It’s a bike world after all!
Last night (Sunday) I rode Bessie home. She ,as usual, never ceases to amaze. I had two lights. One charged completely gives me about 2hrs burn time. That light was on my controls. The other which probably had about 1 hour left on it was my auxiliary light (helmet style). I burnt through my bar light which put me 2/3 to my destination (which was the pavement) so the auxiliary light did the job getting me to the asphalt. It died about 2 minutes into the road portion of my ride. Just right!
While on my way home last night I noticed that some spots needed a bit of trail maintenance. Normally I leave trails as they are, but it was pretty damn hard to follow the trails in the dark with a ton of leaves on them. So this morning I strapped my collapsible rake (Thank you K for the coolest addition to my trail tools so far) and my sick tree saw to my Decline bag and headed to the trails. I was out last night for about 3hrs. I was on the bike this morning from 8-11:15am. So that is about 3hrs as well. This included about an hour of raking and some other trail maintenance. Tonight should be another 2hr experience…I think I will have less beer in me though. I was a bit typsie last night to be riding alone in the woods. Don’t try this at home kids. For experienced, stupid MTBers only.
Tonight will be a bit wetter than last…it is sprinkling out enough to add a bit of mystery to how and when my tires will be hooking up. I like that. Makes me pay more attention. Pushes my limits a bit more when the tires start to slide into corners and off roots and rocks. But those trails that I worked on should make it a bit more….fast. As much as I like having leaves under me, allowing my wheels to slide and drift around corners. Seeing the trail at night and not getting lost has it benefits as well.
I don’t know what I would do if I didn’t have the variety of commuting styles that I have. If I couldn’t get on the knobby tires and ride some dirt I might go insane. I have always been a dirt fiend, so being trapped on the asphalt would really make my commute feel…like work. With mixing it up day to day keeps my commuting juices flowing. It also keeps a smile on my face. It is awesome riding up to the store and being covered in mud because of my commute. Not many people can say that. I think if more people could say that more people would have smiles on there faces when they arrive at their place of work.
I saw a fellow commuter today. He was riding the portion of solid stuff in between my off-road loop to work. He was on a Surly Crosscheck. Looked pretty good. He seemed to be pretty hardcore with the racks, panniers and the clothing he was wearing. He had a big smile on his face and waved. It was a balmy 4o something degrees with the sun shinning. We were both in a good place. I wonder if he had any internal thoughts when he saw me on my 37lb freeride bike, out of my saddle and pedaling my ass off. I think I am crazy. Sometimes I wonder what people think. I probably wouldn’t even fit in amongst other freeriders because of all my commuting gear. HaHa…gotta laugh at that. I love it way to much to stop.
This pic is of me riding my old XC bike at a local spot. No new pics that really relate to this post. But I think it is a good pic either way.
