clouds. real.

This weekend the social group took a road trip down to FATS.  It was an adventure, to say the least, but one that I won't get to until tomorrow.  I've got other things to get out of the way first.

Things area about to get chronologically screwy here, so try to stay with me.

Thursday I rode the HiFi out at the Whitewater Center since I figured I should show it some love as I planned on racing it this coming weekend up at Uwharrie.  As I entered the trails it felt like I was riding on a cloud!  It was as if the HiFi was just floating over the trail chatter.  Everything seemed to be smoothed out as I flowed through the trail.  It was a unique experience to feel such a dramatic difference between the full suspension HiFi and the fully rigid Glow Worm on such familiar trails.  While I enjoyed the smoothness of the HiFi, I had to quickly change gears in my head (PUN) and return to the "sit and spin" method of climbing over the "quick let's conquer this bad boy" attitude of the One 9.  On the other hand, descending the back side of Goat was a bit more fun with the squish!

Sunday I finally took the Glow Worm to a local trail that I had determined would be perfect for a singlespeed, even before riding singlespeed.  I hit Sherman Branch for the first time on the Glow Worm with the gorgeous 18t on the back and guess what... PRs all over your face!  I also recognized on this ride how much I do love the rigid fork on root drops.  It is predictable and stable on the short drops.  No sag and recovery like you might find with a suspension fork up front - it's quite nice.  With the 18 tooth cog in the rear the Glow Worm was eating up the trail like a boss.

I have come to the conclusion that the 18t cog is the "boss", and the 20t is the "intern."  Although, with the way I feel on the Glow Worm it might not be long before the "boss" get's a demotion.  I still have to get back to the Whitewater Center to try to tackle everything there with the "boss" in charge before I start making any rash decisions.

I admit it.  I'm a single speeder.  I get WAY too lazy with gears.  Riding with just the one gear keeps me on top of my ride.  It honestly lets me enjoy the trail in a way gears don't.  Throw in the lack of suspension and (I know it's super cliche but hold on to your helmet) I do feel a solid connection with the trail.

Saturday it was determined that I will NOT be racing at Uwharrie this coming weekend.  With the closing for the new house happening on Thursday (YAY!) the responsible thing would be for me to miss the race so I can move heavy things to our new place.  Makes sense.

Now I have to find a replacement race - and it comes down to Virginia or Clemson.  Both are 2.5 +/- hours away - blowfest.  The positive, my start time for these two events wouldn't be until 11:30 - so not a super early morning with the drive time.  Not sure which I will enter at this point.  Google investigations didn't provide enough information to make an informed decision up to this point.  It might just come down to which fits the calendar better.