It’s been a while since I last rode snowless singletrack; I reckon about six months. Most of the delay was due to me being lazy and not having my mountain bike(s) up and ready to go when the Michigan winter finally broke. The rest was due to the fact that I got a new cross bike (Boone!) and have been stacking up hours and miles riding dirt, gravel and paved roads so as to give my fitness a much needed kick in the lard ass and lose a few pounds.
Today however, I was FINALLY back on singletrack atop the Superfly. I’ve been riding trails for nearly 20 years and there is still something about the first singletrack ride of the year that brings out a nervous, I think I might poop myself, giddiness that makes me feel like a virgin on prom night (as if they exist anymore).
It was so nice to be back on trails again and riding in the woods, especially after four days of cold, rainy, windy crap weather and time spent on the trainer pedaling nowhere (in May!!).
The only downside to the ride was that my front and rear XT disc brakes were making the most incredible howling noise. It was maddening, and a tad deafening! I kept thinking the noise would go away but it never did. Luckily it only seemed to REALLY howl when I needed to come to a complete stop, so cornering was no real issue, but it was still annoying.
Once home I took out the pads and gave them a little rub with sandpaper, then cleaned the rotors with alcohol, but none of that did any good. I’m going to try to stop in the shop later this week and pop a pair of new XT pads in. I don’t really want to spend the cash, but if all else fails that seems to be the only option to keep from going [further] insane.
After I was done unsuccessfully fixing the brake pad issue, I finally took the time to mount up the WTB Nanos on my El Mariachi’s Velocity Blunt SL wheels. I have never had such an easy time of mounting tubeless tires. It was amazeballs! Mount ’em up, Stan’s ’em up, pump ’em up with a floor pump and POP-POP-POP they seated right up. It took me longer to clean up the Stan’s I spilled on the basement floor. Very stoked about the ease of mounting. If only everything was so easy to mount (looking at you Wifey!). Sorry.
I was happy with the way I felt on the trails today. It seems I retained all my crap–but good enough– bike handling skills over the winter and that all the base miles are paying off in the fitness department. Looking forward to more miles in the coming days, weeks and months ahead.
Later.