Out of order

I'm out of order ...

It's difficult to mix two sports as different as MTB/Road Bike and Soccer (Futbol for the people outside US). I love both, I've been doing both for years, but the physical demand is completely different in each one, resulting in my right calf damaged, to the point I was almost not able to even step my foot on the floor without pain.

That said, the pain forced me to some days of rest that I feel have been really good for my body, as I've been stressing too much on the last weeks to get back on track. I've been combining my return to sports with a more healthy diet and the result so far is I already lost 6 pounds in barely 3 weeks, 2 pounds per week is a fast pace to start, but I know it can't be maintained, the goal is to get back to my weight wen I was MTBiking a lot in Manresa, and then to be able to hold the gain there.

This entry though is not to talk about my illness or weight loose, but to rewind and review last rides, as I have some nice surprises.

Saturday last week, I had for the fist time a new colleague joining my rides, he was born in Catalonia as us, and lives in Greenville, funny I know him for years, but never ride together, this was our first time and hope it won't be the last, he is a great sportsman, but with a tendency to prefer American ones vs European. Oriol Paricio, my sun, is now riding with me, and I can let you know I was the proudest father, we did the full Swamp Rabbit Trail, and even next day we was sore as he is not used to ride for that long, he was always there, and in some areas even faster than myself. To say on my defense I was riding the El Gordo with the fat 4" and he was riding the El Mojo ... great bike to start I think :)

You maybe realize some similarities, the red Gore jacket I always used is now fitting a little bit big for his body, but almost perfect sized, one more year and it will be "the fit" ... I was not even close to that size at 13 :(

New and past bikes riding together

Spring time in SC is just a blossom of flowers and colors

 

Ventana El Gordo and the new Castelli gear

 

From Greenville SC, Javi Paricio

Pivot Mach5 vs Ibis Mojo

Aqui teniu un test fet per un biker d´aqui.
Pivot Mach5 vs Ibis Mojo:

"Varios meses después de pasarle mi amada Mach5 a un amigo y disfrutar la Ibis Mojo SL, hago un poco de balance del cambio (decir que ambas comparten el mismo sistema patentado, el DW Link):
-En principio, la Pivot me parecía más rápida y efectiva, sobre todo pedaleando de pie.
-Una vez adaptado a la Ibis, creo que puedo subir tan rápido con ella como con la Pivot. Ambas comparten el mismo modelo de amortiguador, RP23, aunque supongo que usan distinto tune.
-Siento que ambas son más efectivas en plato mediano, entendiendo por mediano un amplio abanico de digamos 24 dientes a 40, cosa que he "solucionado" en la Ibis con un doble plato 26-40. En la Pivot usaba un triple 22-32-40, y creo que la bici iba peor en plato pequeño, o esa sensación tengo yo. Creo que hubiera ido mejor con un 26 de pequeño y un pión de 36, que es lo que uso ahora en la Ibis.
-La Pivot es ultrarígida lateralemente, no creo que haya muchas bicis dobles tan buenas en ese aspecto.
-La Ibis, incluso con el Lopes Link, es bastante menos rígida lateralmente. No es preocupante, pero se percibe. Decir que no es cuestión de ruedas, comprobado.
-Bajando, la Pivot destaca bastante más por agilidad y precisión que por absorción. Es una pasada curvear con ella en terreno fácil-medio.
-La Ibis es un colchón que da mucha seguridad, siendo más equilibrada en la ecuación agilidad-estabilidad a alta velocidad.

Resumiendo:
-Me encantan ambas y el comportamiento de ambas ronda la perfección. Son buenas en todo. No las mejores. Pero casi. Para mí son dos bicis totales, con las que se puede hacer de todo a diario.
-Aparte de lo dicho, de la Pivot me encanta la calidad de construcción. Es que nunca he visto una bici de aluminio tan bien hecha. ¿Quizá Turner?
-De la Ibis, ese tochazo de carbono, yo que era reacio, me ha convencido. También se nota que está hecha por amor y por gente que sabe y sobre todo, monta."