Ten months ago, I dragged my good ol' Raleigh "mountain bike" (the sarcasm is because the only thing mountain-y about that bike was that it had knobby tires!) out of town and Derek and I rode Powderface trail in Kananaskis. I had used that bike the entire time I was in University to get to and from, but that was the last day I rode it. The next day I went out and bought a Norco Storm hardtail, as going down mountain slopes with no brakes and a bike that couldn't go in its lowest gear was fun, but not really!
So, yesterday, after much pestering of Derek to take me mountain biking (he often goes on the weekends when I'm at the market), we revisited Powderface. Just to keep things difficult, it was my first time riding with clipless pedals (which is the dumbest name for pedals with clips... REALLY.)
Anywho, it was also my first time riding a trail more than once, which was really neat and kinda nice to know what's coming. I think I did better on the ascents last year, when I didn't know the one spot where they went on forever, but it was nice to have a functioning low gear! Definitely felt better having brakes, and instead of marvelling on how I made it through something by just sheer will of hanging on, I actually had some control.
We laughed at the spot where I lost it last year, and we laughed even harder when, following Derek through some runoff dips, I watched him struggle through the final one which was really muddy, and then (not having much technical skill), I mired my front tire in the mud and flew over my handlebars! I was actually trapped by my bike, and Derek had to come lift it off of me, but I was unscathed!
Too bad we need to get more road riding in, because I would love to go mountain biking again today! That was likely the last one until July. :(
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