I spent about 2 hours on Thursday night installing new brake discs and a new rear brake cable. Plus I oiled the rest of the cables and dialed in the brakes just so. Then, I did a 3-hour ride after work on Friday. Man, it was fantastic having brakes which weren't squealing and still stopping properly; however, I noticed that the cones on my rear wheel are loose and I don't have a cone wrench to tighten them... Not good, Ilan, not good. But, I digress. I tried out a new direction on that ride: when I got to the top of Rim Job the second time, I hung a left and descended toward Eglinton. I ended up getting spit out onto the Summerhill paved trail, and had to ride all the way to the cricket lot to find the trails again, next time I hope that I'll get a chance to try a different turn at the bottom of the trail and see if I can't meet up with the river trail somewhere.
I also crashed for the first time since starting to ride the Don, and smacked my hand on a root. For some reason that made my fingers go numb. The crash was pretty tame, I just took a steep left turn way too slow and slipped in the soft earth. The Don Valley trails can be pretty visually daunting to someone who hasn't had experience riding them; almost every corner looks like if you fuck up, you're going over the edge in a steep dive to the valley floor. I'm going to start focusing on sections of trail that I find difficult and hitting them over and over until I can get used to riding them, especially tight, steep turns. Most of them are bermed, so I know it's just a matter of getting over a mental block which prevents me from careening myself through them.
I actually ended up yelling at myself at one point in aggravation because of my fright in one particularly steep section. I know it's not conducive to riding improvement to get angry at oneself, but alas I only have so much patience for my own mental bullshit. Argh, maybe I'll try yelling encouragement next time in an effort to channel frustration. To make up for that, on the last mile or so of paved trail I have to ride to get home, I made a point of keeping up with a roadie who definitely did not intend to have a muddy mountain biker on her tail. She upshifted and got into the drops, and I still stuck right to her. Finally she slowed down and I passed with a little bunny hop. Am I a show-boat and an asshole? Probably, but it did make me feel a little bit better...
On another note, Toronto has decided to conspire against my plan to go on an epic ride this afternoon by raining heavily. Instead I stayed in and watched the U.S.-England World Cup game (oh dear, what a pity). Now it's 5PM and I haven't showered or really done anything productive with my day yet. Might have to make a trip to Mountain Equipment Co-op and get some 29er tubes, might have to do it on my road bike, too since it must feel so neglected as it's been relegated to the dusty corner.
No pictures from my ride, but I'll try and get some soon.
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