Work and Food

I spoke with Handful of Dates last night and he told me he’d been doing some Mt. bike riding.  Which it occurred to me that I had not.  So, post clinic-prep,  I cleaned off my dad’s Giant Iguana (that's really the make and model) and rode up to the trailhead for Case Mountain.  I’d ridden Case before on both a hard tail and The Green Machine, and I’ve written about my dissatisfaction with the Iguana (which was the best option to hand, alas). 

The Green Machine in other days:

I just don’t trust the Iguana – the clearance seems awfully low, the bars awfully high, and the seat just floats out there doing it’s own thing.  Plus I have issues (major issues) with the fork tension.  I end up bobbling all over the trail (although I admit some of that is riding style/weight management).  So I wasn’t optimistic and the Iguana didn’t disappoint my mediocre expectations.  She was fine enough descending, but for my money the real measure of a bike is how well it climbs (in this case, over boulders).  The Iguana, I’m sad to say, handled like a hybrid.  It was incredibly frustrating (not that my trail skills are sharp and sparkly or anything) to try to climb in the more difficult stretches.  I’d see what I wanted to do, but I’d get pedal strike or bounce away energy and creak to a halt.  Or I’d really bear down and spin the wheel (she might improve a bit with decent trail tires instead of her so so compromise tires.)

Top of the mountain (with random biker with whom I chatted):

The mountain is surprisingly tough.  Some trails are basically dirt roadways, fit for cars, while other trails are tiny beaten meanderings climbing through boulder fields.  I had to get off and walk three times, although I would have tried all those sections on The Green Machine (which is perfect for giving you just the right of crash-absorbing flex without going all buttery or light-tailed on you.   It was a struggle.  I got thrown twice but turned them both into hopping to a stop controlled falls.  The pedals were slippery and I ended up pronging my shin twice.  I will now have two new pedal scars to add to my shin collection.  I also mashed my hand between the handlebar and a tree on a descent.  It’s bloody and sore but everything bends the way it should when I want it to, so it passes the “walk away” test.  I’m afraid that was just a stupid miscalculation on my part.  Actually my hands hurt the most of anything – just a bad hand day. 

Tired Scoplaw:

On the other hand I did significant parts of all the trails, including some of the very hard ones, so I think the mountain and I can call it a draw.   I visited my vernal pool, noting the very high high-watermarks this year and the relatively normal level of the pool for this time of year.  I also rode down past the chimney, which is an area of the mountain I particularly like.  My twinned twins are still there (two joined pairs of white birch trees) although they’re looking a bit ragged.  Damn blight gets them all eventually.  I also got to rest for a bit at the moot which I also love – that circular depression of stones by the intersection of the yellow and the something trail.  I saw little wildlife, alas, but it was Saturday, so there were probably people all over the mountain earlier in the day.

Moot area (the wall of rock is the back part of the ring - camera angle was not wide enough to get it all, alas):

When done, I became conscious of the fact that my power for the day was one single donut grabbed while running errands.  Doh!  I didn’t bonk per se, but I was suddenly ravenous and lightheaded.  So I went to a local Italian place (walking distance of where I live) and got escargots in butter and garlic, salad, bread, manicotti.  All of which was fresh and perfect.  Trivia fact about the Scoplaw – I have a nearly infinite capacity for manicotti (so long as it’s good).  When I’m craving any kind of post ride carbs, it’s hard to say no to Italian.  Now that all of the above are in my stomach, I am moving pretty slowly right now.  I’m going to have some of Photogal’s homemade schnapps.  Odds are I’ll be moving even more slowly in the very near future, especially since El Gato Perfecto has decided to curl up on my lap and rest her head on my elbow as I type.