November 8th (Afternoon)

So I had to actually look up the reasoning behind daylight savings. Because, in my opinion, we’ve just robbed Peter to pay Paul, as now I ride home in the dark but I get to ride to work in the light. So what’s the difference? Why do we want more light in the morning?

Well, according to Wikipedia (Daylight saving time), it was implemented more for the spring to give afternoons more light. Still, I’m not convinced this really is beneficial and seems like a bit of a waste really. Maybe that’s just my Saskatchewan influence coming through… Check out this picture from the above Wikipedia link. It shows that Saskatchewan no longer observes DST, as well as a portion of BC! Hah! I would’ve thought a decision like not observing DST would be provincial, but I guess not!

Anyways, the ride was fun. Again, it’s like a new trail now that I have to try it in the dark. Although I would say going this way in the dark is tougher than coming the opposite way in the morning. It might be just that it’s my first time in the dark, but I think it’s due to higher speeds as it is mostly downhill. Some sections of the trail were downright freaky as with the light being so bright, it was hard to really determine the edge of the trail! I made the creek crossing well, but I didn’t clear the root. However, I did make the climb up and over the east bank so that was cool. I attempted the long, straight and steep trail out of the valley and made it a decent distance (to the usual stump). However, at the top, the trail that winds around just before the rock “wall” (see my post on July 15th (Afternoon)) I took pretty slow. As it is very narrow and the drop on the left is very steep and long, I was a bit nervous to say the least! As such, I didn’t get the speed I needed to clear the wall, and ended up dismounting and walking over it. Maybe once I get used to the lighting this will be different!

The rest of the ride was good. The only other tricky area was the gulley trail going down to the single-track. I took it a bit slower as well, again as lighting was tough and the rocks and roots were not easily visible at first. It was still a fun ride, just different and slower than I was used to doing. Granted, at the end I still had a really good time (44.5minutes) and average speed (19.2km/h) so I obviously didn’t go that slow!

At the end of the pipeline section at Rose Hill, I started up the final climb. I knew I was going to make it, as I had the energy needed and I was keeping the front wheel somewhat in a straight line (could’ve been much better, but at least it was still on the trail!). However, as I just started cresting the top, my chain jumped gears on the back cogs!!! I have not had the chain do this yet, but I will lay the blame squarely on my very worn drivetrain! Hopefully this doesn’t start becoming more and more a common occurrence before I get the chance to replace it.