Notice that I used the word, “were.” Yes, we were going to do this great ride. We met Brad at Bald Mountain and got ready for our ride while we had a nice little chat. They guys were nice enough to let me set the pace, and I definitely hauled mucho butt – at least for me. Brad, who is a self-proclaimed “chicken on the downhills and hawk on the uphills,” even remarked on my ability to just let the bike do its thang when chasing gravity.

Bald Mountain has some uphills that are quite respectable. I made it up the first and third major uphills with proper shifting and lots of work. It was the second uphill, however, that got all three of us. Jon managed to lose his chain on his singlespeed while beginning the climb. I simply did not gear down enough. Brad spun out on the mud. Thank you, Brad. That made me feel good.

After about three miles of riding, we started down one of the many long downhills, and I suddenly heard a horrible sound come from my bike. Think *tire rubbing on frame at a high speed.* Not a pretty sound. I got off of the bike and Jon noticed that the rear triangle had snapped. Yay.

The rear triangle had broken clean through.

I took it well – until I started walking the bike off of the trail. Somewhat inappropriate verbiage started flying out of my mouth as I expressed my severe disappointment over and over, again. The bear was moaning.

I called Steve at The Bike Shop in Houghton, which is about 10 hours away. The Bike Shop sponsors my team, the Red Jackets. Steve and Caleb have always taken such good care of us. Today was no exception. I called Steve to see if he could find a Jamis dealer for me (I was at the trailhead and computerless). Steve suggested I email a picture of the frame wound to him and he would send the replacement to me. I loved that idea and went with it.

Fortunately for me, I am surrounded by wonderful people. At Jon’s suggestion (and Marty’s confirmation), I contacted another friend and asked him if he would accept a bottle of tequila as payment for replacing my rear triangle as soon as my warranty part came in. He agreed. I CAN’T WAIT to tell you that story. Hopefully, that will occur next week, and I will be sharing more of my tales from the trail with you.

Yikes!

Until the Jamis is restored to its natural splendor, Jake and I will head out for some excursions on the not-so-quiet country roads of lots of places. I am pretty sure that you will get a bit of a tour of Shiawassee County, the place where I grew up.

My 2005 Trek Fuel EX7 WSD.

Earlier this year, Bike Shop Caleb tuned-up my Trek Fuel EX7 and replaced a sticky piston in the rear brake. Tuesday was the first day I rode the bike since he did all of that. Yesterday, was my first big mountain biking journey of the year, and I had my trusty, old bike for the job.

It does ride a little differently than the Jamis Dakar XCR Expert, but it does ride quite well. Personally, I prefer the Hayes brakes on the EX7, and the RockShox Reba fork is a great piece of equipment. The rear suspension on the EX7 is also dialed in. I hate having to dial in rear suspension. It can sometimes be an ordeal.

My 2008 Jamis Dakar XCR Expert.

I am looking forward to getting the Jamis back. It is a great bike and it just feels so indescribably good to ride! In the meantime, I am glad I chose to keep the EX7. It is a great backup bike to such a great race bike.