Saddle time

Maddie and I are slowly building up saddle time. Watching her ride over the last week or two has highlighted a few changes that still need to be made to the bike.

I'm going to find her narrower bars and get them a bit closer yet. 

She often rides with her elbows locked. We did a 16 mile ride today and her arms hurt. 

I'm also going to put some smaller rings on it. Maybe use the 74 for a 24 and then the inner 110 with a 38 and a bash guard on the outer. She never uses her big ring, which is a 46 or so. I let her set the pace, and on flats it's pretty relaxed. She never pedals down hill, preferring -- like any sane person -- to coast instead.

She stands on all climbs always. And hauls arse too. On dirt climbs she spins out a bit, so with a lower gear I'm hoping she will sit back and spin up without loosing traction on the rear wheel.

She's into dirt. We were traveling down this paved road when she decided to go jetting through the adjacent field instead.

Stopping and exploring is important. This can be hard for me and I need to go with it. I was pretty fixated on our destination today and I had to remind myself to chill. 

Our destination was an old blocked off road that I've ridden by a bunch and always wondered about. Turns out that at the end of the road there's an old train loader, long dead. 

Beyond that is the Kettle -- about a mile from the Columbia confluence. The Columbia is drawn down, so this section of the Kettle River is way more exposed than normal. This is the pre-mud picture.