Firsts

Some fun firsts over the past couple of weeks:

First Ride On Snow

The Midwest rarely gets dry powder snow. Great traction on the singletrack — not a single slip or slide. "Wow," I said to my bike. "Is this your preferred surface? You are really railing this stuff."

First Ride at Night

This is a good one, and if I can find the cable that attaches my phone to the laptop, I'll load up the picture. N. got me a helmet mounted light for Christmas, a really nice MiNewt 350. Except the helmet mount was for a different model. The first good chance I got to night ride the trails, I still didn't have the correct mount. So I macgyvered this:

That is an empty thread spool attached securely with a length of seam binding tape. It worked great. Only problem was that my chinstrap was a little loose so the light bounced up and down.

I really dig riding at night, but there was a lot to get used to. The white light makes the rocks and trees look very different than in the daytime, so the brain is processing this stuff coming at me in a whole new way. Trees that I never even notice beside the trail in the daytime looked a lot closer to my bars. The focus required was much more taxing than in the daytime. I stayed on the easier trail and had a fine time. It started to snow lightly, and the snow glittered in the air all around.

First Full Ride of my Local Technical Trail

Disclaimer: I didn't clean it, not by a long shot. But for the first time, I rode the whole trail in one ride, with fluidity instead of jerky hesitation.

It was like when I first got off the couch and started moving around and the world was full of firsts. That ride was special. I felt like a whole different kind of creature. Translated as a huge unstoppable smile.

Today's Tune
Andrew Bird looks like somebody I would try to make laugh.