Riding Again.....Sort of

Heather and I headed to DuPont on Saturday for my first ride back from my back strain. We were both looking forward to getting out in the woods, but it wasn't to be. We got to the Guion Farms parking lot, and I unloaded the Lazer Cat, but something wasn't right. Somehow, my back brake was locked out, and the wheel would not move at all. I have no idea what happened; I guess the calipers got stuck out. So we headed back home, and I took the brake off. I cleaned it out, and tried to work the calipers in and out, but I couldn't get them to move enough to even get them back over the rotor. The brakes are Juicy 5's, are really old, and I've had a lot of problems with them in the past, so I now have some Formulas on the way. Bye bye Avid.

On Sunday, I dusted off the Vig, and hit the road on skinny tires. I've only ridden the road here a few times now, but I should do it more often. It really is a beautiful place to ride. I headed to the other side of town, and did a lollipop route through the French Broad River Valley. I only rode 25 miles, but it just felt good to pedal again, and my back felt fine.

With my lack of riding, I've really been looking forward to cooler weather, and doing some hiking and camping. I've lost the taste for sleeping on the ground, and have been a hammocker for a few years now. As I mentioned before, I gave my hammock to Heather, and it is currently having some mods done to it. I was going to get myself a nice new one, but instead, I've decided to make my own. Whether that's cheap or frugal, I just have a hard time paying over twice as much for someone else to make something I can make. The pieces all arrived this week.



It'll have an integrated bug net, a la the Hennessy I'm giving Heather, and the net will almost fully unzip and tuck into a small stuff sack at the foot end, just like I'm having the Hennessy modified to do. I'll post updates to the project when there's something to actually post about.