Sedona, Part 2

The three of us biked, hiked and horsed around among the red rocks and desert plants. It's amazing to think this is the first time we rented a solo bike for E - he's so comfortable riding this strange terrain. The best example of this is the two pics of E and I riding into the same trench. I did it nervously at first, then he worked up to flying down into it, better than I could! In the long run, I'm in for trouble keeping up.
E was also interested in caves, climbing into any he could find.
I was able to try a SC Heckler, Kona Coil-Air and a Motolite. This was a good opportunity to try alternatives to my own bike, but I couldn't spend much time tuning them beyond saddle position. The Heckler felt the best, probably because it's most like my own Superlite, including a RockShox fork with lockout. The Motolite was probably the lightest of the set (including carbon seatstays), but the day I rode it we had thick, very fine dust on the trails, making everything slippery. The Kona ate up the descents very smoothly, but I pushed each bike up some climbs and the Kona earned the nickname "big pig" with its weight.

At the PR after we returned, I really enjoyed being back on my own bike. I am experimenting with slightly lower rear shock pressure to smooth my bike, a little like the rentals.

Sedona, Part 1

A, E and I are back. While the film is being developed (ha!), here's a picture I didn't snap.
The top-shelf MTB rentals out there are set up big and fat and moto-style. 2.35" tires, 5+" suspension, huge forks and softly sprung for a really slack head tube angle. I think the locals ride the dry creek beds, bare stone and small boulders and small waterfalls all worn smooth by the occasional deluge. We stayed on the trails, so these rigs were a bit beyond my needs.
Anyway, perched atop a pickup I saw a bike too cool to be rentable. The extra-beefy frame had been steel-wool rubbed free of any decals, and the tall dual-crown fork was painted white. The only logo I saw was a bling gold King headset, I think 1.5". This thing was a motorcycle without the engine. The owner wrote a custom top-tube banner (using a Sharpie, I'd guess): Royale with Cheese. Oh yeah.

E MTB Jump

E and I went to his favorite local jumping spot both days last weekend. Unfortunately, I picked the drizzly day to bring the camera.

In a way, E is teaching me how to take action shots. He's at least giving me motivation and opportunity to practice!

Ode to Sleep

Fear not! I won't attempt any verse.
The road bicycling press has long recommended good sleep as a pillar of training, vital for recovery from past efforts and preparation for future ones. I've seen this in my own road riding and firmly agree with its wisdom.
This morning at Rattlesnake I formed the strong impression that sleep is even more important for mountain biking. Rattlesnake's "Stones and Bones" section is a technical trail, and this morning I felt limited by difficulty in mentally focussing on the obstacles. Sleep is crucial for focus, so today I think I was sleep-limited.
On the positive side, I made it through the trench once upward (after several failed attempts) and got closer to riding the ridge (downward), though it still eludes me.
The first attempt at the ridge ended in an endo over a dip that caught the front wheel. I found it oddly comforting when the bike landed on me, an old friend visiting in a time of distress. Over the last month I've been wondering whether elbow pads were worth wearing, but here the left one picked up some deep scratches to prove their value.
Tires: I took MF's advice on Panaracer FireXC and they're wonderful, the stickiest I've ever used. The 127 TPI, Japanese version was hard to find though, except at Jenson. Look for the red bead!
[Naturally, this whole blog is written from the standpoint of my own technique, strength, etc. Many riders can fly over obstacles which stop me cold. This blog will never represent a cutting edge of riding.]

Modified Bash Guard

[A bash guard replaces the largest chain ring on a mountain bike to protect the front most gears from crashing into rocks and logs.]

After mulling over this for about a year I finally put the 'guard on the mill and hacked it on Feb 24. I pared down 0.15" of radius to increase ground clearance and reduce weight, then drilled 28 3/8" holes to lighten it further. I removed 68g weight, dropping it to 102g, but I believe I retain all the useful strength. This guard protects my 34t chain ring and is based on a Nashbar part which is reliable but quite heavy. In the picture, an unmodified part is on the left, and my customized one is on the right.

In terms of machining technique, this was the first time I've moved the work piece between drilling operations. I was taught to fix the work then perform all the drill operations (center drill, then 1/8", 1/4", 3/8" drills in succession). This works well for beginners because it eliminates the risk of breaking a drill due to the chuck being misaligned to the previous hole. But in this case it would have taken a lot more time so instead I center drilled all 28 holes, then put in the 1/8" drill and went around again. I had no trouble with it (in the context of a low-precision project).

Now that I've ridden it twice, I'd say the advantages line up this way:

1. It looks better to me, and in a sense I've bonded with it, so riding is a little more fun.
   
2. The clearance and weight improvements are nice, but they don't change the riding experience in a substantial way.
   
3. Milling is always fun.