Complaints and Grievances

My ankle still hurts. I decided to bike the bullet and go riding on Friday anyway. Then my ankle hurt more, and I was frustrated. See, I got used to the speed and ease of road riding while in Maine, and I forgot that I'm a fairly slow mountain biker. This compounded with my inability to do 3 turns in the Don at speed. It doesn't matter how much I tell myself I can do it, how many run ups, or how much I end up yelling at myself afterward, I end up coming up to them at speed and slamming on the brakes, nearly doing an endo instead of just going round them. I know I just have to do each one once and they'll never be a problem again, but when I'm in my own head and there's no one else around to push me, I just end up getting up and walking. Then, no matter what, the rest of my ride is shitty. I just want to get home and go from post-ride beer to post-ride lash. Solutions? I'm open to suggestions, but I think I may have to spend how ever long it takes at each spot and just hit them over and over 'till I do it. Or I have to ride with someone else who will push me to try those things that scare me. Due to the crap outcome of the ride, there are no pictures to share.

To placate my frustration, and further deteriorate my ankle, I'm planning on going on the 120km Canada Day ride on Thursday. I think that it would be good to soothe my fevered ego a little bit by going on an exceedingly long road ride. I'm also buying some parts for my road bike in the next couple days, specifically a new saddle, dual-pivot brakes, and new wheels. The new road-bike plan is to upgrade to 8- or 9-speed STI and continue riding. Then, buy a new(er) frame next season and switch over whatever parts I can. Fun stuff.

In other news, I went to see Ted Leo and the Pharmacists on Saturday. One of my favorite bands with one of my favorite people. Ted Leo has a penchant for rambling anecdotes which provide a connection with the band beyond the music. When asked why he was wearing a Ghana t-shirt the day that the Black Stars beat the U.S. team, he said "I have profound respect for the U.S. Men's national soccer team, but, you know, Ghana is my team from way back." Priceless. I highly recommend experiencing one of his shows if you have an opportunity. Due to the awesome nature of the show, here is a picture I took with a cellphone camera (sorry).

World Cup Fever

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.