Ride or die trying

I’m back home, after what seems like an eternity. I managed to get in 3 days of riding at Bootleg Canyon.

The riding at Bootleg is incredible, if extreme. My bike handling skills, or lack of, left me unsure on some of the more intense sections of the trail/s. I got more comfortable as time went on, but I never got used to the hairiest stuff. Some of the areas were just too sick for me to even contemplate riding over. Rob tried a cheap ploy at one crazy climb... he told me to, “adjust the hem of my skirt”and give it a go. I gave him the one finger salute.
Skyline and East Leg trails were the toughest trails that we rode. I’m not sure of the difficulty rating of those trails, but they both deserve to be labeled as ‘Black diamond’. I walked more than I rode while on those two trails. These trails were nothing but off camber, ledge filled, rock gardens with just a few smooth sections of trail thrown in.

A sick, sick climb.

It's always that sudden stop at the end.

Thursday’s ride was the best of the week. The trails we rode were awesome... great descents, fast, and flowing. They were also the easiest trails...well, except for East Leg. I had one bit of bad luck though. I cut the sidewall of my front tire. Due to the spot where the cut occurred, the Stan’s sealant couldn’t seal the cut. Fortunately I had a spare tube and got back under way before too long. I have to say that dealing with that Stan’s sh*t out on the trail is cruel and unusual punishment. I got that crap all over me. Other than the tire damage and a couple cuts on my person, I came away no worse for the wear...oh, did I mention the new cassette? I’ll get back to the cassette in a few minutes. Let me finish my train of thought...

Fast turn+loose soil= WIPEOUT!

I give high marks to Mother, P.O.W., IMBA, Par None, and Girl Scout. West Leg, Upper and Middle Lake View trails were also good. Making a descent on Boy Scout is not to be missed, but climbing could prove a challenge unless you have a 5"+ travel bike.

We're going to the top of that!?!

If you’ve never ridden terrain like at Bootleg Canyon, a word of caution. Pay no attention to the quoted difficulty ratings (as posted on the BC website). Even the easiest trails are more technical than most East Coast riding. Every trail there requires you to pay close attention to your surroundings(and what you’re doing), as well as having some decent bike handling skills.

Yours truly, on Upper Lake View trail.

I have to admit that sending my bike on the plane had me more than a little worried, but it made the trip just fine. No damage to the bike, and the box had only minor wear. I couldn’t imagine riding Bootleg on a rented bike, but to be honest, schlepping a bike around an airport and hotel is a PITA.

Now that I’m back from Vegas I’ve got to get some training rides in, in anticipation for the 12Hrs of Pine Log. The bike is in top form, and my light will be here on Monday. I found a deal on a Nightrider Storm 2.0 HID. This “deal” is still costing me $325. Can you believe it? $300+ for a light! Some of those lights cost more than my first mtn bike. It’s friggin’ highway robbery. But, what can you do? I’m really looking forward to this race, it should be a lot of fun.

$300 worth of headlight

Now, about that cassette. I rode on the Tuesday before leaving for Vegas, and the bike performed flawlessly. The next day I was cleaning up the bike (lubing/cleaning the chain) and decided to check the status of my chain, and discovered that my chain was a little stretched out. According to my chain checker, the amount of stretch was still within the parameters of continuing to use the chain, but replacement would be needed before too long. Well, since I was going to be riding in an extreme place like Bootleg Canyon I decided to go ahead and switch out the chain. I got the new chain on without incident and the packing process continued.
Fast forward to Friday night. I’m at Rob’s house and unpacking the bike. I get the bike assembled and notice that the shifting is off, apparently due to a trashed rear derailleur cable. The plan is to get and install the new derailleur cable at the bike shop just down from BC. So the new cable goes on, and Rob works his magic on the necessary adjustments.
No matter what he tries though, we can’t get the shifting right. 3rd and 4th gear keep giving us problems...so many problems that we drive back to his house to try and figure out what was wrong (another reason for going back was that Rob forgot his riding shoes...so the trip home wasn’t all my fault). To try and make this story short (I know, too late for that) It’s discovered that the cassette was worn, or at least the 3rd and 4th cogs of the cassette, and the skipping/shifting problem was the result of the new chain not meshing correctly with the worn cassette. Another trip to the bike shop and $45 later and I was ready to ride. Gotta love that sort of thing, huh?

On the plus side, I learned how to properly adjust the derailleur.

I think that’s enough drama for a while. I’m gonna go chill out, and recover from all that plane travel yesterday.