Well, I had to make a choice and this post is going to reveal that choice. Like I said, I was going to go with my single speed, but with minimal riding time under my belt this year so far, well I thought better of that. And one other thing- My left knee, which I damaged slightly being a mover, is pretty much 100% now and I don't want to do a 65-ish mile gravel grinder and trash my progress so far. Maybe a 20 miler, a 30 miler maybe, to start out with, anyway. But a metric century? Probably not a great idea there.
So that idea was discarded right away, and then it was just a matter of choosing one of my other capable bikes for the ride, and I asked for some advice in that post last week. Well, MG will be happy to know that I went with his advice, and my gut feelings, and chose the Black Mountain Cycles MCD.
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| The Black Mountain Cycles MCD on a recent outing. |
It isn't like I haven't ridden at all. And I have been doing some aerobic walking on the side as well, so I'm not a total couch potato here. I probably will be okay, but yeah.... Considerations for this event are the gravel, the weather, and our team. First, the gravel.
It is a sandy area down there and it is reflected in their gravel. It is sandy, not very chunky, and a wider tire helps with that. Secondly, the weather is generally cool and windy. That course is pretty flat, but a wide range of gearing can help you work through what can be 10 mile stretches of really bad headwinds. Finally, our team is not what I would consider "fast" or "in it to win it". We are in it for fun and a good ride. So, taking the most racy bike I have isn't necessary.
The pink BMC has the Redshift Sports ShockStop Pro seatpost and stem, so it'll be comfortable. It's got a wide range of gears, and wide, 47mm tires from Teravail. So, yeah.... This should go well enough if I remember to bring something to eat!
And so I chose the Black Mountain Cycles rig for the ride and we'll see how it goes this coming weekend.
6 comments:
You won't be sorry with your decision… That bike is a runner!!
Good choice! Noticed the small water bottle on the bottom side of downtube. How has that worked for you so far? It looks like it'd be pretty nice for those that have smaller frames and want to make use of that mounting point.
@MG - Thanks!
@Tomcat - That's a new Session Muck bottle from Polar. It has a cap cover to keep the valve free of crap, and that size clears my front wheel better too. The further back you can get that bottle the better in terms of crap coming off the front tire.
Anyway, it is 15 oz. Nice supplemental size for those times you need a 'bit more' water. Would probably pack into a bag well also. I *just* got these (I have two- thanks to Polar) so I will have more to say about long-term usage later on.
I'm still on the fence about my bike for this weekend. Plenty of options to choose from, but I might bring something along to make the last "official" ride of The Careless Whispers one to remember (at least for me)
@S. Fuller - The "last 'official' ride of the Careless Whispers....", you say? This would logically lead me to believe that there may be some "unofficial rides of the Careless Whispers" in the future......
Very interesting.
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