Flag Pedals

Mud, Snow, a Bike, and January.

2012-01-29T19:07:00.000-08:00

What is it about that combination and me that makes me take a bike out and get it all muddy? Seriously?

With all the Austro-Daimler building this weekend, I decided to take STeve out for a spin... to test out the cross tires, yeah, that's it.

For January riding, this ain't bad.

There was some mud involved.

I rode out Woody Mountain Road a ways, then out to the city well pump houses on closed roads. I definitely have a lot more respect for Cross riders after today. Pedaling through mud, snow and softpack is hard work, especially on skinny tires. Yet somehow it was easier than I recall it being on the mountain bike last year.

And it was a lot of fun.

Mileage: 20

Customer Service: How to Earn a Customer for Life.

2012-01-28T20:58:00.000-08:00

Earlier this week, I posted about my hard introduction to the asphalt that is the intersection at University Drive and Woodlands Village Boulevard. I've since then successfully navigated that intersection, with no broken pedals. However, I now know that I've left my mark on the pavement, in the form of a faint white gouge from the broken pedal stub.

But, that's not what I'm here to tell you about.

I said I planned to send off the pictures of the pedal to Crank Brothers, just to see what they thought of the situation, maybe someone might learn something from it.

I certainly didn't expect to get these a few days later:
A brand new set of Candy 2 pedals, to replace a 4 year old pair of abused, no longer under warranty pedals, that I had no proof of purchase for. They didn't have to do this for me, but customer service like this rocks, and definitely puts Crank Brothers at the top of my list for excellent service.

But... orange pedals?

I have a bike that would like orange pedals....

STeve's new stompers. Not bad.

In other news, I put more parts on the Austro-Daimler today. Now, I had planned on posting up pictures of the bike after each individual part went on, but I really don't feel like ordering that many pictures in a post, and some are fairly redundant, and others aren't turning out as well as I'd like. So you get the Reader's Digest version for now. If people want, maybe I'll put together a Picasa album with all the pictures I remembered to take of the build.

Here's what I started off with today:

Now, I know that's not what I left off with. "It didn't have wheels before!" I know, I know. I got a little antsy, and got the rear hub put together, then tossed both wheels on the truing stand. After that... well... I wanted to see what the bike looked like with wheels on it.

You understand, right?

Anyways, Here's how it sits now:
All major components installed. All that's left are brake cables, saddle, bar tape, and initial adjustments. There were some hiccups today, like realizing just why I had to respace the rear axle wider. The tires I had planned on using, the ones that were on STeve, were too big and wouldn't fit in the frame. (STeve now has more aggressive tread cross tires, instead of smooth ones)

The problem I have now is that I hate front derailleurs. The friction shifter that handles the front derailleur can't handle the spring tension from it, so it slips. I have ideas as to how to counter it, but we'll see.

For now, it looks a lot like a bike.

Mileage: ~8 ish.

That's a new one for the Wall of Shame...

2012-01-23T19:39:00.000-08:00

I suppose I should preface this entry with "Don't worry, I'm OK." There, now that I'm sure you're freaking out, I'll tell you a story.

So... today I was on my way to the bank, and, of all places, the bike shop, when I suddenly found myself and my bike sprawled out in a busy intersection.

Don't worry, I didn't get hit by a car. Nor did I hit a car. This is a tale of catastrophic structural failure.

I was following a line of cars making a left hand turn onto Woodlands Village Boulevard. We had a green light, as did the oncoming lane. I looked through the car in front of me to see the way was clear for both of us to proceed, and started cranking hard, as usual.

What happened next was not usual. Not at all.

As I stomped with my left foot, and pulled up with my right foot, powering into the intersection, there was a loud snap, and I stomped the pavement with no small amount of force with said left foot. I vaguely recall wondering why I was quickly tipping to the left, and then I went down. I got up quickly, picked up the bike, and speed-walked to the center dividing median.

Long story short, this is what happened:

The pedal body stayed attached to my shoe until I got into the crosswalk, where it detached without me noticing. Fortunately a lady (who I assume saw the whole thing) was nice enough to pick it up for me. I was just too hopped up on adrenaline to notice that my left foot was stepping funny.

So, I chilled for a moment, lamented that my left side was soaked from having fallen on wet pavement and the fact I had just washed that jacket, checked the bike over, and of course, took the picture above. I took about 5 steps toward home, then decided "Hey, I still have one good pedal. Might as well ride home!"

Riding two miles with one leg? Not fun. But it sure beats walking.

So, after a trip to Absolute, I took some more detailed pics of the damage.

The missing pieces of plastic where the spindle enters the body are still in the intersection.

Seems I stomped it into the pavement hard enough to crack the wing on the right side.

The rust spots developed after I got home... this was about three hours after the incident. Figure it broke, got smacked into salty road water, rust is gonna happen on bare steel like that.

The only thing I can figure is stress fatigue. Bi is my highest mileage bike, and I do not go easy on it. I pedal hard, and when I'm taking off, I can sometimes apply enough force to bow the chainstays outward enough to put a good inch of slack in a tight chain. Thinking about it now, I honestly can't say I'm surprised this happened. Maybe I should refine my riding style to prevent this from happening in the future. We'll see.

I will be sending Crank Brothers these pictures, for their input. I don't remember when I bought these pedals, I don't even have the receipt for them, and I'm sure they're out of warranty. I just want to know what they think of the failure. For what it's worth, if you take good care of them, Crank Brothers makes a great product. When I went to Absolute after the crash with Jack, I bought a new set of eggbeaters for the Austro-Daimler, for when it gets to that point. This broken spindle could have happened to anyone, on any brand of pedal. I just lost the coin flip for today, I guess.

The bike is fine, aside from some scrapes on the left end of the bar. I had an extra set of pedals, the ones I took off from Henry. Same color even. I'll be riding Bi to work tomorrow.

Myself? I'm not shaking it off as easily as Bi is. I whacked my elbow pretty hard on the pavement, and have a pretty good knot on it, as well as a few scrapes. It's gonna be pretty stiff tomorrow morning. My left hip also seems to have taken a hit, as it's a little sore. Definitely could have been a lot worse.

Though... once again, my helmet did absolutely nothing.

Mileage: 5 or so.

Some Assembly Required.

2012-01-21T21:29:00.001-08:00

No ride today... Just some housework, repairs, and such. A little work on the garage door to make it work smoother, fixing a chair, stuff like that.

And assembling a bike. At least a little bit.

First, I took a bike frame, one that I've had since September, that I've been itching to build, and I piled bike parts around it, like so:
The Austro-Daimler frame and Tange fork I picked up in September, Tange Headset, Nitto Technomic stem, Tiagra brakes, Silver downtube shifters, Tiagra front and rear derailleurs, and SRAM PG-950 11-26 cassette. Not all of these will be going on this time around.

First, the rear brake:

Then, after some... judicial tapping with a hammer and some blocks of wood, the headset was installed, thus joining the frame and fork in blissful smooth-spinning marriage:

The front brake joins the party, after drilling the back of the crown out to accept the Allen nut:

While I was installing the shifters, Jack took Su out, and distracted me with the laser in the snow:

The weather is the main reason why I didn't ride today... I wimped out. Windy and sleety/snowy.

Anyways.

After Jack, Su, and the laser went back inside, I finished the downtube shifters:

And to finish things off for tonight, the stem:

As it sits, it's nowhere near complete, but it's starting to look bike-like... and I'm not ashamed to say I can stare at this for hours:

I held off on the derailleurs until I have gears and cables to work with. And before I do that, I need to paint the crankset I have so it'll match the chainrings and the rest of the bike. It's black right now, silver would look so much better. The rear wheel needs to be re-dished and trued, as well as new bearings, before I install the cassette. The bottom bracket needs to be rebuilt, and I need the proper tools for that. And obviously, there are more parts to get.

Now, it's not a whole lot of work, what I've done for tonight, but I took my time for two reasons. Firstly, because threaded headsets, forks, and downtube shifters are all fairly new to me, despite being old-school. I just don't have much experience with them, so I wanted to make sure I did everything right.

Secondly, I've been dreaming about building this frame up since I got it, and now that it's actually happening, I want to savor it.

All that said... it's hard to wait until I can ride it.

Mileage: zippo today.

Ride to restore (In)Sanity: Road Ride.

2012-01-14T19:16:00.000-08:00

After a rather... long... week at work, I decided to dust off STeve and hit the tarmac. After-work rides are fun, and relaxing, but I'm fairly numb after 10 hours at work, so my enjoyment is sometimes muted, not to mention that I have to go to work the next day, so I can't just run myself ragged like on some of my weekend rides.

My plan was to ride out and around Mormon Lake today. So, when the temperature hit freezing this morning, I pulled STeve off the wall and got him ready for a ride. About 2 hours later I actually left, which gave it time to warm up to 50 degrees outside. A comfy temperature, I though.

And it was. Shorts, jersey, arm warmers and medium gloves weather, and I was considering ditching the armwarmers after a few minutes. But, the closer I got to Lake Mary, the more the wind started blowing. A headwind. My least favorite kind of wind. And it was cold, cutting wind. The kind of wind that no matter how hard you fight against it, it just saps all the heat out of you.

So I stopped.

I wanted to ride to enjoy myself, and I wasn't enjoying myself with this wind. So I stopped just past the Upper Lake Mary dam, had a snack, took a few pictures...

Looking towards the dam... the lake is pretty low.

I thought this was cool... where the ice ends and the lake starts. The water near the dam is heated, to keep the water intakes from freezing, I assume.

And frozen lake. I hear that the ice is thick enough to walk on... I'm not that brave.

...And then turned around, revelling in the fact that my horrible headwind was now a tailwind. I took a detour up the hill to the NPOI observatory on Andersen Mesa, which, from Lake Mary, is a steep, unbroken two mile climb. I did it pretty quick, but I was beat at the top.

After coasting down, with the wind at my back I headed home. Along the way, I noticed a group of riders catching up to me. Out of spite, I stepped up my pace a bit, curious to see if I could maintain a faster speed. They chased me all the way home. More and more, I realize I ride faster when I have someone to chase/chasing me. I guess somewhere deep down, I am a little competitive.

Which is good I suppose... because I'm stoked about this:

I'm on the Absolute Bikes Racing Team!

Guess this means I should sign up for a race or two, now. I was planning on heading down to Prescott to watch the Whiskey Offroad race in April, then maybe hit up some singletrack while I'm there, but I'm considering more and more signing up for one of the shorter stages of the race.

After all, someone has to come in last, might as well be me.

Mileage: 25.2

Friday Bike Ride: San Tan Valley

2012-01-02T08:07:00.000-08:00

I miss going on Friday night bike rides. My Fridays have turned into date night with Alex and our neighbors when we are all up for it. It's always a ton of fun, but I miss my bike buddy. Riding by myself doesn't have the same spark as our giggly nights listening to music on crappy speakers bungied to Kev's bikes. Or racing each other and me basking in my win only when Kev is super tired. Yay for me! And just the relaxation of it all.

But! I thought it would be super fun to have a long distance Friday Bike Day. We wouldn't be riding at the same time, but it would be in the spirit of things. Seems like a nice idea for the last Friday of the year.

I decided to pop out of bed and head to San Tan Regional Park, hoping to ride the trails up in elevation and catch the sunrise from a great view point. My legs have other ideas. Since I have not been riding regularly at all the five miles with a slight uphill kinda got to me and I didn't have enough time to get in and ride to where I wanted to be for the sun rise.

So I waited at the park entrance for a few minutes while the sun peaked out from behind a hill. It was beautiful as always, and I just spent the time thinking about past rides. And future rides as well, thinking about how I want to ride to the park entrance more often and build myself up, and eventually ride in the park with all it's hilly trails and beautiful landscape.

Once the sun came up and blinded me, I cruised on home just in time for work to begin. It was a nice ride.

I wanted to see the view from the plane...

Mileage: about 10...

Merry New Year. Let's Ride Bikes!

2012-01-01T20:55:00.000-08:00

Annnd, post number two of the day.

A few weeks ago Team Absolute started to organize a New Year's ride in Sedona. So of course I said yes, I'd be there.

It was warm, it was pretty, and the 15 or so of us took off from the Village of Oak Creek at about noon-thirty on some of the gnarliest trails I've been on yet.

There were flat tires, crashes, and I lost count of how many trees I bounced off.

Now... how did I get down there? I slid down!

Now, I'm tired, and I'm sore, and I have scrapes and scratches on my arms and legs, but it was good to be out on the trails. This was my first time using the bike carrier on Slide for a park 'n ride, and I feel a little more confident in it after today. I'll probably do more riding down there as a result.

Mileage: 15.8

Friday Night Bike Night: Flagstaff! (Friday, December 30)

2012-01-01T19:21:00.000-08:00

Yes, I'm making two posts in one day, because one is very late, that being this one.

So Thursday night, TC tells me to go ride to someplace cool on Friday. It being the last Friday of the year, we should have a Friday Night Bike Night, even though we're not in the same place now. She would do a ride of her own in Queen Creek. Sounded like a good idea to me.

