Daylight-saving time is still messing with my mojo.
I’m not a morning person by nature, but I do like getting my daily exercise in early-ish. But since the early-ish temps have been a little brisk lately, I’ve been waiting until afternoon to crack a sweat — my least favorite time for that sort of thing.
Still, there’s no denying that it’s warmer at 3 p.m. than it is at 10 a.m. And apparently I’m not the only person who likes it that way, because by the time I hit the trail on the old DBR mountain bike yesterday everybody and his grandma was out there, too.
I hadn’t ridden this bike in, like, forever — it still sports some reddish mud that may come from the Monument Valley Park trail back in Bibleburg — and it took some getting used to. If you consume a steady diet of rigid, drop-bar, disc-brake 29ers, well, a front-suspension, flat-bar, V-brake 26er is gonna feel a little weird.
And I was never much of a mountain biker anyway. Ask anyone who ever saw me ride one.
So, anyway, after dodging a metric shit-ton of oblivious pedestrians, off-the-leash dogs and other mobile speed bumps, and nearly stuffing it in a tight, downhill, left-hand corner, I said to hell with it and headed for home.
Rolling toward Piedra Lisa I pulled to the side of the trail to accommodate yet another parade of folks, this time a string of mountain bikers, and one said, “Hey, nice Diamondback!”
Dude either knows his vintage machinery or has the telescopic vision of a young Superman, because the only identifying decal on my 1995 DBR Axis TT is at the base of the seat tube, and its only remaining stock bits are the AC crankset and XT derailleurs.
Speaking of bike bits, Nick Legan, the tech editor for Adventure Cyclist, has a new blog going when he has a moment to catch his breath. You should check it out.
Mad Blog Media 
Speaking of old and not dead, you catch up to me again sometime late this month, right?
Ayuh, I turn 62 on the 27th. I suspect I may have to go for the 62km this year rather than the 62mi, because my training distance has fallen way off. But as that’s Easter Sunday, who knows? Maybe I’ll be resurrected.
My training has gone to zilch. Still trying to get my comfort level back on the bike after surgery.
Training? We don’t need no stinkin’ training!
Training? I call that riding when you don’t really want to ride. I try to avoid that.
Good morning. You guys are still stuck on my wheel. 67 in June. I wish I could keep you company on the 62km ride, but moving calls. Last move I think. Those last things are a little spooky.
Ack! Never say “last.” I mean, I thought we were in Bibleburg for the duration and look at me now.
The best thing about moving is that it encourages you to unload all the items you haven’t seen, much less used, in a few years. “A left-handed pasta stretcher? Into the Dumpster it goes.”
What! I’ve boxes full of Whole Earth Review, Mother Earth News, Utne reader & now you’re telling me to dump them?
Shit, I’m just nudging 61, I’m not that old, I’m sure that I’ll catch up on them some day.
We have been unloading for years in preparation for another move. The move just snuck up on us is all. The only thing I really need to unload right now is the little bike trailer. You’re right about lasts.
Lots of tours in our little burg last weekend. GABA, ACA, and PAC all hit town at the same time. Had my LBS jumping and they were glad for it.
That Diamondback is really a keeper. When you can’t find parts for the fork anymore, just put a new one on and keep it another 20 years.
That bike’s from about the same era as my ancient Trek (see photo at the bottom of this blog post http://cycleitalia.blogspot.it/2014/10/a-ride-in-park.html) but like you, I’m not into MTB’n enough to justify the dough for a newest-latest, full-suspension, carbon-fiber, whatever-the-wheel-size-is-this-week model.
A 26″ wheeled, V-braked, hardtail, Schwinn “Homegrown” hangs in the shop in Iowa so even with that I’m usually the winner of the oldest rider/bike combo prize. These days kms = miles, the 75 kms we did yesterday were fun, probably like a 75 mile ride would have been 30 years ago? Happy Birthday!
That encounter with Dude sure was a nice punctuation for your ride. Sounds like you’re feeling a bit better. Until the next round of allergens hits or wind. All the elms around here died off decades ago from Dutch Elm Disease.
I got 1 of those. Bought Baughman’s a few years ago.First ride out I flatted. I thought Bill took care of his stuff.