Way to go Lois Lane!!!! Hey- check your air pressure. Mountain bikes go low for trail riding- 35 lbs. But on the street you can pump them up to 60. If you haven't, try it. You can add 3 mph and get five more miles in the same amount of time (and effort).

What makes me rock?? As a returning newbie mountain biker, following my gf's on their full-sus bikes down a rocky canyon w/ multiple stream crossings and riding through dry creek beds without bouncing off or crashing my hard tail. (Except when I threw my bike sideways to avoid the poison oak!)