October 12th (Morning)

It’s getting waaaay too dark already! This morning, it was dark. I don’t mean dusk. I don’t mean dim. I mean dark! It was right on the edge, so by the time I got to the trailhead it was a bit lighter (translation: The sky was no longer black, but a dark blue instead). I took the trails through Juniper a bit slower than normal. I know these trails very well, but with the amount of traffic they see every day, rocks and sticks and who knows what seems to get planted in the middle of the trail every day that I have to avoid. This morning, at first, I couldn’t see definition on the trail more than 8 feet in front of me. So by the time I would see a rock, I had precious little time to avoid it. So, obviously, I took it slow. By the time I got to the gate at Frolek’s land, it was better. I could make out definition a lot further down in front, allowing me time to avoid anything that might be on the trail (like another fallen tree near the end of Juniper…).

The temperature was pretty good at around 6°. Corrie and I found some excellent riding pants at MTF. They’re actually sold at Costco as cold weather exercise wear, so if it gets any colder I’ll be trying them out for sure. They’re stretchy, block the wind and wick sweat at the same time. And once my new skull cap comes from MEC and I find some good winter gloves, I’ll be set for a while! At least, I think I will be… I think I might’ve said that a while ago after my first MEC order… Hah! We’ll see once the temperature starts hitting negative numbers how “set” I really am…

Once I could see again this morning, the ride was pretty good. Physically I felt pretty good today. I made the ride down the “cliff” at Frolek’s gate, and the west bank of Peterson’s creek, but I ended up walking the corner/dip section of single-track. I think I could’ve made it this morning, but bailed too early and then couldn’t quite get the momentum back that I needed to complete the section. Other than that, it was good. The brakes were good, and the front derailleur shifting nicely. The rear, though, was late on each down shift so I’ll try adjusting that (if I remember) before I leave tonight. Once thing I have noticed with this derailleur is that it really likes to hop the chain down the gears when I’m stopped. I must back pedal (sub-consciously maybe?) as I roll up to a stop (stop sign, gate, whatever) because more often than not, when I pedal to go again the chain is suddenly bouncing around trying to get back to the gear it was. Not sure what would cause that, maybe the cage is bent or something. If this continues even after a perfect adjustment, I will most likely be putting the Altus back on because that’s just annoying!!!