TD Training Entry #4: Tony’s First 29er

Saturday morning I hauled my wife and dog down to West End Biycles with me to rent a 29er for the weekend.  Having never ridden one, and having found that most TD racers ride them, I owed it to myself to find out what all the hoo-ha was about, and determine whether or not it would work for me.  And there was no better place to test it out than Memorial Park, home of the best mountain biking trails in Houston.

Bustin' out my Nine!

First off, I just want to give props to West End.  By far this was the friendliest shop I had ever visited.  They let my wife bring our dog in the shop, since they would not hear of her waiting outside in the 85 degree heat.  The entire staff was courteous and helpful, and they are the only shop in Houston that actually rents bikes, which says a lot in itself.  Rock on, West End.

So they rolled out my 29 inch chariot, a Gary Fisher Paragon (hell yeah!), and one of the mechanics made sure to pointedly inform me that the Memorial Park bike trails were closed due to the all the recent heavy rain and the resulting muddy trail conditions.   I imagined him squatting in a darkened room, cursing as he tossed a muddied-up rag into a giant pile of muddied-up rags and began cleaning yet another mud-caked rental return.  Poor fella.  I assured him I would stay away from The Memorial trails.

So an hour later, I was riding the Memorial trails, mentally apologizing to the trail gods, the mechanic, and Ghorba.  And if you, reader, volunteer your time to maintain trails, I apologize to you as well.  But it had to be done….it was my first time on a niner, and could be my last for a good while.   I had to run her through the entire gammut, slush or no, to see what she could do for me. 
 
To back up a bit, I tested the niner on the smooth concrete track around Memorial first.  Right off the bat, I could tell that she was harder to get going initially compared to the standard 26 inch variety.  And she felt a bit ungainly in the saddle.  But once I really got rolling, I was surprised at how she opened up and started easily chewing up pavement.
 

An unexpected site on the trail. Aaaawwwww....

After getting the feel on the smooth surface, I parted ways with wife and pooch and ducked into the forbidden dirt trails.  Luckily, most of the slush had dried up, and I made sure to avoid any remaining bogs.  Again, she felt somewhat unwieldy at first, but she felt better and better with each passing moment as I adapted to the “bigness” of the ride.  (Didn’t I hear Oprah’s husband say that exact same thing once?)  And talk about its technical capabilities!  I had read on many biking forums that the 29inch wheels really gobble up roots and rocks like a 26inch can only dream of, but honestly I had chalked that stuff up to exaggerated fan-boy chatter.  Well I quickly became a believer as I purposefully guided myself over every obstacle in sight, and watched with unexpected satisfaction as I sailed right over them with ease.  So far…awesome!

A couple hours later I took the Fish out to the 22 mile training loop near my home, which is a mix of gravelly doubletrack, pavement, and constant headwinds.  Here, the niner’s awesomeness was not so apparent to me anymore.  As I pushed towards Clear Lake, where the winds are always strongest, the bike just wanted to stop.  It took a good deal more effort to keep her going than it does on my 26 inch ride.  In the prior weeks, my training had progressed to the point that I was cutting into those winds with relative ease.  On the niner, I almost felt like I was back at square one.  It was a bit disheartening, especially after loving it so much out at Memorial. 

My rented Fisher Paragon in full cell phone cam resolution!

I wound up grinding out 52 miles on my rented niner, and when it was all over I was substantially more fatigued than usual.  Some of that I could probably chalk up to not letting my body rest for about 9 straight days prior to that ride, but there’s no question about it…that niner really kicked my ass. 

So I returned the bike safely (and sparklingly clean) back to West End, and I’m still wondering if it’s the right steed for me on the TD.  But I don’t have to make the decision now.  I’ll keep training, and when I get stronger in the saddle, I’ll give the niner another shot, and reassess based on that. 

In two weeks, I try for my first 200 mile weekend at Huntsville State Park!  YIKES!

Leave a reply

Click here to cancel reply.

Name (required)

Mail (will not be published) (required)

Website

CAPTCHA Code *