hurronnicane

Take the saddle off the post, clean the rails and clamp as good as I can, put a tiny bit of grease on the rails and reassemble. I would like to think I’m getting better at it, but my hands feel awfully clumsy putting it back together.

I keep having a creaky seat. Each time it as been the rails, not the seatpost. Three times since Spring Break. I feel like I went years without that happening.

Whatever you do just don’t squeeze the Garmin.

Any cleaning issues with salt in your hydration bladder?

My latest attempt at a heat-coping strategy when I ride my local trail is to fill two water bottles with ice and cold water and partially freeze them. I carry one on the frame and the other inside by camelback (no bladder). I ride roads for about eight minutes to get to my personal trail network. Once I get there I drop my camelback in the shade at a four-way trail intersection and get to ride without the weight and heat of the pack on my back. Every time I come near the intersection I spray my forehead with cold water. Between that and starting early and keeping the ride short I have been able to keep riding, but without the heat-headaches that used to be ubiquitous for me in the summer after a ride.

On the bright side, the garden is still producing though it is going to burn up fast in this heat!

Ruidoso, New Mexico. Nine hours from our driveway.

I have been doing shorter rides and though it is still hot it doesn’t ruin my day like sometimes (often) happens with longer rides in the heat.

View of Sierra Blanca taken from Cedar Creek Trails a little over a week ago.

Juniperus deppeana (Alligator Jumiper)

https://youtu.be/2DEZflXLwQg Any thoughts?

South of Salida, almost in New Mexico is the town of Del Norte. We managed to ride a really fun trail there a couple of years ago and there were several other interesting sounding trails in the same area.

Both of my kids learned to ride in our rough rocky yard. The family joke was, “Who put that tree there?” When they were little it helped diffuse the fear and anger about wrecking by making a joke about it and they still use that line today in their 20s. It has been a huge joy to ride bikes with them as they grew up. We were all in Bentonville riding together when the lockdown started and we have all been sheltering in place until recently which gave us a time to do a lot of time for family rides.