Well, the first two rides are in and the initial report looks good. Vanessa and I needed to kick in the training since the MS150 is less than 4 weeks away. This gave me two good days of riding to get some experience with the tubeless tires.
Saturday we got a late start. Vanessa and I headed out to Zube park and did the 30 mile route. Since I had stay up late putting my tires on, and I had to be at Sun and Ski by 1:00 to get ready for a group riding skills class, we arrived at Zube about 8:45, and left by 9:00. I decided to try running the tires at 95 psi for their first run. The tires rolled well, but the first thing I noticed is the tires have a deeper sound to them as you roll down the road, almost like the low hum that a large truck tire can get when compared to the sound of a car tire. I also noticed the tires had better grip, or at least I felt more confortable in the corners. I have nothing to provide solid proof of a better ride, I can say I liked the way they felt. The 30 mile route includes some nice mix or road surfaces from chip and seal to smooth pavement. The tires do a good job of smoothing out most moderately smooth roads, especially chip and seal roads. Near the finish I decided to sprint out and see how the tires do at speed. Again, no solid proof, but they felt fast.
Sunday was the Tour de Houston. I was intending to ride a fast 70 miles to see how thing go. Instead, we got up early so we could get a parking space. We arrived about 5:30 am to start getting ready. Where we parked was a couple blocks from the start point, so I waited until about 6:20 to head over toward the start. Vanessa and I were both working as ride marshals. After the meeting I went to the bathroom, then to the start to find Vanessa and JC. They lined up right behind the start. We were so close that we were in the second wave to riders to get let out. I was faster than most riders at the start, while I was able to ride with a few people, most were riding slower than I was. I ended up finishing the first 10 miles mostly solo with a 19.9 average. As I rolled through the first rest stop, I caught up with a couple guys who were planning to do the 40. I did not know that, so I jumped on their wheel and went all of two blocks before seeing the 70 turn off. again I was mostly solo. I was riding along and a large group who I reconized as moslty racers came by me at about 28 mph. They had picked up a few people just trying to hang on. I figured what the hey, and jumpped in. I hung with them for a few miles. At one light they pulled away a little and I let them go. I stayed in with the others who broke off from the larger group and kept pace until the second rest stop. I stopped to eat a banana and get some water. I headed out and started out solo for about a mile. As I got passed by a 3 person group, I jumped on the end. We were doing near 21 mph following a guy on a tri bike. I just hung on the end until we got around to the next rest stop. Most of the group pulled in. After a little more food and water, I headed out again. I was starting to struggle a bit on this leg because the wind was now in our faces. I got caught by two guys. As they passed, I again jumped in. We took a few turns pulling around 20-21 mph. We ended up dropping the third guy. Which worked out ok because we started seeing more traffic as we rejoined the rest of the routes. I was thinking about the time, that this will not be a 70 mile day. Turns out I finished with a 20.01 mph fro 46.5 miles.
The tubeless tires felt so good, that I ended up ordering a set for Vanessa's bike. They should be in later this week.
