Though the ride was a little shorter than I would have liked, I still had a great time. I got a little beat up on the descents though. Hardtails are great for riding, but you sure feel every little bump, rock, root, and rut when you are chasing a couple duallies down a hill.

View Tzouhalem 10/03/2013 11:04am in a larger map

Total distance: 6.69 km (4.2 mi)
Total time: 1:18:44
Moving time: 56:11
Average speed: 5.10 km/h (3.2 mi/h)
Average moving speed: 7.15 km/h (4.4 mi/h)
Max speed: 35.35 km/h (22.0 mi/h)
Average pace: 11.77 min/km (18.9 min/mi)
Average moving pace: 8.40 min/km (13.5 min/mi)
Fastest pace: 1.70 min/km (2.7 min/mile)
Max elevation: 458 m (1503 ft)
Min elevation: 203 m (665 ft)
Elevation gain: 384 m (1261 ft)
Max grade: 18 %
Min grade: -56 %

This past weekend I took Heart out for a ride at the dump. I wanted to climb, so I figured I should head to the far side, climb up the back side of the park, hit Trillium, then Who’s Yer Daddy. It was a great loop, with lots of climbing in it. The hardtail was a good choice for this loop, until I got to Who’s Yer Daddy. This trail is in flux right now, and is getting smoother, so pretty soon this will be the perfect loop.

View Dump Ride 16/03/2013 in a larger map

Total distance: 10.83 km (6.7 mi)
Total time: 1:54:11
Moving time: 1:34:37
Average speed: 5.69 km/h (3.5 mi/h)
Average moving speed: 6.87 km/h (4.3 mi/h)
Max speed: 29.72 km/h (18.5 mi/h)
Average pace: 10.54 min/km (17.0 min/mi)
Average moving pace: 8.73 min/km (14.1 min/mi)
Fastest pace: 2.02 min/km (3.2 min/mile)
Max elevation: 313 m (1028 ft)
Min elevation: 111 m (365 ft)
Elevation gain: 497 m (1631 ft)
Max grade: 11 %
Min grade: -19 %

I started off from the parking lot, and went up Skull. It was a little chilly and a little foggy out. My tires were sliding around on everything. I think I had pumped them up too much, so I let a little air out of both of them. That seemed to solve the problem, so I kept going.

At the top of skull I headed up the fire road all the way to Trillium. At one point Heart stopped following me, and deked off into the bush. I couldn’t see her for a minute, and she didn’t come when I called her. Odd when I have cookies in my pocket. I figured she found a bone that a crow had carried off from the dump, so I went back to get her. Sure enough she had something in her mouth. I grabbed it, and as I was tossing it further into the bush I saw that it was a plastic food covering that had some pastey, liquidy, white goo in it, and good god did it ever smell awful. And I got it all over my right glove. And my glove has holes in the fingers, so I got some on me! I wiped it off as best I could, but I could still smell it. I ended up having to take off my gloves and ride bare handed. Not ideal.

The ascent up the fire road to Trillium took me a lot less time than I thought it was going to, so I didn’t even take a break at the top. The descent down Trillium was fun, but a couple times I felt my tire bottom out. I would have to be careful I didn’t pinch flat.

After Trillium I headed up Sidewinder, then along North Ridge. While heading up North Ridge I could see a few sun rays beaming through the mist. Very, very cool. After North Ridge I wanted to hit Snakes and Ladders. I also wanted to do Who’s Yer Daddy, since I saw some new trail work there that I wanted to try. What to do?

I chose to do both. I rode to the top of Snakes and Ladders. At the rest break at the top, the sun was out and it was beautiful. The clouds were still hanging out down below, which meant I couldn’t see the parking lot. I love when that happens. I did a quick descent of Snakes and Ladders, then went back up the fire road a second time to catch Who’s Yer Daddy. Good call. The climbing was doing me some good.

The new sections were pretty good, and I even caught a bit of air. Sure enough though, two thirds of the way down my back tire felt a little squishy, and when I stopped I could hear the air hissing out. Damn. I unpacked my tools and set about changing the tube. It didn’t take me that long, but I did discover that one of my tire levers was broken.

After WYD, I ended with the trail that drops in to the TTA. All in all a gorgeous ride. Back at the truck the dog was pooped, and I was feeling the post ride afterglow.

View Dump Ride 02/02/2013 in a larger map

I was pretty bummed when I found the crack in my Bullit. It meant that both my frames had cracks in them. I was lucky enough to see on twitter that Santa Cruz was having a blowout sale, and I picked up a new Chameleon frame. I transferred all my parts from the old green machine to the new sleek, black frame. I also put the disc brakes from the Bullit onto the new hardtail.

Old green machine

New black hotness

The old parts transferred over nicely, and besides new brake pads, the only real parts I had to buy were a new rotor for the rear brakes, and a new seat post.

Then the new bike hung in my basement for a few weeks.

Yesterday I got it out for the first ride. I first took it out onto the streets around the house to bed in the brakes since this was badly needed, then I headed out to the trails for the first real ride. Of course the weather had turned sour on us. Wet, rainy, misty, cool, but no wind. Preactically perfect riding conditions 🙂

The bike rode great. It feels like a huge improvement over the old frame, but I can’t completely figure out why. It climbs better, while descending hasn’t changed. The ground clearance is just fine, it feels lighter while riding, feels more compact (maybe there is a shorter top tube). The bike just felt right. It brought a smile to my face several times.

View First Ride On New Chameleon in a larger map
Total distance: 10.87 km (6.8 mi)
Total time: 1:59:23
Moving time: 1:29:16
Average speed: 5.46 km/h (3.4 mi/h)
Average moving speed: 7.31 km/h (4.5 mi/h)
Max speed: 30.62 km/h (19.0 mi/h)
Average pace: 10.98 min/km (17.7 min/mi)
Average moving pace: 8.21 min/km (13.2 min/mi)
Fastest pace: 1.96 min/km (3.2 min/mile)
Max elevation: 287 m (941 ft)
Min elevation: 107 m (352 ft)
Elevation gain: 521 m (1709 ft)
Max grade: 21 %
Min grade: -33 %

Add in the wet conditions ride, my first in a long time, and it was a fabulous ride. Heart got a run in, and I ended up riding with a couple guys from the triple shot cycling club. They got me to thinking about joinging them on some of their groups rides. Could be a good way to get out more. We’ll see.