like a real mountain biker
something is different .. something happened in my brain i think .. something has clicked.
late wednesday evening, i told nick that i was thinking about trying a lap of boyne on my new love, the single speed.. without flinching, he decided he’d give it a shot as well.. he was planning on riding solo and i was on a 4-person team. we both agreed that we’d do as many laps as we could stand on the single speeds before switching over to the geared bikes. so, on thursday, i bought out all of the 18+ tooth cogs i could find in SE michigan (not an easy feat!) and then i watched nick fix up our bikes 
a few people thought i was crazy for wanting to try, a few very supportive and thought i’d like it.. and some said i was ‘bad ass’ for even trying .. heh ..
based on Robin’s advice, i chose a 32×18 gear combination. i also bought as set of the new Geax Saguaro tires and picked up my dreamy new handlebar . I was ready. I had to be, I was going first on my team. Not too much time to rethink my decision.
I decided to ride the first lap with my trails edge teammate Mike”skulls”. He was also sweating it out on a single speed for the first time. I rode with him at Addison and knew that we’re pretty compatible speed-wise so we could suffer together pretty well. The first lap was enough to remind me everything I hate about boyne. I can say with certainty that I didn’t really walk more hills with the single speed than i would have on the geared bike. Boyne is just a tough tough course. this year seemed extra sucktastic, sand-wise (but that could just be my bad memory .. heh) .. but other than that, it was the same ‘ol boyne.. all in all, i didn’t seem to hate the lap any more than i did on my geared bike .. it took a bit of consideration, but i decided to do my next lap on the single speed again. i figured, now that i had an idea of what the trail felt like with one gear, i might do a little better on the next lap. i planned on doing a 3rd lap on the titus for comparison purposes.
i didn’t get the chance for a 3rd lap because it started raining as soon as i finished my second lap. no one else on my team was planning on doing any more laps, so it wasn’t worth it for me to go out in the dark and rainy woods to hurt myself before my vacation (that was going to start as soon as the race was over!). but, my second lap on the single speed was SO AWESOME that i was kind of happy not to do a 3rd lap. i wanted to end boyne on a good note. i was right – i was rocking on that second lap because i could plan a little better and push a little harder knowing what was up ahead. i’m pretty sure i walked less with the single speed on that lap than i ever have on a geared bike. i was flowin in the flowy sections and i was grunting in the shallow cimby sections.
i got to see shari and robin at the 5 mile road crossing! what a treat! they’d come by to check in and say hi (they weren’t racing that weekend, but were hanging out at their cabin on higgins lake). i stopped for a few minutes to chat (i’m such a girl) and then i was off again. i decided that i really like the climby section along the road between mile 5 and 6 – last year i hated that section.
i did fumble just at the end of the singletrack on my second lap .. the exit out of the woods is a big sandy pit that starts about 30 feet from the exit on a steep downhill… i was tired and accidentally grabbed a chunk of front brake and did a slow motion psuedo-endo dismount that left me with 3 friction burn/bruises from stopping my front tire with my legs and a handlebar shaped bruise on my inner thigh…
total buzz killer
*sigh* i was somewhat relieved to feel the raindrops on my arms when i left the woods. i knew that meant i wasn’t going to get another lap in, but truth be told, the sandpit at the end of that sweet single track really knocked my motivation down .. so, i got to the pits and chatted with robin and shari for a bit. after they left, i went back to the condo, had a long hot shower, ordered some pizza/breadsticks/coke and feasted.
as it turned out, nick didn’t race.. he woke up on saturday with a bad sinus headache, stuffy nose and overall spring-time allergy hell .. he decided to save the $$ and volunteer at a road crossing & be pit bitch instead.. i have to say, it was nice having him around all day.. and, i got to drink the sustained energy drinks that i’d made for him
to top this all off – and, there will be more to come on the following – on Sunday we rode Bruno’s Run (near munising), on Monday we rode from my mom’s house in Sands Twp into MQT, grabbed some coffee and headed back, and today we explored some mt marquette singletrack that was wonderful … we might hit it again before we leave tomorrow if the weather holds out ..