Hrm..

Spent some time this weekend in Durham. Rode pretty strong on some hills, doubled up on a hill where I borked up a climb just not remembering where a root was. Ended up having to cut a corner too sharp and got off the bike to complete.

Rode with a fully loaded camel back on though, just to get used to it for the 24H, though I may not need it now all things considered. But I may just start riding with it as its almost another 10lbs of weight to haul around. It only makes you stronger...

I'm also running a lot lately. I'm not sure why though. I used to hate it, now I actually don't mind throwing the buds in and running a few laps in the bush. I actually don't mind it at all. It does peel weight off like crazy though, I guess that's motivation enough. There is another underlying reason why I'm running now.. with less pain. I'll actually credit the Kona.

One of the things I noticed with the Kona is that the rides feels smoother now. Even the rough stuff seems okay. I've taken a lot of running starts at hills with roots and gone directly up and over while just barreling over things I would usually navigate instead. The bouncing isn't that bad anymore, where originally it would just be massive shocks everywhere. After longer rides I'd feel super beat up. The epic 8 I did last month I felt like a truck hit me after the race was over. Not so much cause of the crash, but overall just white knuckling it over everything and expecting the bike to absorb everything was a very silly way of riding on a rigid. Combine it with a creeping fear of technical terrain, and you have a recipe for a very long day.

Fast forward a few weeks of riding and racing.. I'm now hitting log overs and rockbed without any issue. Like solid 2ft log overs. My climbing is a lot stronger then it ever used to be, and my descents are much more in control, although with speed comes some panic braking when I don't know where the trail is leading... I locked my front and rear tire on Saturday trying to stop. I'm surprised I didn't go over the bars, just slid :)

Overall, I deal with shock better after subjecting myself to it almost every night for the last couple weeks. Things that would jar me before now really don't have any effect because I ride differently.... we'll call it riding light. Mostly I'm about an inch or 2 above the saddle, and I use my legs and arms a lot more to absorb any impact that may be coming my way. This kinda translates to running I guess. I'm impacting the ground with my legs, but I don't feel it reverberate throughout my entire body.

This reverberation can tire you fast as your body contracts small support muscles every step or pedal stroke to keep you upright and in balance, this uses glycogen, and the more you call on these muscles to keep you upright, the quicker it runs out. These small support muscles don't store a lot of it either. Once the stores get low, you get tired as they stop working or degrade into a state dependency, calling on other muscles to help stabilize you . So instead of using energy  for pedaling, bike control, or jogging you actually are fighting yourself just as hard as you are the trail you're riding or running.


I'm going to take back some shit I said earlier... Riding a rigid bike will make you tougher. Riding a SS will make you tougher. A SS IS hard work. You don't have the same options that guys on the FS/30spd bikes have. You have one option. Go. It doesn't make you tougher in the I'M GONNA KICK YOUR ASS kinda tougher. It makes you tougher as in strengthening the muscles you don't use often. It promotes good core and joint strength. It also gets you riding looser so you're able to deal with things using your body as a suspension fork.

This rolls right over to running. As you get stronger, you can run farther as your body doesn't deal with the shock of running anymore.. and running helps with the rigid bike set up.

Now I'm not shitting on the FS/30spd guys. In fact I'm hardly doing that. Believe me, I'll get a FS rig eventually. I can only imagine how strong you ride on a bike with the technology behind it after riding a bike that uses none of it.

One bike makes you tougher. One bike will allow you to ride longer. Use one, benefit in the other, look pro on both.... or try to anyway....

24 hour in 5 days baby, lookin  forward to it!