I'm not trying to win any race. I just want to finish. And while I'm training for the challenging hills, I did this ride last year and the hills were torture for me. So I want to know how things such as a suspension front fork work againsts mechanical efficiency when climbing hills - especially when other riders pointed out this out to me last year. My bike is a Lemond road bike that came free with my friend's Saturn in 2003. I bought the bike from him 2 years ago.