Friday, October 23, 2009

Back to Biking

After picking up my mountain bike from the shop late last night, I couldn’t wait to get her on the trails this morning. I woke up early, coffeed-up and hit some nearby trails. With the weather in the high 40’s it was pretty chilly starting off. It’s always better to start mountain biking cold, so I unpacked my bike, tightened up my straps and took off pretty quickly.

Fall Knickers

Flying down the trails, there was hardly a soul in sight. The thick layer of leaves that have fallen from the trees make things a little slick and a little tricky, since you can’t see all the rocks and roots underneath.

Yellow Fall

So I took it easy, getting a feel for the trails covered in leaves and for a mountain bike that actually has working rear brakes. It’s pretty amazing let me tell you. They don’t even squeak. Here are a few other random thoughts about fall riding:

  • Foggy eyeglasses can actually be a good thing. They keep you from walking obstacles, since you plain old don’t know that they are coming.
  • Shirts that ride up in the back while biking may be the most annoying things in the world.
  • Leaving water in your camelback for extended periods of time makes it taste nasty. It also assists the hose in sprouting spontaneous leaks, giving you a free shower.
  • Being able to breathe out your nose really helps on the hills. I attribute this to the Aleve cold and sinus I took prior to riding.
  • While a thick layer of leaves gives you an animal alert system at all times (think about how loud a chipmunk sounds on crinkly old leaves), it does not aid you in staying on the actual trail. I consider this feature of fall riding a bonus cognitive challenge while exercising.
New Rear Brakes

My new brakes. In case you were wondering.

2 comments:

Red Bike said...

I've just paid a wopping £50 to get my front brake repaired. Sadly the bike is still un-ridable as the bottom bracket has decided to sieze while it's been sat in the shed. - Grrrr.

Bikes are too expensive!

Betty Mountain Girl said...

Bummer! We do have an expensive hobby- don't we? It only really hit me how expensive biking is when I had both bikes go in for repairs at the same time. Much better than having a video game addiction though :)