Will be complete!

My granny ring arrived today, so I slapped it on and headed out for a ride with gears, my first in a very long time. I even stopped once and took this lame picture.

No cool pictures, because I was too busy having fun during all the cool parts. Rode the short loop from Williamson Valley, hitting Mint Wash the hard way.

While I certainly had a few issues with shifting, for the most part things went well (existential pleading of “WHY?!” when my chain jammed aside). I rode some things I’ve never ridden before, and fumbled stupidly on ones I’ve cleaned every time previously. Most of the former were shining examples of the utility of suspension. One of my favorite short climbs on Mint features a moderately inclined, moderately chunky rock garden with two stopper roots at the top, perfectly placed to snag both wheels at once. On the rigid I’ve cleaned it once or twice, and always with serious concentration. Today this obstacle was of no consequence. Point and plow.

The climb out of Mint was also fun, the 20t reminding me that gears make things easier. The Reba in chopper mode required a bit of effort to hold things down up front on the steep bits, but I’m not yet convinced this merits a conversion to less travel.

The other fun part came right at the end of the day, racing dusk back to the truck. The last two miles are swoopy and fast, and it was fantastic to drop into the biggest gear and hammer through the curves and rocks.

I like.

Same old frankenmonkey, plus Reba at 100, 7mm crown race, 20/34 up front, and 17/21/24/28/32 out back. Dura-ace friction shifters, one barend, one Kelly Takeoff. Ginormous dual-pull XT front mech (wheel halfway back in the drops), Shimano 600 road rear. It works, though I could use a longer BB.

I’ve also been testing my new Arc-teryx RT25 pack, by taking a huge amount of water and superfluous crap on rides. It works very well, carries perfectly, and is very stable considering it’s size. I got it for overnights especially, the burly suspension for such a small pack will be good for certain long bike portages lurking in the dim future.

Progress continues. I know that in the past, I’ve stated repeatedly my desire to stay away from artifice as a means of improvement. This year has been a betrayal of that. My skills and fitness have improved, but each time a new toy has come along (clipless pedals, suspension) I find myself meeting old challenges with new rules. Bad? Not necessarily. But it is what it is: a means to an end that means nothing, in a zero-sum game. But hey, we’re American, right?