Back on the bike this past weekend. It had been way too long since my last outing so it took me a while to feel good and not like I was riding over my head. About the time I started feeling better I noticed how many little mistakes I make. Had I been on the same schedule as year’s past (where I rode 2x a week all summer long) I might not ride like such a squid. I kept leaning back off the bike mid turn and then losing control of the front end when I got back on the gas. Losing control would be overstating it but for sure I could do better if I’d just take the time to back it down a little and think about what I was doing.
I expected more moisture in the ground with all the flooding we have here. It’s roughly 90 miles from Lake Mills to Dyracuse but it might as well have been a trip to the desert. The sandy MX track was loose and most of the woods was rustling with last autumn’s leaves. No matter – it makes clean up easier.
Joe and I missed this past weekend’s GNCC round in NC, obviously. That means I’ve only made 4 of the 8 rounds held so far and I feel like a loser because of it. Lots of great folk put faith in our doing the series and supported us from so many directions that it’s a shame we are doing so few of the races. We’ll miss the round in PA too so here’s your chance to pour salt into the wound.
I messed with some sag settings during the ride at Dyracuse and I also rolled my bars forward some. I’ve been running about 8mm too little sag in the rear because by 1/3 race distance my bike is so weighted down with mud that it rides too low in the rear and steers too slowly for my liking. On a dry day like we had last weekend tends to put too much weight on the front end and the bike hops around a little in the rear but not enough to make me sweat it. The bar thing was a good change. Now I have to figure out a way to duplicate it on my race bike.
I spent 20 minutes talking to Marv Homann on Sunday afternoon. Marv is 82 and owns a huge farm just 5 minutes from my house. Last year he let Joe and I cut a trail on his property so we could ride locally for free. Trouble was that the land was all peat and too low to dry out until late in the summer. It whooped out something fierce and got to be a little dangerous in some places. There’s another section of land that has more of a slope and better woods on the opposite end of Marv’s section that I want to take a look at. Making time to get over there and cut some trail is the next hurtle.
Looks like Shane Nalley’s boys are up to speed. Congrats to them!
