zacklin 13676]

It's like your own version of Stand By Me, but instead of train tracks, it's a bike path, and instead of some poor young boy, it's a raccoon.

[jw4381 3251]

Rode something called the Taos Vortex yesterday. Or I should say attempted it. Chewed me up and spit me out. Took a couple of wrong turns, too. Part of the fun, right?
 

https://caltopo.com/t/QAEUGLT9BG

[TwiceHorn 32104]

2 hours ago, jw4381 said:

Rode something called the Taos Vortex yesterday. Or I should say attempted it. Chewed me up and spit me out. Took a couple of wrong turns, too. Part of the fun, right?
 

https://caltopo.com/t/QAEUGLT9BG

Which parts, the climbs or the descents?  Or both?

So, I see some reference to The Vortex online.  MTBProject has a page for it.  But it looks like Trailforks and others call it some kind of combo of El Nogal, Devisadero and South Boundary 1.

Anyway, that looks like some black diamond shizz.

Cuidado, amigo.

Edited July 24, 2022 by TwiceHorn

[jw4381 3251]

Mostly the climbs on that one. 
 

Finally took the plunge on Strava. Still learning how to operate it. So this morning I tried the Divisadero trail. Even worse…both up and down  

South Boundary-Ojitos-Talpa Traverse was doable, but I didn’t get to Talpa today.

 

[TwiceHorn 32104]

So, out near Stephenville, Glen Rose more precisely, there is a private landowner who is a biker and built a very well regarded trail "set" on his land called Solavaca Ranch.  He also lives out there.  wwwl.solavaca.com

I have never been there, but have turned down several invites to go.

The wildfires got everything.

Dinosaur Valley SP, which also has well-regarded trails, is endangered, apparently.

 

[jw4381 3251]

Well that totally sucks ass. 

[TwiceHorn 32104]

Also, on Strava, you may want to check out alltrails.  I found it through this thread.  It lacks most of the "social" and competitive aspects of Strava, but the main thing for me is that Strava's segments don't or didn't last time I checked, correspond very well with the trails I ride, because I don't think a lot of Strava subscribers ride those trails.

Alltrails has a decent interface, less cluttered than trailforks and does a decent job tracking rides.  It also works pretty well for navigating them if you get lost or are trying to figure out a new route.

[TwiceHorn 32104]

Man, the trails are really extra crispy and dusty out there.  A common problem, I think, for all Texas riders, and maybe all riders everywhere.

But it seems to be worse this summer than I can remember.  Bike is absolutely gray after every ride, and I am gritty af.  I usually towel off sweat and whatever grime I accumulate before getting in the car and I'm getting a pretty good load of "sweat mud" every time I do it.

 

[TwiceHorn 32104]

I am having the world's longest new bike day with the Ripley AF, going on four months now..  I am faster on it, by about 1 mph, on most of the trails I ride, and I don't really get why, except that it seems to be a really efficient pedaling platform.  I think the more positive steering may be a factor, too, in the twisty stuff we have around here and I have concluded that that is mostly a stiffer fork, maybe the shortened offset some.

And that means my sort of minimum ride of five-six miles takes me less time than it used to, so my rides are getting shorter in time.

On the flip side, I'm riding more days a week, but the same old trails, so the boredom factor sets in.  It doesn't stop me from wanting to ride, but after I ride the whole trail, I have trouble getting fired up to do it again.  And, the heat's not really helping much either, although  a ride before noon is pretty comfortable, overall.

The boredom factor is making me want to improve my skills some, particularly very ledgy climbs and drops, but I'm having trouble finding the right size drop to practice on.

[Al_4_ISU 12661]

We're having a wet and stormy July.  Like the only place west of the Mississippi that isn't burning up.

The downside is these storms have been high wind events that are blowing trees down like crazy, and making a mess of the trails.  Got a ride in a smaller local system Monday that hadn't been nearly as affected.  Will probably ride there again tomorrow afternoon.

Heading to northern Minnesota next weekend for a couple major days of riding.  Supposed to be around 90 up there, which is nothing new for us, but where we're going is far enough north that not every place has AC, so it could be hard to find relief after the rides.

[jw4381 3251]

Northern New Mexico is in a good monsoon this summer. Thanks be to Zeus. 
 

Did a ride today nw of Fort Collins with my sons today. Good fun, but man I’m slow.