Thursday (10/14/99)
I went out again for a little SS night riding. This time, I met up with three other people who were in town from the west side. One of them had a really sweet Spot SS bike. Horizontal dropouts so no need for a chain tensioner, elegant looking Middleburn cranks (machined in England), Maguras and a headbadge off of a Caddy. Top it all off, it weighted probably 4-5 lbs less than my SS. Almost made the old Jamis hang its chainstays in shame. Almost. We were quickly rolling through the sagebrush and all thoughts of bike envy were blown out of my brain by the scent of crushed sage and the hum of knobbies on singletrack.

We went on one of the trails that is a little bit harder to climb. The trail goes down (or up) through a bowl and winds its way back and forth across the sides of the bowl. Its really a fun trail ... but going up can be a bit of a challenge with only one gear. I'm not ashamed to say that I walked some portions of the upper trail. Several times I found my self standing on the pedal for all I'm worth and not going anywhere. (Note to self: get your butt in gear and install the 180's you dummy!)

I really enjoyed myself and had a blast showing off our local trails. All three were grinning when we made it back to the vehicles. After saying my good-byes, I spun off into the night to get to my own abode. 14.5 miles (8.5 offroad) and a little over 1.5hrs of riding time on a Thursday evening. Life is good.

Thursday (10/7/99)
First NightRide of '99 for me. Finally back on the bike. I've been really lazy and also trying to get over a cold. Went out for a little night ride on the SS. First time out offroad with the new Crowbars. I could be just totally whacked but it seems like they provide a bit of "suspension" or it might be that they're just damping the trail vibrations a bit. They still feel a little bit weird in the corners but I know I'll get used to it. Met some riders from Hermiston that came up for a little evening riding but nobody with lights.

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