Great story, thanks for sharing it. I've never owned a mountain bike, and don't have any real motivation to get one, even though I live two miles down a dirt road in a town that doesn't have paved roads, except for the state highway. I've never found a need for anything bigger than 38mm. At the risk of sounding like a tourist here, what is it with the double top tube anyway?
On Jan 1, 12:23 am, Kip Otteson <kip.otte...@gmail.com> wrote: > Went on an epic (for me) off-road ride on the Bomba yesterday. It was > in the hills behind Chiang Mai. I started the day with a donut at > Dunkin Donuts and saw some lycra-clad men with bikes having a bite > inside. I pulled up and they started asking about the bike. Why the > double top tube? What's up with the moustache bars? Why don't you > ride clipless? What's in the huge bag on the back? Isn't that > position too upright? Etc. You could tell they were doubting the > bike's abilities...not to mention mine when I didn't have one piece of > lycra on. I told them where I was riding and they rolled their eyes > at my lack of suspension and chuckled a "Good luck!" as I left the > eatery. > > I rode with another group of teachers and we climbed I don't know how > many vertical feet of unbelievable dirt road. We wound past endless > jungle where at any moment I thought Indiana Jones would appear. We > hit one fork and a teacher not acquainted with Rivendell said that the > choices looked to him to be between "Mordor and Isengard." It was > that surreal in this area. > > We climbed and climbed and came to a Hmong village where we noticed > lots of activity taking place. We pulled in and quickly realized what > we were witnessing. It was a Japanese Cherry Blossom bloom season. > About 100 people were crawling out of cars and taking photos. It was > like a scene out of a Kung Fu movie. It was very satisfying having > rode there. > > We left the village and topped out the ride a wonderful coffee house > overlooking the blossom spectacle. Once again I felt a little out of > place. About 20 foreigners were having coffee wearing full downhill > body armor. I thought WTF and wondered where they were riding. They > were going down the road we just rode up. Well, they understood the > Bombadil even less than the dudes at the donut shop. > > Needless to say we rode the same extreme downhill ride promised to the > tourists. I didn't go down once. My cantis worked just fine. My > saddlebag didn't throw my balance over the roots. My 2.0 tires > (narrow for these riders) were superb. > > Summation, I loved the ride. The Bombadil is so versatile and > beautiful I am excited to ride anywhere on it. > > When I woke up for the ride I had to take off my basket and front rack > and take off the large Sackville bag that I had on for a two day tour > with the wife that took place earlier in the week. I carried most of > the gear and the bike rode beautifully then, as well. This bike > really undercuts expectations and I dig that. > > Anyone that wants to ride in Chiang Mai or stay at my house and travel > from here is welcome. You won't be disappointed. > > Kip Otteson > Chiang Mai, Thailand -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bu...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.
