Recent happenings on the MTB

My last post was about an XC race in Canada and since then I've done a couple more. I also got some more new parts on the bike. During my course recon for that first race my front brake lever suddenly was going to the bar with zero braking force. I assumed that some air had migrated somewhere it shouldn't have because of sitting sideways in the back of my car. This is about a week after I had the rear brake bled for being soft and inconsistent, but had left the front alone because it was working fine. Screwing the contact adjust all the way out, pumping the brakes, and dialing it back in got them working again for the race, but then they gradually got worse in the next few weeks.

I brought them into Missoula Bicycle Works for another bleed (making it the third per caliper in only a few months of riding), and asked them to contact avid/sram to see if they would do anything about it. Even though my Elixir 9s were out of warranty, Sram sent me brand new Guide RSC brakes, and MBW took care of the installation. They're fancy:

I got the bike back, plus put on a fresh rear tire and new chain, just in time for the start of the Missoula XC Kettlehouse beer league races, which are Wednesday nights leading up to the main event.

Unfortunately, my fitness had slipped a little bit due to a reduction in my riding and an increase in my beer drinking, so I didn't do quite as well as I would have liked. I missed week 2 because I was on the smith river, doing more drinking and no riding, and then crashed on week 3 when I was in a fairly respectable position. Here are a few pictures from that one:

Also I don't have that beard anymore. Just a greasy moustache.