little chickens

Today, as I was exiting a sneak-through bonus trail, I was forced to a stop by a downed Monterey Pine- I have mentioned already their shallow roots and subsequent tendency to drop in even minor storms. After removing several 4"-5" branches and multiple smaller ones plus pine cones, I rotated the trunk section until it was more or less out of the way. Then I looked up.

2 other sections, about 15"-18" thick were resting on sagging power lines 12' or so in the air. Above my clearing.

I got out of there but quick. Put in a call to PG&E. Hopefully it's fixed quickly. Thankfully I will not be under it if it goes. Lesson: trail maintenance is a Virtue, but check your scene first.




Imminent overhead electrical hazards aside, it was a fine shakedown. Yesterday I had dropped the stem a further 10mm, and that was better still. Stopping at Joselyn's for a new Ultegra 12-27 9speed cassette (to mesh with a new chain) was still better still; creaking and popping are all in bounds, but ghost shifting is crossing a line. Rotating the bars further forward/down was stiller better still.



Jury is out until after this tour on the width of the nominally 46cm Salsa Woodchipper bars. They are WIDE at the flared ends. I had to hold on to the ends to keep my perception of the width True, else I found myself brushing the shifters against the stone walls (to the point of shifting gears) on yesterday's pre-shakedown in the Forest of____________. Perhaps the width will really pay off when riding loaded, and certainly- with usage comes familiarity. Not the bar/shifter combo for tight woods, though.



I lik the caliper placement for ease of rack mounting.



I like the extra bottle potential. And, plus that's a 2.3" tyre! That capacity and long chainstays, and this thing is a freight train wreck.




On one of today's trails I saw 2 bobcat kits as I came zipping around a corner. No mama in sight. They were the size of slender house cats, but with the thick paws and ankles of growth yet to be. The kits stayed in the trail running until I got closer and then leapt up onto a (different) Monterey Pine to vanish down slope in the brush. That was neat.