Sunday, September 11, 2011

Leaks, Roots, Dust, Batteries

Three hours on trail at endurance to tempo pace.

Simple plan that turned more complex.

Some background. I recently developed a loud skreeeeetch on the front brake along with a loss of braking power. I swapped the brake pads front-to-back and the noise transferred with it. My suspicion was that somewhere along the way I contaminated the pads. Then this thread showed up with reports of leaking hoses on M985 XTR brakes. I carefully checked, but saw no leak. Until today.

Right as I rollout a quick glance and I see a teeny drop right at the hose crimp on the banjo fitting. I press on. Shortly before arriving at the trail... the PowerTap goes wonky. Dead batteries. Bummer. I wanted to really keep a consistant effort level today. I press on. The trail is in really bad shape. The drought's effects are showing up as stress on the trails. There are parts of the trail that have lowered six inches over the last few weeks. Unfortunately, the roots have not dropped.

DSCN3864

The dirt is... like baby powder, only finer. Moon dust. The stress on the trails is really showing. The fact that these are the only trails in a city of two million people doesn't help. And the crowd is thick today. I meet an oncoming rider about every 100 yards it seems. There is just no rhythm or flow today.

All together it's a frustrating day. But I do my best. And I get about two-and-a-half hours of riding in. While I don't think my effort is that good... the fatigue I feel later suggests otherwise. This is why I like the PT. It keeps me honest.

The day ends with some maintenence items to be done and some rest for tomorrow.


0 comments: