Mean Joe Queen - Amature Mooto-X Pilot

I've had some good riding this week despite the rain. I stayed up late on Saturday watching ufc100 and need the extra sleep Sunday morning so I decided not to ride to work. Monday morning it was really foggy so I didn't ride to work that day either. So my mileage has slipped a bit but I still squeezed in some awesome solo road rides and a super fun and a super fast MTB Ride.

Yesterday I got up early and changed out my tires, on the Mooto X Slider, and Stans-ed them up. I've been running Crow's front and rear but after my N/S trail ride last week I ended up with a slight tear in the sidewall of my rear tire, not enough to leak air but enough to cause a bubble to form. I decided to move the Crow on the front to the rear and put a meatier tire on the front for better grip in the corners. I also dropped 2 teeth on the rear cog giving me 32x18 gearing which is perfect for Lock 4.

Yesterday I picked up Neighbor Dan and we headed for Lock 4 to meet up with Dustin (Super D) Greer and Kaylee. We started out riding together as a group ride with Kaylee leading us out with a awesome pace. After about 3/4 of a lap Dustin decided to cut back out to the trail head and run one race pace lap to get ready for the race this weekend. Didn't have time to do any more than that. We rode together down the road to where the race was to start and started the clock. He took off I was planning to follow, so as to not get in his way with my silly one gear bike. The pace was crushing. My heart rate was pegged from the get go, before we settled into a "just manageable" pace for me and a slow pace for dustin who wasn't feeling it. Dustin not feeling good allowed me to hang on and kept me pushing hard in the corners. I was grateful for the fresh knobby tire on the front. The Crow on the rear would occasionally slip on the hard corners. I've always considered myself to be pushing hard on through the turns but following Dustin really had me pushing just that much harder giving me some confidence. We finished well under 40 minutes (don't remember the actual time but it was high 30's) which is pretty fast....I think. It's funny cuz there is a sign at the trail head stating that if you rode the trail under 38 minutes(might have even said 40) that you missed part of the trail. Dustin and Kaylee headed out and I rode back into the trail to find Dan and ride with him a bit.

Thinking about riding to the group ride tonight, rumor has it the pace had been crazy fast.