Well it was about 32 F with a good breeze blowing. I must say it felt refreshing. With the overnight
temps dipping below freezing I thought everything would be pretty much frozen on the trails.
I couldn't have been more wrong. Sure there were some icy spots, but most everything else was mud,
the consistency of silly putty. For the most part there nothing wrong with that. You just need to
smooth out your stroke and watch your weight distribution on the hills and be prepared to carry what
feels like 10 lbs of extra weight.
Loading Up The Bike: Since it was rather cold I was planning to take the car to the trail head just
in case I dabbed in a shallow stream. The ride home with icy feet can be a bit brutal on the road.
To my chagrin my SS won't fit on my Yakima rack WTF!? The disc brake mount is in the way of the
cross bar. (no longer have my truck with the rear wheel mount rack)
Road Trip To The Trails: Friggin cold!
Down In The Park: I mapped out a route that would take me over one stream and do a loop on the
Rockburn Branch Trail. As soon as I get in the woods I see my enemy, STANDING, UNFROZEN WATER,
aaaarg! Why is it always warmer in the woods? Going was slow, the MuntanoRaptors picked up the mud
and due to my speed didn't want to let it go. The trip in was good. I did have one hell of a time
keeping my line on the Belmont side. The mud was just about to freeze over giving it that silly
putty consistency. The bike was getting heavy. I looked down and could hardly see my front chain
ring. The silly putty was packed 4 inches up surrounding my BB and front part of my rear triangle. I
had virtually no clearance on my front fork. The top of the rear triangle was also packed and
beginning to ice over. No big deal I'm still going down hill.
Up And Out: I get to my destination and decide to clean off the bike before I head out. I had to
pick up a stick to poke and scrape off the silly putty. Here we go, time to get a good leg burn in.
I start up pretty tame hill. I can't put too much power to the rear and I really have to keep my
weight back. This can be pretty tricky while standing and mashing on an SS. 5 minutes or so go by
and my heart is about to pop. I can't figure out WTF is going on. I feel great physically but it's
hard going. I finally come to a downed log and this gives me a damn good excuse to stop and take a
breather. The bike is more full of mud than it was before I cleaned it the first time. As I pick the
bike up to get over the log it must have weight 40 pounds! A graphite seat post would have come in
handy about now ;-) After another cleaning I'm on my way.
One Last Hill: Sorry can't do it. I'm toast. I've been beaten. I had to walk away. It felt good to
walk up this hill. This hill hasn't beaten me in 5 years. Well this time he owned me, after all he
had silly putty on his side this time.
Road Trip Home: Friggin cold!
Takin' my time Choosin' my lines Try'n' to decide what to do
Peace, Bill ...one speed to rule them all, one speed to find them, one speed to bring them all and
on the trails pass them In the Land of Avalon where the geared pigs lie...