New 29er for winter Rally Finally

In mid April, Colorado was hit with a major snow storm system ahead of the Manhattan Dirt Ball, a 125 mile mostly dirt road ride west of ft. Collins. As a result, instead of bagging the ride I decided to finish my new Carbon 29er as I might need wider than 32mm tires for the snow covered roads. All I had to do was add set up the 44-11 cassette and hook up/bleed my rear brake line that had to be cut to rout it through my frame. I was a little unsure about the gearing and fit of the new bike but after taking some measurements and comparing it to my cross bike I was pleased with the setup. The effective top tube is 1cm longer than my cross bike so the 100mm stem (rather than 110) makes up that difference. The stem is set at -6 degrees with no spacers which places the flat bars and seat at exactly the same height with the fork in locked out full extension. My gearing should spin out at 27mph on the descents with the 34/11 top end. Should be just right!

12 brave riders showed up for the 7am roll out. 3 of us were on mountain bikes, the rest were on cross bikes. We rolled southwest through town on the paved bike trails and made the climb up to Hoursetooth res. it was cold, about 35 degrees with somewhat threatening skies but the sun would soon peak out of the clouds and light up the horizon for some excellent views. 

At around 25 miles and 2,000 vertical feet we took the left hand turn to stay on Buckhorn road and at this point, the surface changed to wet dirt and then slimy mud with spots of snow. The scenery was excellent with a half frozen stream rushing between the tall pines. Road side snow was deeper and deeper as we ascended. Someone plowed this road to our surprise. 

After climbing for about 15 miles we came to the abrupt end of the line. The snow plow did not plow trough and about 24" of un packed wet snow was impassable. Time to turn around..

I decided to head back to town on Rist cantyon which required another 1,400 feet of climbing rewarded by an excellent decent back to Ft. Collins. I finished the ride by parking my rig indoors at Crankenstiene, the cyclist bar with bike shop right next to the kegs on tap.. Sadly today was the last day of its existence. Most likely another business falling victim to rising property costs in down town. 

In all, the ride ended up being 76 miles and over 6,000 vertical feet. The new bike did well and was fairly comfortable. Even the used Selle San Marco seat I had never ridden before worked out well. My gluteus and hamstring were very sore the next day due to the new riding position but I must say, I love this Carbon 29er hardtail. No regrets at all!