Some lessons learned

Hey just wanted to pass on some stuff that Michael W and I learned last weekend riding in Bend. 

1. Different riding conditions than your bike is used to can cause unexpected problems. Michael W had several mechanical problems related to riding over the lava rocks on the McKenzie River trail including flats, loose headset, rim strip issue, and shift cable coming loose. The previous days ride on more moderate terrain caused no issues
2. Different riding conditions than what you are used to causes physical issues. I suffered from some kind of friction problem causing my fingers to start to blister up where the skin was exposed with my short fingered gloves. I was very glad to be able to wear my long fingered gloves the next day to protect those hot spots.  I got mentally worn out carrying my bike over technical rocky sections and foot bridges. The trail started to piss me off!  The other guys were able to ride more of the technical stuff than me and ended up having to wait at intersections. 
3. Group issues manifested due to the McKenzie River trail being more technical than described or our abilities less than we assessed ourselves. One guy had to drop out a third of the way down and wait for us to pick him up on the shuttle back. Another guy ran out of water and wanted to hit the road for the last section. Someone else wanted to ride the whole trail. It was getting towards the end of the day. Group decisions were difficult with the various wants and needs.  Everything turned out OK though we took a low risk and one person rode about 6 miles of single track by themselves.  

All in all it was a good experience and probably similar to what we might experience on the San Juan.  I am reassessing what spare parts to bring. 

One bit of advice - if you are not riding tubeless make sure you put some kind of sealant in your tubes.  I am thinking about how to either pre-slime my backup tubes or have some other method in case my tubeless get damaged.  I am hoping that if that lava rock last weekend did not cut my tires there are going to be OK on the San Juan.