sunday singletrack

First, a picture from my Monday commute- some kids feeding gulls with the Tay railbridge in the background. I have a feeling this will prove to have been one of the nicest days all summer. I checked my seat position and it was in about the most ridiculous combination of fore/aft and pitch adjustment that it could have been, and I think fixing that solved my knee problem. I was hammering it pretty hard on some hills since then and no pain.

I shoved the bike into the car and headed north from town today to hit some singletrack. My first real off road riding in months, and it was fantastic. Great views, ok weather (got sprinkled on), ended up lost in a flock of sheep for a while, and got scared silly by a grouse that I almost ran over. About all you could ask for on your introduction to Scottish mountain biking.

The hills were a challenge- on my geared bikes it would have been no problem, but on the singlespeed I was a hurting unit after the first big climb. I had to hike a couple more spots than I would have liked, but that gives me something to shoot for over the next few months. Eventually I got in a groove and the familiar feelings came back- a bit of searing in the lungs and some lead in the legs, but massive satisfaction at the top. It's also definitely a different game with no suspension- smoother lines or less speed, apparently. A view from the last big descent today- the route description just said 'work your way down the hill', and this was sort of a path. You could argue against this, but you'd be wrong.