Weekend in Review

As I was running around all weekend trying to fit everything into my schedule, I have not been keeping up as I should.

Starting Wednesday (10/10/2007)
Rode the MotoLite for the first time. I rode one loop of Oak Mountain (Clockwise) after work with Moran. I had spent some time dialing in the rear shock before the ride, but in my haste just aired the front shock up to the specified amount and made sure I couldn't bottom it out (140+/140-). I also did not take my pump with me as we started at 4:40 and it gets dark about 6:30 so I knew we wouldn't be stopping much. I felt a little uncomfortable on the bike at first and dialed the front shock down to about 125mm. after I could not get it to stay on the ground. I will just go ahead and say the front shock was HARSH. I felt as if I was riding a rigid fork and really could not appreciate the bike on this trip. I finally realized what was happening and extended the shock all the way in hopes of getting a bit of dampening, but could not. We still rode a comfortable slow pace, but the rocky downhills were a challange as the front of the bike was hopping around everywhere.

Friday (10/12/2007)
Before this ride I played with the front shock and finally ended up with (75+/75-). I also moved some of the spacers under the stem above it as I felt the handlebars were too high. I rode one lap of Oak Mountain (Counter-Clockwise) with Tommy and Moran. The bike was completely different this time allowing me to more ride much more comfortably. The bike is extremely rigid laterally but with the suspension open it absorbed the bumps much more effectively than my old Gary fischer ever did (I know 2 more inches of travel should do this). After the climb up Past Blood rock I stoped and lowered the pressure a bit more (70+/70-) as I was still not using all of the shock. I was able to ride up the climbs on the Jeep much easier than I ever had. This bike just tracks the ground incredibly.
The decent down the jeep trail was beautiful. The bike made me feel so comfortable I found myself going faster than I had desired to go. I was going to take it easy since this is a new ride, but I was just coasting and even the rocky turns felt more comfortable at speed. The brakes are also a huge upgrade and allowed me to slow down much faster and in control. I could tell my speed was higher by the airtime I was getting coming out of the ditches and over the bumps. This bike exibits beter control while in the air (I always felt a little uncomfortable on the fischer when in the air for any amount of time) and the bike was so gentle on the landings no extra time was required to recover after hitting the ground. I finished out this ride with a huge smile on my face ready to go again tomorrow.