Have a good ride tomorrow and be safe!

 

So are Matt and I the only two that aren't wimping out?

 

Looks like it.

I sold my old bike last night so I'm gonna try to score some new BG shoes on the way up. 5 still ok?

 

5 is fine or we could go earlier if you would like.

I might have rental Epic with me.

 

Oh, man :\. Well I was going to go to the bike shop on my way up there to get some shoes. If I get out of there early I'll call you, maybe we could do 4 if I get out soon enough?

 

4 is fine if you can make it that early. If not, no problem. Just let me know.

 

The ride today was good. We started at 3 as I got off work way early and ended up not going to the bike shop. Not too many people on the trail, which was nice. The trail did take a bit of a beating from last weeks rain; there's some washed out spots in some not-so-choice places. I suffered the entire time today unfortunately; I think I've been hitting the trainer at work a bit too hard this week. I've been upping the intensity and riding every day this week. I think I'll stay off it between now and our ride on Sunday .

When we got done riding, a guy was just finishing his ride and he was parked next to me in his 06 STI. It was sort of weird: he was riding a silver bike just like mine, wearing the same jersey (novara, colors, everything) and had a Subaru. I was sort of freaked out, but we talked and he was cool. I told him about i-club (he's on clubwrx right now) so he might pop over some day.

So, Randy, once you've had a little time to collect your thoughts from the ride, how'd you feel about the Epic you rode?

Alright, I'm gonna go get the grill going, got some kabobs to cook up :wiggle:.

 

Do you want the long version or the sort version?

Short version: I like it. I want one.

Long version: I think the biggest surprise is how fast it accelerates. Do a couple of hard fast pedal strokes and the bike really jumps forward. Sort of like a good road bike. It also climbs very, very well. It stears even better than my Trance, which was a suprise. It is a bit harsher on the small stutter bumps. I'm sure that can be dialed out, but I'm not sure if that would limit you some on the fast really rough stuff. Right now, when I went through the really bad holes, it did not comlain at all. My Trance's forks are pretty unhappy when I do that. I think to get the most out of this bike you would want to do lots of fiddling with the shocks to get it exactly right. Oh, and I still want one.

Ok, so that was more than you wanted.

 

Should we reconsider our Salmon Falls plans.....

http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=283393

 

Get some deoderant spray and cover your legs and arms with it before heading out. It acts as a barrier to keep the poison oak out. I've used it with pretty good success. It's either that or we don't ride the trail until late fall.

Remember that there is poison oak everywhere this year. It's on FDLT too and it sounds like the OP in that thread was exagerating a bit. Just like with FDLT and Clementine, stay on the trail and you should be fine.

I'm pretty prone to getting poison oak and I'm still willing to hit Salmon Falls tomorrow (I may regret it later), but if you're worried, then let's hit Olmstead.

 

You know..olmstead might not be a bad call. Get to test out the FS on the rocky stuff. What do you guys think?

 

That's cool with me. Still at 8AM or do you want to push it out a bit?

 

I'm not sure if I will be able to ride tomorrow yet. I'll know this evening.

 

I just talked to Matt.

Olmstead 10AM tomorrow morning.

 

I did Olmstead in 54 minutes today!!! That is the fastest I've ever done it and the first time under one hour.

I said to myself I was going to take it easy today since I might be able to ride again tomorrow. But when I got to the half way point at the top of the last big climb, I was at 34 minutes! Knowing that all the big hills were behind and it's faster going back, I decided to hammer.

In all fairness, the trail is really fast right now. The short nasty hill just before the big climb has been smoothed out and can be climbed now.

I'm really stoked! :banana: