I DIDN'T Ride My Bike Today, Cuzz....

Raining hard in Laguna right now. Ooops, now it stopped. Wait, now it started again... During our remodel, we decided to add gutters, based on predictions for an El Nino winter. Glad we did. We also added AC. Glad we did, given that the number of days when it tops 90* at the beach has increased dramatically in the past five years.

Ooops, off topic. Well, the year-long remodel is a large part of my patented "suitcase of excuses" for not riding (and for not traveling, and for not buying a bike, etc).
 
I rode the last 2 days, but before that I didn't ride since I tend to ride weekdays starting from 4:30 PM until sunset, and it gets dark so soon lately. I tend to get more productive around this time for some reason. Really miss the long days.

Ever since I learned proper eyesight, night riding feels kind of backwards to me and needlessly dangerous (also develops bad riding habits). Still have trauma from crashing at a spot, relying on memorization of the trail, but discovering it was recently altered. Wheel got jammed in a hole, I went over the bar, and my chest landed on a rock, knocking the wind out of me.
 
Varaxis said:
... (develops bad riding habits). Still have trauma from crashing at a spot, relying on memorization of the trail, but discovering it was recently altered.
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They have these amazing inventions called "lights." Use them, and don't overdrive them. Just like in a car, you should not be going faster than your lights allow you to react.:devilish:

And I didn't ride today because I got up too late to do so. Dang.
 
Runs with Scissors said:
They have these amazing inventions called "lights." Use them, and don't overdrive them. Just like in a car, you should not be going faster than your lights allow you to react.:devilish:
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The place I crashed was a 3' tall boulder that you can ride up and roll the other side, with a few rocks on the backside that acts as a transition. It used to be more of a rock garden. Someone rearranged it to be more of a narrow ramp. My wheel missed the ramp, and went straight down... handlebar lights are useless in that case, and you'd need to pause at the top to get the helmet light to shine down. Another spot, someone turned a roller into a drop, taking the dirt to shape a kicker on the take off. I managed to eject off the bike there, since I knew something was up.

You can only perceive so much and the light just makes everything not in the center of illumination is just unrecognizable, including shadows cast from your own body, due to someone behind you with a bright light. Pretty hard to gauge depth too... there are some boulders I decided to roll over straight and center, and bashed the chainrings really hard. I couldn't gauage how big of a bunnyhop I needed to clear it.

When I was a noob, I was actually riding better at night, since I was often looking further than in front of my tire to where my lights were aimed, but now that I've advanced, it just makes me a worse rider, a portable light doesn't exist that would allow me to scan anywhere as well as I could during the day. I have the Magicshine 880 and 872, which are extremely powerful lights.
 
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Varaxis said:
I rode the last 2 days, but before that I didn't ride since I tend to ride weekdays starting from 4:30 PM until sunset, and it gets dark so soon lately. I tend to get more productive around this time for some reason. Really miss the long days.

Ever since I learned proper eyesight, night riding feels kind of backwards to me and needlessly dangerous (also develops bad riding habits). Still have trauma from crashing at a spot, relying on memorization of the trail, but discovering it was recently altered. Wheel got jammed in a hole, I went over the bar, and my chest landed on a rock, knocking the wind out of me.
Click to expand...
Just shows you to never rely on memory; trail conditions, trail alterations is a common occurrence.

Glad you didn't break anything....
 
I didn't ride my bike today, but she is ready to rock and roll tomorrow... And no more front derailleur!

I consider this the first step in curing my derailleur addiction. :thumbsup:

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Was going to ride my bike this morning till I heard some BS about me loving my bike more than the family(ouch that hurt)... So we decided to beat the the heat, get up early and go for a hike before it gets too hot (hmmm if we hurry maybe I can sneak in a ride...). Well we didn't get to hiking early enough so no ride for me but the hike was still fun. We got a little exercise, there was a crash(wife tripped on a rock & tried to cushion the fall by landing on her iphone screen which didn't go so well).
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So she gets up dusts herself off and as we were hiking along she about jumped out of her shoes and claims to have seen a snizard (you know a snake with two front legs) zip across the trail in front of us(sorry not fast enough for a pic of this mystery creature). Then we came across some folks riding their bikes(well half a bike anyways).
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Yep unicycles with fat tires, disc brakes and suspension seatposts (these people are plain bat Sh!t crazy ass nuts). Full body armor is absolutely required to ride one of these and I even got someone to stop so I could snap a picture.
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So the person that stopped turns out to be a lady and I don't care she totally deserves the big balls award for the day. I wish I would have been fast enough to video this cause these people have some serious skills. The pictures don't do any justice for the terrain they were riding these death traps over. So the rest of the hike was uneventful and it totaled about 4 miles which Rusty seemed content with.
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And I learned that not only are bikes fun but so is spending time with the family...
IMG_2894.jpg
 
