I have a nasty habit of letting things go on my bike until right before a race and then saying to myself “I should really fix that, because although it’s held up to the last 100 miles of after-work thrashing, it’ll probably break during the race”.

This leads to numerous last-minute purchases and upgrades. This week involved the rest of a new drivetrain and a new rear tire. I put in the order for a new ENO chainring on monday (3rd one on this bike!), and picked up a surly 17 tooth splined cog for the rear as well. The tire of choice ended up being a 2.3” WTB Exiwolf.

I put it all together today after work and went out for a quick ride. Schultz to Dogfood to Weatherford Road up to the parking lot. Back down the road, down upper and lower Hot Shot and back down Dog Food. I ended up being a lot quicker than I thought I would be, which was encouraging for this weekend.

Sometimes upgrades to the bike are negligible when it comes to feel on the trail. Between the tire, the bottom bracket rebuild, and drivetrain replacement, the bike felt like a new beast. I can’t believe how much smoother it is, and how much more efficient I felt going up the hills. It was my first time on weatherford road for the year, and I cleaned it without even batting an eye.

I guess I’m out of excuses for the Whiskey now. We’ll catch y’all after the race.