29 and on a 29er...

I love my Cannondale. I love racing my Cannondale. really. but its little elastomer head shock is losing its cush, and in lieu of a new race wheelset and shock upgrade for it, we decided a new ride was in order. The Cannondale is destined for single speed conversion as a training bike.

After a _lot_ of deliberation and a husband-imposed deadline of my upcoming 3oth birthday I figured out that 29er is the way to go. I read, I contemplated, I even got to test rode some very nice bikes courtesy of race teammates (thanks Karl and Marc!). I love the Fisher 29er geometry, so I decided on a Fisher Paragon. The high end aluminum 29er. With upgraded wheels.

Well, that was until I called Jes at Gettysburg Bicycle and Fitness. I know Jes from teaching at Liberty - we trained together some last season and Jes is a phenomenal skier with super fast feet. I've actually never worked with him re: bikes before. But I'd rather give the business to a small shop that's in it for the right reasons. Jes and his buds do a lot of trail development and run an infamous local race series up there at Michaux. His shop has a ton of great bikes (though I had only eyes for one!) and long term employees. i.e. they know what they are doing and have been doing it for a long time.

Now, I should say that when I sat down and did the math on the weight upgrades, I had wanted the much nicer componentry on the Superfly. And it turns out, not only did Jes treat me better than fantastically (including show me how to put sealant in tubeless tires, hook me up with a jersey, etc), the Superfly was built, waiting for me, like it was meant to be... I was willing to give up the wheel upgrade for the dream bike. I couldn't help but go get it yesterday afternoon. And ride it last night....

It wants to go so much faster than I do. I was apparently going too fast for Shea to get our little camera to document it in the evening light next to the reservoir. So we only have static shots. I get to race it at Michaux on Sunday, so maybe someone will catch us in action then.

PS: I realized tonight on the drive home from my weekly chicks only mountain bike ride, that I think it's a little wierd that my new bike is a Superfly and what I do for a real job is dissect super fly's - Drosophila melanogaster if you must know. But who cares about a fruit fly, the carbon fiber kind is _much_ more fun in the dirt.