The lone biker: Remember to Breathe

If I could type in the perfect weather for an early August bike ride I would have ominous looking rain clouds overhead. Cooler weather. No rain, and dry trails.

I pretty much had all of the above for most of the ride. Well it was probably a bit warmer than I would have liked but beggars can't be choosers now could they.

The ride stayed dry once I got into the singletrack alongside the river in Fox Drive. A light rain came down making the already sensational ride all that much better. Riding in the rain on rideable singletrack is one of those special things in life that will only be duplicated in bike heaven. I did honestly stop and breathe just to take in the moment. It was just like one of those Alberta Remember to Breathe tourism ads. Those ads get me every time you know. I must see this great province of Alberta.

The ride started at the Old Timers Cabin all thanks to those dumb hippies closing down all the parking spots near where the folk fest was being held. I guess I should have known better. I headed West flirting with the idea of seeing my old friend Terwillegar.

Six Shooter was climbed and that bad ass downhill otherwise known as Bowie was successfully navigated on an old school hardtail. - Puts on sunglasses. Lights a cigarette. Blows it in your face. Drops the mic and leaves the room...

Oh sorry. Did I seem a little to cocky there?

The descent was sketchy but I cleaned it and that is when the rain started. Periods of light to moderate rain went through the area with each pedal stoke bringing trail orgasms brought on by the epic moments I kept experiencing.

I crossed Fort Edmonton footbridge and went through Patricia Ravine cleaning the root sections all thanks to the trees keeping the rain out of the area. Once I was through the residential and back into the trees I was yelled at by the bitch of the day in Laurier as she thought me riding on the singletrack was highly illegal. I kindly ignored her as I tend to say real bad things to people when I'm angry.

Why do all the bitches circumvent their cages and find themselves in Laurier?

Soon a creak started in my crank area that progressively got worse as the ride went on. Crank bolts? Bottom bracket? Who know right now? Will have a look and hope my extremely low mechanical skills can find the problem.