Moved up to fairbanks, Ak from phoenix, AZ last year, and have been riding around the city and some light trails (well graded dirt path, not actual trail riding) on my commuter and cruiser. Finally got the chance to get out on the trails with a friend, who let me borrow his Talus 29er while I wait for my X-cal to get shipped to me. The trails started out fine, kinda fun, but they turned tedious really fast. I couldn't keep speed worth a darn around some of those corners, and forget shooting through a wide turn with any speed here. Yes, I understand we have snow. Traction wasn't the issue. I couldn't get into a comfortable gear. Never had this problem on south mountain in Phoenix.

Anyone else ride a new environment and have this kind of problem?