New Bike

I made the decision to switch from my full suspension Specialized Epic Expert to a hard tail (HT) Specialized S-works Stumpjumper.  My first experience with a HT was my Niner single speed.  After riding it I could tell I was more comfortable in the technical sections on a HT.  That's what got me thinking about the switch.  So I ordered the Stumpjumper last Tuesday and it came on on Thursday.  Even though it could have been ready for me to take to the second Snake Creek race, there was no way my first ride on it was going to be at that place.  So, on Sunday, I went out to Montgomery Bell for a couple hours with Karah (who was also on her brand new Specialized Fate) to give it a try.  All I can say is it's awesome.  The biggest difference I can notice is its climbing ability and responsiveness.  As soon as you turn the pedals it takes off like a rocket.  It's a little rougher on the descents and over roots, but this is something I'll get used to.  I'll take the trade-off of it being a little rougher over the increased climbing ability any day.  BTW - it weighed in at a little over 20 pounds with everything on it.  Crazy.

Snake Creek Gap TT #2

With all the rain we had the week before this race, I knew it was going to be muddy.  On top of that, they were calling for a 50% chance of rain during the race.  We got lucky and it didn't rain during the race, but the course was definitely muddy.  The first half had the most mud, and some of the sections were pretty challenging.  I had heard the first creek crossing was going to be waist deep, but I was pleased to see it was ridable.  Oh, did I mention that I decided to do this race on my single speed?  This was my first race on a SS and I didn't know what to expect.  It was different to say the least.  It was challenging in spots (especially the climbs) and it was fun in others.  There were some places where I had to walk either due to the mud, because someone on a geared bike was going too slow in front of me, or because I wanted to save energy for later in the race.  I was glad to see that I was able to ride some of the rock sections that I walked in the first race.  Due to the mud and being on the SS, my goal was to at least maintain the time I did in January.  I was happy when I ended up beating my January time by almost 10 minutes with a 4:15.  In March I plan to take my geared bike, and I'm really hoping to get my time under 4 hours.  I'll have to work extra hard in February to try and make it happen.