tried the high line on Bermuda Triangle today on National, for about the 3rd time ever. I got inspired watching some others do it, and the more I look the more the line looks doable. But it is hard – a big lift up, then you have to find a narrow line over uneven rocks and keep climbing, then right away its a series of pretty steep rocks down. i got on the first rock lift, tentative, and then flopped off it to the left. On the one hand, this was good I have not yet gotten this far. But its a long way to fall. I got out of the bike and had my feet ready for the drop, but as I squatted down with the momentum from falling i smashed my head into a rock on the other side of the “entrance” line. fortunately i took the hit square on the side of the helmet. As it happened, i realized i’d smacked my head, and that the helmet saved me. then i thought, holy shit that rock is an inch from my face! then i had a moment of post-traumatic holyfuck.

helmet survived and appears intact, got my bell rung but nothing worse, bike may have tweaked the derailleur, and pretty sure i crapped my pants.

wear. your. helmet.

then 2 dudes came rolling along, politely checked up on me (thank you), and proceeded to clean it and make it look easy. bastahdsssss

wear. your. helmet.

meanwhile the bike is overshifting off the cassette and wiggling around in a couple other gears. I gave the lift one more try, and this time got on it, but realized just how tight the line onto the next rock is, as this time I almost fell forward…practice practice. Decided I’d had enough of that particular rock for one day, so climbed to the top of the trial and tried to roll off the last 2 drops. Got one, panicked on the other, a slow-speed endo to complete my humiliation, but no more damage.

wear. your. helmet.

back home the bike in the stand, and it needs a little tweaking. I know I could adjust the limit screw on the derailleur to keep it from overshifting, but I’m pretty sure the problem runs deeper and is possibly a bent derailleur hanger. The rear rotor has been rubbing for a while and also needs some work, and at this point I’m just not sure where to start. Part of me feels like I damn sure should be able to fix the shifting, but the rest of me thinks that for $20 I can have Adventure do it right, and if I take it in on Monday after the Prescott Monstercross I can probably get them to show me how to diagnose and fix the problems — a far better solution!