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- Full trail audit performed today.
- Climb Trail Descend : No damper, springs or showy decals with a wussy tail or even my trusty Xpons needed. Fully Rigid. All Steel.
- Minor Non conformance- - out of whack front dee.
- Major Non conformance- - seized bearing leading to pedal dropping out mid trail"
Pile it on! Sand, mud and water cometh race day and Thor is my wingman
Not gonna launch into a self blowing trumpet post but suffice to say today's test on our mud slick roller coaster trail was way beyond expectations in very positive ways.
I reckon the last ride with Tom on Wed really helped cleared up my "internal engine" and got my cardio and legs up to par this morning-- was totally blasting the whole way. Had to "excuse me" from the back of the pack to clear my way up front... not a show of power but to keep my low 5 psi rubbers at max inertia as much as possible.
Hit the sticky muddy climbs and bypass some more taking all the "dirty" lines up roots, rocks and what not....
Yup getting the correct pressure dialled on the insane volume on the Bud & Lou was key.
Then came the Mudpressway stretch.... I never, repeat, NEVER had so much fun and actually looking forward to piledrive into all the muck... Let's hope it's not some latent hippo gene manifestation.
Was ahead at this section, actually had time to whip out the phone and took ta pic before Jo and a few others reach me.
The revamped BT Trail with many "bikepark" style berms is of course full of smooth curves and turns.. that favor short travel or rigid bikes that one can rail at speed... The fattie is certainly a rigid but its also a "29er"-- and this is where I notice a need to change riding style.. Whether its a combination of wheel size, pressure and or a difference from my regular bikes and trying to ride it as fast as I would with my 6" squish... There was a lot of understeer... had to fight quite a few turns... A rider behind spotted and confirmed what I felt.
Ok fat or not smacking rock gardens on the down as fast as possible will take a toll.. Off the chosen lines I went- a few times. But whatever it bounces itself into-- the huge volume simply rolls over all the sharp edge rocks coupled to today's magic carpet ride pressure for my weight (got to log this down for later)... The jolts weren't terribly bone jarring thanks to my age old home grew comforter grip layer of additional inner tubes as usual...
... my only concern is how far can the 5 psi go before a pinch materialize.. .definitely not looking to find out on race day if there are similar sections on the race trail.
But compared to all the advantages gained on the Moon today-- and probably another few more rides to adjust setup and riding style to suit this bike... its in all likelihood that all the other bikes would be collecting dust at home save for when I go for gravity oriented vacations.
" Corrective Actions :
- Dodgy seized cheapo pedals swapped out to my stashed race flats.
- Front dee tweaked
- Chain lubed.. Tri-flow(ed) and a secondary coat of Rock & Roll(ed)
Apart from having to fight the understeer. Of course no one bike can truly do it all.... Wheelie is a lot easier but bunny hopping (not that is really needed much since it just rolls over any damn thing) requires full 100% effort for an explosive front pull and consciously lifting the rear. Anyway let's leave tinkering for these fine tuning till later. The biggest question is how much more air can it take to reduce rolling resistance to still maintain the degree of comfort and compliance desired that is optimal on race day...
From today's ride
And so some says :) -- I've raised the bar of post ride refreshment today
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| Awesome ice jelly made by my colleague. I merely 借花敬佛 |
On the way out of the trail to lunch... Fattie meets Quadie
Even the ladies were not spared in the Fattie "Introduction Clinic" today
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