Testing ZEB on Pikes Peak

What better place to break in my new bike than on Pikes Peak with Jon Cancellier and Sarah Rawley. #followcamfriday 14er social distancing tour continues. 

Zebulon Pike was the first explorer to attempt to summit Pikes Peak in Colorado Springs. I say "attempt" because he failed, but at least he went for it. Like most things in life, if you never try, you can never succeed. So, get out there and give 'er. Jon, Sarah and I did not clean the top of Barr Trail, but we tried. I am not sure that it has ever been ridden in its entirety, but at least we tried. Janktown. 

The top of the "Plunge" is basically a pile of large rocks, sprinkled with kitty litter, just to keep you honest. If there is a harder surface to feel confident on, I haven't encountered one. Add in the fact that the rock has the texture of a cheese grater, and you have a recipe for broken everything. Perfect. 

New bike day comes more frequently than it should for me. I am definitely spoiled by the companies that I work with and it is my job to keep the people hyped on the latest and greatest product offerings. I build a few new bikes each year and I can say, without a doubt, that this rig has impressed me the most. ZEB is absolutely the reason for my initial enthusiasm. This fork will go down as the best suspension product of the last 10 years, mark my words. I was blown away honestly, nothing even comes close. Confidence. 

I am running out of backgrounds for my Tetris, garage jenga, ground shots. There is just something satisfying about seeing the parts laid out before the build process. Organization situation. People often comment that this is a waste of time, but I prefer to think of it as art. 

Spec list HERE

"The Plunge" basically starts at the top of the peak on Barr Trail, at 14,115ft and descends 7,700ft into Manitou Springs. This is one of the longer runs in Colorado and rivals The Whole Enchilada from an "epic" perspective. Interestingly enough, the popular hiking trail "The Incline" is currently closed for Covid, so the bottom is devoid of hikers. Anyone who has ridden Barr before knows that Barr is normally a conga train of hikers and not actually that fun to ride because of that fact. If you can find any silver lining to the pandemic, the lack of people on the trail is a nice change I suppose. 

Sarah and Jon both had a heavy hand in bringing ZEB to market. It's basically Jon's baby, with Sarah being responsible for getting the word out effectively. After riding with Jon a fair amount over the years,  it really goes to show that the people designing the best suspension products actually shred and love to ride bikes. Makes perfect sense. Sushi from a classically trained Japanese chef tastes better than the sushi you may get from some white dude at the tex-mex joint down the road.  

So definitely give this one a rip if you find yourself in the area. Maybe bring a spare derailleur and some snacks. You could always do it as an out and back of you are in the mood to suffer. Maybe more snacks are in order.