Great first ride/ leaving on a NIGHT TRAIN

First ride on the new La Cruz= total success. I felt great all day, I am comfortable in basically all hand positions, the frame rides really well. The frame felt quite stiff initially. Nick and I rode 65 miles of good gravel and a fair amount of level b roads. There was some definite soft spots in the level b dirt and I was out of the saddle cranking up hills. I had high expectations for the first geared gravel ride and they were all met. Sub-four hours is the time that I consider a real good gravel metric. Just over 16 mph depending on if you stop and for how long. We had strong winds for sections, and rode along the edge of a storm. The temperatures at the edge mercifully dropped about ten degrees on a hot day, and we only felt about five raindrops. I was happy to feel like I had more in the legs at basically all times during the ride. Riding with Nick was really good too. I had missed the drive that riding with a friend promotes: more stop ahead sprints, aggressive hill climbs. The ride was one of the most productive rides of the year for me. I not only got in a great physical work out, but got to check out some roads that neither Nick or I had ridden. Great Night Nonsense 100 recon was done, and time on the gravel on the new bike.
I'll get some more time in on the La Cruz this week, but LOTS of time on the Eriksen. I'm headed up to Wisconsin with Mr. Zach Loew...awesome. Headed to Levis Trow, Nine Mile, maybe Kettle, and who knows what else. Camping and disappearing for a while will be really cool, and hanging out with Z is always awesome. I am excited to see Z out on the trails. He has been riding a lot lately and is really excited about it. It is cool that, although it took three extra years, I maybe rubbed off on him a bit and now he is digging riding a lot.
Unfortunately probably no updates before Gravel Worlds, but I will be riding a lot, and trying to mix up the gravel and singletrack. There are a few more things coming up: Dakota 5-0, getting teef, GF7, and then I'll really buckle down and focus 100% on Night Nonsense.