So I spent Friday at work thinking of where to go, and remembered a spot off of Lake Mary Road that I found in Google Earth. I managed to take off from work a little early and rode fairly fast out there, since I wanted to get there with enough light to see and take pictures. Also, because I knew I would be walking one I left the pavement for all the mud and snow out there.

Ride!

So, I found the turn off, just north of the Lower Lake Mary dam. I stashed Bi a ways off the road, locked to a pretty substantial tree, and started walking. It was a lot of cross country, the dirt road leading where I wanted to go alternated between ankle deep mud, water, and ice.

But it wasn't a long hike.

Old footings for a railroad bridge near Lake Mary. And not a small bridge at that. The big tower is about 30 feet tall, and the span is probably over 100 feet. I've been looking for more information on it, but haven't found anything yet. The area around Flagstaff has a lot of abandoned railroad right of ways, most of them belonging to the old lumber mill, so it's a good chance that that's what this is.

I want to go back in the spring when it's dry, and explore a little more when the snow isn't knee deep.

One a railroad, now a dirt road.

Bi, waiting patiently for me to come back.

Sunset on the peaks.

The ride home was a bit slower, and cooler, but it was nice watching the light fade. It was a good ride, I think.

Mileage: 17.4 (For Friday)

Ride to Restore (In)Sanity

2011-12-29T19:21:00.000-08:00

It's amazing how just the simple act of moving my feet in circles works so much to keep me thinking clearly. Even more amazing is the fact I've not done much of it.

But, what have I been doing...

If I can't spin pedals... I'll make stuff that spins!

Something to do with all the old bike parts...

In other news... I miss Summer:

My hammock at work, that I catch Z's on at break. It's a little chilly to be doing that now, though...

Bi got a flat. I think this is his way of saying "Ride more!"

All is not doom and gloom, however. I got some riding in over the holiday weekend:

I also got some riding in today. It's been fairly warm lately, warm enough for me to ditch all my cold weather gear in the afternoons. So, after work today, I swung by the bank, then headed out across town with no destination in mind, just riding for the sake of riding. Bi is the bicycle that makes it feel like I'm flying on a good day, and today was a good day on the bike. By the time I got to the mall, I'd blown out most of the brain snot, and the sun was setting behind me. So, I turned around and rode off home into the sunset.

Sorry, I forgot my camera, so no pictures. But it was pretty.

You believe me, right?

Anywho, the end of the year is upon us... and what better way to ring in the new year than on a bike? I'll be spending Sunday afternoon down in Sedona, on Tri, with the folks from Absolute, riding into the new year. That ought to be a great start.

Mileage: Dunno, don't care.

But, it snowed! So? Night ride!

2011-12-10T09:12:00.000-08:00

Yes yes, we got some snow that stuck around, which means that notorious Arctic Snow Snake is back. Looks like this year it made friends with a rabbit:
So, I've been spending some time in the garage, instead of riding my bikes. Warranted, I think, because it's been getting down to 0 at night.

Besides, when I find myself in the garage, sometimes cool stuff follows me out:

Plant benches. For, y'know, plants.

Block of oak at the beginning...

And end.

It doesn't need the lathe to keep spinning! (Though it did stop just for the camera. Or, did the camera stop it? Hmm...)

So, obviously, I haven't been doing much riding, besides the old back and forth to work. It sort of stinks, as I've been itching for a long-ish ride, but haven't felt like riding in temperatures where water not only freezes, but sublimates fairly fast.

So why, then, did I find myself riding Bi out to Lake Mary this morning, at 5 AM, with the temperature hanging somewhere around the range of 3 to 4 degrees above Absolute Zero? A ride that I did mostly without headlights, because the full moon was so bright?

Those aren't rocket boosters lighting up the guardrail, just Bi's tail lights.

Well, I'll tell you:

Yeah... a total Lunar eclipse will get me out of bed at 4:30 on a Saturday morning, on a bike, and riding through negative eleventeen degree air to a good spot to watch the moon slip into Earth's shadow. Because of the timing, the sky was brightening with the rising sun as the moon was obscured, so that by the time the moon went into totality, it completely disappeared. No classic eerie red glow, it just faded away, which happened just before it slid below the trees.

Blurry, but it's the last sliver of light before the moon disappeared. You see it, right?

At this point, I was freezing from sitting still for the better part of 30 minutes, and I'm pretty sure that it was cold enough to make the camera operate at peak efficiency. The ride home was long, slow, and full of "Do I still have toes/fingers?" thoughts, and Bi had a layer of frost by the time I got home. But, it was worth it to watch the moon move into the shadow of the Earth. Especially since the next total lunar eclipse is supposed to be in 2014. Which would make this the last total eclipse before the end of the world, if the Mayans are to be believed.

Yeah, it was worth it. That's a ride I'll not soon forget.

Mileage: 20.1

Tombstone Turkey Day

2011-11-27T14:43:00.000-08:00

Sunset over the neighborhood a few weeks ago, on the way home from work. Awesome.

So, please excuse the radio silence lately. Work's been busy, and it's been dark out, so not much riding to be had, but that's my own fault. I can't complain too much about work, as overtime helps pay for the two-wheeled addictions.

AAAaaanyway.

So Exegete and the Su pup and I wandered down to Tombstone this past weekend, to spend Thanksgiving with his folks. This time, we brought Exe's bike, Crash, with intentions to use it to tire Su out, if needed. Of course, I couldn't resist going for a ride with it in Tombstone.

I had a destination in mind, Cochise Stronghold in the Dragoon Mountains, about 15 miles northeast of town. When I had some time Saturday, I bagged a couple cookies, filled up a water bottle, kidnapped Crash and set out.

The Dragoons. My target is somewhere in the mountains on the left side of the pic.

A lone colorful tree in a wash along Middlemarch Road.

Getting close.

They're a bit bigger up close...

Looking back towards Tombstone.

I didn't go too much farther. I had been fighting a stiff headwind for over 10 miles, on a bike that wasn't set up for me, and I felt like I was dragging a boat anchor uphill. I made it probably a half mile from the pass, but I couldn't convince myself to keep on when I knew that it was all downhill with the wind at my back to get home.

Nice little clearing over there...

The 30 mile an hour blast back down Middlemarch road was worth all the fight uphill in the wind. Having a two-wheel drift around a banked downhill turn on slick street tires on gravel was an adrenaline rush. Having Crash airborne over cattle guards was fun. And the big old goofy grin on my face was... well... a big old goofy grin. Fun!

I have to say, it's such a change riding in Southern Arizona, if just for the smell. Riding down a dirt road through fields of sage, the air smelled really clean and sweet, a big change from the sometimes sharp smell of the pines I'm used to. It was really nice.

I would have loved to make it to the stronghold, or turn down towards Gleeson, a ghost town, but oh well. Next time, I'll just have to bring one of my own bikes.

So now I'm home, and there is riding to be done in the near future. I have lights to charge, tires to air up, and places to ride to, along with a pup to wear out.

But, we did get a nice welcome home from our travels:

Mileage: 0

A week late, but whatever. Fall colors!

2011-11-05T20:38:00.000-07:00

I bet you thought I forgot about that annual fall colors ride I seem to do every year?

Well, I didn't forget about the ride, I just forgot about the blog. Too much work to be done, and hanging out with my sister, who was up here for the week.

I know, shame on me.

As with last year, I thought I had largely missed the color changing. This year, between an early cold snap that zapped a lot of trees, and not having a chance to really ride in the woods in the fall until last weekend, I cut it pretty close. I still managed to find some color, even if it was a bit sparse. That's the great thing about nature... no year will be like the next.

Like last year, I headed out south on the Arizona trail, hoping to at least make it to Marshall Lake.

Aspens on the rim of Sandy's Canyon.

Taking a break and looking back towards town from a cliff at Sandy's Canyon, across from Canyon Vista Campground.

I heard these big guys take off from the airport, about 6 miles away.

Marshal Lake!

I was feeling pretty good at this point, so I decided to press on over Andersen Mesa. the same as last year. However... one thing I didn't write about last year was how horrible the trail is across Andersen Mesa. It starts out nicely, as you climb from Marshal Lake up to NPOI (One of the few operating optical interferometers in the world. Check it out!) on a trail that is technical and fun.

It mellows out as you ride along the perimeter fence of the observatory, and past Prime Lake, a small sinkhole lake. The trail stays smooth and level as you swing right up to the edge of the mesa, overlooking Lower (dry) and Upper Lake Mary, a great spot to take a break and snack.

From there on, though, it becomes a frustrating, post-holed, rock-studded cowpath at worst, and ties in to forest service roads that aren't much better at best. I rode it last year, and while it was pretty in places, it was nine miles of sort of boring not-fun. This year, I tried it again to see if it had been improved at all. Unfortunately, it had not. The only saving grace of this segment is a rocking descent off the mesa on the other end down to Lake Mary Road. A mile of sweet flowy packed gravel singletrack.

At the bottom, I was faced with the choice of ride home along the road, or follow the Arizona Trail a bit further. I was feeling pretty good, and after having forced myself across the mess of a trail on Andersen Mesa, I was hoping for some fun trail riding before the 20 miles of pavement to get home.

So I crossed the road like a good chicken, and set wheel on some new-to-me Arizona Trail, which did not disappoint. I wished I brought lights so I could keep riding. As it was, I got about 20 minutes down the trail, nearly ran into a deer (Who I yelled at for stopping in the middle of the trail) and explored part of an old railroad grade.

The Peaks from my turnaround point.

I backtracked to the road, put Tri in the tall gear, and cruised on home. All said, I put in about 45 miles or so last Saturday. I want to ride more of the AZT south, because from the taste I got, it seems sweet. I may have to do some bike packing to do it right.

That will have to wait until next year, though, because if you fast-forward a week to today...

It snowed... and we got a puppy. Named Su.

Also, because I'm a dink and forgot to post about this earlier (Like... when I actually did it) check out my first excursion into the Inner Basin since the Schultz Fire.

Inner Basin colors 2011

Mileage: ~4 or so.

Yo dawg, so we heard you like bikes...

2011-10-23T20:27:00.000-07:00

You have a little bit to figure out where this is going.

So I took a little trip through the Rim Country this weekend, and landed in Queen Creek to visit family, and meet new family!

Missy!

Zoe!

New Mikayla puppy!

It was a fun weekend. I played with puppies, went to Schnepf Farms for the pumpkin festival there, where I got a little heatstroke or something... Slept that off, played with puppies some more, then came home.

There was a little bike riding... I did go down on Friday, after all. after I assembled Oscar, TC and I had a short Friday night Bike Night ride, the first one since she and Alex moved to Queen Creek.

Wait, who's Oscar?

Well, remember the Dumpster Bike?

It went from this:To this:

It's old, it's ginormous, and it makes funny noises, but it's a solid, smooth riding bike, and it cleans up nicely. I brought it down to my sister's place to leave there, so that when I visit, I don't have to cart a bike back and forth.

Getting it down here was an adventure in itself. Besides re-building Oscar, I've been tinkering with Slide:

"If you build it, they will gawk."

I am not the first person to do this... I looked up many designs, and talked to a few people before building something that was feasible and worked best for my application. As it is, it needs a little work, but it worked well enough to take Oscar 180 miles to Phoenix, with no trouble what so ever.

The responses I noticed from people who saw it were awesome. The best was from a French fellow who came up when I stopped. He barely spoke any english, but asked to take a picture of it, to which I said "Of Course!" His thoughts on the setup? "Motorcycle..." *Points* "...bicycle..." *points* "...very cool!" *thumbs up* I wish I knew more French, so I could have talked with him.

Of course, I have to work tomorrow, so I had to come home today. I came back the same way I went down, through Payson on highway 87. I think I'm taking that route down from now on, as it is gorgeous. Lovely forests all the way from the house down Lake Mary Road to Clint's Well, then the drop off the Mogollon Rim through Payson into the rocky desert mountains of southern Arizona. It was a great ride, one that I was looking forward to playing on without a bike on the back of the bike.

'Twas fun.

Mileage: ~180 on Slide.

Engines, pedals, trees and trains.

2011-10-13T19:03:00.000-07:00

It's a pretty time of year to ride. It's not too warm, yet contrary to last week's picture, it's not too cold... yet. I've been trying to make time to go see the colors, but work seems to have other plans for me. Hopefully I'll get some miles in this weekend, as they just opened the road to Lockett Meadow for the first time since the Schultz fire. Hopefully I'm not too late for the aspens in the meadow and the Inner Basin.

All is not lost though, as I still have my after-work rides, the thing that gets me through the day. Tuesday, I took Slide out Friedlein Prairie Road... where, amazingly, the aspens are still green.

Today, I took a nice leisurely ride up the Rio de Flag Urban Trail to Cheshire, and hooked up with a freshly built segment of the Loop Trail on Observatory Mesa. The Loop trail now runs from Cheshire all the way across the Mesa to the Tunnel Springs Urban Trail, which makes me happy, because I got to help close the last gap last weekend.

