Total distance (March): 247.45 miles
Total time (March): 22 hours, 29 minutes

I was able to ride eighteen days in March. The weather ranged from the low 20s to the mid 70s (°F), and from slightly windy to very windy. I did not keep track of how many days it rained, but I don’t think the trails were completely dry on any of my rides; I only had to deal with ice/snow on a few days in early March.

In other news: I rebuilt SID XC on my M2. Luckily, nothing seemed to be broken, bent, or otherwise in need of replacement. It holds pressure, the shock oil has yet to leak out and it does not clunk or rattle anymore.

Update: The SID started bleeding a few days after the rebuild. I think some of the seals need to be replaced…

Update 2: I attempted the 19.2 mile route again last Friday. I took off four minutes from the last attempt and increased my aveage speed by 1 MPH.

Date: 2006.04.07
Time: 3:00 pm
Conditions: 70° F
Mileage: 19.2
Time: 1:06
Average Speed: 17.5 MPH

Eric has made some more movies, quite a few in fact. I don’t have much to say, I think the videos speak for themselves. Note that no one was seriously injured in the making of any of these movies. (again, see them all at ericfilcoff.com)

Chubb – March 25

Castlewood – March 26

Grindstone – March 28

Do you see anything missing? Eric and I rode “Back Bone” (or something like that) and Pine Ridge today. Back Bone was mostly a piles of semi-large rocks strewn throughout orange clay and cold (very cold) muddy creeks. Pine Ridge was much better, except for the fact that one of the bolts holding the saddle onto the seat post snapped.

I never realized the true value of a saddle, until today. I only had to ride a few miles without a saddle, but those miles were tough. It is probably also worth mentioning that this seat post (and hardware) are original to the bike (1995). I think I’ll take this opportunity to replace the other bolt as well. I like the seat post, it has some scars from a wreck many, many years ago that I would hate to lose. I also broke my bottle cage and completely trashed my worn-out SID XC fork. Luckily I have a nice REI dividend. Check back soon to find out how to rebuild a SID XC.

Eric made a video of the ride, check it out here:

See more biking videos and other stuff on Eric’s site: ericfilcoff.com