Apr 10, 2020 6:00 am
Damn the virus. And the optics of carrying on about material consumerist pursuits in the midst of it all. Dang it all straight to heck. I must talk about this bike. Here goes... Last fall, Glen @elephantbikes built an amazing ultralight CX race bike for Maddie. I was jealous, yea verily. I wanted an amazing ultralight CX bike too. But over the last few years I had packed on a bunch of weight. So I used the UL CX as a carrot to lose that weight. And I did. And Glen hooked me up. The bike is a race CX bike first. That’s its main job in life. As pictured, it’s got 650b wheels with 48mm knobbies — that’s the rough-house set up. Next week I’ll have the 700s on there proper. Glen has built me many bikes over the years. This is the fanciest of the fast he’s built me. It’s a proper CX bike in how it handles: fast front end, likes standing sprints and sharp climbs. Cruises good enough, but it’s designed to move fast and be nimble. I don’t have that much time on it, but my take so far is that after a few years of moping around, I feel like I’m finally riding bikes again. Shedding a bunch of weight helps a lot. But dumping that weight, then riding a bike that Glen created for me — as only Glen can: he knows me, he knows how I like to ride — has been an incredible gift. I am grateful beyond words. I’m looking forward to my time on the bike this summer. I’ve got a bunch of Ferry County rides clogging my head. They all involve a lot of climbing, a lot of NF road, and plenty of single track. My favorite stuff. (For the nerds, see comment for specs and on-carrying)