Aspens outside the shop at work. I love how the progression is visible.

Pull!!

I have to work tomorrow, (Yay, overtime.) I think I'll clean the mud off Tri and take him on an after work roll.

Mileage: 16.3

It's too early for this...

2011-10-06T21:41:00.000-07:00

The view from the curb outside our house this afternoon. Snow on The Peaks.

Seriously... this year has flown. Oh well.

On a side note... this gives you an idea of the hill Exe and I have to climb to get home. The apartments are actually a little above the bottom of the hill.

Mileage: 4.9

Not exactly the ride I had planned...

2011-10-02T20:26:00.000-07:00

So I woke up (relatively) early this morning to take off on an all day adventure. The plan was to circle the San Francisco Peaks. I would go up the Arizona Trail from the Schultz Creek trailhead past Aspen Corner on Snowbowl Road, past Bismark Lake to forest road 418, then hike up Bear Jaw trail to Upper Waterline with the bike on my back, (Wilderness area...) where I would then ride down to the Inner Basin, then Lockett Meadow. From there, I'd take the acess road down to Schultz Pass road, where I'd hook up with Shultz Creek trail back down to where I started.

Why?

Because I want pictures of colorful aspens, and this route is sort of a grand tour of fall colors.

It didn't happen that way, and I didn't expect it to.

The day started off sunny enough as I cruised through town and started up the Arizona Trail:

Mature pines in the morning sun just look cool.

And soon I ended up at Snowbowl Road:

This is new! No more hopping over the barbed wire, and all new trail from here up!

Yeah... and from here up is all uphill to Aspen Corner, which was... 7 miles away. I was ready for it though.

But then, as I got towards the top, it started hailing. Nothing major, but hail non the less.

Now, I had been keeping an eye on the sky, and I had been watching the storm building up, and had dismissed the idea of riding around the peaks fairly early after the clouds started building. But I wanted to at least make it up to Aspen Corner. But Nature had other plans.

As soon as it started hailing, the camera and the phone went in a ziplock bag, and I started racing down the mountain like my life depended on it. What took me over an hour to climb, I came back down in less than 15 minutes.

Nothing gives me motivation to bomb it down a trail like weather.

I was almost to Snowbowl road at the bottom when I started hearing thunder. Close and loud thunder.

I was about 2 miles past Snowbowl road when I saw a tree get struck by lightning... something I've always wanted to see, but I would have preferred more distance. 300 feet is a little close. It was cool though... a big fat bolt of lightning came down and hit the tree, turning the whole trunk of the tree into light, as the thunder almost knocked me off the bike.

Oh yeah, and the tree was right next to the trail.

As I rode by, I could hear it hissing and crackling inside. Creepy.

The rest of the ride home was uneventful, and by the time I made it home, the storm had moved on eastward, and the sun was out. Go figure.

But, you know what? I think it worked out better this way.

From the time it started hailing and I turned around, to the time I got back in to town and the sun came out... I had the biggest grin the entire time. Not to mention lots of mud.

Besides... the aspens I passed were still green.

Mileage: 36.4

Taylor House Ride 2011 Ride Report

2011-09-24T19:38:00.000-07:00

I'll start off by saying cancer sucks. So do most other illnesses, but I'm singling out cancer for now. Mainly because today was the Taylor House Century Ride, to benefit the FMC Taylor House and Cancer Center.

So, For my Uncle Greg, Grandpa Jack,* and anyone who is going through or has gone through cancer, and their friends and families, today's ride was for you, and I'll do my best to bring you along with me.

*Grandpa Jack being part of my extended/adopted family, who I love like family.

I showed up about 15 minutes before the start at the Hospital, having registered the night before. I'll say, that was an awesome move, having a night-before spaghetti dinner and pre-sign in. So I hung out, enjoyed the cold (it was 40 degrees) and shot the breeze with folks I knew.

Before long it was time to line up for pre-ride announcements and the actual start.
We rolled out, and down Beaver Street, where the entire group got stopped by a train. Not long after, the group got split by a traffic light at an intersection that the police decided to leave open. There was an adrenaline rush when, as we approached a turn across the railroad tracks, we heard a train coming. Myself and about 40 other riders beat a train at the crossing, with room to spare. I ended up with STeve airborne across the tracks.

I made good time down Route 66, past the car dealerships and through the neighborhoods back onto Highway 89. As I was rolling up to Townsend Winona Road, (Where the route turns off 89) 15 or so riders went straight, instead of turning. A quick glance didn't reveal any course markers, and the route re-joins 89 a couple miles further, so they weren't going to get too lost. But they cut about 10 miles off the route. Two other riders and I made the right turn, and commented about everyone who missed it.

Doing your homework and studying helps, folks!

Winona was a fast downhill roll, and after turning down Slayton Ranch road, I found myself cruising on Neptune Drive, where TC and I grew up.

Familiar views. The blue house on the left was ours.

I should mention here, that because of the ways the horde got split up, my ride became a very quiet and solitary ride for the most part. From Winona onward, I didn't see many other riders. In a way, I think it made it more enjoyable for me, as I could crawl into my pain cave, listen to my music, take pictures while riding, and air-guitar the miles and hills away.

Yeah, air-guitar. I got very good at air-guitar today.

From Neptune Drive, it was a nice roll up Silver Saddle Road, where I hooked back up with 89, and turned north. I crested the big hill at the Sunset Crater Road turnoff at 8:30, a full hour before the cutoff. I stopped at the aid station, re-filled my water bottles, rested for a few, then continued on to the 95 mile route, on the part of the course I had never ridden before.

Highway 89 North.

And 5 minutes later, looking back.

All downhill ahead!

I made good time to the next aid station, which offered nice views.

Steve, ready to keep on keepin' on.

I met a mother and daughter at this station who were running support and cheering on her husband/father as he rode his first century. I wished good luck to him, then set off.

As I said, I'd never ridden this loop, and it had been many many years sine I'd been out here at all, and I have to say, it is some of the most varied, and beautiful terrain around Flagstaff. My pictures really don't do it justice. That, and I was moving when I took them.

The road drops into a steep downhill here, and opens up to a stunning view of the Painted Desert. I couldn't grab a picture because I was doing about 40 miles an hour...

As I passed the Wupatki Visitors enter, the road turned from downhill to uphill. Lots and lots of uphill, that started sort of mellow, then started getting steeper and steeper. The terrain also changed, going from deserty sandstone to volcanic cinder and rocks.
I made it to the second to last aid station, where I took an extended break to rest up, chat with folks there, and take a picture from the overlook.

It was here that people took note of the fact I was doing this ride on a single speed. Anthony joked about giving me gears out of the transmission of the van he was driving, and 6'8" Nate offered to pull me up a hill or two. I met up with the fellow shooting for his first century here, and gave him some encouragement. Everyone else kindly informed me that the worst climbing was ahead.

Thanks guys.

It started off ok, but there were three hills that started off mellow, then got steeper and steeper, and longer and longer.

Like this one, coming up on Sunset Crater.

And this one, next to Sunset Crater.

Lava flow!

Bonito lava flow!

Getting close to 89!

On the last big climb up to 89 and the last aid station, my legs started to let me know they weren't happy with me. I laid off a bit, and crawled in to the last station. I took my time here, stretching, relaxing, and enjoying the thing that gave me motivation to climb those last hills:

Pooooooopssssiiiiiiiiiiclllleeee......

At this point, I was happy with myself. All the un-charted (to me) route was behind me, and I had ridden all of it. I didn't walk a single hill, no matter how much I wanted to. High-fives and handshakes were exchanged, from people who were amazed at what I had just climbed with only one gear. The guy gunning for his first century was there, too. I told him the worst was all behind him. He made it this far, he's got it.

Especially when not long after turning back on 89, heading back towards town, this is what greets you:

Downhill! Glorious downhill! Let the coasting commence!

Unfortunately, it's short lived, and after a couple miles, it's mostly all gradual uphill into and through town, with Cedar Hill thrown in RIGHT at the end, just to make you give up hope.

To be honest, I completely zoned out the last 15 miles. I don't remember much, other than my legs started trying to cramp up. Rather than stopping to rest and stretch, I figured out a way to keep riding and stretch my legs as I pedaled. It's something I'll need to remember for next time.

I also vaguely remember that after what I had ridden up at Sunset Crater, Cedar Hill was nothing in comparison, and I fairly cruised up it, and down the other side to the finish at the hospital.

I was among the last riders to make it in, but I finished! Victory food!

Not long after I got there, First Century guy rolled in. He was understandably dazed, having ridden his first century. I let him know that it was a hard route for a first century, and he did awesome. Then he told me something I'd never quite heard about a big ride like that.

He said I made it look easy.

Hang on... I'm going to tuck that compliment away somewhere safe, where I can take it out to inspire me when I'm suffering up a steep climb.

Ok, I'm back.

All I could do was laugh, and say I'm glad I can give that impression.

Yay, Steve!

I finished what I could of my food, then headed slowly home. I showered, told Exe about it, napped, chilled, got ice cream, and now I'm typing away at the blog. I'm exceptionally sore, tired, and trying to decide if I've built muscle today, or destroyed some. My legs are twitchy and crampy, and, to be honest, I'm surprised I've made it this far through the blog with any level of coherence.

Despite all that, I feel good. I dedicated this ride to family who've fought, and are fighting cancer, and then went out and rode it. It's a big thing for me.

Mileage: 105.4, in 6:40 moving time. Average speed was 15.8

What should one do...?

2011-09-23T21:14:00.000-07:00

What should one do when the power goes out at work, but you still want to get things done?

Well, if you're like me, you aim your bike with conveniently placed headlights at your work space.
And then continue working as usual, mocking everyone around you who didn't bring a bike, in case of power outages.

What does one do in preparation for a century, or race, or other big, anticipated for most of the year ride?

I don't know, but it's probably nothing like what you would do if you're like me.

Because, if you're like me, you'll wake up, hop on a bike, and ride to a bike sale. At the bike sale, you might score a sweet, rare Austro-Daimler bicycle frame, that happens to be the perfect size for you.

There be bike porn below:

A little beat up, but still beautiful.

All hand-brazed.

You just don't see this kind of love from big manufacturers anymore.

Also came home with a Shimano 600 wheelset, and chrome Tange fork for the frame.

It is going to be a while before I can build it up and ride it, but when I do, it will be sweet, and worth the wait, I'm sure. I'll be doing my best to build it up with components of the same vintage as the frame, but I doubt it'll be anywhere close to the Campagnolo titanium Super Record that was on it originally.

Ok, last question: What does one do the evening before the above mentioned ride?

Why, ride to the night-before check in and spaghetti dinner, of course!

Yum!

At least... that's what I would do.

Mileage: 20.6

Avast! It be Talk Like a Pirate Day! Arrrgh.

2011-09-19T22:18:00.000-07:00

Ahoy, me hearties. In celebratin' it bein' Pirate Day, I'll be doin' up this blarg post in one a' tha many forms a' Piratespeak. So gather 'round, down ye' some rum, an' I be tellin' ye dogs a tale a' me ride taday.

I be gettin' ready for tha Taylor House ride, an' in doin' so, that means I be ridin longer distances, so's I be ready. Taday after finishin' me framin' duties, I threw a leg over me trusty skiff, Bi, an' we sailed off east. Soon, we finds us at the rim a' Walnut Canyon, east even a' the park. On purpose this was, as I been tryin' ta find a particular spot here. Me sense a' directions paid off, an' we find tha spot.

Bi, anchored on tha rim.

Lookin' up stream.

This be what I been seekin'.

A bit a' history for ya lot: That dam was built back in the ninteenth century, ta hold back tha Walnut Creek, ta form a reservoir for fillin' up tha steam engines on tha steam engines o' tha' Santa Fe Railroads. It fell inta disuse after a flood.

Lookin' downstream.

On tha way back. Those louds look like they's a' brewin'.

Turns out they was a' brewin' a sunset.

After watchin' tha sun sink below tha horizon, I let the wind in me sails, an' drifted on home. All said an' done, I be callin' this me last trainin' ride a'fore tha century ride this weekend.

Mileage: 31.1 nautical miles

The Best Time of Year to Ride

2011-09-13T22:48:00.000-07:00

Well, it's getting to be that time of year again.

It's dark enough in the morning that I need full lights on to feel safe on my ride to work, I'm on the lookout for colorful trees, and I need to start thinking about re-studding Bi's winter tires.

Fall sneaks up on me every year, but this year is especially sudden, with how little riding I've done, in comparison to years past. I'm left wondering where the summer riding season has gone, and why the Peaks have a thin layer of snow on them already?

I've been doing a lot of trail work the past couple weeks, enough so that I decided to get my own hard hat, instead of using my bike helmet.

Something ain't right...

But then I installed the actual headband and suspension and it fit properly. I think the hard hat will take a blow from a pick or a McCloud better than my bike helmet. Needs stickers, though.

Coming up in the near future: I build stuff, (It's almost done!) and the Taylor House Century ride. (Oh snap, that's next weekend!)

Mileage: 12.4

Aww hail.

