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.

The Hayes brakes from my Trek Fuel EX7 are going on my Trek Fuel EX8 and I’m getting new front pads. The loose skewer situation is getting checked out on both bikes. The front derailleur situation on the EX8 is also getting checked out. You see, the derailleur was never really adjusted properly.

Every time I would come to an abrupt stop, either by braking hard or hitting a rock or root, the chain would come off. This hasn’t been too common, recently, but the chain still rubs on the derailleur in certain gears. This last problem has been occurring since I got the bike. No, it’s not ok. It’s not normal. With respect to the front, my EX7 front derailleur situation is much better.

I rode my EX7 around the driveway before taking it in. It felt good. It felt solid. The only persistent issue I’ve had is with the rear shifting. The chain skips when it’s in the third easiest cog. That’s quite annoying since I use the third and fourth cogs the most. I guess if I ever went singlespeed, I would have a good idea for gearing in the rear. Maybe it’s a leverage thing. It just works for me. Ali, don’t get too excited. I’m not going singlespeed.

We are having a Red Jacket meeting at the Keweenaw Brewing Company this evening. The Bike Shop closes at 8:00 p.m., so it’ll work out perfectly when I go to pick up my race bike.

I’m excited about having two different mountain bikes in working order. I think I’ll even take the EX7 out for a few rides just to remember the feeling that got me so psyched about mountain biking and bikes in general.

Last time I was in Copper Harbor – I think it was two weeks ago – my rear shock got a little soft. I pumped more air into it and all the air leaked out when I took the pump off. Chris, at Keweenaw Adventure Company, managed to get it in working order for me to enjoy some serious riding this week.

The shock went soft during Wednesday night’s ride. I put more air into it only to have the air leak out, again. I was mildly upset. I couldn’t take it in until Friday, so I threw the bike in my truck and took it to The Bike Shop after work, today. Don’t worry, I warned Steve with an email the other day. I rushed elsewhere to pick up a check and cash it. Then, it was off to Dairy Queen (thanks, Marty! ). I called the guys at the bike shop and took orders for an ice cream delivery courtesy of me. They were happy.

While I was doing all of that, Steve repaired my shock. It was a simple fix (valve issues). I was fully prepared to swap parts between my new and old bikes and ride my Trek Fuel EX7 in the race, but Steve was pretty adamant about getting my EX8 race ready for tomorrow. We all ate ice cream. Then, Steve decided to give my bike the works. He adjusted my front brake rotor – it was previously rubbing and squealing and Glen adjusted it enough to be bearable until I could get it to Steve (thanks, Glen!). He checked over everything and made sure everything was tight, adjusted, and shifting well. The cost? DQ Blizzards.

For the most part, Steve and Caleb are the only guys I’ve done bike business with. From my first days as a newbie biker afraid of the unknown bike shop guys, they’ve offered me excellent service. When it comes down to it, they’re two happy bikers who want to keep everyone else riding, and they go above and beyond for their clientele (you should’ve heard the requests they were trying to fulfill for out-of-towners before the Keweenaw Chain Drive).

It’s no wonder my bike guys get homemade chocolate chip cookies and DQ Blizzards.

I came home with a bike, quite happy, and made Steak au Poivre with mixed veggies. I followed that with raspberry rhubarb crisp topped with French vanilla ice cream (thanks, Dad) and some KBC Ambers. I know this isn’t the best way to fuel for a race, but I’m happy, fed, and ready to go for tomorrow.

After one or two days of riding, someone asked me what I thought of full suspension now that I had it. “I like the bike, but I honestly don’t know what to think of the full suspension. It feels so weird compared to my Giant.”

“Give it a week,” he replied.

Give it a week. That’s one of the greatest pieces of advice I’ve ever gotten, at least where cycling is concerned. I’ve found myself often passing this advice on to other riders.

The interesting thing about cycling is how one becomes so intimately involved with his or her bike. It’s almost sad how cyclists are more in tune with their bikes than with their loved ones. The cyclist can take the bike onto varying types of terrain in varying degrees of weather and know exactly how to react in these different situations to keep that bike not only under control, but successfully performing to the outer limits of sanity and beyond.

Enter new piece of equipment. I knew how my Giant was going to respond in different situations. I also knew that I just couldn’t ride that Giant on certain types of terrain, like the Hairy Toad and Barking Frog trails at Michigan Tech. When I got the full suspension bike, I had to almost relearn how to ride. I wasn’t quite sure how the bike was going to respond and how it was supposed to feel. After a week of gleefully flying through the woods on my new bicycle, I had it down pat! That full suspension bike was my new best friend, and I wasn’t looking back.

I think some of my passion and dedication for mountain biking is so prevalent because I am still a new rider – kind of.

I had a conversation with a stranger in May 2006 about outdoor activities in the Keweenaw. She asked me if I had a mountain bike. “Yes. I have a 1997 Giant Yukon. I never use it. I bought it for camping, but it’s practically brand new. I’m thinking about getting back into running though, and training for my third marathon this fall.”

“I’m thinking about starting a women’s ride on Saturday mornings,” said she. “I broke my collar bone last year, so I’d like to start riding again, but only slowly. It will be a beginner’s pace. Why don’t you meet with us when I get a ride organized?”

“Sure!” I was very excited about discovering more of what my community had to offer.

I’m afraid of the unknown. I had no idea what the Michigan Tech Trails had to offer, and I didn’t feel like I belonged there because I thought elitists would be using the trails. I was afraid of getting in the way. My new friend took me on the “beginner trails” that first Saturday morning. The trails were over flat terrain, insignificant hills, but they were bumpy with lots of roots. I took a bit of a beating on my hardtail.

After that ride, I decided to alternate my running with riding. I spent two weeks switching between trail running and mountain biking. The third week, I rode the first day. Then I rode the next day. The cycle broke and my habit took over. After the third week, I realized that I was giving up running for mountain biking. I started venturing onto new trails and realizing new fears. I developed a love for speed and a vengeance for hills.

Two months of dedicated riding had gone by. I realized that I could no longer improve my skill. Something was holding me back. What was it? After pondering this during a few rides, I realized I needed a new bike. It wasn’t that my Yukon was an inadequate bike. It was a hardtail that was in great shape and ready to be ridden in. It was a very nice bike! The problem is that it didn’t fit. I realized that I couldn’t get my weight back far enough when going downhill to feel stable. Likewise, I couldn’t get my weight forward enough on climbs to maintain momentum and keep the front wheel on the ground. The top tube was too long for my reach.

Enter . . . the bike shop. Little did I know that this would become the place around which all my grocery shopping would center. Every pay day, I would head to the bike shop for chain lube, tire levers, socks, shorts, gloves, and sometimes just for that so highly revered bike shop chat! That very first day, however, what I did know was how I feared going into the very bike shop I knew absolutely nothing about. I was afraid of being sold a bike that wasn’t right for me simply for the sake of the shop getting a sale. My new friend, Michelle, who introduced me to this “crack habit,” as a fellow biker once referred to it, met me at the bike shop and brought her boyfriend along. I test rode a couple of bikes and they helped me with fit. I just didn’t know. Then, I rode her bike. It was an 18” frame and it had the familiar word across the down tube that many non-cyclists have heard of and equate with quality: TREK. It was a 2005 Trek Fuel EX7 WSD (Women’s Specific Design) that she had just bought on closeout. I fell in love with it and decided on the spot to order THAT bike. It came in a week or two later. I felt like my life had come to a new era. I was right.