Saturday, April 11, 2009

Opening it up

So I hit the Woodlot this morning in the rain. I took an axe with me so that I could cut some trees out in certain spots and then stash it on the trail.

When I arrived at 9am there were a couple cars but nobody to climb with, so I set off up the hill solo on my Legend. I stashed the axe at the Snakes and Ladders trail head and decided to see how far the snow had receded up the hill, so I pushed up Cabin trail until I hit the snow. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that the trail is clear of snow on the lower 75% of the line. Nothing until the first bridge on the trail. While pushing up, I did find some interesting lines on the trail that proved to be a blast to ride when my bike was finally pointed down hill. Thankfully the trail was all clear of deadfall and was a total rip to ride. Cabin trail is what I normally use as a base line measuring stick for any new bike I get. If it rides well on Cabin then I know it will ride well practically anywhere. I already knew well ahead of time that the Legend would ride well on Cabin but what surprised me was that in spots where I'd usually just be able to let off the brakes and hang on for dear life, I was able to pedal and confidently ride the trail significantly faster than I ever have on any bike. I'm just now getting used to riding trails at what I consider stupid fast speeds.

By the time I was at the clear cut I was in a total downpour and hail. The weather sucked. So back into the forest it was and down to Snakes and Ladders with the axe to open up the new reroute a little bit.

The reroute that was started a few weeks ago is now 80% rocked in but the entrance to it sucked until today. I moved a log that was blocking the entrance to the line which now makes the line flow a lot better. With a chainsaw I will be doing a little more magic and then I'll shape some dirt, rock a little more and the line will be done. The flow of this line will be significantly improved when I am done and just in time for the spring and summer masses that flock to The Woodlot when the weather improves. I am pleased with how the reroute is coming together.

After cleaning up and gathering the tools, I set off down the trail and over to Shotgun to go home.

On the way down Shotgun I noticed the front end of my bike was feeling harsh and I was getting bounced around. At my car I compressed the fork a few times and noticed I was only getting 4" of travel and then the fork got stiff. Looks like I need to have it worked on. [EDIT] I took my fork ('08 Boxxer WC) to Suspension Werx and it turns out I ripped an o-ring in the rebound cartridge and the fork dumped all its oil into the lower chamber.

Over all a good little ride with some building thrown in there for good measure.

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