November 12th (Afternoon)

It seems odd to call these my “afternoon” rides now, really they are evening rides! Granted, the time that I’m riding is the same (somewhere between 4:30 and 6pm), but still, if the sun’s gone it ain’t afternoon no more!

The ride was pretty good all things considered… I felt not too bad. It seemed very cold at first, yet the temperature was supposedly 6° (according to the interweb thingy). There’s just something about the evening temperatures that makes them feel colder than the morning temperature. The same degree on my ride home always seems to feel colder than that degree on my morning ride. Go figure… The ride down into Peterson’s Creek was pretty good and uneventful. I did pass a cyclist as he pushed his bike up a trail that I’ve never taken before (mainly because of the trees laying across the trail, but it’s also a tougher, steeper trail up…). He had no lights, and it was pitch black… Interesting time to be riding! Whatever floats your boat I suppose… I thought about it after, maybe he was needing help? Hah! And I just rode right on by… I’m such a jerk.

I made the creek crossing, and up and over the root again as well as the climb out of the creek over the east bank. However, the chain skipped quite a bit as I did the climb. I continued on up the trail, and decided to take the bypass trail due to the chain skipping and sure enough, only made it about 1/2 way before I had to stop because of the skipping. I figured it can’t be good to push through when it’s skipping like that. I ended up walking pretty much the entire bypass trail, but then realized that it is probably just that cog. So, for the final bit of the climb out of the valley, I kept the chain down on the 2nd cog which worked. Granted, this just made my tough climbs a little bit tougher, but at least the chain isn’t slipping! I did take a glance over the cogset this afternoon at work, and the teeth are almost coming to a point!

With no granny gear, I did have some tougher climbs, but not too bad until the final hill at Rose Hill, which I only made up to the sand pocket before I gave up… Again, I would bet anything this is just another mental game that I lost. Once I make it up in 2nd gear instead of my usual granny, it will be “easy” once again. But until then, I have to convince myself it’s still doable!

For the final stretch into Juniper, I decided to take the pipeline section today. I haven’t tried this trail yet in the dark, and it was pretty fun. I’m glad I know where the nasty rocks are, because they’re a bit tough to see in time with the light. But it was a good ride for sure! Now the weekend is here, and I get to rest up for another 2 days before hitting these trails once again. Everyone keeps asking how much longer, and I honestly don’t know for sure. I guess I should just tell them the truth. I’ll stop once my bonus gets here and I can afford the bus tickets!!!