The course was surely off the beaten path: calling French Meadows a remote location is rather understated. But it was as pretty as it was isolated. I ended up being quite happy with my race: I finished without getting all too hurt, a bit faster than I expected, not troubled too much by the heat, my back took a break in acting up and the whole event was a bunch of fun. My full writeup is here on MTBGuru, results are here, and there is a Cycling News report as well.

And I’ve also officially drunk the 29er kool-aid now: the new bike felt like a high speed freight train on the flats and descents and had excellent traction in the corners. Being a hardtail it climbs and accelerates like a mountain goat, the only drawback is of course the bone rattling nature of fast techy descents on it…

…with a new ride, sore back and expecting unpleasantly toasty temperatures.

The bike is awesome, more about that in later posts, below another teaser pic. I’m taking a bit of a risk doing such a long ride with it immediately - nothing like an imperial century on dirt to break in a new bike! But last weekend I took it to far more technical terrain than what we can expect in the Tahoe Sierra 100 and it held up perfectly (after tightening up things here and there). And it feels so damn fast - maybe I should call it the ‘Red Rocket’ (now if only I could ride it real fast, but that’s another topic).

Tylenol should take care of the sore back (a bruised vertebra? old age? my entire lower right side and leg are acting up these days). I’m kinda dreading the heat though, my frail Northern European constitution is more set up for cold. Anyhow, my goal is just to finish it, preferably way before darkness falls… it should be good masochistic fun!

This weekend: to Downieville or not to Downieville?

In favor: fantastic trails, lotsa climbing and technical descents. Rugged and tough riding, serious dirt.  Entertainment in town. Chance to check out Lopes, Weir and co.

Against: probably will be hotter than hell on that exposed fireroad climb. Four hour drive one way.

Conclusion: We’ll See. Meanwhile, I keep myself busy armchair racing by checking out the updates and reports on these amazing Great Divide races. Or, daydream about riding Kodiak Island… after seeing this thread on mtbr, I so want to go there.