This course poses a few interesting challenges and brings strategies into play which usually don’t come up in mountain bike racing. The race starts with a 3-mile dam crossing that is exposed to the wind and is completely open visually. Eventually racers drop into quick but very twisty single track for three six-mile laps. During which, the goal is to open up any kind of gap on the other riders that may be with you. The worst thing that could happen would be to come back onto the long open dam crossing in a group of riders. It has happened to me in the past and the results were bad. I ended up pulling when another rider attacked. He got away, and I ended up fighting three other riders for second place.

This year the plan worked perfectly. My lead was such that I could not see the chase group as I did my best time trialist impression on the dam crossing.

In other news, I have a new pair of shoes, which have worked out very well. They are Pearl Izumi P.R.O MTB shoes. A couple races ago, I had a bad crash in which my cleat was ripped from the bottom of my Adidas shoes. I looked in all of the usual places to find a replacement set but I was not having much luck. At the same time, I have always loved Pearl stuff, but I have never seen a pair of their high end cycling shoes. I ended up liking what I saw and after I got them, I was amazed at the quality of the shoe. First, the carbon sole is more than eye candy. It runs toe to heal and across the full width of the shoe. The unidirectional carbon sole makes up the entire area that is usually plastic. The result is a very light shoe (385g) that is the stiffest that I have had. The uppers are also very nice. They equal or exceed the quality of any other shoe on the market. In addition, the sizing ran true to the chart on the website and I was able to fit my carbon Soup Can insoles right into them.

GT Force Carbon Expert Review

I recently completed an extensive test on GT’s carbon fiber Force. It’s GT’s All Mountain long travel cross country bike. I can tell you right from the start it feels perfectly suited for long rides on demanding trails. The first thing that I noticed is that it feels athletic like a XC bike should. It is also light for a bike with this much going on. This is a new bread of trail bike.

The Force has 6” of travel in the front and rear. Out of the box, it weighs 26 pounds and it comes with Fox shocks front and rear. The Fox Float RP23 rear shock has an anti-bob feature that is adjustable on the fly and rebound control. In the front, the bike gets a Fox TALAS 32 R with a 15mm through axle and travel that can be adjusted from 110 - 150mm while riding. The quality of the suspension components does not get any better than this.

The main feature of the Force is it’s I-drive suspension. From experience, the I-drive does a number of different things depending on the input it receives. Due to the pivot locations when peddling hard the rear suspension stiffens up, let off the power for an instant and it becomes fully active again.  For instance, when standing level and riding like a corpse, the suspension absorbs small, medium, and large sized hits very well. The damping, compression speed, and reactivity are all properly tuned. Come to life, start giving the bike some body English and watch out. It will take you just about any place you might want to go. The best thing about the I-drive is that it adjusts to suit the situation.

The bike comes with a straightforward group of light and very effective XT components. The brakes from which are the star of the show. The XT disk brake has so much power that I would love to run them on my bike. I don’t because I’m a weight weenie, but none the less. The XT group is perfectly suited for All Mountain riding.

Dislikes… The Kenda Nevegal tires are far too knobby. They are excessively heavy and have too much rolling resistance. They would be the first thing to go. In fact, I would take them off before riding it for the first time as to not taint the experience.

GT Force Carbon Expert

Pros- Lively carbon frame… I would ride this bike if I were not racing cross-country.

Cons- Tires, Tires, Tires

26 lbs.

MSRP $4299.99

DW

1^st place

Some recent training has paid off and I was able to set a new course record at S&S Trails. The racecourse was very nice, but deceptively hilly. The trail is a well-maintained 5-mile loop that stays tight enough to be very spectator friendly. In addition, the riders that steward the land have spent a lot of time clearing brush and dead branches from the general area, which gives the wooded sections an open feel. The general layout reminds me of the XC course at Mickey’s Mountain Bike Challenge, which was popular in the mid 90’s, but appears now to be used for bluegrass festivals.

Click here for pictures from the race.

The GT Marathon was rock solid through the race. I can’t begin to complain about this bike. It’s been a consistent performer through the entire season.  I’ll admit, before I had a chance to ride it I had reservations about longer travel bikes, but none of my concerns have become issues. With 2500 miles, 2 chains, 3 sets of tires, and 9 races on the books, this bike is still a cruise missile.