2011-09-12T20:26:00.001-07:00

Phrase of the day: "What timing! What finesse!"

I raced a thunderstorm to work today. I watched lightning all the way in from the house to the shop, and it only started raining on me about 200 yards away from the shop. By the time it started hailing, I was already inside, with my camera at the ready.

It starts. Mostly rain, a little hail.

After a while. Hard to tell, but at this point, it's quarter sized hailstones that are falling.

The end.

Sunrise.

Pretty intense little storm. It stripped a lot of leaves and needles from trees around town. I could not have timed my arrival at work any better.

I love it when that happens.

Mileage: 15.2

Race Day!

2011-08-20T21:42:00.000-07:00

So yeah. Today was the Absolute Bikes Old Fashioned Mountain Bike Race, to benefit the St. Mary's Food Bank Alliance.

Exe was nice enough to be my transport to and from the race, and hung out while I was pedaling to watch. Before the race, I asked if he had any bets as to what I would break today... frame, fork, taco a wheel, maybe. He said I'd taco the frame pump. Wouldn't that be interesting...

So, after getting all registered, and waiting an hour and a half, (We got there good and early) which gave plenty of time for the nerves to set in, the race started, and everyone bolted. I quickly fell back through the field, and settled into my own pace, which was significantly slower than everyone else.

The first lap went fairly well. No one passed me, and I even managed to pass a couple people. I paced myself, and spent some more time figuring out the new suspension fork, which settings would be best for climbing, flats, downhill, technical, et cetera.

I have to stop here, and just say how awesome having a suspension fork is. I never realized how much the rigid fork was beating me up. I'd have some pretty good fatigue going in my arms and shoulders about 20 miles into a good ride, but with the suspension fork, riding over 30 miles in a race, I had none of that. Not to mention how much faster I was on the downhills.

Lap two started off well, as well. I had a second wind for the climb up the road, and managed that fairly well. I ended up getting passed by a couple people, but they were in the teen race. Never mind that even if they were doing the full race, they'd still wipe the floor with me. But oh well. About half way into the second lap, I had my first new-fork related crash. (Woo!)

I came around a turn, and planted the front wheel against a rock. I wasn't leaning back far enough, so the fork squished all the way, and pivoted bike and rider over the wheel, neatly depositing us on the trail. I don't know how, but I came off it completely unscathed. I didn't even get my jersey dirty. I just remember the crash, then immediately picking up the bike and riding on, as the guy behind me shouted "That was impressive!" The rest of the second lap was spent building my confidence back up.

The third lap was a long hard struggle. It was long, it was hard, and it was a struggle. The road felt steeper, the singletrack climb was brutal and longer, and the downhill left me with shaking legs that wanted to bounce off the pedals like a sewing machine needle. Never mind I had already ridden it twice today, it felt like a completely different and foreign trail. It was a grind. I didn't see many people. I finished the lap with not much left in me. I was glad it was my last lap.

I finished the race!

My plan was to take it easy on the first two laps, and give the last lap everything I had. I did just that, but when it came to the third lap, I didn't have much left to give. But I finished! That was my main goal. My soft goal was to finish in three hours and 30 minutes, but I didn't care so much about that as just finishing.

So, Exegete and I packed up the bike and went home. I showered, hydrated, and had a soda, and felt good enough to hop on STeve and ride to the awards party downtown.

Cool clouds on the way to. First chance I'd had all day to look up, really.

I hung out with the real racers, ate pizza, watched trophies get handed out, and talked. Unfortunately I didn't get my race time there, due to a bit of a snafu. It didn't matter. I might have been last, (I was sure of it.) but I finished!

So imagine my surprise when I got home, and looked up the race results online?

Specifically, the class I was in?

9   837 KEVIN OKON            99    3 3:23:42

9th place, out of 11. I wasn't last! and I finished in 3:23! Faster than my 3:30 goal.

I'm tired, I know I'll be sore tomorrow, but I feel good. I gave it my best, and finished a race. I feel strangely accomplished for having ridden around in circles. Very tough, challenging circles.

And I didn't even taco my frame pump.

Mileage: 42.2 (33.8 raced on Tri, 8.4 moseyed on STeve.)

Concessions to Modern Technology.

2011-08-15T21:04:00.000-07:00

I like to think that I like to keep things simple. Though, sometimes in my quest for simplicity, I overcomplicate things, but that's beside the point. I like simplicity.

Take, for instance, my mountain bike. One gear, no suspension. Much like how bicycles were 100 years ago. Dependable. Very little to go wrong. Good stuff. Tri was much like bikes of yore, only a little lighter.

Was? What did I do to Tri?

Examine this artistic picture of Tri I took earlier this evening:

Can you see it?

Yep, you are correct. I added a disc brake. I figure, I have these nice wheels I built with disc ready hubs, why not put a disc brake on Tri? Of course, this does deviate from the simplicity of rim brakes, but I still have one on the rear, so if the disc up front eats itself, I still have my old reliable rim brake in the back to stop me.

Of course... to add this disc brake, I had to replace the fork, as Tri's original fork didn't accept discs. So, why not replace it with a suspension fork?

A little more of my treasured simplicity flutters out the window.

So, what's with all this, then?

Well, you may remember last year around this time, I signed up for a little mountain bike race, and proceeded to bash in a pedal. Well, I'm signed up again this year, in what is sure to be a fail of epic proportions. Once again, as it was last year, my only goal is to finish. I'm in no way prepared for this, but I'm better prepared this year than I was last year. Last year, I signed up the day before the race. This year, I'm two weeks early. Last year, I had never ridden on the trails the race takes place on. This year, I've already pre-ridden the course, and have a strategy to try to maintain my awareness. Last year I only did two laps before breaking my ride. This year... we'll see.

All of this doesn't mean I plan on doing well. My mantra last year was "Hey, I already know I'll finish last. I just don't want to slow your race!" This year, my mantra is "Well, someone's gotta bring up the rear. Might as well be me!"

Feel free to come laugh at me at the race. It's this coming Saturday, the 20'th.

So! Having updated Tri a bit this afternoon, I took him out for a test ride around Soldier's Loop, at Fort Tuthill. A test ride I decided to do at race pace. Mostly. I did stop to take some pictures of the sunset-lit clouds.

By the time I put my camera away, the color was gone.

Learning to ride with suspension is going to take some getting used to. I have a lot of habits to change. However... the disc brakes? They feel smoother, but that's about it. Other than that, I can't tell a difference.

Mileage: probably around 12 or so. (Tri's speedometer wire broke in the fork swap.)

The bikes wait.

2011-08-06T16:20:00.000-07:00

If the lack of bloggery has been any indication, I've been slacking some in my riding. This'll happen, especially when you couple overtime with moving. That's not to say I haven't been riding my bikes, just not as much as I'd like. That's one thing about my bikes... as Big Jonny over at DC said, the bike will wait for you.

So what have I been doing?

Well...

I gave Bi a bath, which consisted of wheeling him outside the shop at work when a thunderstorm packing some driving rain rolled through.

"Zest-fully clean!"

Then Henry and I went shopping, and brought home a ladder. I always seem to get the same cashier at Home Depot, who always asks me "You're on a bike, right? How are you going to get this home?" There's only one answer for that...

"I have a really cool bike."

Earlier this week, I tempted the weather and played "Dodge the Thunderstorms" with STeve. Though oddly, I found myself riding towards them more often than not. It was hot out, I wanted the rain!

But that's where home is!

Sorta ominous looking...

Southern end of Upper Lake Mary.

Not so ominous now, eh?

This brings us to today, and the last bike that I hadn't ridden yet. So this morning, I woke up, ate breakfast, then pulled Tri off the wall. A little work, some grease, some oil, and we rolled out for a mountain bike ride. I hadn't been on my Walnut Canyon/Arizona Trail loop since the last time I wrote about it, and I had decided it was about time. It's been a month short of a year, almost. Time flies.

It didn't take long for me to get to the parts that remind me why I love these trails as much as I do:

Rolling out of Skunk Canyon.

Awww!

Lots of paintbrush this time.

Pull!

Trailblock.

Usually this field is yellow with sunflowers... today it was red. Awesome.

I ended up bailing early on the ride. The lack of substantial riding has really kicked my endurance, so I decided to point my bike towards home while I was still enjoying the ride. I think it was a good call. I got home, and put Tri up on the wall, where he will wait patiently until next time.

And I will look forward to it.

Mileage: 33.3 (in 3 hours and 33 minutes moving time. No joke!)

How to move by bike:

2011-07-17T15:45:00.000-07:00

First, you build a trailer, and name it Scrappy. This is somewhat optional, as if you have a rockin' cargo bike, like a Big Dummy, Madsen, Bakfiets, or a Yuba Mundo, to name a few, (And their variants) the bike can haul quite a bit on its own. But a trailer behind a Big Dummy is nice for the big and heavy stuff.

Obviously, step two is to pile stuff on it:

First load! Wood lathe!

It's looking like a garage in here.
As I said, trailer optional.

There was another one of these just like it.

No load is too irregularly shaped!

The Captain's chair.

The last Scrappy load!

There are 4 or 5 trailer loads that aren't pictured, most of which could be similar to the above. The most impressive was the queen-sized bed. Mattress, box spring, and bedframe on the trailer. Also not pictured are the few Henry-only loads.

In all, the trailer did better than I expected it to. No matter what I put on it, nothing creaked, broke, flexed, or complained... except me. It is half a mile from the house to the apartment, and the house is on a hill. I was panting and sweating every time I rolled in the garage at the house with a load on the trailer, but taking the time to wind tie-down straps gave me enough time to recover and do it again. The blast back downhill made it easier, too. The weakest link in the system was the rider.

In the end, I probably have more than 20 miles in the move, and got 80-85% of everything over by bike. The comments from other people made it worth it, too. Kids loved it and thought it was awesome, a lot of adults thought it was neat, and asked if it was heavy for me to pull with a load. Though, most adults ignored it. That said, moving by bike will really convince you that you have too much stuff. I have WAY too much stuff.

But, with moving completed, apartment cleaned, and nothing left to do but unpack, (Yes, the bike rack is already up in the Garage, yay!)I decided to meet up with some Absolute folks for a Sunday ride this morning.

I left a little later than I'd have liked, but powered up to the Schultz Creek trailhead at 8:59. Roll out time was 9:00. And there was no one there. I also realized I forgot my frame pump.

When life hands you lemons, don't make lemonade. Make life take the lemons back! I don't want your damn lemons, what am I supposed to do with these?! Demand to see life's manager! Make life rue the day it thought it could give Cave Johnson lemons! Do you know who I am?! I'm the guy who's gonna burn your house down! With the lemons! I'm gonna get the engineers to invent a combustible lemon that I'm gonna use to burn your house down!

Umm, yeah. Sorry, lost my train of thought.

While I didn't throw any incendiary lemons around, and my legs are still fairly beat up from moving, I did manage to get a great ride in. Up Rocky Ridge from Schultz Creek, up Elden Lookout Road to Onion, Onion up to Sunset.

Errrrt!

At the top of Sunset on the way to Schultz Pass, I realized my rear wheel was wobbling, because the wheel bearings were way out of adjustment. This will not do, with the rockin' descent before me. After some fiddling, (And realizing Shimano installed the drive-side locknut backwards...) I had the bearings in adjustment. Mechanical disaster averted!

Resuming my ride, I rode up to Sunset Peak, and by coincidence, right up to the very edge of the Schultz Fire burn. turning around, I flew down Sunset, Blazed down Schultz Creek, and took the Urban Trail through town to get home. Which involved going up a hill to get home. I'm going to have to plan my rides accordingly, now.

I can see my house from here!

Columbine.

The Onion trail. This one's for Josh. I miss riding with ya, man, and your trash-talking at me over the technical stuff.

Wait, wasn't I supposed to be relaxing today?

Mileage: 27.5

And now for something completely the same:

2011-07-01T22:13:00.000-07:00

Wherein I ride a bike, work on bikes, and other general bikery.

I managed to rip a soleplate out of one of my shoes the other day, which of course meant a trip to Absolute for new shoes. I also thought about how I use my biking shoes, with cleats that clip into the pedals to keep my clodstompers in place on the pedal. Over a third of the miles I put on them per year are general commuting/errand type miles, where being attached to the pedal isn't very important, and maybe I can extend the life of the shoes and cleats if I start using regular platform pedals, maybe with straps.

The straps didn't work out too well, my feet are too wide for the setup, but I'm pretty sure I can build something myself that will work. However...

I've never ridden in sandals before. What an incredible feeling, especially with how hot it was today.

It is odd to be back on platforms after riding Clipless for so long. I keep instinctively twisting my heel outward as if to disengage my foot from the pedal. At the moment, Henry's the only one with platforms, but Bi will be getting them soon as well, one I figure out some foot retention. (Fixed gear + platforms with no straps = suicide)

However, I did put in some miles today, re-acquainting myself with regular pedals.

Greenery!

After which I came home, intending to do some packing and prep work for the impending move. However, it was decided that I should build a wheel instead. Because building wheels is much more fun than packing and cleaning.

