New bike, new adventures, same old airports

Ok, so here I am, sat in the shade on a balcony in Monachil, Spain, looking out over dry and dusty hillsides. I have had worse Wednesday mornings in my life, that's for sure. Guiding season starts now, and I'm well excited about it. I will be at Ride Sierra Nevada, in case anyone is up for some (obviously) awesome guided riding.

Sloppy cell phone pic of my view this morning

The trip went well, but airports are as always tedious. If it wasn't for the whole flying to good places thing, I would be a strong proponent for the idea to just replace all airports with BMX tracks. That would be sweet. At least they should have BMX tracks and loaner bikes at the airports...

Well..anyways. Returning to a bit of reality, I managed to get a hold of a replacement for the dented Five at the last minute, and thanks to good friends and a bit of luck I am now owner of a Specialized Stumpjumper FSR Carbon Evo (puh, what a ridiculous name). Well, it's got all the new press fit carbon mumbojumbo going on, but more importantly it has a sorted geometry, very similar to the Five in fact. Slightly shorter reach, slightly shorter chain stays, and with an offset bushing it is probably half a degree slacker in the steering department. Having built it up with all the same parts as on the Five, save for back wheel and cranks due to compatibility issues, and geometries being so similar, it is a perfect opportunity to geek out on the differences in suspension action. I will do that in due time, but for now let me just say that it rides great, and very differently from the Five, which also rode great.

Trying out the new frame, with one day to spare before departure. Picture by Andrea