Summerhaven, Part 2

 This morning I woke up groggy, kinda empty.  While I had a HUGE plate of spaghetti  last night, I slept like shit.  Restless until midnight, I was awake again at 5 or so, laying there trying to figure out what to do next.  My plan had been to suit up, ride down the road to wherever I felt the heat turn up… again maybe 80 degrees or so.  However, with little sleep and a harder-than-expected ride yesterday, part of me said, “don’t dig that hole THAT deep”.

While eating some breakfast, I decided to go a different way with the day.  I suited up a bit warmer thinking I could go easier… but if I was struggling, the extra clothes would be more comfortable, more able to keep heat in my legs & core.  I told myself, “Self, you can make a bigger breakfast to enjoy after the ride.”

Roll out in the chilled air, maybe low 60’s.  Arm warmers and a wool base layer make sense.  Come over the top of the climb outta Summerhaven and the air is already blowing warmer here.  Easy grind up past the first campground before the descent… and that was where the ride went a bit south.

The last time I brought the Canyon to Tucson, it was hot everywhere so I drove up to Middle Bear to start.  Of course the ride started with a climb… and I think I got in 75-90 minutes before I turned around.  When I turned around that day, the front end had shimmy that scared me enough to pull over.  Ever since that one time coming down EOP into Tortilla Flats when the Cervelo went into a full high-speed wobble, I have been nervous when any vibration kicks in.

I’m bombing the road this morning, dodging so many fuckin’ potholes and chip-sealed ruts that when the front gets wonky, I grab brakes.  Not today.  Ease into a turnout, check the speed - barely 30 mph.  Get back on, climb to the next turnout.  All the while my legs are feeling a little better but my lungs are heaving.  I can push decent power… but I cannot sustain it without feeling like I am gonna lose my shit in the next minute.

Reach the next campground, turn around and call it done.  Knowing when to quit has never been my strong suit.  If  I feel good enough to go a little further, I usually do… always assuming I will recover from a slightly deeper hole.  Sometimes it works, sometimes I end up sick and off the bike for longer than I would like.

Down the next hill, let the bike flow again.  As the Canyon gets a little faster, I can feel it, that instability.  Ease on the brakes and settle down below 25 mph.  Just start grinding up the next climb.  Despite wanting to enjoy the last climb of the trip, my head is already sorting out what is up with the bike.

What I learned after that first trip was the Canyon has an unpredictable headset.  The first time the wobble happened, I spent a number of rides trying different levels of tightness in the headset.  Even with the correct bearings, the preload on the bearings never seemed to tighten to that point between loose & binding.  The original tapered washer was plastic which was too flimsy to bind properly (in my opinion).  I swapped in an alloy washer and soon the front was tight & predictable… but my only testing was up and down Via Linda really.  Since that time I have replaced the bearings once… and apparently I did not snug it down enough.

Will I keep working at it?  Yea… but even if I fix it, it might still leave the garage.

So… I am sitting here on the last day up here, typing all this out.  As much as I want to load up and head home, sleep in my own bed and spend time with Meghan & Bea, part of me is committing to staying one more night.  Why?

One, sleeping at elevation has never been easy for me.  The thin air seems to make allergies/sinuses struggle.  However, there are benefits to just recovering up here.

Two, it has been so easy to just give in & quit… end the road trip early to get back to the familiar.  I feel like I need that push to stick it out, struggle through the hard part of road-tripping just as the same I find myself wanting to push the hard part of the rides.  If I don’t ever adapt to the “dead time” between fun segments, this will never get easier.

Later.