NEO #1, The Knob

Look how easy it was for Suppan to ride away from me.

It was a very nice weather day to start off the NOE Power Series this year. The course was really fast and as far as I know there were record fast times laid down this year. Some of the fastest guys were doing some 31's! Needless to say, the new course changes this year have greatly improved the overall speeds. I do miss the 50/50 curve, but all in all the changes are good. I will say for the first time I believe a 29r is the fastest bike to have at the Knob now. As you ride the trail you can see the natural trail evolutions that have occurred over the last few years as the big wheels carve out wider radius turns, and the trail has adapted to that in many areas. More speed should be more fun right? Well not necessarily, as speed is all relative to your surroundings. I don't think there is any way to stop this type of change, but I would sure hate to see all trails as open as Mohican for example. The world still needs tight singletrack to equalize the off road cycling scene. Enough of that and on to the race. I took off in a usual quick fashion and never get challenged for first spot into the woods, until this year. Soup fought hard and got in first, and I can't recall how many years its been since that has happened to me. I knew he was stronger but wanted to see what pace he would do so I stayed with him until just after the goldfish pond. He then just rode away and there was nothing I could do. Franek and Lorson caught up, and Franek rode on by as well. So John and I stayed together for pretty much the whole race until his chain dropped on lap three. With the new age classifications neither one of these guys is in my category anyways so I rolled in at 2nd. I'll say it now, this year is gonna suck since there are only a handful of guys in my class, and Suppan and Clark are among them, as well as Cochran. My only saving grace will be the time trials at Findlay and Reagan since they still favor a quick handler.