Great ride yesterday. Wheel was still in the shop, but my friend Pete offered to loan me an extra wheel he had so we could ride on some trails through Portland. The only caveat was his disc brake rotor was smaller than mine... which meant no front brakes.
So that made a few downhills quite interesting, but it was going relatively well. However, at one point I ate it pretty hard. Actually, a few times I ate it pretty hard. But one of those times I snapped the shifter off my bike. Pete and I braved swarming mosquitoes until we figured out that tying it to my handlebar with a spare inner tube would be best.
It still shifted, but I could not do so without holding the broken shifter in my hand to keep it stable, meaning it was next to impossible to shift on the trails, so I would be forced to ride single speed for the most part.
Pete talked me into continuing on despite this, and hesitantly I agreed. However, it went alright. I was just a bit slower is all.
The trails themselves were great. I had no idea such great trails existed within Portland city limits. Much of the time, you would have thought you were someplace else much more rural (like in my my town). It was great. Will definitely ride these trails again!
Good news about the bike is that replacing the shifter will be cheaper than I thought. Should have the bike back by the weekend.
Mountain biked 14.0 miles @ 7.1 mph/avg (19.5 mph/max)
Trails, some paved roads (1-1.5 miles worth).
Moderately hilly.
Mid 60s, sunny.
Shorts, short sleeved shirt.
2 comments:
As much time as I spent planted in the dirt during my first year of riding, I don't know why I haven't broken anything on my bike. Clever, using the tube for repairs.
You're hard on stuff. Guess that includes you. I'm sure you and The Yellow Dart are tough enough to take it!
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