Rage Riding

 Yeah, there's an interesting post title. Rage Riding. That is what I feel best describes Thursday's and Friday's rides this past week. This past week was a rough week, and I had some steam to blow off. What better way to do it than to hop on Tri, and push myself up hills with only one gear as fast as I can, while listening to angry music?

Well, I'm sure there's better ways, but I know that riding works for me, especially mountain riding. It felt good to be back on the singlespeed hardtail, after riding Pretty for a few weeks. Full suspension is indeed nice, as is having thirty gears to sift through, I suppose. But, when I've got anger to burn off, I want something simple that I don't have to think about. Pedal if I want to move, pedal faster if I want to go faster, and only one suspension setting to poke, not three.

Well, and Tri's a whole lot cheaper to repair if I decided to rail headlong into a tree, which was a very real possibility.

Needless to say, I felt much better. The problems that lead to it in the first place are still there, but I'm in a better place mentally to deal with them.

That said, having bounced back and forth between Tri and Pretty, they make a nice compliment to each other. Pretty helps my confidence to ride over stuff on Tri, which helps my confidence to bomb on Pretty.

In other news, I saw another bike that I had to take a picture of, because of its owner's ingenuity:

I'm really diggin' the leopard print duck tape grips.

 Believe me when I say I'm not making fun of the bike or the rider. I think it's awesome. I'd love to see it in motion, to see how the rear rack construction interacts with the rear suspension. The cat litter bucket on the bars works for quick access to items while riding, (I would use it for ammo storage for drivers on cell phones) though I'm curious why he has duck tape covered reflectors on the handle pointing backwards. The kickstand extension is clever, as is the horn placement. Only one brake, but it's on the front, which is the important one.

I hope I see it around town, like some other bikes I have to admire for their riders ingenuity.

Today I still had some rage to ride off, but I was calm enough to ride Pretty. The system trails were pretty busy, so I ended up exploring some of the less commonly ridden trails, including finding a trail I've been looking for for almost a year. Now that I have a GPS track of some of the non-system trails, I can add them to my paper map to keep with me.

However, crowds or no, it was still a fun ride, and a beautiful day to be out riding. No wind, warm temperatures, and most people were pretty polite.

Good views, too.

Very good views. Though, that bike needs a bath. Pretty's looking pretty dirty.

Tenacity... That rock's 8 feet tall.

A closeup of the bloomin' cactus.

 The trail I had been looking for is called Easter Island, so named for the boulders along it. At one point the trail goes through a rock that split in half. I had heard other riders talk about it, and was always interested in riding it myself.

Tight squeeze... just an inch on either bar end!

I turned around and rode through the gap for real after the picture. All in all, a great day of riding today.

And now I feel pretty good.

Now to scribble on my map.

Mileage: 44.9