4 rides, 4 wrecks. All of em climbing.

$4000 and another grand in swapped parts — i really wanted to lurrrrrrrrrrvve it.

I’ve got painful dingers on both elbows, right butt cheek, left ass crack, and right wrist. The Bird is beating the crap outta me.   Yesterday i flopped over backwards doing a manual, much to the delight of the assembled masses.

The Bird’s taller fork, shorter stem, and slacker geo all make climbing harder. The DW link performs better under strain, vs. the Heckler’s single pivot which took the punch then eased into a rebound.   I need to recalibrate, pull my weight up on my feet and over obstacles, frequency-sync to the suspension’s shorter wavelengths.

Maad and I climbed a couple hundred feet above the Valley, then lazily took in the aurora of the megalopolis, Summer finally revealing a hint of weakness in a gentle breeze. A little positive feedback for an easier climb than going up National while its 105. The Bird and I needed some quiet moments together.

Paradise Wash is a new trail on a 6.5inch bike. Deflections, wheel grabbers, and precise steering ignored in favor of gravity’s pull on a squishy stable platform.   The closest I’ve gotten on a bike to snowboarding through trees. 8:28 – fastest time in 50 tries. It almost completely muted the pain of the falls.

I rolled into the Hill Park and launched a 5 stepper in the dark, didn’t see the bottom til i hit it.   Without letting the wheels stop rolling I dropped the rockface next to the curvy slide and then the steep boulder into the sand pit that I’ve been eyeing for 1.5 years on every trip to the park.   These trials do not lend themselves to bike trailers. Then we ran from Security, slaloming down suburban streets through the non-light-polluting glow of McMansions.

Stay tuned while I polish the route and come up with a diversion for the security guard.