No, I'm not being sarcastic. It really is enjoyable to me.

The manager at Absolute disagrees with me on that point.

I find it relaxing.

He thinks I'm insane.

I think he's right.

Yeah.

The parts: One WTB Dual Duty XC 700c rim, one Surly New Front Hub, 32 Wheelsmith straight gauge spokes and nipples, and some rim plugs.

Fast forward about 3/4's of the way through Tron Legacy:

Bi's new front wheel.

Being able to read the hub label through the valve hole in the rim is a mark of quality.

This was the 8'th rim I've built so far, and it was the fastest and truest build I've done yet. I think I'm getting the hang of this wheelbuilding thing.

Reason for the new wheel is that Bi's current front wheel is in the process of eating it's bearings. It was a cheep wheel to begin with, came with Bi when I bought him, and has more miles on it than any other wheel in the apartment. It's not dead yet, but after ~4 thousand low maintenance miles, it's earned a dignified trip to the dumpster.

Or maybe I just wanted an excuse to build a wheel.

Mileage: 17.1

Summer's Comin'

2011-06-14T22:05:00.000-07:00

Warm temperatures, no wind, light clouds, of course I went out for a ride. Nothing insane, just a sort of cruise.

Everything's blooming.

Mileage: 21.7

Because a Seven Foot Bike is Not Enough...

2011-06-11T21:49:00.000-07:00

I built an eight foot trailer out of some scraps and parts. One reason was to avoid renting a U-Haul just to move 3 inches to the right. Another reason? To see if I can. That's a valid reason, yeah?

Anyways, one weekend in the garage, and this is what rolled out:

And Exe named it Scrappy.

Cargo area is 3 feet by 6 feet. Overall, it's almost 8 feet long and 4 feet wide.

The central pivot: The tongue runs the length of the trailer, putting all the pulling force to the beam between the wheels. It also allows the trailer to rotate a full 360 degrees independent of the bike.

Henry's drop hitch. Some u-bolts, a beam hanger, and some aluminum angle. On the trailer side, some u-bolts, and a steering knuckle from a car.

Fast forward past the test ride. I screwed down some boards for a cargo platform...

...and then jumped on it. No creaks!

It handles fairly well. I definitely feel it back there when I'm accelerating, but that's to be expected, the thing weights around 60 pounds. But once I'm moving, I can't feel it behind the bike when I slow down, or turn.

We'll see how it does in a month when we start moving.

Mileage: None today. Lazy day.

Keeping with the trend

2011-05-24T22:06:00.000-07:00

Keeping with my after work riding thing... This time I turned left at the top of Dogfood instead of right. It hurt some, in effort, but it was all new trails to me. And it came with an awesome view.

Looking across the top of Elden from the side of the Peaks... I didn't know there was a trail here.

I want to say I topped out around 9,000 feet in elevation. Not bad for an after work ride. All downhill from there, and man was it glorious.

Mileage: 27.3

Bike to Work Week!

2011-05-15T21:46:00.000-07:00

And I'm going to miss most of it! *cry*

Part of the reason I've been working so hard is so I can take this coming week off. Well, most of it.

This involved spending this past Saturday at the shop, after which I decided that a mountain ride was in order. Josh agreed, and we set out after I got off work. Nothing insane, just a fun mountain ride to relax on.

We found a flowing spring, Orion Spring.

Schultz Creek, and Schultz Creek Trail.

Ditto.

Today was the beginning of Bike to Work Week, which kicked off at Heritage Square with a bike swap and bike parade. It's always fun, and I missed it last year. You always see some cool bikes, meet cool and fun people, and sometimes you can score good deals on bike stuff. I came away with stickers and some patch kits.

We also saw the biggest cruiser ever:

Exe with the Monster Cruiser.

After some confusion (lack of announcements) as to where and exactly when the parade started, we caught up with the group.

It's Henry's friend! I ended up pacing him, for the rare double Dummy spectacle. Wish I had pictures of it.

Afterwards, we swung by Absolute for some stuff, then went home. I ended up giving some love to the rest of my bikes, as they were all in need of some attention. Clean chains for Bi and Tri, as well as I'm giving Ergon grips a try on Tri, who also got a better stem.

Nothing says obsession like oiling each individual roller on the chain at a time.

Also at Absolute, I found out about some trails to try out when I get back. Back from where?

Backpacking in Zion! Should be fun.

At least my bikes will all be ready to ride when I get back.

Ride your bikes to work this week!

Mileage: 9.1

After Work Riding

2011-05-06T20:46:00.000-07:00

Often, I describe my rides as "Self Inflicted Torture." In reality, it's a release for me, a chance to get lost, then find myself... or something. I think I really just enjoy riding my bikes around. I enjoy too many aspects of it to list, and the pain from pushing myself to get better at it is something I just put to the back of my mind. The fact that I'm slowly getting a little stronger, faster, and maybe even a little more skilled is just an added side bonus.

I have decided that going on longer rides after work are making longer work weeks easier to handle.

Wednesday, I met up with TC after work, and we rode out to Fisher Point. She had her mountain bike, while I took STeve, the cross bike with skinny tires. Happily, I didn't bite any rocks, therefore I didn't get any flats. TC had the satisfaction of being faster than me on the downhills.

The bottom of Fisher Point, as the sun began setting.

"Hai!"

That night, I decided I wanted some real singletrack riding, on some real singletrack trail. (Not to say that the trail out to Fisher Point isn't real, but it is short and tame, fun as it is.) So, I got Tri ready for an outing. I wound up heading up Dog Food to Pipeline, which I took across to Secret and the Arizona Trail, then hooked up with Schultz Creek back towards town, where I met up with family for dinner.

I pushed myself on this ride, as I really wanted to make it to Schultz Pass, for the full blast downhill, but I also really wanted to hang out with everyone at dinner. When faced with such a decision, I chose both, and pedaled harder. I left work at 4:30, was at the Schultz parking lot at 5:00, and Schultz Pass at 6:00, which was when everyone was meeting for dinner. By 6:50, I was sitting at the table with everyone, too. I think I made good time.

Today, I decided to take it easy, and took Slide up Freidlein Prairie Road. It was beautiful, and it'll only get better as the aspens get their leaves.

Obstacle! I don't think I can get Slide to hop over this one...

Riding Slide like this is really helping me figure out just what I want to do with Slide, how to set the bike up best for what I do with it. The list of changes and adjustments grows with each ride...

Good riding.

Mileage: Didn't keep track, but it was on a moto... does it count?

50 hour weeks will end me.

2011-05-02T21:06:00.000-07:00

Yeah... working some overtime at work. The day I used to more or less dedicate to recovering from working four 10 hour days so I could spend the next two days riding is now spent making more donuts. Donuts that look suspiciously like picture frames. Mmm... donuts...

But all is not bad though... I've found that when I go on a long ride after a long day at work, I feel better the next day. This is a discovery I seem to make anew every year around this time, though this time it was harder to find, because, let's face it... at the end of the day, I just want to relax... and the thought of taking a 10+ mile route home versus a 2 mile ride home doesn't seem relaxing... until I actually do it.

It's not often one Big Dummy meets another. Henry makes a friend outside the bank today.

Looks like Spring to me... this was last week.

I've been trying to ride a motorcycle to work at least once a week, with a good after-work ride. So I took Slide up to Snowbowl the other day.

The weather is warming up, though the temperature is doing it's usual Flagstaff thing for spring, warm for a few days, then cold, with a generous side of wind. I'll be ramping up my outdoorsey stuff soon, I fear. It will be good.

Mileage: 15.5

Sunrise Windows

2011-04-06T20:13:00.000-07:00

I get to see sunrises on my way to work for two 3 week windows a year... once in spring, once in fall. Before that, I get to work before the colors appear, and after, the sun is up. But, for three weeks, I get to watch the sun rise. Right now is the time for my spring sunrises.

Hard to believe it's supposed to rain and snow for the rest of the week... the trails were dry, too.

However, I was in for a real treat on the way home. I had read about a B-17 (One of my favorite planes making a visit, but wasn't sure if I'd get a chance to see it. So I swung by the airport:

Aluminum Overcast, a fully restored B-17G, one of the very few still flying.

Yeah.

Mileage: 12.3

Working on a different bike.

2011-04-02T23:11:00.000-07:00

I like bikes. I like riding them, and I like working on them. I'm not sure which part I like more.

I'm not just talking about bicycles, either.

None of this is news to anyone, I'm sure.

Thus is why I spent most of today up to my elbows in the engine of my KLR, Slide. Slide's a great bike, but there was one flaw in the engine that I needed to take care of, which was to replace the engine balance chain tension lever, hereafter to be referred to as the "Doohicky." The original part tends to run away from its home, and take a grand tour of the engine, sometimes causing havoc, in the worst case. Often, it's as simple as just not adjusting the chain properly.

Better to take care of the problem now, instead of being stranded somewhere. I've been dreading doing this, because I was afraid of what I'd find when I took the over off. Fortunately nothing was horribly wrong, I didn't need to go fishing for broken parts in the engine, and once I had the right tool, everything was smooth sailing.

As I started bolting things back together, Josh showed up on his KLR, Tinkerbell. Turns out he needs a new doohicky too. Looks like I get to do it all over again next week.

I actually went a bit further in, but I forgot to take pictures. Still cool to see.

Old doohicky on the left, new one on the right. The old one makes a great keyfob.

While I waited for gasket sealer to dry, I bolted on some crash bars and a skid plate, further protection for the bike should I turf it. After all that, it was time for a test ride.

Tinkerbell and Slide.

This was work I had been putting off for a few months now. The bike doesn't feel profoundly different, but there are changes. Some knocks I've grown used to are gone, replaced by a sewing machine type whir, and it feels smoother at speed. The biggest improvement is the peace of mind, and the confidence in knowing that there's not a time-bomb in the engine that'll leave me stranded somewhere.

Since that was something that's limited my time on Slide, I can see myself putting more miles on it... if gas prices go down.

...or if I'm not riding my bicycles.

Mileage: this many! *points over yonder*

How to make it snow:

2011-03-30T19:20:00.000-07:00

Let's face it, the solutions are obvious when it comes to making the weather do something: Plan for nice weather, and the weather will do the exact opposite that you've planned for.

Example one: A week and a half ago, Josh and I rode up Elden. The trails were mostly dry, as was the road, and fun was had, even if the temperature did drop and the wind kicked up, which made us freeze on the way back down.

The next day... this happened:

Leaving work.

Bi, rocking some snow-aero rims.

Fast forward a week. The sun is out, the snow is melting rapidly, no ice on the roads, and it's actually around freezing in the morning. 65 degrees for a high today. So I did something to guarantee snow.

I took the studded tires off Bi.

I like fat tires and I cannot lie...

With fat, semi-slicks on, I fully plan on waking up to 2 feet of snow tomorrow.

On the studded tires:

You might remember when I re-studded these tires using sheetmetal screws to replace the worn studs. Overall, the experiment was a success. I made it through another winter with no ice related crashes, and had decent traction for the entire season. I did end up trimming them down before I mounted them on the bike, as they would have been unrideable otherwise. However, they did wear down fast, and while I got two seasons out of the original studs, the screws will need to be replaced before next winter:

Front | Rear

The rear is missing about 10 or so studs, and the front is missing two, most of which I lost in the first couple rides. This didn't have an impact on traction. The tire casing still looks to be in good shape, so I think I'll buy another box of the same screws, and re-do both tires the same way for next winter.

Now to watch for snow.

Mileage: 4.5

Jump Jets and Dumpster Bikes...

2011-03-17T19:03:00.000-07:00

The title to this post is best read to the tune of Cake's Stick Shifts and Safety Belts.

It's getting warmer here. The snake I saw on the urban trail said so. The fact that I'm starting to see colors to the east on my way to work also tells me that Spring is on the way. Which means the trails are slowly drying out. The FUTS out to Fort Tuthill is pretty much dry, so I've been riding out that way after work.

One of the perks of that particular trail is that it goes by the Flagstaff International Airport, Hair Care, and Tire Center. This is a perk for two reasons. First is the smell from the Joy Cone plant that always seems to be upwind when I ride by. Second, every now and then, you see something cool at the airport, either landing, taking off, or parked on the tarmac.

Like today, when I was riding in front of the terminal, and heard a very loud roar from the downwind end of the runway.

I saw them flying the holding pattern around the airport, and was fortunate enough to be in the right place at the right time when the Harriers landed. A minute later, this guy followed them in.

So, I feel pretty good, as I usually do when I see some cool thing on a ride, truck on home, and as I ride by the dumpsters at the back of the apartment complex, I spied some familiar shapes.

Three very weathered bikes parked around the dumpsters.

Curious, I stopped, and checked them out.

Can I keep it? Huh? Huh? Can I? Huh?

It needs a lot of love, but it's that lugged steel bike that I've been on the hunt for, even if it is a little big for me. Let's see what I can make of it.

Mileage: 11.4

Bikepacking: A Shakedown.

