November 1st (Morning)

Ok, so I promise to stop doing this every month… but NOVEMBER?!?! Really??? Sheesh… Ok, I’m done. I promise, I will not freak out about this again. If I’m still writing in this blog when December rolls around (which would be really sweet), I will try to contain myself…

I left a few minutes earlier this morning than usual and it was a great ride. I felt strong and fast, and the bike was working great. I did a very thorough cleaning and made sure the drivetrain was running as smoothly as possible. I really need my bonus soon, though, so I can replace this poor drivetrain though! I’m pulling on basically 2 or 3 cog teeth at the back, and about the same on the crank teeth up front. Crazy how bad this chain has stretched! It won’t be much longer before the chain is skipping off the cogs and driving me nuts…

I dug around in my junk bins this weekend and found some pieces that I was able to rig together and mount my light on my helmet. Check out my red-neck skills at work:

A piece of foam, a plastic plumbing hose adaptor and some zip ties… Who needs to spend $20 on a helmet mount anyways???

The light mounted up here is SWEET! I mean, I know it makes sense, and everyone kept saying that the helmet mount should be first priority, saving a handlebar mounted set up for a 2nd light, but I just was too cheap to spend the extra $$$ on a helmet mount. However, this morning’s ride was great. Light where I need it when I need it. Plus, now I can look around me into the woods/bushes and see the eyes peering out at me as I ride by… Well, not that I saw any eyes per se, but I could if they were there… Also, I can glance down and see my computer and gear indicators again! It was pretty nice for sure. Light far ahead during fast downhills (managed to get it up into the big ring again this morning through Juniper), or close to the front wheel on steep, rocky climbs. Plus, the ability to shine the light around the corners on switchbacks and single-track was great. So, this light is staying up there, no matter how dorky this setup might look! I even rode down the “cliff” just before Frolek’s gate again, something I’ve been avoiding the last few times as I can’t properly see the bottom of it before careening over the edge! Adjusting and operating it (on/off, etc.) was pretty easy even with gloves, so that was cool. I also liked the ability to quickly direct the light straight into a motorist’s rearview mirror when they passed by me too closely…

It did have one drawback, though. When the light is lower on the handlebars, it created shadows behind sticks and rocks. Once I got used to judging the shadows properly, it was great to see obstacles coming down the trail. With the light on the helmet, and with it being as crazy bright as this light is, the shadows are completely obliterated. As such, there were a few rocks and sticks that I didn’t even see before I was right on top of them. Crazy, but I guess a handlebar light pointed more in front of the wheel along with this light pointed further down the trail would be ideal… Again, money talks though and this set up is pretty good! So I will probably not need to fork out the dough for a while.

Near the top of the climb up and out of the west side of Peterson’s Creek valley, I met up with a hiker and her dog (hiking in the dark, crazy!). After passing them, I got ready to start riding again when I saw what I’m sure was the biggest hobo spider I’ve seen around here yet very slowly crawling across the sandy trail… Creepy! I’m sure that he was close to an inch and a half long (legs included). In fact, if you were to stretch his legs out straight, he’d hit 2” long easy! Of course, I would’ve killed him if I could’ve, but with the sand it would’ve been impossible. Not only that, but then I’d risk him getting onto my shoe or tire and then me… And nobody needs to see me dance… So once he was across, I continued on.

A great pace, and a great time today. A great Monday ride, and an excellent start to the week! Oh, and of course it was a warm 11° this morning, crazy! Wouldn’t that be nice if that stuck for a week or more… Sweet!