He Ain't Heavy, He's my Brother

"The road is long
With many a winding turn
That leads us to who knows where
Who knows where

But I'm strong
Strong enough to carry him
He ain't heavy, he's my brother"

~The Hollies

At least that's what I used to sing. I rode my Kona Coiler this week, and I've forgotten how heavy this bike is! I used to pedal this bike all around, and never complain. In fact I enjoyed it. This overbuilt Freeride/XC bike tips the scales at 35+ lbs. That's 11 more pounds than my single speed, and 9 more than my hard tail...the two bikes I've been riding for months now. It was hard to load on my roof rack, hard to do wheelies on, and feels like a truck in the turns.

In its defense, there were a few really fun sections on the bike. The suspension really swallows up the bumps, and the stiff frame and front end really track well. It is kind of fun to haul butt on it.

I used to love this bike for some of the boulder strewn trails around Lake Tahoe, but I'm just not sure I feel like pedaling all this weight up some of those Tahoe climbs anymore. I'll have to test out some of those trails on my hard tail this summer, and see how bad I miss the Coiler.

In other news today, we helped ride in some new sections of trail. The new upper section is more technical, and provides great views of Carson City. Coming down is very nice too. You can pick up some speed, but you also have to be ready for hairpin turns, weaving around a few trees, and some really cool bumps and dips.

The new lower section, named "Jackrabbit", is starting to become more defined. It crosses a dirt bike section that is starting to get a little nasty from all the high horsepower wheel spin. How we'll finish this trail is still under debate...