2011-03-14T19:57:00.000-07:00

Apparently scraping my shoulder off wasn't enough.

So I've been wanting to get into more bikepacking/camping/touring-in-general for quite a while, since before my attempt at the Grand Canyon. What I know now, is I was doing it wrong then. Since then, I've been doing a lot of reading, scheming, plotting, and making. And this past weekend was the trial run for it all.

Josh and I packed up our gear, and headed down to Black Canyon City to camp out from Friday night to Sunday. After weeding out some bad directions, we made it to the trailhead and proceeded to get ready. The camping spot we had been told of was only a mile and a half away, all of 2 miles from I-17, and 3 miles from Black Canyon City. Extra water was in the truck if needed, and we had plenty of bailout options. Josh brought his dog Lucy, and would be hiking to the camp spot. I brought Tri, and would be riding.

Tri, all loaded down. The backpack on the tailgate is also mine.

I've never ridden this trail, let alone at night with a loaded down bike. Adventure!

All went well, and I wound up at the Agua Fria River in short order, where I waited for Josh. He made good time, and before too long, we found a spot to set up our tents.

Josh's on the left, mine on the right.

Testing my little alcohol stove to make breakfast.

After waking up and getting everything situated, we set off to do our different things for the day. I had seen pictures and read about the Black Canyon Trail System, and I've been wanting to ride it ever since I heard of it. It looked like an incredibly fun trail, with stunning views and well routed singletrack. So I set off to ride.

Looking back at camp.

South.

The trail has a very natural look and feel to it. It really is a part of the landscape, not an addition to it.

Bike sculpture at the top of one of the climbs.

Riding amongst the Saguaros. It's a lot different than dodging trees.

Black Canyon City.

I found Josh and Lucy at the bike sculpture on the way back, and had lunch, before heading back down to camp. I had ridden 7 miles out, and while I wasn't tired, I had limited water, and knew I had to either go to the truck for more, or boil water out of the river.

First thing's first, though...

Always wanted to chill with my feet in a stream after a ride.

Josh returned not too long after, and we spent the afternoon boiling water for drinking with our stoves, reading, and napping.

Sunday, we packed up, biked/hiked back to the truck, and headed back up the hill.

Overall, it was a fun and successful trip. I think I packed the perfect balance of gear and food, and had room for more, which I probably would (Should) use for more water. Everything worked, nothing failed, and while I do have a couple niggling changes to make to the setup, they're very minor and by no means necessary. I feel more confident in that bikepacking is entirely doable for me, and that it's fun.

So, now to do a real bike packing trip... once the weather warms up here a bit more.

Mileage: 4.5

That's gonna sting a little.

2011-03-09T21:18:00.000-08:00

I'll start off by saying I'm all right, it's not that bad.

Foreboding, yes?

So I went into a turn a little fast, and hit a bump that sent me airborne unexpectedly. I landed in the decorative rock ground covering next to the paved trail, the front end washed out, lowsided, and STeve and I hit the asphalt doing about 18 miles an hour.

Normally, I swing pretty far to the inside of the turn to avoid said bump, but there was someone walking there, so instead I held my line. I probably should have scrubbed some speed, too.

Left forearm, knee and shoulder made initial contact with the ground, as far as myself, with the shoulder taking the brunt. Bike hit on the left side brake lever, bar, and pedal. As we slid to a stop, the wheel grabbed, and spun the bars a neat 180 degrees, ramming my frame pump and breaking one of the zip-ties on its mount.

After stopping, and groaning, I looked up at the person I was avoiding in the first place, who had turned, and was staring with a shocked look on her face. What else could I do? I smiled, and said: "Don't mind me, I'm just gonna crash here."

I don't blame her for walking away without a word.

Battle damage, the bike: Scrapes and scuffs on both brake levers and hoods, lightly torn bar tape, front brakes knocked out of adjustment, bars tweaked, one brake lever tweaked. Spedometer sensor acts a little funny, but still works. And a broken zip-tie.

Battle damage, the equipment: Put some holes in my t-shirt, tore the tip of the thumb on my right glove somehow, put some scuffs on the visor of my helmet, (No direct impact damage on the helmet.) and tore a little hole in the side of the tailbag.

Battle damage, the Polarbear:
Plus a scrape on the left forearm, a bump on the knee, and some scrapes on my right thumbnail. I'm still trying to figure that one out.

As if all that weren't enough, STeve's rear tire went flat right when I got home.

All said and done, the damage to the bike is minimal, and I'll be riding it to work tomorrow morning. Damage to me is minimal, all things considered, but I'll be sore for a few days. This is yet another crash where my helmet didn't have an opportunity to act. I've been riding with helmets for 9 years now, and not a single crash I've had has involved a helmet. Doesn't mean I'm going to stop wearing mine, though, just an observation. However, this is the closest my helmet has come to hitting the ground in a crash. The next one may just make me glad I keep it around.

Mileage: 19

"Do your mothers know you're out here doing this?"

2011-03-05T20:10:00.000-08:00

One of the better comments I've heard from hikers while on a ride.

So Code and I went for a ride in Sedona today.

Tri, ready to go.

Bikes, in Tuck prison.

The ride started out on the Airport Loop trail, which gives some awesome views of Sedona, where every rock has a name. (Find the one named Bob.)

The trail was very rocky and surrounded with cactus.

We were sick of rocky trail, and dropped off the Airport Mesa in search of some fast flowy singletrack. I see some!

Not a terribly long ride, but a hard one, with lots of rocks and climbing. Definitely a fun one, though.

Mileage: 9.1

Chill.

2011-03-03T19:53:00.000-08:00

With a lot to do at work, and a lot on my mind, I'm itching for a good long bike ride. Fortunately, the snow from the last round of storms is melting off fairly quickly, and temps this weekend look to be between 50 and 60 degrees. The ride outlook is promising.

But I decided not to wait, and went on a bit of a ride after work. I rode out Route 66 a few miles to the Naval Observatory, and turned around and rode back. I saw a few other folks on bikes who had a similar idea, it seems.

It's melting fast, but there's still a lot on the ground in places.

It was also the first test of a tailbag I put together, in an effort to make it easier to put too much stuff on the bikes of mine that don't have racks. Amazingly, it worked out well, and the design is good. But, I need to do more with it, mainly figuring out how to pack it and get a routine down with it, so it's easy to cinch down and use. I'll have pictures soon, when I remember to snap a few of it. It's pretty slick for being home made.

Tomorrow: Friday Night Bike Night with TC!

Mileage: 15.8

Further Defining Adventure.

2011-02-13T20:31:00.000-08:00

Adventure: 2. Huh. I wonder if all the trails are this muddy?

Friday was a (mostly) road ride... why not make Sunday a (mostly) mountain ride?

I'll tell you why. Mud. And snow.

So my plan for the day was to see how far out my usual Skunk/Walnut Canyon/Arizona/Loop Trail route I could go before I was chased back to tarmac by the mud. The answer was not far, as I braved some wet sections and a mostly dry trail into Skunk Canyon, where it promptly turned into a cold soupy mess, buried in spots with snow. Durnit. After trying a couple other options which ended in similar situations, I decided to cut across town straight to the base of Mt. Elden, and ride up Lower Oldham to the Forces of Nature trail, and head east.

Don't let the snow fool you... I was wearing shorts for this ride.

This time, the best bike for this ride. Have you hugged your mountain bike today?

Now, I'm sore, I'm tired, and quite happy with the ride. I'm glad the mud and the snow covering the trails on the west side of town sent me to the relatively dry trails north and east of town, as I've never hit the Forces of Nature trail with relatively fresh legs. It was a blast, and one I'll be adding to the growing list of trails I'd like to ride on more often.

So many trails, so little time.

Mileage: 36

Define: Adventure.

2011-02-11T15:19:00.000-08:00

Adventure: Taking inappropriate equipment to out of the way places.

So, I woke up with a dull ache behind my right eye today, which is the herald of a migraine. Getting outside and doing something physical usually keeps the migraine monster at bay, so I packed up STeve and took off on what I had loosely planned on being a road ride "out 89 a ways."

I have a problem with plans.

About the time I was riding through the neighborhood where I grew up (Which is not exactly close to Highway 89) I detoured off the pavement onto a trail around Cave Hill, and followed that for about 3 miles, then some fire roads until I got back on 89 several miles later.

Flood control measures to try to manage runoff from the Schultz Fire burn area on the Peaks. What's hard to tell from the picture is that the channel is coated in ash from the fire that has been washed downstream.

Well... STeve is technically a crossbike. Tame singletrack is well within his capabilities.

But I brought the wrong bike for soft cinders.

By the time I got home, I still had that dull ache behind my right eye, but it had faded out and back in, having been forgotten for the majority of the ride. It will be gone soon. Add to that that, for my first long ride of the year, I feel pretty good about it. I'm not sore, my arms and back didn't hurt at any point, I kept good speed on most of the hills I encountered, and my legs have that happy post-ride twitchy thing going on.

Good stuff.

Mileage: 52.8

Bike Vision

2011-02-10T17:48:00.000-08:00

We're getting back into the normal Flagstaff weather trend that we all have a love-hate relationship with. You know, when it's 45 or more degrees outside, light breeze, sunny one day, then below freezing and windy the next day.

I've been trying to make the best of the warm days when they come, but what I've been lacking is a long ride. The type of ride that makes me feel good, like all my problems are so much easier because I just spent the last 8 hours kicking my own butt on a bike. Mountain or road, at this point it doesn't matter, I just need to get out and lose a day to spinning the cranks on a bike.

Anyways.

One of the things I love about riding my bikes everywhere is the things I see. Arguably, you see the same things from a car, but everything seems so much closer and real on a bike, and I feel like I see more, verses a car. It's also so much easier to stop and take in a scene, maybe pull out the camera and take a picture, without being in someone's way.

Food by bike: grocery store run from a couple weeks ago. Go go Surlys!

Define Irony. (Yes, it was on and grilling.)

I saw the last one at the store today, and had to share. Personally, I think it's awesome and ingenious, and I can't say anything bad about it.

Ride on, and see you some stuff.

Mileage: 6

Get a little mud on the tires.

2011-01-22T13:12:00.001-08:00

There comes a time when you just have to say "Screw the mud and the snow, I'm going for a ride!" and do just that.

That moment came today for me. I finished Tri's new wheels yesterday, it was 50 degrees out, and I had an itch to go for an off-road type ride. I knew everything was going to be muddy and wet, so I stayed off the single track and stuck to forest roads, which were already pretty torn up.

Tri rocking the new wheels. I think they look much better than the old ones. They definitely ride better.

For the first few miles, it wasn't bad, as the ground was still pretty firmly frozen, and the snow was firm in the shade, letting me ride in tire tracks. But then I wandered into the areas where they've been doing some thinning, and things started to get muddy.

Saying "Hi" to a snowman.

By the time we made it back to the road to head home, having ruled the test ride a success, I was pedaling through mud 3 inches deep, with another inch or more of water on that. Normally I don't like mud that much, but this wasn't that sticky gumbo-mud that binds wheels. By the time I got home, there was one thought in my head:

Most trucks around town only dream of doing what Tri and I did, and bringing home the mud coat we did.

Mileage: 10.4

Blah Blah Blah Cold Blah Blah Wheels

2011-01-17T19:07:00.000-08:00

This post was supposed to start out with me ranting about how the cold has been sapping my motivation to go on any sort of ride, what with spending between 5 and 10 minutes judging how cold it is, equipping enough cold weather gear to keep me just warm enough to be comfortable, but not be too warm, then feeling like I'm pedaling through corn syrup because of the cold.

Miserable, eh?

But, this is Flagstaff. The past few days, the temperature has risen about 25 degrees, with today being the nicest day in more than a month. So I got off work early to do a little riding around. I'll take it.

But I've still been riding despite the cold. Friday, TC and I caught a sunset:

In other news, I decided that Tri has been so good to me this past year, I decided to rebuild his wheels with new rims. The wheels I got for Tri were the cheapest ones I could find, since I built him on a pretty tight budget.The rims are intended to be road rims, not mountain bike rims, and are a bit narrower than I'd like, as well as the braking surface isn't even, so the brakes are very grabby and unpredictable. (Someday I may even upgrade to disc brakes...) I figured all that and nearly 1,000 miles of pretty rough riding warranted some attention:

Yeah. Really rough riding.

The plan was to lace some Sun Rhino Lite rims to the existing hubs. That was before I discovered how badly chewed up the cones in the hubs were. Then I found out that no one has any replacement cones for those hubs.

Ahh, plans. They never pan out.

So, instead of rebuilt wheels, Tri is getting brand new wheels, hand built by myself. A pair of Shimano XT hubs is on order from Absolute. I have to thank Exe for helping make that decision easier to make. Hopefully the new wheels will be built up and ready to roll this weekend. Then, all I need are some dry trails to test it out on.

Do I wait for spring, or hitch a ride to Sedona? Decisions, decisions...

Mileage: 14.5

Oh wait... it's 2011 already?

