Today's Ride

trail looks like a lot of fun

Thanks bro - still going strong down there?

yep..
but big rains this weekend..sucks when you only have Sat to ride

Get some lights and go at night.  It's different, but it's fun.

I have lights..just lack the motivation to ride at night..
Might head to Asheville NC in Nov.

Another cold day, almost a repeat of yesterday but a very different ride.

Absolutely perfect day yesterday, leaves near or at peak, ended in heartache. I don't crash often, but when I do it's usually on something stupid and easy. No exception here. I caught my pedal on a log being lazy with my line, my bike stayed, and I went over the bars. That was the end of my ride. It knocked me pretty good - lost my wind for a second or two, skinned my knee and had a bit of whiplash. Luckily I didn't hit my head or really injure my neck.

I was hoping to get some more footage of the colors on some other trails, but I ended with that. The crash is on the video although it may not look like much. Good reminder to be mindful even when going slow and on easy stuff you've ridden 100's of times.

Yikes..I always seem to crash on familiar stuff too..

Weather looks sweet for the next couple of days..sucks i have the stomach bug

Complacency... it's a killer.  I'm still gonna ride this weekend if it's nice, even though I have a shit-ton of work to do before it starts to snow for real.

I've been losing my chain and I can't figure out why, so I bought a new clutch mech, chainring and chain.  I need to get that on and see how it goes.

Check your derailleur hanger also.

BRLKED wrote

Check your derailleur hanger also.

Yeah - I checked that first and adjusted the tension on the clutch spring, but it still flies.  Usually when I'm going fast in a small cog but I've had it jump off on some rocky stuff too in a lower gear.

My chainring is really old - it's from my previous bike and I mashed it on a rock pretty good earlier this year.  It started happening around then.

My clutch feels weird too though.  It's not smooth at all and earlier this year it was making noise so I took it apart and greased it, which stopped the noise, but I'm wondering if the grease I used wasn't ideal for it.  The stuff Shimano ships it with is white and I used the Park green grease.

Did you check it with an alignment tool or just eyeball it? It's the first thing I look at with dropped chains, then limit screws. Chain wear and cassette /chain ring wear don't usually lead to dropped chains,just sloppy shifting. I hope the new gear helps.
FYI, I use Park grease on everything.

Yeah, I checked it with the park tool.  Also it's not coming off during shifting, just when I hit rough stuff.  It's bouncing right off.

I haven't put the chainring on yet or the new chain, but I tried something else.  I put in the new clutch which feels a ton better but I also took a link out of my chain.  The shifting is OK but I never ran it this tight before because I need to run the B tension all the way out.  I'm running an 11 speed derailleur on a 10 speed 11-42 cassette.  I don't really like the offset guide pulley on the 11 speed because the pulley gets too far away on the big cogs if you run the chain tension high and if you run it low, there is hardly anything on the small cogs.

Anyway, I'm pretty sure the teeth on the chainring are toast.  It's old and has a ton of wear.  It's a narrow wide, so when they get old, they don't hold onto the chain as tightly.

I bought a new chain because I damaged that a bit when I hit that rock.  I just kept riding it because it wasn't binding but I could see where a couple links were flattened out/ground down.

I also found out there is a recommended grease for the Shimano clutches.  It's their internal hub grease.

Riding has been abysmal but here's a good vid for all you guys who are afraid to get in the air. It definitely takes your riding to the next level (not that I'm an expert).

Confluence of the Erie canal and Genesee river.


Is riding your bike in the rain better than skiing in the rain?  Not sure.  But riding was free except for an apple and banana I ate before.

Met a nice gent on my ride yesterday.  He was finishing up a longer ride and heading back home.  We rode together and chatted until he got back to his house.  

Skiing came up.  He mentioned being into XC and I gave him some tips of places he hadn't heard of.  Was also interested in fat biking.

Not often that I ride and talk to people, but I always meet like-minded individuals when I'm out riding or skiing.

Took a ride to city center.  53F and grey.  Doesn't feel much like winter.

Cunningstunts wrote

Took a ride to city center.  53F and grey.  Doesn't feel much like winter.

At least you can ride. Up here the snow has gone to shit, the roads are icy and the temps are about to plummet, so it will soon be like the ice planet Hoth.

Bummer man.  They do make studded tires for bikes.

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