Colder yet this morning at -3°. But, hey, at least I’m not in Saskatoon… Oh wait, they’re sitting at 0° this morning. OK, but at least we’re not in Edmonton! Ok, never mind… They’re at -3° as well. Not fair! I thought Kamloops was supposed to be warmer!!! If the prairies are getting these temperatures, then by rights we should still be around 5°, I demand it! It is what I was promised when we moved here!
Ok, I have no idea what that was all about. -3° is still pretty nice in reality! Could be much worse. And the cool thing is that the ride is still a blast. My fingers were still cold (well, the tips of them were, my hands were sweating again). But the warmers in my shoes are doing a great job of keeping my toes warm and the pants, long sleeve jerseys and sport jacket are all working AWESOME. Just a tad chilly to start, and then once I warm up it’s perfect. This morning I tied a bandana around my throat/neck and chin and that did wonders for helping keep the wind from going down my neck and into my jacket, sweet!
Oh, and did I tell you? I got yet another record time (54.5minutes) and average speed (15.2km/h) this morning as well! I will attribute part of that to the daylight, part of it to the hard rock tires (I pumped them up too much this weekend) and part of it to just feeling great! I’m not sure, but I don’t think I’ve ever had such a good ride on a Tuesday, especially following a great ride already on a Monday. SWEET!
As for the tires, I did pump them up too much this weekend. It’s been great for rolling resistance (in that it lessens the resistance), but the cost has been in a slight loss of traction on loose stuff not to mention a harsh and bumpy ride to be sure! I will let some air out this afternoon (if I remember, as I thought I’d do this yesterday as well). I like the fast sections on pavement, but the harsh ride and traction issues on loose stuff is enough for me to go back to a better MTB setup.
Overall, the ride was good technically as well. I did have to dab at the dip/corner section of single-track unfortunately. I also took the lower trail at the top of Peterson’s Creek valley (east side), and so I had to dab going over the huge tree root there as well. However, I’m getting over this quicker each time, so I bet I will be making it soon enough! On the Tom Moore trail, I’ve noticed that the sand pockets have been much tougher to get through lately. Is it the higher air pressure in the tires, causing me to sink in deeper? I’m not sure. I haven’t had to put a foot down yet, but it’s been tough to power through all of a sudden.
I’ve also been noticing that my fork is only compressing about 1-1/2” at the most at the end of a ride (dust marks show where the fork has been compressing). When I got the bike, it was compressing probably closer to 3”. Granted, I was 35 pounds heavier then too. I will try setting the adjustments down. I mean, I’m still a heavy guy at 215 pounds (according the the MTBR forums, anyone over 200lbs is considered a “clyde” 
Well, time to get to work!
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