It is getting the time of year that I normally start doing a lot more gravel rides. I usually get some Gravel Grovel recon rides in and start wondering what kind of finishing time I can get. This may be the first year in a very long time that I have not rode any of those areas recently. This year is full of a lot of unusual things. Before I get in to all of that, I need to start a few weeks farther back.
After the BT Epic I was pretty run down and had some aches from the hard effort. I didn't have the motivation to get out as much I needed. I also ended up doing something I didn't think I would do, I bought a full suspension geared bike. I was not expecting to do that at all, but this year after PMBAR I could not help from wondering how that kind of bike would be a lot more enjoyable for that area. Some things ended up happening so that all the stars aligned and there I was, an owner of another new bike.
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| The new toy |
I ended up taking ownership a few days before the O'bannon Woods Adventure Ride. I figured if we were going to ride the AHT, then why not take my new ride and see what it was all about. I did get a couple minutes on it in the yard to get some things adjusted, but didn't really spend much time on it. I have never been to this event, but I have been to the area a little and heard that the event was a good time. I got there a little late on Friday and could only check out a little section of trail. Saturday the event ride was around the park and stuff. The group I was with wanted to check out the AHT. It didn't take me very long to remember how rocky this trail could be and how many hike a bike sections there were. The new bike was riding pretty good, but I was having an issue with my back brake and basically ended up riding most of the day with only a front break. It sure made some of the sections pretty interesting.
It turns out that the brake pads were completely worn out. I tried to put new pads in, but I could not get the pressure to build and make the brakes work. So much for a nice new bike. Someone was nice enough to loan me his bike for Sunday's ride. Saturday's ride kicked all of our butts, but it seemed like everyone wanted to go back and give the AHT another go, but this time add a little more of the sections we didn't' ride. My loaner bike was a hard tail SS. Not anything I wouldn't have been on anyway if I didn't buy the FS bike. I was still worn out and the trail was even harder than the day before, but I didn't do too bad on the SS. I didn't climb a couple hills that I would have with my eagle and I was missing the FS on some of the rocky downhills, but it was still a great day.
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| Thanks Blake!! |
So, after the event I went back home and tried to get the brakes to work. I tried a lot of different things, but never could get them to work very well. The next weekend I had planned on heading up to the Story area to get a good gravel ride in, but with the weather being good enough for trail riding and not getting much interest in joining me, I figured I would head back to O'Bannon and get another good trail ride in while it was good. I ended up stealing a caliper from my Spot to get it back up and rolling. I went to do some of the AHT again, but I skipped some of the harder sections. I will say that with both brakes working, this bike was a lot of fun. Eagle also was pretty crazy at what I could climb. It was another big, fun day.
Now this leaves me sitting in the another strange position for the year. I no longer had a working gravel SS that I normally ride for Gravel Grovel. This had me thinking about all the times I would ride my Speedster gravel bike and wonder what kind of time I could get at GG on it. But, I just didn't feel right not riding the SS. I had been contemplating this for the last month or so, but always ended up telling myself to just ride the SS. With this bike now only having 1 working brake, I figured I might as well see what the whole geared thing is all about and if I can get a good time on it. I know there are several gravel road sections that are not really the greatest on a SS and a couple of the climbs really hurt too. Now I am signed up in a different class than normal, riding a different kind of bike than normal and not even staying in the cabins like I usually do. I am not sure what I think of all that. I can only hope that no matter what bike I actually end up riding, it is a good day and I can have a fun time. I am sure that no matter how I ride, there will be at least some good times had. Guess we will see soon.
