Friday, December 15

Gorgeous

I hurriedly re-Stan's-ed my rear wheel on the SS this morning in another sucessful attempt to arrive at work late. I briefly thought about taking the road bike instead but I've had so much fun offroad the past 5 weeks that I quickly dismissed it and got to work on the wheel. Luckily the removeable core valve stem, syringe and compressor make quick work of the job. Perhaps if I would ride less I wouldn't have to do so much maintainence on all the bikes...naaaaaaaaaaaaah! At lunch I was incredibly happy with my decision as the weather was warm and the wind subdued. I had my Smartwool zip-t unzipped as I cruised out 14 miles in an hour, even getting to chase down and draft a 'crosser for a lap of the lake. The trail was mostly packed back up and all the snow gone. Even the ruts were minimal as conciencous riders stayed away while the mud retreated.After work I headed out again for a little sunset riding. The weather was still beautiful and I rode past dark. Lots of hikers out at first but then everyone disappeared and I had all the trails to myself. I really enjoy my lights and I should have bought a nice set sooner.

In other news there is a group ride of the White Rim brewing on January 13th. 2007 is going to be a huge year of travel so I might as well start off soon right? It's only 5:30 hours to "the Rim" and I'm dying to get out there again. It would be fun to ride with a few other enduro nuts too. This time I really would like to start before dawn though so I can watch the sunrise while riding and not standing around getting cold. So much has changed in 11 months since my last visit. I leave you today with a fitting quote to this and much of my riding life lately.
"We go into the Alaskan backcountry to find cracks in ourselves. We go back a year later to see if we've done anything about them" - Bill Merchant

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Chris,
I love the pictures and the quote.
I can't wait to see you and Marni SOON!
tmom

Dave said...

Good on ya for riding so much! Makes me feel lazy.

White rim!!!!!!!

-Dave