My Cannondale F400 a midrange Mt. Bike has seen it’s better days go by. I never really did have a love for this bike but it was used regularly as a commuter when I lived in Tualatin, and with road tires on it did a good job for it’s purpose. All my real road riding was done on the CAAD’s. The F400 has been relegated to being my trainer bike during the winter and it handles the trainer abuse fairly well and I don’t mind any damage it gets. I have bounced the dang thing off the ground a couple of times and now I can no longer get it to shift correctly and it does not stay in gear consistently. I just replaced the chain hoping that it would make the bike marginally better and that I would then adjust the rear derailleur enough to get it rideable. Well that did not work out so well. I have decided to retire the F400 from any real riding and will keep it to be nothing more then the trainer bike.

Welcome my newest ride. After looking around and realizing any decent bike is $1,000 or above and that being more than I want to part with for a Mt. Bike since my idea of a Mt. Bike is something with road tire and is for paved trails. Ah, the life of a road bike guy. So I find this $1600 bike on sale for 50% off. Hmm very interesting. I have never heard of the brand but the components on the bike are worthy. I pulled the trigger and bought the new ride.

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This bike is a beast, it has 29 inch wheels, the standard bike has 26 inchers, that is a bigger difference then I expected. The reason for the new ride was I headed down through Austin, TX on my way to Padre Island for the Christmas break. Hoping to do some beach riding. While in Austin it is exactly 10 miles from the Hotel all the way around the lake (Colorado River) on the hiking trail. Took the pictures on the trail overhanging the water, downtown in the background. Great little ride.

Down on Padre Island I ended up staying in a Hotel on the beach and while dealing with a little back issue, I have still been able to get 50 miles on the bike while down here. The weather has been glorious it should be 70 tomorrow, sweet. Lot’s of sun and not a lot of people.

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Very blessed to be healthy enough to give my all on my 20 mile ride this morning. 10 miles out, against the wind average speed 9 mph. I finally got to turn around and Whoa, 18 mph with the wind at my back, flew home. Awesome!