Powhite Park...

At 7.30am this morning, it was 33degrees... FREAKING COLD!!! We met at the park to go and do an early morning ride and met there at 8.15am, still 33degrees. Mark, Anders, and myself all met up, Mark and Anders got acquainted, as he works at the same Fab as I do. He is from Germany.

It was my inaugural ride of my new bike on the trails! SO we started off slow so I could get the "feel" of the new bike's geometry. It is drastically different from my old bike. It is much easier to ride then my old one as well, 8lbs Vs. 22lbs. Very BIG difference. 24 speed Vs. 21 speed also makes a big difference as well. So, off we went up the trails.

For the first time, I was able to make it over the tree obstacles that I did not do on my old bike. The new one has more ground clearance and my other bike would drag the pedals on the wood. This one did not. So, in that respect, I was very proud of my self. We finally made it to the Half pipe!! At the beginning of it, it is about 6 feet deep and to start it, you have to go threw it to get to the other side of the trail. In the past, I would make it over a root that was at the top, parallel to the ground because my momentum would carry me over it. This time however, it did not and I crashed!! The bike is lighter than my old one and its front tire just went along the root...CRASH!!! I think that I was more worried about my bike getting messed up than I was myself! My knee is a little banged up, but I am ok.

The rest of the ride was AWSOME!!! The Half Pipe ROCKS!! Having Disk breaks is totally different from the old style breaks. With Disks, you can stop on a dime!! So this too, was a learning period. When you are riding down the single track trails, you have to make minor adjustments with both breaks to navigate over roots, rock, and other obstacles. Having good breaks allows you to do this, but learning on a new set of breaks, takes some time to do.

After we made it down the Half-Pipe, we made another round up a different trail, all leading up to the Half Pipe once again. All trails lead to it. So, all in all, It was a very good ride this morning and I can’t wait to go and do another.


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