I had 99% of a great MTB ride last Friday. Crashed relatively hard with about 200yds to go (stupidly) but didn't do major damage. May have bent the rear d hanger but need a trip to the shop to confirm. Definitely tore the cleats on my shoes, put a nice little puncture into my right leg and sracped my right forearm. But such in the nature of the beast riding on dirt/rocks/roots on a good day not to mention after early morning showers in the fall with wet leaves everywhere. It was actually quite the fun and challenging ride what with basically only being able to use my rear brake most the time in order to avoid immediately tucking the front wheel. Some drugs and ice mostly cured the leg and the arm is fine so I rode to work today. It was a chilly morning; 32F when I left the house but has warmed considerably throughout the day and should be a gorgeous ride home as long as the wind doesn't kick up too much. I fear this might be my last commute as I was in near 100% darkness when I left at 6am and will be racing daylight on the way home. Once we roll the clocks back it's going to get really hard to ride in the afternoon... But I felt good even if I was on the slower side. I blame it on the fact that I couldn't see my computer for the first 30 min or so of the ride as it was too dark and my fingers were too cold to punch the backlight button.
I'm leaning towards a gravel bike for my next purchase. Dedicated cross geometry seems generally to be on the uncomfortable/twitchy side although there are certainly exceptions to that. Which Giant are you eyeing, Chris?
I took a mental health day today. I hadn't been feeling well for a couple of days and didn't have much scheduled today so I decided that rather than get really sick I'd try to get some rest and take care of a few things around the house before the long weekend. I woke up feeling much better than yesterday and almost went to work. I'm glad I didn't. Time to go mail a few packages, one of which is overdue to be headed to Texas for experiments with maths.