Episode 2: Blue Clay

Also, be sure to sign up for a women's ride this Sunday! Event details and signup link are here.
Written by: Jeff “Sketchy Guy” Rezeli
It’s like the old saying goes, if at first you don’t succeed, buy a better bike.
After a 4th place finish in my first-timer baptism-by-mountain-bike race, I had some soul searching to do. I decided a scapegoat was in order, and that burden fell on my trusty steed. I had entered the first-timer’s race on my well-traveled trail bike, a 2014 full suspension, carbon rig by GT. It had suited me well for lots of weekend warrior outings, guys' trips to far-flung places, and a heavy slate of adventure races for the last 8 1/2 years. Almost everything had been replaced and rebuilt on this bike several times over, but it was out of its element. The 27.5” wheels that were the next best thing in 2014 are nowhere to be found on race day. Mountain bike racing is dominated by short-travel bikes with 29” wheels, and the CCORS race series was no exception.
On the drive back to Raleigh after finishing my first race with Rob, I hauled out every excuse in the book about how difficult it would be to be competitive on a 130mm trail bike with 27.5” wheels against an armada of 29ers. I must have been convincing because a couple of days later I received a text from Rob with a link to a 120mm Kona Hei Hei CR on Craigslist.
“Something like this?” Rob asked.
Something exactly like that.