I ran into Steve Arseneault’s Video of some nice single-track, This is pretty much what my rides in Willowdale look like, except I’m probably a bit slower.

Flowing Singletrack….A Short Ride Video from Steve Arseneault on Vimeo.

I thought I’d compare my typical daily ride with the new bike. Yesterday I did the usual run in just about 1 hour even, 6.4 mph average. This run is about 4 mi of singletrack, followed by 2 miles of double-track to get me back to the car.

Willowdale, New Bike at EveryTrail

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Here’s the same trip from a month ago, with the old bike. 10 min longer, and 1 mph slower. I’ve probably gained a bit fitness-wise in the last month, but still, that says a lot for the lighter, bigger-wheeled bike.

Willowdale, Old Bike at EveryTrail

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The new bike, a Kona Big Kahuna, fit perfectly, and rode wonderfully. It’s a 29er hard-tail. I got the 18″ frame, which turns out to have an effective top-tube length of about one inch less than my old bike. This might still be a little bit big, but it’s pretty close. I took it out on my usual Willowdale ride today. The bike just seems much better balanced front-to-back. The top tube is shorter, but the chainstays are longer. This made climbs quite a bit easier, with less of the unicycle feel of the old bike, where I had to put my chin to the handlebars to keep balanced.

The 29er wheels are a huge improvement, with no real down-side that I could feel. They roll over things much better, and the bike feels much more stable at low speed, which makes the bike feel more nimble for tight spaces, rather than less, as you might expect given the larger wheels. Climbs were much easier, given the better balance and traction.

Brakes are the other major difference. They work, require light pull, and work the same every time. My old rim brakes seemed to be a bit random and spongy. Beyond that, everything about the bike is a step up in quality.

I’m hoping to get another month of riding in before winter. I dark cloud of sorts is that I have a nagging injury from a crash last week, perhaps a cracked rib, which may slow me down.

My new bike arrives, and assuming it’s a fit, I’ll pick it up tomorrow. So for now, an update on the old one, an 06 Gary Fisher Marlin. This season has been the most riding I’ve ever done. I’ve averaged six days a week starting back in April. My typical ride as been between and hour and ninety minutes, tending toward the longer end recently. Nearly all of the riding has been in Bradley Palmer and Willowdale. I’ve attended most of the Monday night NS-NEMBA rides. I’ve lost 40 lbs.

The bike has held up quite well. No significant breakage except for a couple of rear spokes. Early in the season I removed the front derailer, figuring that I didn’t use it much. This worked pretty well early on. But by September, the drivetrain was getting tired, so I decided to replace it. I ordered a low-end shimano cassette and chain, and new chain rings, but I couldn’t get the crank off the bike, and managed to strip out the threads. I brought it to the local shop, and they bailed me out. So I had to order a new crank and BB – Jenson USA had a deal on some take-offs: $40, plus $5 for the BB. Here’s the bike after the operation:

The bike rode much more nicely after this. I’m not sure if the ratios had changed, or that perhaps I use different gears being 40lbs lighter, but I found the bike seemed to shift chainrings by itself at the most annoying moments. So, I re-installed the front derailer, and use it a good bit now.

All things considered, it’s been a great bike to get started with. It’s been pretty strong, especially considering I started this at around 230 lbs. I’m replacing grenerally because I ride a lot now, and I’d like something that’s a bit better all around. There are some specific areas I’d like to fix with the new bike. The first is fit. The old bike is a “large” 19″ frame, and the effective top-tube length feels just a bit long (I’m 5’10″). The other is the brakes – I really want hydraulic disks. Finally, the 2.35 rear tire just doesn’t fit. I like riding the 2.35′s at 32-34 lbs. Given that I’m a good bit ligher now, I could probably go down to 2.2′s for the rear tire, but I’d like wider tires to fit.

Well, it’s not really “goodbye” either. I’ll still be riding it now and then, and I’ve got 4 kids to train.

We went up to the northeast side of Willowdale last night. We did 12 miles, 2:30 (the end of the track was in my car – forgot to stop the GPS).

NEMBA Willowdale at EveryTrail

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Took a bunch of waypoints.

willowdale with waypoints at EveryTrail

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We had a nice ride last night – 8 or so people showed up. This track shows the way to some really nice new single track to the north.

NEMBA Easy Ride – Willowdale at EveryTrail

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This the the ride I’ve been doing with Jeff. It’s mostly single-track, and varies in difficulty, with much of it being smooth, through there are some rocky climbs that give me trouble. We’d like to add in more single track rather than turning around. there’s more to be had to the north and east, but in our last attempted we ended up riding roads in Ipswitch after losing daylight. I need to transfer this track to the official park map and marker numbers so we can piece it together.

What we’ve got so far is about 4.4 miles, and takes us 1:05 to ride.

Willowdale ST out and back at EveryTrail

Map created by EveryTrail:GPS Geotagging

Some of this was rocky and difficult. I have the scrapes to prove it. My GPS was off for the start of the ride – we started at Gordon College, rode around their wood chipping piles before picking up single-track were the log starts.

Gordon College at EveryTrail

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Willowdale State Forest, 90 degrees! I was slow.

willowdale at EveryTrail

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