Runs with Scissors said:
Drank the 1X Kool-Aid, I see:geek:. You must ride large, and report back on the differences.:thumbsup: And is that a Wolftooth 42T on the back???
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I drank the Kool-Aid... I've been thinking about it since I bought the bike last fall. I'm sure Mtnbikej will say the 42 in back is a crutch, but I still consider myself fat and handicapped, anyway. :confused: By this time next year, there may be a single speed hanging in the garage, but baby steps for now!
 
Voodoo Tom said:
Was going to ride my bike this morning till I heard some BS about me loving my bike more than the family(ouch that hurt)... So we decided to beat the the heat, get up early and go for a hike before it gets too hot (hmmm if we hurry maybe I can sneak in a ride...). Well we didn't get to hiking early enough so no ride for me but the hike was still fun. We got a little exercise, there was a crash(wife tripped on a rock & tried to cushion the fall by landing on her iphone screen which didn't go so well).
View attachment 6827

So she gets up dusts herself off and as we were hiking along she about jumped out of her shoes and claims to have seen a snizard (you know a snake with two front legs) zip across the trail in front of us(sorry not fast enough for a pic of this mystery creature). Then we came across some folks riding their bikes(well half a bike anyways).
View attachment 6828

Yep unicycles with fat tires, disc brakes and suspension seatposts (these people are plain bat Sh!t crazy ass nuts). Full body armor is absolutely required to ride one of these and I even got someone to stop so I could snap a picture.
View attachment 6829

So the person that stopped turns out to be a lady and I don't care she totally deserves the big balls award for the day. I wish I would have been fast enough to video this cause these people have some serious skills. The pictures don't do any justice for the terrain they were riding these death traps over. So the rest of the hike was uneventful and it totaled about 4 miles which Rusty seemed content with.
View attachment 6830

And I learned that not only are bikes fun but so is spending time with the family...
View attachment 6832
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Ok... This is the best non-ride ride report on the forum!

And, I can empathize with the broken phone... My wife was testing her new "bath caddy" last weekend. iPhone 5 and iPad mini did not survive the maiden voyage to the bottom of the tub! These gizmos aint cheap! :bang:
 
Faust29 said:
I drank the Kool-Aid... I've been thinking about it since I bought the bike last fall. I'm sure Mtnbikej will say the 42 in back is a crutch, but I still consider myself fat and handicapped, anyway. :confused: By this time next year, there may be a single speed hanging in the garage, but baby steps for now!
Click to expand...

1x10 is a gateway drug.....before you know it, you will drop the rear derailluer and just go 1x1.:thumbsup:
 
ridinrox said:
Just shows you to never rely on memory; trail conditions, trail alterations is a common occurrence.

Glad you didn't break anything....
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You're absolutely right! Yesterday was the first time I've been to Summit in a year. Like usual, I take it easy on the first run to warm up and to make sure nothing's changed. I get to the ladder drop, last year there was a run out ramp on the back side of it but this year it was gone. Good thing my buddy warned me because I was just going to back side it. He told me that is where a rider died earlier this year, I can totally see how.

I didn't ride today because it's TOO DAMN HOT!! and I gotta go to work...:(
 
Longboard, Trail 5. 2' waves, warm water, mid tide, no wind. One other person in the water. I was right - man my ribcage hurt from yesterday. I caught like 15 waves in an hour (I consider it a good session if I catch 6 in an hour). Oops, see, I am comparing one session to another. Next thing we will have is a STRAVA for surfing - measures waves caught, length of ride in seconds, length in distance travelled, waves ridden-per-hour, # of turns per wave, relative speed, wave height, comparison to your previous sessions, comparisons to other surfers at the same break and internet based competitions and leaderboards.

Dare to dream!
 
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