Goodbye to the Iron Horse

Today I said goodbye to my first mountainbike, my Iron Horse Warrior 3.5. I bought it last July, and was not sure about whether I would take to the whole mountainbiking experience. It was a great starter bike, and it definitely served its purpose in helping me try out the hobby to gauge my interest without too much of an investment.

After just a few rides on it, I realized pretty quickly that I was going to love biking. I also realized that a heavy HT was not going to be ideal on most of the trails I was riding. The problem for me at the time was that I couldn't justify purchasing a new bike so soon after just buying the IH, so I figured I would just have to make it work for a while. Then, in October I was presented with an offer from Billy to purchase his year-old FSR, which I jumped at in about two seconds. I had Billy cannibalize a few of the nicer components off the IH and swap them with parts from the FSR, including its Marz fork, and at that point the IH was relegated to backup bike.

The IH sat untouched until January, when I decided to take it out on my neighborhood ride because the FSR had a broken shifter and I was awaiting new parts. It was on that ride that I realized that I would not be riding the IH anymore. It wasn't horrible, but it could not compare to the full suspension goodness of the FSR. Also, the fork that I swapped to the IH was nowhere near as plush as its original (which now resides on the FSR,) making every bump and rut a teeth-rattling adventure. And not in a good way.

So back on the garage rack the IH went, and I vacillated about whether to keep it or not for the next couple of months. It was nice having an extra bike, and Adam did ride it for the debacle that was the Daley Ranch ride in January, but I realized that I just didn't really need it anymore.

I had listed the IH on craigslist a couple of times since January, and while I received some interest (one guy wanted to trade me some trinkets and beads or something for it) I didn't have any serious offers. Then I re-listed it again on Friday, and got an email this morning after church that someone was interested in seeing it.

We made an appointment for this afternoon, and after a brief test ride around the 4S Commons parking lot, the buyer took it home just a little while ago. He paid my full asking price, which was not a whole lot less than what I paid for it originally, and very close to what I paid for the FSR (which was a smoking deal and a blessing from Billy).

So it is with a tinge of nostalgia that I say goodbye to the IH. I'm not exactly sad, because I know that I would not ride it often, if ever, again. But it was the vehicle for my entry into this hobby that I enjoy very much, and for that I am grateful to it. I hope its new owner enjoys it very much.

RR: Santa Fe Valley Local Ride (First Ride of 2008!)

I finally had my first ride of the year, and in all honesty, it was a horror show. After not being on a bike yet on 2008, I was desperate to get some kind of ride in, so I decided Saturday afternoon to just do my local ride through the Santa Fe Valley.

I rode my Iron Horse hardtail since the shifters on my FSR are still broken from the New Year's Eve ride at Anderson TT. After today's ride, I've never loved the FSR more. I particularly appreciate the clipless pedals on the FSR, since my feet were all over the place using the IH's platform pedals.

Climbing, which is far from a strength of mine on a good day, was horrendous. Between my lack of conditioning, and the flat pedals, and heavy bike, I was dragging. The Black Mountain hike earlier in the day may also have played a role in my struggles.

At one point toward the last third of the ride, I was so lightheaded and nausous that I called Rach to come get me at the Boys & Girl's Club. After resting for a few minutes, the nausea passed, and I quickly came to my senses and called her back to cancel the sag wagon. I'm not going to lie, the prospect of having to post that I wimped out and bailed on a 6 mile ride played a big role in me sucking it up. Arrgh.

I limped the rest of the way home, and actually felt ok during the last fire road climb. But it was a humbling, even embarrassing ride, particularly since it is one that I regularly flew through a few months ago.

My performance also has me re-thinking whether I can do the Skyline MTB ride at Daley this weekend, and has also renewed my urgency to fix the FSR. We'll see.

Anyway, here are the final stats (without a map because it is doorstep to doorstep):

Total Distance: 5.88 miles
Total Time: 107:32
Ascent: 713 feet
Average Speed: 5.2 mph (ouch)
Top Speed: 25.0
Route Map: [Undisclosed]
Bike: Iron Horse HT