It started out good. I did some adjusting to my suspension to correctly set the sag. The front fork still has some of the new "stiction" in it and the rear shock is an enigma to me yet, so I just messed with the fork most. I had to drop the PSI down to 15 to get it to 20% sag, which is about correct for my weight, but man was it mushy.
I chose a new route from our apartment that got me to the trail on some back roads - nice, no traffic!
The sky was blue and the sun was shining. It was going to be a good ride.
So, I climbed over the first hogback and on to the trail head. The fork wasn't right, so I added some psi. Up to 20psi. I guess the fork is supposed to be this mushy, but I don't like it. I tried it anyway and it was going fine. I was ripping along, hit my favorite jump - huge, then flatted on the subsequent climb out. Crap! Maybe the rear is too soft now? Adjusted that, grabbed a photo of the Backbone.
I've been struggling to climb this bike because of it's added weight (and mine!). But I made it up and grabbed a few more photos. Boy was it sunny!
The last time I stopped here to take pics, I was fixing another flat. It's time to go Tubeless. How do I explain that to my wife? Must...have...more...money...
Moving right along, I got some shots of the trail, just to profile how rocky it actually is out there. The new bike rolls over this stuff pretty easily. But so far, to me, it seems the same as the old bike. Could this be? Maybe it's me...
So, I've had some pretty good wrecks on this trail and drawn lots of blood. But this day, I think I'd rather have hurt myself. Well, maybe not, but anyway...
So, it was crowded on the trail, even on the backside where hikers and horses normally don't go. My goal was to head down the slope and catch these guys on the backside of the trail (okay, there's a pic, but it's not loading). At this point, they were walking. I knew I wouldn't have to walk that section, so I had a chance. Little did I know, I'd never make it...
Well, to make a long story short, I went over the bars as my front tire wedged in front of a rock and (unbeknowst to me at the time) slammed the rear derailleur down on one of those nasty rocks. After about 30 minutes of converting the bike to a singlespeed, I was able to limp out. The front tire suffered some punture, too, so I aired it up and went slow down the hill. 2nd flat of the day. Crap!
The aftermath. It's gonna be 'spensive!
It's like they say, though. A bad day riding is better than a good day at the office!
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