As some may have guessed I did buy a new cyclocross bike. I’ve been bike commuting to work since february. I got a wild hair in my butt to get an effecient, do it all bike. And ended up buying a Felt FX1.
I headed out to Ft. Custer with Mobley for the first time on Sunday We biked a series of woop-di-woop trails and up and down trails for an hour or two yesterday.
Heading downhill on a lightning quick cyclocross bike at top speed over unknown trails, with lumpy rocks and loose stones really revs up that primal pit of fear in the reptile part of my brain.
All my mind’s eye sees is trees smacking my forehead while I ride the brakes and put my butt way over the rear tire. It is fun. But a different sort of fun than surfing, that’s for sure. I have fear while heading downwave, but it is entirely managed with a sense of joy. Trail riding while clipped in to bike pedals can be quite technical, but I am not really very competent right now.
Riding up hill on loose dirt was a challenge and I had to dismount, throw the bike over my shoulder and run up hill on a couple of steep slopes where I misjudged how much speed it would take to summit. But I managed to do the dismount quickly and without wiping out, that was an accomplishment in and of itself.
Now the only problem is I have a bunch of sand caught in the pedal arm that is making a lot of noise.
I am thinking about doing some cyclocross races this fall, or “A” cross race, but I will see how the summer goes for training.
On a training and weight related note, I had a deep moment of satisfaction this morning when I discovered I accidentally packed an old belt. There were no notches near my current waist line, so I had to take a pocket knife to my belt and make a hole about 4-5 inches over. Nothing like that sort of activity to make you feel like maybe you haven’t slipped that much in your training routine.
I’m almost positive that’s not the bike you told me you where getting.
Also, where’s mine?
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I have fallen twice in traffic either from a curb into the street, or from the street onto the curb in my clip-in pedals. Painful and humiliating. People tend to point and laugh rather than look concerned too, which adds insult to injury.
Nice bike Keith. Cyclocross is interesting but something about putting a bike on your shoulders and jumping over hurdles seems a bit… off. 🙂
I’m still a bike wimp so I use cages with both my mountain bike as well as my road bike. I do get a kick out of my friend tumbling down hills with his mountain bike firmly attached to his feet as he struggles to unclip. I guess once I get some more skills I take the plunge but until then, I just got to get some more seat time on the bikes.