Woo Hoo!

Here at FBC we like to have fun. The word of the day was Woo Hoo! This downhill is dried out and real sandy this time of year, but the high speed keeps you on top of the sand. Although the bottom was a bit treacherous...the bikes were swapping back and forth.

I also tried a new tire combo today. I put the Specialized Resolution 2.1 up front, and a Hutchison Python 2.0 in the rear. This tire combo dropped my hardtail into the 25 pound range, and the bike felt zippier; however, the level of control went down. I was a little crazy coming down the sand hill, and I couldn't attack the rocks like I could before. I felt like I had to be real gentle in the sand over hard pack too. I'd like to experiment with the combo more, but will probably change the tires again for my ride with Kristy on Wednesday. I'm taking Wednesday off work to go ride The Flume Trail!

I also threw away an old half eaten Clif bar that was at the bottom of my gear bag. I thought I might actually eat it some day, but I think I waited too long. It was still soft and pliable. That means it's still good right? Better safe than sorry...

Riding With my Son

After reading Sandie's story about riding with her daughter, I wondered if it was time I took my boy riding. His little bike would need a gentle and smooth grade, so we picked the V&T Railroad Grade.



I was surprised at how well he did! Maybe it's time to start looking at small mountain bikes..

Another Mommie & Me Ride

I took my daughter out on another ride this weekend, this time on the V&T trail. She did great, you can read all about it here on my family blog.

Recovery Ride

Monday was a recovery ride for Todd and I. Barbara sensed our weakness, and took the Combs Canyon Hill Climb. I wanted to chase her down, but my legs advised me to stick to the plan. You can see Barbara up front in the yellow wind vest.



The north canyon is still full of greasy snow. Forward motion was treacherous!



The view looking down the north canyon.



Todd's idea of a recovery ride is throwing himself down a snowy precipice! Todd took the standard line around the corner, but unfortunately it is covered in greasy snow. His front tire washed out.



Randy looks at Todd laying in the snow and thinks to himself, "What a dumbass...".



Much of the trail was in great shape though...



A great view of Nevada's capital city.

Stumpjumper WSD FSR

As you may have read in the previous post, Kristy and I traded bikes yesterday. I was able to get a full 10 miles on her Womens Specific Design Specialized Stumpjumper FSR.

Kristy's bike is just a hair small for me, but is still big enough for me to ride it comfortably. Since we had a few road miles to get to the trail, the first thing I did was lockout both ends of the bike. The rear lockout definitely felt firm, but not like a hardtail. You can still feel a little movement.

When we got to the trail, I put the rear shock in pro-pedal mode, and unlocked the fork. The first section of the V&T RR Grade has some rocky sections, so it was a good test of the suspension. Both ends of the bike have five inches of plush travel, and allowed me to keep pedaling hard through the rough stuff. My five inch travel freeride bike (Kona Coiler) has much firmer suspension, and isn't near this comfortable in the slow stuff.

Another cool thing about the bike was the center of gravity. Even though it has the long travel suspension, I still felt like I was sitting low on the bike. It turned very quick in the tight twisty singletrack sections, unlike my Coiler that sits very tall and requires a lot of body English to do the same turn. The Stumpy is also seven pounds lighter than my Coiler. A very noticeable seven pounds! The shorter top tube, and light Fox fork made wheelies a snap. I was having fun with that all day. On the return trip, I took it over a couple double jumps. It felt easy to jump with the more upright riding position. Don't worry Kristy...I didn't case it, or taco the back rim! I stuck the landing...

So what makes this bike a WSD? A comfortable seat (I'm jealous). A shorter top tube. The color? Not so much...I wouldn't mind a bike of the same color. Skinny riser bars..24.5 inches wide to be exact. Too skinny for the frame size really. In fact, Kristy just ordered up some Race Face Atlas riser bars this morning. 27 inches wide, 1.5" rise.

Oh, and what's up with the picture you ask? That's me at the 2006 Skagit Valley Tulip Festival in Washington. Since I was testing a WSD bike, I thought I'd show off my muliebral side!

Going Single!

I have wanted a single speed for a while now, but would I be strong enough to ride it? That has been the big question on my mind, so I decided to try out Jeff's bike first. So yesterday, we switched bikes. I rode the Inbred and Jeff rode my Stumpy. After we adjusted seat heights we were off. Other than the Inbred being a bit long, it was a nice fit. We did the RR Grade, an easier ride, perfect for my trial. We headed through town towards the bike path when Sandie asked me, "how do you like it?" At this point it was great, I was able to keep up with the group and felt comfortable pedaling. I was still apprehensive because the true test would be on the climbs.

On the RR Grade I was surprised to find that it was a little easier pedaling up the hills, as long as I charged them with a little speed. The front of the bike felt so much lighter than my mountain bike. This bike just wanted to fly up them. It was kind of exhilarating! I didn't realize how much difference a couple of pounds make on a climb. Felt like I was on my road bike, kinda sorta. I also found that I needed to balance a bit more, to get my momentum going on steeper sections of the trail. Usually, I would just down shift but that wasn't an option. I did miss my suspension a little bit on rocky sections, however I don't know that I would want to add any weight on the front. I really liked the front light. I even climbed a couple of hills, that I rarely make on my Stumpy. Amy and I had so much fun we decided to do the route again, as the rest of the lunch bunch went back to the office. We also ran into Kathy and Mike while on the ride, it was good to see them!

I had a blast! I can't wait to get my own.