MTB Test Run

Many of you know that I have been building my own Mountain Bike and you were following the status of the build from previous posts. The bike is now complete (its actually been complete for a few weeks), and I have taken it on several test runs.

Surprisingly it is hard to find good trails in Vermont, there are a few but none that are really close. I did find a trail about 30mins from South Royalton in the town of Norwich. The trail goes right through an abandoned copper mine that is now classified as a Superfund site which means that it contains hazardous wastes that are causing harm to the environment. Typically a Superfund site is closed and not accessible by the public, but this site is still undergoing response actions by the EPA and they have not yet contained the area. Although the site is considered harmful to the environment the harm is not on the surface, its all in the ground water. So biking through the area did not cause any harm and it was safe (as far as I can tell I am still alive).

On the trail I did come across some less fortunate passengers who did not survive their travels through the hazardous area. I am not sure how or why the remains were there, but there were two heads. One was a pig and I cannot tell what the other was. There was also the skins, but no bones. It smelt pretty good! I fared much better then these two less fortunate creatures, all I received was a minor injury to the shin.
It hurt a lot worse then it looks and has since developed into a nice cut and bruise. The story behind my first injury of the season happened while I was swiftly cruising downhill I ran over a branch and a portion of that branch jumped up and bite me in the shin. This was the first, and I am sure, not the last of my biking injuries for this season.

Even though I have been able to take my bike out on a few rides it is not complete. Unfortunately I made a few mistakes in building the bike and I have to reconfigure and replace some parts. Currently the bike is in pieces awaiting reconstruction and hopefully should be up and running again before the week is over. Despite the extra parts I am having to experiment with, I am still getting a bike for 1/3rd the price of a comparable bike from a bike shop.

--Brian