Maiden Voyage.

[Artista]

This bike is going to be perfect for what it's been built for. TBC...

So exactly what was it built for? Awesome bike!

[Wahine]

A long endurance race with a lot of very roughly cobbled paths, dirt double track and some technical single track. I have not fully committed to doing the race yet and it wouldn't be until late spring 2013. So I have this season to ride and race before I decide to commit myself to something big.

[Artista]

Endurance mtb'ing is a mind boggling concept for me. How long is the race?

[Wahine]

It's a 9 day stage race with anywhere from 60 to 100 miles per stage!! Just over 700 miles total distance I believe. The nice thing is that there is a nice hotel at the end of every stage and amazing food. I've worked as a PT at this race twice now, so I think I know what I'm in for.

[Catrin]

It's a 9 day stage race with anywhere from 60 to 100 miles per stage!! Just over 700 miles total distance I believe. The nice thing is that there is a nice hotel at the end of every stage and amazing food. I've worked as a PT at this race twice now, so I think I know what I'm in for.

Sounds awesome! How technical does the single-track get? This sounds like some serious painful fun! Where is this race? Is it an annual event?

[Wahine]

Sounds awesome! How technical does the single-track get? This sounds like some serious painful fun! Where is this race? Is it an annual event?

The race is an annual event in Portugal.

I love all the enthusiasm ladies, but I have not totally committed to this yet. We'll see how the summer goes. I have to decide by Oct 1.

[Artista]

Hey, I'm impressed that you are even considering doing a race like this!

[Wahine]

I'm curious about something. You mentioned that you are changing mountain bikes along with the type of riding you are doing. What did you do before vs now? Race?

What I was riding was this and/or my single speed mud bike. I did race on the full suspension bike last season and the season before. It is a great racing bike. Especially for trails with a lot of rocks and roots to roll over, technical trail where you don't want to have to be very precise about the line you pick (if you hit a rock on that bike, it doesn't really matter, you'll just roll over it), and for learning to like some speed downhill. It is still VERY light for a full suspension bike and has some suspension dampening, so climbs better than most.

But...

I bought the full suspension bike when I was first getting back into mountain biking and I didn't really know where it was going to take me, so I got a bike that was reported to be a cross country bike but with enough of a slope to the head tube and enough suspension to handle technical, fast downhill riding. The blue bike did that. It allowed me to ride much more technical terraine than I would have been able to without the suspension and it really helped me learn how to pick lines around corners etc. And of course, everyone that was "serious" that I knew, had a full suspension bike so I got one too.

But full suspension is a PITA if it's muddy. It requires maintenance and takes a lot longer to clean up. Also, I have a tendency to avoid the pain of pushing a bigger gear and that was limiting my progress riding, especially hill climbing. So, the following winter, I took an old hard tail mountain bike and turned it into a single speed with a rigid fork for winter training. I discovered that my skills had progressed to the point that I could go downhill on the type of trails that I liked best (no big drops but some rocks and roots etc) without any significant loss of speed even though I didn't have any suspension. The bike was noticeably lighter when climbing and I liked that I didn't seem to be losing any of my effort going into the climb by the squishing of the suspension. As far as clean-up went, no problem, let the mud dry and brush it off easily in a few minutes, lube the chain and away you go again.

If I hadn't gotten the inkling to do this Portugal race, I would likely have just continued riding these two bikes and just picking the right days for them.

But my full suspension bike just is not appropriate for the Portugal race. It would not gain me anything on the descents with exception of a couple of Roman Road cobble descents which were very technical but are a miniscule part of the total mileage. The full suspension would be a disadvantage in terms of energy loss through the suspension on long flatter days and I would be doing my own maitenance in the evening and didn't want to have to worry about the suspension. The climbing that there is in this race can be very steep if not long, so any weight loss on the bike or me would also be helpful.

So this new bike is born for that race and is much better suited for the type of riding I am doing in general, which is tight twisty single track with lots of steep climbing but pretty buffed out trail for the most part. I had seriously contemplated building a hardtail, but I heard a lot of feedback from the racers (apart from my boyfriend who rides nothing but a fully rigid bike!) that having some rear suspension is really helpful in taking the edge off your butt, especially, over cobbles on long days. So I went with the pivotless rear suspension.

That's a really long answer to your question. But I didn't know how else to answer it without sounding vague. But really, I think that the bike you start riding on, is not the bike that you're likely to continue riding for a long time. Until you have some mountain biking experience, figure out what kind of riding you like and what your strengths and weaknesses are... you won't know what direction to go in. A good entry level full suspension bike is a good place to start. Then, maybe like me, you'll decide that you like the climbing and the challenge of long days in the saddle and you'll want a really light bike. Or, maybe you'll love ripping down hills, doing gap jumps or who knows what and you'll want a bike with HUGE suspension where weight is not a bad thing. Or maybe you'll just love all around riding and the jack of all trades bike will continue to be the right bike. Who knows where you'll end up, but enjoy the journey!!

[Artista]

It's a 9 day stage race with anywhere from 60 to 100 miles per stage!! Just over 700 miles total distance I believe. The nice thing is that there is a nice hotel at the end of every stage and amazing food. I've worked as a PT at this race twice now, so I think I know what I'm in for.

That's unimaginable for me! You'll keep us posted on your training and thoughts on actually doing the race? I'd love to live vicariously on your journey.

[Anelia]

It's a 9 day stage race with anywhere from 60 to 100 miles per stage!! Just over 700 miles total distance I believe. The nice thing is that there is a nice hotel at the end of every stage and amazing food. I've worked as a PT at this race twice now, so I think I know what I'm in for.

First of all, congrats on your new bike. Aaaand, this is a great race I believe. I would encourage you to go for it, especially the hotel part, etc.
There will be a similar race in fall in Bulgaria but the only thing that stops me is that at the end of every stage, my TENT expects me. I would not rest sleeping on the ground and not having a nice shower after each day.