2011-01-03T20:41:00.000-08:00

Or is it "Finally! 2011!" I'm not entirely sure. Regardless, it has been a year since my last mileage tally, which means it's time for.... another mileage tally! *Applause!* Fashionably late, as seems to be the trend.

What, I've been distracted.

Somewhat.

Anyways, in the tried and true format, the numbers for the past year:

Bi:..........1416.4
Henry:...787.06
Tri:.........831
STeve:....1000

Total: 4034.46 miles.

This is significant. Why?

Well, the last week of September, I tallied up my miles for the year so far, and found I was dangerously close to 3,000 miles. So, Exe convinced me that I should try to hit that by the last day of September, thus riding 3,000 miles in the first three quarters of the year. Achieving that, I should then try to break 4,000 miles by the end of the year.

Lofty goals. So I pushed for 3k. And I made it. Then, after that, I sort of let it go. I did lots of riding, but I wasn't pushing myself to go out and put in miles towards breaking 4k. I rode for the same reasons I always did, to have fun, and see stuff, and relax. I tallied every now and then, to see how close I was, to see if I could figure out which mile it would be on which bike, so I could take a picture of where I was when I hit it.

With that goal met, and discussed, what of the other three I set at the beginning of last year?

1: Ride a full century. This mainly is just a round about way of saying I want to build up my endurance further. DONE!

2: Do a short weekend camping tour. Pack my tent, sleeping bag, and foodstuffs on Henry, ride somewhere far-ish away, camp for a night or two, and ride home. I wanted to do this in '09, but I wasn't ready, or set on it. DONE! Sorta.

3: Enter in a mountain bike race. Preferably the Crazy 88, but we'll see. This one is highly uncertain, but we'll see. Amazingly, DONE!

So... with those met... I'm sort of at a loss for goals for this year. There are some things I'd like to do bike-wise, but they are fairly specific, and not so much general goals. I'd like to actually make it to the Grand Canyon. I'd like to ride down to Sedona and actually ride back. I'd like to ride more centuries. I'd like to take a week to bike camp around Northern Arizona. Things like that. Personally, I feel like all those things are well within my realm of possibility, having done the riding I've done in the past year. They're not so much something I need to work up to now, so much as just get past the mental block that keeps me close to home.

On the flip side, there's also quite a few things I'd like to do this year that don't involve pedaling my crazy rear all over Arizona, too. I have some ideas for woodworking that may end up on my poor little neglected crafting blog, eventually. (Give it a click, it's lonely.) I also have two motorcycles that saw very few miles this year, and I'm starting to miss riding them around.

All said and done, I probably won't turn out so many miles this year... and I'm fine with that. The important thing is that I enjoy whatever I chose to do.

May '11 be a good year for all.

Mileage: 4.5

Winter Riding on Holiday Streets

2010-12-24T21:47:00.000-08:00

We got our first decent snowstorm of the season (Decent in my mind meaning 4 or more inches of snow.) on Wednesday night on into Thursday. I was one of the few crazies on his bike out playing in the snow:

That elusive arctic snow snake is back.

However, it is Flagstaff, and with snow comes... well... typical Flagstaff weather. By today, a lot of it had melted off. I decided it was a good idea to ride Bi out to meet up with family for dinner, when I saw one of the coolest light and cloud shows over Mt. Elden.

You don't see something like that every day... I wonder what that looked like from space?

After dinner, I rode home via the airport, though not from the place where dinner was. (It's sort of a long story.) It was truly a nice ride. It wasn't too cold, just cool enough to make me work to keep warm, but not cold enough to ice up the roads. Cars were out there, but scarce. By the time I got home, I felt like I could have easily kept going, all night if I wanted to.

Tomorrow, the roads ought to be nearly empty.

I'm looking forward to that.

Mileage: 20.4

Riding around

2010-12-15T21:07:00.000-08:00

So while I wait for the Tron: Legacy soundtrack to download, and while I can't sleep, I figure I'll catch up on my neglected bloggery.

I've been taking advantage of the warm-ish weather since our first little snowstorm of the season, and going on some post-work rides. I've put some miles on Henry, sine Bi's got the really heavy studded tires on, which are rumbly and heavy. Where have I gone?

Agassiz Peak basking in the last rays of sunshine, peeking out from behind Andersen Mesa.

Lake Mary.

Contrast: Snowball in a still-sorta-green field.

The Peaks from the Naval Observatory road.

Henry and I decided to go ice-skating out at Fort Tuthill.

I leave you with yesterday's sunset.

Mileage: 4.2

Cold.

2010-11-12T22:46:00.000-08:00

Dreading the cold. We've all been there.

Alex put it best this evening, as I was putting off heading home from TC's. He said it's only getting colder.

So I bundled up. Slowly. Two pairs of socks because I didn't pack toe warmers. I lingered. Played with Zoe. And finally wheeled out the door.

I'm hit with a blast of cold, square in the face. Take off the rockin' gloves to turn on the lights. They're already cold by the time I put them back on, 10 seconds later.

It is going to be a long ride home.

Crank up Switzer and spin to Beaver Street. Roll downtown. See the crossing arms drop for an approaching train and turn right on 66. Gotta keep moving to stay warm.

My face is freezing. My fingers are chilly. My feet are cold. I follow 66 up the hill, past the car dealerships. I turn left on Woodlands. Down the hill, backpedaling to regulate speed.

I'm not as cold. My fingers are warm, my toes aren't that cold, and my arms are borderline sweating. Even my face isn't half bad.

Amazing how just a few hours earlier, my toes were in pain from the cold, and my fingers were chilled enough to restrict their movement.

Coming up on Lake Mary Road, and a decision is made. I roll straight, following 89 out to the fairgrounds. "What the heck." I think.

The cars are less frequent this way at 11:30 at night. I'm sure the few that pass me are thinking about just how cold I am, and happy that they're sitting in nice warm cars.

They don't realize just how warm I am now, as I crank up and down the rolling hills. The cold is no longer dreaded. It is enjoyed, embraced. It fuels my ride.

I find myself too soon on Pulliam, aimed at home. I look up at the stars, and veer into the oncoming lane. No matter, there are no cars here now.

On the urban trail through High Country. My face is cold again. The high is wearing off. The cold is creeping back, reminding me that it is indeed Winter. Almost.

Roll to the door. Go inside, where my glasses instantly fog. Curiosity begs to know how cold it was... A balmy 22 degrees.

Yes, it was a long ride home, though not the way I was afraid it would be.

Mileage: 25

What a bunch of studs.

2010-11-08T19:55:00.000-08:00

The question I get asked most often when I say I ride my bike all winter, no matter the weather, is surprisingly not, "Wow, how do you stay warm?"

No, people are more interested about whether or not I make my own studded tires.

This will be my something'th winter with bicycles as my primary mode of transit, and my third with studded tires on my commuter bike, Bi. The last two years I ran a pair of Innova studded tires. Nothing fancy, I needed studded tires, and they were affordable, as well as the only thing Absolute had on the shelf for a 29'er. But, with regular steel studs, not carbide, the studs wore down after two seasons, leaving me with two perfectly good tire casings, with worn down nubs of metal embedded in the tread.

They still work... a little.

Well, this year, I considered my options for the winter riding season. I could shell out some money for longer lasting carbide studded tires, (Starting at ~$60 per tire.) or, I could buy carbide studs to replace the worn down ones in the existing tires. (Also about $60 per tire.)

Studs be expensive, yo.

I ultimately decided on neither of these, and spent $15 dollars on three hundred #6 x 3/8" sheetmetal screws. Yes, this may be a little overkill, since each tire needs 114 studs.

The plan was to rip all the old studs out of the little tread pocket they are embedded in, and jam the heads of the screws in their place. Easy enough. So, I set to work, using a quick clamp (To squish the tire and make the tread release the studs easier) and the can opener on my Leathermans. (to get under the stud and pry it out.)

I should warn you at this point, should you decide to try this, WEAR EYE PROTECTION! Sometimes the studs will fly away, with great speed, and like most small rapidly moving objects, they aim for eyes and fine china.

220 studs later... (Some went missing...)

It was time to start installing the screws. I used a pair of needle nose pliers to grip the sharp end of the screw. I squeezed the tire to open the tread pocket, and just sort of twisted and forced the head of the screw in.

Once again, USE EYE PROTECTION! There's more force behind the screws than the studs, and they will fly far and hit hard. A few screws flew away, and I'm sure I won't find them again unless we move out.

If all goes well, and you haven't shot your eyes out, you'll have tires that look like this:

Now. Having just finished both tires, I have yet to ride them at all. I can tell you now, traction on pavement will be horrible, what with 1/4" of screw sticking out of the tires, and will likely result in several of the studs being ripped out. Even on ice, this is a bit impractical. For this reason, I'm thinking of trimming them down shorter with a pair of heavy wire cutters. Also, my fingers and thumbs hurt from removing and installing 228 studs total.

These screws are steel, just like the studs I replaced them with, and therefore won't last more than a season or two. However, they're cheap to replace, (If a bit labor intensive) and I can keep replacing them as long as the tire casing is still good. I'll be sure to post an update if anything significant (Good or bad) happens.

So, in answer to the question, do I make my own studded tires?

Not really, but I replace the studs with screws when they get too worn down.

Mileage: 5.3

Contrast Ratio

2010-11-04T20:22:00.000-07:00

I love Fall in Flagstaff. The contrast between changing leaves and evergreens just makes me take a deep breath and wait for Winter to bring it.

I had thought I had missed the majority of the leaves changing colors this year. Normally I'd have ridden into the Inner Basin to see the aspens, but it's closed off as a result of the Schultz fire. So, I headed south on the Arizona Trail in search of some gold, and not expecting much.

Methinks I was just in time.

Mileage: 41.7

Photo Dumpage: Meadview and Fall Colors

2010-10-31T19:22:00.000-07:00

Last weekend saw a trip out to Meadview Arizona with TC and Alex, and one of the days involved me getting the bright idea to ride from Meadview to Lake Mead, more specifically the boat ramp at South Cove.So under cloudy skies I set off.

I see the lake!

Will the weather hold out?

This downhill was the whole goal of the ride.

Boat ramp extension construction.

I scared up a flock of ducks.

The long grind up hill...

Made it to the top!

At this point I decided to explore, and ended up riding to the Meadview International Airport, Hair Care, and Tire Center, which sits on a mesa north of town.

Looking towards Pearce Ferry from the mesa.

STeve checking out the view. I love the geology of this area.

The airstrip. I decided to see how fast I could ride down it and back. I am decidedly slower than a Bugatti Veyron.

Long straight road back to Meadview.

Now... it's the end of Octoberber, and I'm sure someone's wondering where the usual fall colors I seem to post every year are. Fall came late, and I've been a little busy, but today, the Josh monkey and I set out for a ride over the Dry Lake Hills, which took us through some colorful trees.

Josh climbing a boulder...

Followed by myself.

Not many things will stop me when I'm rolling down sweet flowing trail like Sunset on the way down to Schultz Tank.

But that did.

Mileage: 32.3

Dogfood, with some A-1, Please.

2010-10-16T20:32:00.000-07:00

Fall is slowly marching down the mountain slopes, and I fear this may be one of the last really nice weekends for mountain biking for the year. I made it a point to go out today, and after getting a very late start, I headed out.

I beelined through town to the Schultz Creek trailhead, and set course up Dogfood. I made it to the top, turned around and blasted back down, which was the primary goal for the ride today. I just wanted to ride down Dogfood, something I had yet to do, and it was very fun.

After that, I decided to try to avoid riding through town, and found a route from Highway 180 that took me right by A-1 Mountain and across Observatory Mesa to the Tunnel Springs trail, then home in the dark from there. A little exploration to round out the ride... always nice.

The San Francisco Peaks, from Hidden Hollow.

Mileage: 35.2

What a slacker.

2010-10-14T20:20:00.000-07:00

I had been intending to make a post a week or so ago... but I got busy and lazy. Four letter words, they are. There's only so many hours in a day with which to ride and be distracted by shiny objects, and let's face it; Riding, and shiny objects are just a little higher on my list of priorities.

So, what have I been up to, specifically?

Well, I broke my first spoke:
I was cranking up a hill, and heard a plink that shook the whole bike, which left me frantically looking for what broke, until I saw the rear wheel tweaked. D'oh. Another broken part for the wall.

I've also been testing the load limits on Henry.
So far the heaviest load stands at about ~150 pounds, comprised of various boards, anywhere from 2 feet to 8 feet long. Stuff like this is why I got the Big Dummy, and boy do I love it. I like the weird looks people give me when I haul something big, too.

