2 Rides & 2 Bikes

I got two rides in today. I would be happier about that, but they were both super lame. OK, not super lame, I mean I got to ride on some dirt, but neither was what I had in mind.

Ride One:

I hit some local trails right here in little old W.O. Park. I rode a couple of sweet trails, realized there was some potential, but found myself duped by one too many deer paths, and false trail heads to get any more than an hour in. And half of that was me back tracking. Oh well at least I tried and know what's available if I need a quick dirt fix in the future.

New frame, sort of:

Later I headed over to Pro Bikes where
a little somethin' - somethin' was finished being built up...

Yep, I'm back on a Mamastia for my second bike.

The lure of a hard tail 29er is strong, and this summer I found myself using the Dos Niner for EVERYTHING but pure road rides. The Big Mama was overkill for these rides, and it wasn't being ridden at all really, so rather than have bike that's not being ridden, I discussed some plans and issues with the fine folks at Salsa and they worked with my other peeps at Pro Bikes in Monroeville and we came up with a plan for me to swap out my Big Mama for a Mamasita without having to delve too far into the piggy. I have to thank both Salsa and Pro Bikes for working with me. Much appreciated.

A steel frame may have been more my style, and I entertained thoughts of the El Mariachi, especially since I dig it's Dos Niner like geometry, but most '09 EMs in my size were spoken for by dealers, and I'm not crazy about the EBB since I have no desire to ever run single speed.

Right now I'm just happy to have two bikes that are pretty interchangeable. If the Dos goes down and I need a bike for a race I know that the Mamasita will be a perfect replacement to drag my ass up and down climbs for 50 to 100 miles. Who knows, this fall I think I might even try out a rigid fork on the Mamasita, and if I go crazy and get a job I'll build the Big Mama back up lighter and faster.

Ride Two:

After getting the Mamasita home, I did what I needed to do to get her "ride ready". Later on once Wifey was home I split to get some more trail time in at Boyce with the new Mamasita. As much as I THOUGHT I had the fit dialed in before left, once I hit the trail it was clear I did not. The bars felt WAY too high. The handling was quick, precise, and felt great. It was the position. Grrr!

While I matched some of the numbers, but I think I need actually flip my stem to negative, and maybe swap out a spacer to get the position I want and copensate for some geometry differences between the two bikes. Shouldn't be too hard, but I really didn't want to be doing that sort of thing out on the trail or in the parking lot, so I aborted after just 50 minutes. Tomorrow I will work on the fit a bit more and hopefully get out for some riding befor any storms roll in.

I like to live in world where two rides in one day would have resulted in some sweet hours in the saddle. But, today was NOT that day. But I DID get a new bike/frame, and ride a few new trails, so there really is no bitching to be found here.

Later.