This Kind Of Work Is Fun

I’ll try to stop complaining about my day job, because well, it won’t do any good.  Change is coming I think, and from now on I’ll do my best to make sure it doesn’t affect what’s going on in my bike world.  And right now, what’s going on is more work…

Trail work of course.

We had a “scheduled” work day at “The Trail”, and when I headed out of the house we were getting hit with another bout of winter weather.  Unlike the last time though, the snow wasn’t really sticking to the ground.  It still kept coming down though.

It wasn’t like we were having a blizzard or anything like that, so the work day was still a go.  TomTom suggested that everyone bring a bike this time, because we should actually try to enjoy what we have built so far.  I dusted off my little-wheeled squishy bike that hasn’t been out of the house in over two years.

With five inches of travel, little wheels, and flat pedals, I thought that it would be fun out there.  It wasn’t going to be a serious ride anyway, so I brought the least serious bike I own.

TomTom and I were the first ones there, and we discussed our plan for the day.  Even Steven showed up and we eventually got to work.  After cutting in some new trail that we flagged a few weeks ago, we felt like we were once again making progress.  When we stopped to admire our handy work, out of nowhere we heard a scream…

Followed by some crazy European flying down the trail.

Yes folks, Irish Luke made his grand entrance, and he was having a blast.  When he finally reached where we were working, he said that he was worn out.  We knew we were building a tough trail, but to hear it from someone that rode it all at once made us feel pretty damn proud.

I rode a couple of sections here and there, and aside form the fact that I’m not used to tiny little wheels and flat pedals I had a great time.  This trail is turning out to be way better than any of us thought it would be.

We still have a ton of work to do though, but it’s the kind of work that doesn’t suck so bad.

Like a real job.

Big Squishy Wheels

Sunday was another day in the woods, and coincidentally at the very same place as Saturday's adventure.  The Niner demo truck rolled into Charlotte full of bikes for us to ride, and I was more than happy to oblige.

While I’m not really in the market for anything with all that suspension (or gears for that matter), I really had a hankerin’ to try out the Jet 9 RDO.  Lunchbox isn’t really too keen on all that squishy stuff either, but he though it would be fun to join me.  There just so happened to be two XL demos on the rack waiting for us.

While we got changed into our riding gear, Mike from Niner setup the bikes just for us.

We hit the trail with two other locals, and it took me a while to get used to all that bike.  I mean, holy shit, gears and suspension?  I didn’t know what to do with all that after spending so much time riding a hardtail single speed.  Every time I stood up to climb, I was reminded why I like having no rear suspension:  the bike bobbed a little bit with every pedal stroke.  It wasn’t much, but enough for me to notice.  I realized that this kind of bike was suited for sitting and spinning in a lower gear on the climbs.

Once I figured out how to ride it, it was a blast.  The bike handling was incredible, and it was comfortable.  Like, way too comfortable.  I took the shittier lines on purpose when I could, and the bike just gobbled everything up.  I was really enjoying every root, rock, and jump, and the bike took everything I threw at it.  We stopped every so often to regroup, and I still couldn’t believe I was on such a fun bike.

Lunchbox was enjoying the ride too.  He gave up squishy bikes not long after I did, and he understood the benefit of riding a hardtail on cross country trails.  However, he too was having a good ol’ time out there throwing that bike around.  I betcha if someone gave him one of those he would ride the shit out of it.  He was definitely happy to be out there on the trail with all that squish.

Will a full suspension 29er be my next bike purchase?  Probably not.  I mean, I thoroughly enjoyed it, but I think it’s a little too much bike for what I normally ride.  I would love to have one though, and I can’t totally rule out getting one in the future.

I would like to give a big shout out to Niner Bikes for coming back to Charlotte and to The Cycle Path for hosting the event. 

I love riding new shit, especially someone else’s new shit.