Dust off the mountain bike

I woke up this morning sore and tired.  I knew I needed to do a ride today, but I sure didn't feel like it.  After an internal debate, I decided it was time to mix it up.  I dusted off my mountain bike and headed into work.  I haven't ridden my mountain bike in over a year.  The idea of riding a high mountain trail sounded refreshing to me.

I had to go into the office to do some work prior to my ride.  It was one of those undesirable mornings where problem after problem came rolling in.  I'll spare the details, other than to say, I'm fed up with banks and their auditors.  I will be the first to admit that banks were too liberal but they have over-reacted and gone to the other extreme.  I do believe that there are banks that want to start lending again in a conservative fashion, but the auditors are forcing banks to tighten up on the purse strings.  In Utah, last year there were dozens of grade "A" banks (as determined by the auditors).  Now, there is only one bank left the state with an "A" grade.  Enough venting.

I had a nice easy ride up south fork and a ways up towards the pass.  It was fun riding a mountain bike again.  I could tell that I was very rusty and hesitant on the downhill.  One the way down, a stick flipped up into my spokes.  Luckily it snapped without snapping a spoke or flipping me over the handlebars.  It, however, did break the zip tie holding my brake line.  I realized that every time my fork compressed, the line would now dive into the spokes.  I didn't have anything with me to fix it and I wasn't hot on the idea of walking down the trail.  I finally peeled off the manitou sticker from my shock and used this to secure the brake line--shown in the picture.

Tomorrow, the gym.  Friday and Saturday, plans call for some rides to push my limits.  One will be a longer distance--the other will be hills.