Team Weak and Feeble: Big Mama

They always say if you've got something that is hard to say that you should just come out and say it, so here it is- I love my Big Mama. Now before any of you go running to my wife and tell her I just called her "Big Mama" on the interweb, first understand I am talking about my new bike. And before you go running to my wife and telling her that I just said I loved my bike and didn't say that I loved her, well now you are just twisting up my words- so I'll clear that all up- I love you Karen. Here is her expression to all of that.

Now that that is all out of the way. I have fallen in love with squishy bits and geary changy bits once again. It is obviously part of my ongoing evolution (or de-evolution) as a rider- who knows, but I started out fully rigid geary (first mountain bike was a LL Bean Explorer built by Cannondale that had- get this, a Sun Tour MTB drive train on it), I then stayed rigid and bought a Specialied M2 Stumpjumper, which I loved. I eventually built an S-Works M2 Stumpjumper with a carbon FSX suspension fork (bought two- one for my then fiancee and one for myself, my then fiancee then married me and my then wife eventually became a mom and my then little child grew and that then little child is now 11 and rides that bike that was originally bought for my then fiancee 15 years ago- got all that?)Anyway I rode my S-Works until Miah at the Red Jersey told me that I was missing out on the dual squishy thing and I got myself onto a Kona Bear De-Luxe. I road that for a bit and then built up a Santa Cruz Blur. All was good in the land of squishy bits and gears, and then A1 got the bright idea of Single Speeds- so I pulled the trigger and bought a Gary Fisher Rig, I road that for about 8 months and then built up my Salsa El Mariachi- which I still own and love (although it is for sale- so much for love). I was now hooked on the 29er thing and the SS thing and the rigid thing- but I figured I should have a 29er hard tale with gears and front squish just so my quiver was balanced, so I built up a Salsa Mamasita. Well that biker rarely got ridden, so I converted it to a SS but left the Reba on there, it still didn't get ridden. So I bought a Origin 8 carbon fork like JJ did and then I fell in love with that bike. So that became the goto bike. All along I was getting older and living up to the "Weak and Feeble" mantra. To make a long story longer and to give it no real point, I saw the Big Mama and wanted to have a 29er dual squishy with gears- so now I have one.

It sat in the box for two weeks, then after being built say for another two weeks. Then CA and I headed over to North Conway a couple weeks ago for a shake down ride. It took me a solid hour to remember how to ride a bike like that, and at first I hated it- then the skies parted and light shone down on my brain and I got the knowledge. Unfortunately my legs were not as enlightened, but I was getting the feel once again. Then I took it out for a spin on the trails that need to be named, but that have been built (many of them) by CA in his spare time (I'm gonna miss him next year when he's off at college). I really started to get a good feel for the bike and started railing corners and making tech climbs in a way I haven't done in years on a SS. By the end of the ride I had fallen in love with the Big Mama.

For a moment I thought it meant I had gone soft, gone the way of gears and suspension. Then I realized that as long as I am still pedaling my own butt through the woods I haven't gone soft. However I did just see one of these: