On Sunday, I felt that urge again and simply had to get out to the hills. It was a bit foggy, and that was no harm really, for I actually like that weather. It makes for a somewhat soothing atmosphere, and I like the whirling mists rising from the green hills of home... I figure I really love my home turf. Not the actual city, for that´s nothing to be proud of, what with a lot of grievances, but the countryside, My bike enables me to actually get out there, another reason I simply love to ride. So I packed my gear, a flask of strong black tea, my bushcraft tools and a fleece blanket and some extra clothing, and ventured into the not-so-wild;-).
It was on a hill over the Volme valley, atop a technical singletrail, that I paused to do some stump sitting and some featherstick practicing... and had some cups of tea. The blanket kept me nice and warm, and I even did some special gymnastics I developed. Then I lowered my seat and hammered down that technical singletrail. Stacked up a bit, for there was an angled root slimy with wet that kicked me off my line, and I was going a bit too fast, but I controlled the fall, so that it was more of a handplant and I was not hurt in any way... weird...;-)
On I rode through the rolling hills, a lot of technical trails. It simply felt good to do so again, with the trail being its own reward... The light cleared up a bit and it was all sort of golden coloured all of a sudden...
This is a view of Dahl, a village that belongs to the city of Hagen, embedded in the hills. I really love that view..
On the way home, I dropped by Elmar´s place. Elmar works as a general sales manager for SRAM cycling company, Rockshox and Truvative and whatnot;-). Turns out he was there for a change, and came back from a ride, too. He had a beer with his fellas, Boris and another nice guy whose name I unfortunately forgot. We had a laugh, a chat and made fun of twentyniners and 650B bikes and other such trekking bike hype;-), with bad geometry and unsolved problems, that is. I saw a Nicolai
29er prototype that had seen some testriding by Elmar himself and has to see some serious mods until production.
Now I am not against twentyniners at all. But they are simply not new. They are basically 700C wheeled cross bikes with fatter tires and no drop bars. They have to be longer, and cannot be as playful as a 26" allmountain bike. Bigger suspension travel, over 160 mm is a big problem with them. The geometry can to date not be as quick and playful as a 26 " allmountain. But apart from that, I have no problem with them. On fireroads and for riders not so keen on technical challenges and that "BMX" feel, they are fine, fast and comfortable.
I do HAVE a problem, however, with the industry selling an old hat as a new consumerist religion. I feel horsed around with. And I do not like that. If those technical problems were solved, I daresay, I would give ´em a try for allround toodling about. 650B is another standard they want to sell us as "the" next thing. At 27,5" it is another standard, another set of components and another product line to make money with. While that is fine for people like Elmar who make a living from it (even though he is critical of that fad, too), it is a desaster for people like me who can just so afford to maintain the components on one bike that has to do everything. We discussed solutions and ideas and it simply felt great.
Get the picture that we had a nice chat?;-)
When the Elmar chicken;-) was getting cold, we said goodbye, and I rode home. It was a nice day with a lot of things to process. Have to do some more riding, I guess, and get the fun back into it...
