As is Prineville where I thought I could escape to to ride Lookout Mtn.
I didn’t ride yesterday because of smoke choked air. I drove up to Wanoga TH thinking that it might be above the smoke if there was an inversion layer. No inversion, just smoke, no idea if I breathed cleaner air than if I would have stayed down low outside of town. Advice is to stay inside. I suspect that the air quality is the same inside my home as is outside, I only rebreathe what is inside. I located the fires in Oregon on its state map to help get a sense of clean air. The fires are to the NW, W, and SW. Winds coming from those directions bring on the smoke. Even Baker City has bad air plus higher temps. I am here in Bend till 5:30 Fri after a CT scan of my gut.
The shifting problem arose during my last ride. I tightened and loosened the cable tension which help on one side of the gear cluster but adversely affected the other side. Resigned myself that the problem was with the derailleur. At Sunnyside I explained my issue and why I wanted the new part. Marty, the wrench told me that what I am experiencing is classic bent derailleur hanger. I put the checking tool on the bike which revealed a slight out of true orientation of the rear derailleur, he tweaked the hanger back to being happy which solved the shifting issue and saved me a chunk of bucks. There are less than 5,000 miles on the derailleur, past experience is these things last for lots of miles unless damaged. I am waiting out better air to realize this happiness inducing fix.
I am now running 18 psi in the rear tire and 17 on the front. So far I have not felt the tire “rolling”. The less air pressure makes the tire more supple and bump absorbing and faster on the dirt; however it slows the bike down on pavement. Noah at 230# and I at 150# had a coast off on Dunning road in Oakridge and he smoked me. I run way lower pressure than he which explains the pavement performance but on the dirt I was aces high which is also ability. I am running Maxxis Minnion DHF 2.5WT tires on Ibis 741 rims which are wide rims necessitating a tire designed for wide rims. I pay a weight penalty for better dirt performance. My smile stays enjoyably frozen on my face because of the performance.
The moon is red as is the early sun.
Mother Nature spread some of Harvey’s rain up here. Montana has way more fires with fewer resources to contain them.
Presently MT Hood air quality is yellow indicating Moderate. I might head to rd 44 trails there. La Grande and Baker City are yellow also. Temps appear to be forecast about the same in upper 90s. This is Labor day weekend.