Don't Eat Poop!

"I used to be disgusted. Now I try to be amused...." Elvis Costello

Let me tell you about my morning ride. I decided that despite the cold temps and the wind I would enjoy the sunshine and ride in Bear Brook State Park before heading off to work. The park still has lots of areas of ice (mostly on those downhill sections where you would rather not encounter any ice!) and sticks and branches from the winter ice storm, but the trails are otherwise in amazing shape! On a pleasant downhill section of trail I got a small stick stuck between my front derailer and my rear tire. Thought nothing of it....stopped, removed stick with gloved hand, and proceeded to wipe my nose with the same hand....mistake! I just wiped dog poop on my nose! NASTY! Proceeded to find large puddle, wash off glove (the beauty of Gortex) and face. As I was doing all of this I was reminded of the sage advice of a veterinarian regarding how to avoid parasites....."Don't eat poop!" I'll be weary of any unexpected weight loss after this mornings encounter!

This past weekend, John and I headed over to Franklin Falls in Frankin, NH on Saturday. These trails also had small areas of snow and were still soft, but overall the trails were in great shape. Franklin Falls is a fun place to ride and the Central NH NEMBA chapter has done lots of work building some excellent trails. They are fast and flowy, but still have some short steep climbs to get the heart rate up. I'm having some trouble adjusting the rear shock on "Marty". There seems to be very little difference in the firmness between fully open and ProPedal 3. I'm experimenting with pressure. Right now I'm riding it at 150psi (seems like a lot for someone 115 pounds!) I'm going to try to contact a GT techie and find some guidance.

On Sunday, we rode at Harold Parker in Andover, MA. We rode what I refer to as the "middle section" and found some muddy spots. There has been a lot of work in there since the Wicked Ride late last October. We spent some time working on the technical stuff. The GT goes very well in those conditions. I'm still very pleased with it's climbing and descending, especially over technical terrain. It's easy to ride and very forgiving. (Thinking of you, Hoss) John and I are looking to head over there again after work on Wednesday. This time we're heading to the Jenkins Road side to really beat ourselves up!

Looking to get some long rides in this weekend. The weather is supposed to be dry and relatively warm this week, so the local trails should dry up nicely. Maybe we can try someplace new.....