Looking good, Esting. Your upgrades and TLC make your Yukon look very clean and stylish.
Today I finished cleaning up after my ride in the mud. The derailleur and cassette were a mess, with caked mud and grass. The chain was pretty rough, too. I had wiped most of the mud and clay off the chain the other night, but there was still a fair amount to clean. The chain and cassette were already rusting a bit. I wiped and brushed everything and lubed it with some WD-40 dry chain lube.
I went for a ride tonight. I was in the mood to ride fast without too much effort, so I was at max power most of the the time. I cruised without pedalling for maybe 6 kms of the trip. The whole trip was about 22 kms, which almost completely drained my battery.
I rode to Kildonan Park, then down Scotia Ave. A nice scenic ride in one of Winnipeg's hidden gem neighbourhoods. https://www.google.ca/maps/@49.9260519,-97.1130276,3a,75y,118.39h,85.1t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s5Efe9VAE973Ro01xWw77lQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656 The road was blocked by construction at one point, but I was able to power through the mud and ruts with no trouble. It's a lot of fun to use the big tires and motor to traverse obstacles with total ease.
At the end of Scotia, I wound up at historic St. John's Cathedral. https://www.google.ca/maps/dir/St.+John's+Park,+Winnipeg,+MB/Kildonan+Park,+Main+Street,+Winnipeg,+MB/@49.9208571,-97.1246469,146m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m13!4m12!1m5!1m1!1s0x52ea710bdc80bab7:0xfb2e9be2daf09dba!2m2!1d-97.1253671!2d49.9201851!1m5!1m1!1s0x52ea704a38533f9f:0x3940c5703313afae!2m2!1d-97.103431!2d49.9418506
I entered the churchyard, which is also a cemetery. I needed a break so I walked around the cemetery looking at the grave markers. Once I was ready to go home I headed for the exit, which I discovered was locked. In between the time I entered the graveyard and when I went to exit (15 mins, max) they had locked the gates! I was locked in. The whole cemetery was fenced by a big, heavy-duty chainlink fence.
I proceded to look around the perimeter for an opening I could squeeze through, but there was nothing big enough for the Yukon. At the back corner of the graveyard was the groundskeeper's shed and work area. There was a big pile of concrete rubble right next to the fence. I found a huge old piece of scaffold platform which I leaned up against the exterior side of the fence as a ramp. A neighbour saw what I was doing and came over to help. Unfortunately he tugged on the ramp when I wasn't expecting it, and my finger got sliced by the top of the chainlink. It is one of those fences that has the pointy, razor-sharp chainlink wires on the top as a security feature. I was bleeding pretty good, so the neighbour dude went and got me a couple of band-aids while I used a kleenex to stop the bleeding.
I hulked the bike to the top of the rubble pile and over the top of the fence onto my ramp. The neighbour helped to ease the bike down the ramp. It was pretty damn lucky there was that piece of scaffolding and that pile of rubble, and it was super fortunate that the guy lent a hand.
The guy was curious about the bike, so we chatted about it for a bit, and then I headed home. I cleaned my wound as soon as I got home and told my wife about my escape. We had a good laugh about it.
So the moral of the story is, don't go visiting a fenced graveyard unless you know when it closes!
