October rides...

[north woods gal]

Plus one on your compassion to the homeless woman, Rebecca. We have a friend who is homeless, not because of money issues, but because of mental issues and despite all our attempts to help her, she refuses to find a permanent home (she lives in her car, even during our winters) and refuses to seek mental help. Very frustrating and very sad. So many of these people fall though the cracks in what passes for mental health care in this country.

On a more positive note, changed out to a raised stem and wider handlebars on my Giant Trance full suspension bike and it worked like a charm. Not to get too techno, but the Trance is very typical of the current breed of trail bikes with a very slack front end, meaning the front wheel is way out there in front of the handlebars as with a chopper motorcycle. (The MTB bike scene is very trendy. Slack geometry is currently "in".) Makes for very twitchy steering and a bike that is hard to keep on a straight track when on a steep climb. Was seriously thinking of selling the bike, but will keep it, now. So excited about the "new" improved Trance, that I rode for an hour in the cold rain (some flakes of snow mixed in), yesterday.