October 15th (Afternoon)

I’m sitting here late in the third period as my CanSUCKS are getting pasted by the LA Kings… I love my Canucks, but boy when they suck, they suck!!! And tonight is a game to forget. So, with 4 minutes left and a 3 goal deficit, I figure I might as well put my time to better use and blog about my good ride today before I forget! Granted, I’m still “watching” the game, so if the Canucks can suddenly, miraculously, string together a play or two that results in a goal or two I will at least see it…

So, anyways, I had quite a fun ride home today. I didn’t check the temperature before I left, and quickly stopped at the bottom of Kryzcka Place to put my jacket on! It was about 12°, and it turns out I kept the jacket on the entire ride. I rarely see the sun anymore, as the afternoons get shorter and shorter. My trails are pretty much all along the north side of the hills, and as such the sun dives behind those hills quickly and I don’t get to ride with it much. Going down into Peterson’s Creek was fun and fast. I made it through the creek faster than normal, and then cleared the root pretty well. I also made the climb up and over the east bank again, so that was really sweet! I rode up the bypass trail, and finally made it right up to the un-rideable section. At the top, I cleared the rock wall nicely. Actually, the last two times here I’ve gone maybe too fast, as I then struggle to slow down at the top and get back onto the trail! Hah!

From there, I took the gulley trail down to the single-track section (good ride, a bit too fast in some spots, but I still managed to stay upright!), and then rode to the second gulley trail which takes me down to the Frolek’s lower road. I took that trail faster than normal, and actually enjoyed in more than usual. The first section there’s quite a steep portion that I typically go down with the rear wheel dragging, but today I managed better control and speed through it so that was cool.

Again, I was able to make the corners on Frolek’s lower road at 25km/h, so that was fun! I had some sprinting there too. At the pipeline section at Rose Hill, I just about didn’t make the 2nd to last hill as I didn’t downshift quick enough and just about paid the price. However, not wanting to add an extra stop for a hill I can make 99% of the time now, I managed to stubbornly power through it! Once again, at the last hill, I had a pretty good climb, making it about as far as my record attempts to date. However, today while I managed to keep the bike fairly straight, I fought with keeping the front wheel down and eventually just petered out!

To finish off the week, I decided to take the pipeline section through to Juniper as well. It was fun, fast and pretty good technically. I’m hitting a few of the rocky downhill sections much faster than I did in the spring/summer, so it’s good to see improvements in my confidence.

And another weekend is here! Hopefully my light makes it soon next week, along with my skull cap for colder rides. I also need to start thinking about tires… Mine are getting pretty low on tread!!!