Better weather

It was great to get nicer weather for a weekend ride. I didn't ride Saturday, instead I spent most of the day doing yard work. About half or better of the leaves are down so we got those raked and bagged as well as clearing the mess the utility company made the other day when they worked on restoring power. A lot of limbs were cut and thrown on our property so we had to cut, bundle, and tie them for trash pick up.

Today I waited for it to warm up a little before heading out to do a hard ride, basically the first half of my hill loop at steady pace. This week I did it on the Scalpel, probably the bike I will use for Iceman. I managed to better my fastest time but was tuckered out at the end. I was able to keep up a pretty good speed on the flats and downhills but I think I may have been a little slower when climbing than on the SS. The Scalpel is heavier and the suspension costs a little in efficiency when climbing.

I may try to turn the SS into a 1x9 and compare times next week. The SS is completely rigid but the Iceman race isn't that rough of a race. The which bike to ride decision may be a moot point anyway as there is a chance I may get to race on a demo Cannondale 29'er. In stock form it's kind of heavy but the 29 inch wheels should help in the sand. I hope to build a new bike next year using the 29 frame as a starting point.