Day 194: Playing Around in the Marin Headlands

I’ve been playing around a lot in the Marin Headlands. When I say “playing around,” I of course mean that I’m riding there. I’ve ridden the Headland’s fire roads at least a dozen times during the past month or so. I reconnected with the Headland’s trails after doing several rides with friends during the lunch hour. Since then I’ve ridden virtually every trail that’s available.

As I rode today I met some courteous horseback riders, I saw two Bobcats that were on the prowl, and I took in the amazing views. I particularly like the view north from the top of the Coastal Fire Road. The sheer cliff sides with the ocean below, and with Mount Tamalpais as the backdrop, combine for an incredibly intoxicating view.

I needed to do some repairs on my Santa Cruz SuperHeavy before I left today. I wanted to ride this particular bike since rain was included in the forecast. It needed a new rear derailleur and cables, so I picked through my parts bins and found what I needed. After 30 minutes of wrenching on the bike, it was back in action.

I left for the Headlands via Mount Tam. I rode over to the Coyote Ridge Trail and then over to the Coastal Fire Road. I was so happy with how well my bicycle was working. I’ve been working around a shifting problem for weeks now, so it was quite nice to have the bike in good working order. Well, that feeling was short-lived as the shifting started to go south on me as I descended into Tennessee Valley. I couldn’t figure out what could have changed. I looked at all of the usual suspects, but I couldn't find the issue. I adjusted the cable again, but nothing would work.

I pushed onward and figured that I’d just limp home and then go back to the drawing board. By the time that I had reached the top of Miwok Trail the bike had basically become inoperable. I pulled to the side of trail and took another look. I finally found the problem. The newly installed derailleur was literally ready to fall off of the bike! I’m fairly certain that I had tightened it down before leaving today, but it was clearly loose enough to be backing out. Uugh. I jury-rigged it back in, but not tight. I made it back to WTB where I made use of their workshop for a quick tightening.

While I was at WTB I was bestowed with another prototype to test for them. This time it’s a Wheel and tire combination. I of course can’t tell you much about the new hardware since they’re in development, but I can tell you that they’re really cool. The finished product should be on the market next year, if not sooner. For me this means that I need to put some serious miles on the tire and wheel. I’ll probably need to swap the wheel out from bike to bike as I ride through the winter. It’s fun to be a test rider again.

Distance: 20.84 miles
Calories burned: 1,548
Time: 2:00:48 hours
Elevation gain: 2,164 ft
Garmin Connect ride details: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/21318752