July 13th (Morning)
Well, the winds were howling something awful last night, so I was sure hoping that they’d subside by the morning but no dice! I rode up the driveway and not only were the winds still howling, but over the hills behind ACS as well as heading out towards Savona were some very dark and ominous clouds! I could see rain pouring in the valley around the airport, and for a split second the thought crossed my mind to bail and get Corrie to drive me, but then I figured maybe the certain storm would just hold off until I got to work?
I did something to my camera settings, so these pictures are as big as they'll get, sorry! Check out the rain coming down in the valley though.
Cool clouds! At least there is some evidence of lighter weather behind them...
Well, other than the wind gusts, the section through Juniper was not too bad. I was able to keep some decent speeds. Of course, being a Monday, I also had more energy to fight the winds for sure. There was a small tree across the path about 1/3 of the way through Juniper. I will probably drag it off the trail on the way home this afternoon, but this morning I had to ride to beat this storm so I just climbed over it and kept going. It looks small enough, so I think I should be able to wrestle it off the path later.
The hills on the Pipeline section at Rose Hill were good. I made all of them again! I took the little bypass route at the end again instead of carrying my bike down the cliff at the end of the trail and it was good. The winds were strong enough to hold Frolek’s gate open for me, so I didn’t even have to get off to open the gate! Riding through Frolek’s land was a bit tougher than usual, pushing the winds like they were. A couple of sections had me wondering how much warning I would have if a tree started falling, and would I be able to stop or get out of the way? But, they all stood tall and strong while I rode through! The bike, however, was awesome. Gearing was smooth and tight, and the brakes were very nice, with only about 1/4 of a lever pull ‘till contact, and then solid contact after that (very little ‘squish’ factor!). The extra bit of tire pressure felt really good on the hardpack and pavement, and yet I didn’t notice any less traction on the loose and rocky or sandy sections. Overall, I give myself an A+ for weekend maintenance!
Going down into Peterson’s Creek had a few heart jumping sections when the wind actually blew me around a bit. On this side of the canyon, the trail tends to be wider than the other side, so it was OK, but I was still not comfortable with the unwilling sideways movement! Luckily at least the wind was blowing West to East, meaning for the most part of the trail I was being blow towards the hill, rather than the cliffs! Anyways, going back up was an OK effort. I walked more than usual in the middle section simply because I was daydreaming and before I knew it I was past my usual riding section... Oops! I did ride a good, long stretch into the sandy section though, so that was good!
And then the winds hit... Springhill was pretty tough in sections because of the wind gusts, but overall doable. The dirt path running alongside the Merritt highway 5 was actually tough going down! And then Hugh Allan, just past Pacific Way, was nasty. The wind was pushing hard and fast (the flag at Rona, which is normally my “wind meter” was straight out, pointing right at me!) and the rain finally started here. Although the temperature I think was around 15° or so at this point, the rain combined with the wind made this stretch very cold! My hands at the top were frozen! It was rather difficult to be able to grip the bars with frozen fingers that were wet and slippery to boot... Funny, as I turned and rode up Kryczka, the wind either stopped or it was just behind me because suddenly I was warm and it was a very nice little stretch up to work.
July 9th (Afternoon)
The hottest day yet, 37°... Ugghhh! I was sweating going downhill... Again, I was going to head to the North trail to go down into Peterson’s Creek, but missed the light by 10 seconds again so I went my normal route. Going down into Peterson’s Creek was pretty good, but I did have to dismount on the first switchback. Going up was a good effort, 3 stops and a good portion riding again in the middle like the last couple of days. I ended up walking a bit more today than the last two days because I lost control at the fork section where I have started going left. Strange, I’ve never had issues with that part before?
After Peterson’s Creek, I really seemed to be able to find another “proverbial gear” and had some really good speeds going. Partly because I figured it was my last ride ‘till the weekend, so why not push it? As such, my average speed overall in the end was 2km/h faster than my usual rides. I did miss the final two hills at the pipeline section of Rose Hill, though. :( I then took the pipeline section again through to Juniper and again was able to push it really hard and fast through the singletrack, making for a very fun ride!
I really need to spend some time working on the bike this weekend, though! Brakes are very squishy and the lever pull is far too much. The front shifting isn’t as clean as it should be, and the back has hopped around on me a couple of times recently. Also, the rear wheel axle needs a bit of tightening and I think I’m going to flip my stem back the way it was when I bought it, as having it down doesn’t seem to do much for me really. And, finally, I need to put a bit more air in these tires. I’m surprised I haven’t managed a pinch flat or two yet with some of the rocks I’ve hit where I’ve felt the rim!
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