ALIVE AND KICKING!

Just to let you know, I rode my recently purchased New World Tourist on the 2005 "Death Ride" Tour of the California Alps.

The ride consisted of 129 miles, five mountain passes (a net 16,000-foot gain in
altitude) through the Sierra Nevada Mountains just south of Lake Tahoe. I
managed to do it in a faster time this year (13 hours) on my Bike Friday
relative to last year on a "standard" road bike (13.5 hours).

The picture is of me at the rest stop on top of the fifth pass (we also own and love a Bike Friday Tandem -- perhaps next year we'll use that).

I received many, many comments during the race -- most very positive -- during the ride. Most were amazed that the bike performed so well. A large proportion of questions were about how it handled on the uphills and downhills.

The answer to both: It's the same as a road bike (particularly on flat surfaces) except the smaller wheels make it a bit more responsive -- which is more noticeable on the hills. Acceleration was faster, but the ride was also a bit more bumpy. I felt much more in control once I got used to the different feel."

Overall, I loved it!

I really had a blast on this ride! Unfortunately, I saw only one other
person on a Bike Friday during the race (about 2,500 people in all -- mostly
from the San Francisco Bay area).