More recovering more

 There's an old saying in New England, "If you don't like the weather, wait five minutes." After a bout of warmer temperatures, it was cool this morning. Low fifties cool, I was eating breakfast inside wearing long johns, a puffy vest, and a hat, while a fan in the window helped me pump as much of that coolness into the concrete thermal mass of my floor. It worked. It's now 68 degrees inside at 6:30pm after a day in the eighties.

Cool weather is also great for trail work, especially with a chainsaw, as protective gear like leg chaps serve as thick, heavy insulation. I hadn't run a chainsaw since my neck injury in October of 2024 reduced nerve response and strength in my left arm. Trying to control a few horsepower of sharp, spinning chain with a marginal member seemed a horribly bad idea. My arm still isn't 100%, but I'd guess it is now solidly in the nineties, so I trusted it enough to attend to the collection of dead fall on trails across the street that had been amassing over almost two years.

It went pretty well. Granted, I am currently typing this with just one hand, but that's only because my other one is holding the phone. Everything is still there! I didn't "use" the protective chaps despite wearing them, and I even cut long enough to fully deplete the battery on my electric chainsaw for the first time. My left arm felt trustworthy all the while, and I could even carry the saw in that hand, although yes, the right is still a bit stronger and preferred. I'm quite happy.

But why stop there? The New England weather is predicted to change again, with rain in the forecast starting tomorrow afternoon and extending into Wednesday, so after eating lunch, but well before the trails turn soggy, I headed out for a loop on the mountain bike WITH THE 160MM TRAVEL FORK!!! which I'm still learning. Quite excitedly, can you tell? Yes, I still like it, and to my surprise, I've backed off the compression damping entirely, and yet don't feel it diving excessively when I use the front brake outlandishly hard, which I what I tend to do. 

My arm was also showing good continued recovery on the bike in the woods too. No, not 100% yet there either, but I did have snappy enough nerve response to clear another foot and a half high log, even better than in the recent past, and I cleanly hopped another eight inch one at speed, like I remember being able to. Maybe with continued kayak paddling PT (tomorrow), I'll be bouncing around the trail like I used to. Wheeeee!!!

I was having enough fun out there 

to not stop and take any pictures, 

but hey, look, 

I found my preferred pump mounting location,

which frees up the top tube, 

for picking up the bike,

 over logs I can't yet hop.