Slow as molassess in January

Well maybe not January but I was certainly slow on yesterday's ride. I had done a hard ride on Wednesday on what was my rigid SS, but I had converted it to a 1x9 to see how the lighter weight would affect my set test route time. Even with tired legs the rigid was a little faster. It may be the bike I use for Iceman, I don't think I need all the weight of the full suspension. If I get to use the Cannondale demo 29'er I've heard that in stock form it is pretty heavy also but the bigger wheels may help make up for it.

Yesterday my legs actually felt pretty good but I did not seem to be able to make the bike go fast without more effort than usual. I was down 2-4 MPH for the same HR. The back roads were kind of soft but I had the same power loss on the drier rail trail as well. I stopped to spin the wheels to see if they were OK and the brakes were dragging a little but not enough to cause the way I was feeling. I figured I must have been more fatigued than I had thought so I ended the ride early.

Once back at the house I checked the tire pressure and found that the tires were in their low 20's. Being tubeless I hadn't really noticed when leaving the house that they were running low but I remember thinking how smooth the ride was. I thought it was because I was on a fully rigid bike the day before and now I was riding a full suspension. I guess I hadn't used that wheelset for a while. Maybe the tire pressure would have been OK for sand or snow but not on the roads. I'm glad to know that the cause of feeling slower on the bike was not all me, I just got in more of a resistance ride than I had intended.