And then there's the actual rides I've been going on. I've been on a bit of an exploration kick lately, finally taking that left or right turn that I've never taken, but always wondered where it would take me, or what the trail looks like, what sights there are to be seen. Sights like a different view of Fisher Point, looking down the very beginning of Walnut Canyon:

Or looking up Sandy's Canyon:

I decided to ride up Fay Canyon, one I've surprisingly never done. I ride through Skunk and Sandy's Canyon all the time, and Fay Canyon sits between them. I wanted to collect the whole set. It's not the most scenic canyon out of the other two on either side of it, but it has its moments:

What Fay Canyon lacks in views, though, the trail itself more than makes up for. It's beautifully laid out, following the terrain like Laguna Seca, as the trail swoops from the canyon walls to the very edge of the wash, before doubling back on itself to sweep through the bottom of the wash and up the other side. The fast rolling sections are smooth and free of large rocks buried in the trail bed, with some mildly banked turns, so you can roll at speed with confidence. The technical sections are challenging, but not so much as to make you walk. It's unbelievably fun.

I can't believe I've never ridden it before now, though I'm sure there are a lot of trails like that.

Quack.

This... brings us to today. I got off work early to take care of a few things, and ended up going for a ride of undetermined destination and duration. I ended up doing Soldier's Loop to the Highlands, out to the Kachina Wetlands, before heading out a dirt road and following a game trail up to the top of a hill off Woody Mountain Road to see the sunset.

Fall, coming to a tree near you.

Fort Fork, on the Bridge trail.

Completely random balloons in a field.

Sunset from near the top of the hill off Woody Mountain Road.

Now, it's no secret I love riding at night. The last few weeks in summer saw me riding with the Absolute team on their Thursday night rides, but with the sun going down earlier for Fall, they're done for the season, though obviously that doesn't stop me.

That said it's cool when you're riding at night, and you see an animal of some sort. A rabbit, a squirrel, maybe a fox, even. It's really cool if you see something a bit bigger, like a deer, or a coyote.

Want to know what awesome is?

I was rolling down a dirt road tonight, the sun's down, I'm running full lights, but there's still a little light in the sky. All of a sudden, I hear an elk bugle, long and loud, and CLOSE. It scared me half to death and raised the hair on my neck. I whipped my head around, with the helmet light lighting everything in it's path.

And about 60 pairs of elk eyes, the closest of which were only 20 feet away, all stared back at me out of the darkness.

Awesome.

Mileage: 31.6

So that's the Pain Cave they speak of.

2010-09-28T22:13:00.000-07:00

So I finally decided to ride STeve up Snowbowl Road after work today. That was hard, and painful, and my legs are pretty fried. I kept asking myself why I thought this was a good idea, of which the answer was "To see if I can do it."

Of course, there's also the fact that I get to come back down the 7 miles of twisty-turny goodness.

My goal was to make it up to the lower parking lots in time to see the sunset, a goal that seemed to creep further and further away with every "I've gotta stop because I feel like I'm going to cough up blood."

Looking downhill.

But I did make it to the top, and more than that, I made it in time for the sunset, which in itself made every tortured turn of the cranks worth it:

The blast back down the hill, setting a new top speed of 44.9 miles an hour was just icing on the cake.

I'll do it again.

Mileage: 37

Expecting the Spanish Inquisition

2010-09-25T00:59:00.000-07:00

So, there's a thought in my head as I lay here trying to sleep.

There was a bike vs. car collision last week in an intersection near work that I pass through on a nearly daily basis, which turned out to be fatal for the cyclist involved. It's made me sort of hyper aware of the goings on around me while I'm riding, moreso than usual, as well as it's got me thinking, which is never a good thing.

Today I was browsing the bike forums and blogs, reading about other riders accidents, near misses, and other run-ins with cars on the road, and realized, that most (not all) of the incidents people post and rant about could be avoided if the cyclist rode more defensively, expecting the driver of the offending vehicle to do something stupid/illegal. In a perfect world, yes, everyone would obey the laws, and there would be no accidents of any sort, with the exception of those caused by mechanical failures or freak accidents due to any number of environmental variables.

But, we don't live in a perfect world, and with the ever increasing number of in-cab distractions, impatience, and generalized I-don't-give-a-fudge attitudes, the roads can be a dangerous and scary place to be. One way to deal with this is to stay at home, inside, as much as possible, never leaving except to take out the trash. But let's face it. That's no fun. And there's only so many places that deliver.

The other option is to expect the Spanish Inquisition.

See the car rolling down the street perpendicular to yours, and ask yourself if they're going to actually stop at the intersection before they turn right on red, or just roll it, and broadside you.

Don't go speeding along in the bike lane passing that backed up line of cars snickering to yourself about traffic. One may get sick of waiting and right-hook you as they decide to cut through a parking lot.

Even though you might legally have the right of way given to you by a green light, don't expect anyone else to respect that, especially police cars.

Bicycles are small vehicles, that are hard to see in a passing glance. So are motorcycles. I ride both. I ride like I'm invisible, as though other drivers can't see me. This makes me prepared, it helps me expect the unexpected. The vast majority of the time, it's unnecessary. People see me, yield to my right of way, and we all go on our way without incident and a minimal amount of annoyance.

But there's always that one time, when I think to myself "I bet they're not going to stop." So, like always, I back off, I cover the brakes, I check my escape routes. They blow the stop sign in front of me, nearly take someone else's front end off, and I'm left shaking my head, and glad that I anticipated it.

Some accidents are unavoidable. But I think if we all drive a little more defensively, and look out for ourselves, instead of counting on everyone else on the road to be responsible, we'll be a little safer. We just can't rely on the other guy.

Tonight, I rode home after midnight. There weren't many cars out on the road, and those that were out gave me plenty of space. Everyone saw me. I didn't need to be ready to try to avoid a run-in with a car.

But I was still ready.

Mileage: 10.4

Le Tour de Lake?

2010-09-16T19:16:00.000-07:00

I do enjoy riding out Lake Mary-ward. Usually Northern Arizona is fairly dry, and any water, streams or otherwise near town is pretty seasonal. A trip to a lake or other body of water is a nice change of pace, a treat.

The downside is people. Specifically, what they leave behind, or en-route.

I've never seen so much broken glass on the side of the road as I have today, and it really makes me wonder why. Along with the shattered bottles on the shoulder was the rest of the garbage littering the ditches. It takes away from the view, as well as adds to the flat potential. Fortunately I didn't get any flats; Excuse me while I knock on wood.

I did have an idea as I was riding home, though. One common complaint from motorists is that cyclists don't pay any sort of road tax, yet claim the same rights as a car. (I take issue with this for a few reasons, which I won't go into right now.) But maybe one way to give back in a visible way, to show cyclists care about taking care of the road, might be to organize a group of people, anyone with an Xtracycle, bike trailer, or any bike that can carry a decent load, and collect trash off a mile or two of road, hauling it away on bikes.

I know it wouldn't work the way I see it in my head, and besides, I'm sure it's been done before.

AAaaannnyways.

So, I took off out towards Lake Mary. Made it to the far end in pretty good time, and decided I'd go to Ashurst Lake, up on Andersen Mesa. I've never been to Ashurst Lake, up on Andersen Mesa, so why not?

The road to Ashurst Lake, framed with pretty yellow flowers.

One of the many little lakes of Andersen Mesa.

Annnd, Ashurst Lake.

After that, I tried to circle Mormon Lake, but smoke from the Weir Fire to the south was drifting across. I didn't feel like choking on the smoke, so I turned around.

Good ride.

Mileage: 59.4

Chasing that epic ride.

2010-09-13T20:44:00.000-07:00

I rolled out this morning at 10:30. So much for leaving early. I started off on my usual Arizona Trail E loop, first taking the Loop trail to Skunk Canyon. What better way to start off a day of riding with a nearly all downhill cruise through an open canyon, that suddenly closes in on you as you round a corner? Now, down to and up Fisher Point. It's a long 1.2 mile technical climb, with something like 600 feet of elevation gain. Nothing terribly interesting, aside from grinding up the hill and looking back to a smoke plume:

Turns out it was a prescribed burn.

I was down there!

From Fisher Point, it was a nice cruise along the rim of Walnut Canyon, though it seemed much easier. I hadn't ridden this loop yet this year, which was odd, since it's one of my favorite trails. I ended up running into a trail crew doing some work on two major re-routes of the trail, bypassing a couple of really tough/scary parts. My feelgood moment of the day came from the lead guy, when he turned to everyone else and said "You wanna see hardcore? He's got no suspension, and only one gear!"

That may make me hardcore, but it doesn't mean I'm any good.

They offered to let me ride on the new section of the trail, which I turned down. It would have been cool to lay the first tire marks on fresh trail, but I didn't want to mess up their hard work by locking up my rear brake, what with the tread on my rear tire worn down. I also wanted to have a goodbye roll on that scary section. I ended up clearing it nearly perfectly, one of the few times.

It's nice to part trails with a good note.

Of course, I can't go on a ride without breaking something, it seems...

*plink!* It still held the bottle, though.

On past the Old Walnut Canyon Highway, to the Monument road, and out to Cosnino. I love these segments. It transitions from big pines, oak, and cedar, to pinyon and juniper, with open grasslands. The trail has good flow, with little climbing, and just enough rocks and loose sand to keep things interesting.

Under an old alignment of Route 66, I-40, and the railroad tracks. I always ring the bell through the tunnels, something TC and I started a while ago. It's all about the echos.

The trail on the other side loses some of its flow. It winds between trees, which become more and more densely packed. Looking through the trees, I see a corpse of a car, and decide to have a little fun:

I'm still not sure what I was trying to do.

Not long after the car, the trail takes me through a big field. Usually it's filled with sunflowers. The trail cuts through the middle of it, which always makes for some fun with my allergies. But it's late in the year, and most of the flowers have shed their petals and lost their pollen. My allergies rejoice, but not me, because this field is the end of the easy riding.

The trail takes me behind the cinder pits, through hillsides overgrown with nettles, thistles, and goathead thorns. This year is worse than last year. Nettles cling to my socks and make their way into my shoes. Thorns toss themselves across the trail, going for my tires. I ride with my fingers crossed, which makes it harder to grab the brakes, as I roll downhill into the Rio de Flag valley.

Now begins the slog uphill, as I call it. I could easily do without this section of the trail. It's mostly soft cinders, and it's mostly uphill, as you may have guessed. I ride as much as I can, which seemed to be more than I managed last year. Before too long, I wind up at the tunnel at 89:

The cinders are behind me now, the trails are made of dirt and rock now. But now, I'm faced with a question.

Where to from here?

I usually follow the loop trail to the Christmas Tree trailhead. and ride home through town, as I'm usually tired, or don't have much daylight left. But I've made it to the Winona/89 intersection faster than usual, and I still feel good. So I head up.

Up the Heart Trail, up the side of Mt. Elden, on a steep washed out trail made of loose rock shards and switchbacks. I'm not doing that again anytime soon. It was not a ride, since I pushed the bike probably three-quarters of the way. It was worth it for the views, though, and it did sap my energy, and tire me out. Now I wanted to get home, since the sun was getting low in the sky, and I had no lights. And I was out of water. On top of a mountain.

Down Sunset Trail, through the Hobbit Forest. Contemplate riding down Little Bear, just to the fire burn line, just to see, but decide against it. I'll miss that trail. Ride down Onion to the lookout road. I try one of the logjams on Onion for fun. I clear it. I try the next one. Tri may never forgive me for that, and I walk the rest of the jams. Blast down the Lookout road to the gas station on 180, and get a Sobe to get me home, and some soda for when I get home. It's all about priorities.

I couldn't see Fisher Point from the saddle on Elden, but I could see Walnut Canyon, and some of the route I took from there to get to Mt. Elden. Close enough.
It's interesting to realize I just pedaled (and hiked) from the hole in the ground over there to the mountain over here. Interesting and cool. It gives me a moment of "There's nothing I can't do!" But then I read about Noodle and her TransAmerica tour, and I come back down to Earth pretty quick. I wish I had just a bit of her stamina. And willpower.

Maybe someday.

First colors of Fall.

Mileage: 41.5, plus about 2 miles hiked.

On Sunsets

2010-09-04T12:51:00.000-07:00

TC's knees felt good enough to ride to Fisher Point last night. It was a nice ride, and we saw a huge herd of elk crossing the trail on the way there. I also did a bit of wandering up a drainage run to see where it went. (I thought it looked like a trail, and I've always been curious about where it went.)

I see you!

As the sun set, and lit up the sky, we sort of got on a bit of a discussion, about how it's very rare that anyone ever sits down and just watches a sunset. A sunset is no longer a show to be enjoyed as it happens, it seems, but now it must be captured, stored, and shared on blogs and facetube. That said, I fully include myself in that statement:

Because she took a similar one of me... we really are twins.

I love sunsets, and sunrises. And for me, taking pictures of them is a part of enjoying them, because I can share it with people who may not have the opportunity to see the show in the sky, even if my pictures don't do it justice. Nevermind the fact that with pictures, I can look at a sunset anytime. Some people may say that that lessens the feeling of awe when watching a real sunset, but I don't agree. I find myself more captured by the real thing, after looking at pictures of sunsets.

All that said, after the last picture, I put the camera away, and we watched as the sun sank lower and lit up the hanging wisps from the clouds with fiery reds and oranges, making the entire sky glow before fading to purple, and eventually gray as the last rays faded.

I'll admit, it was hard to keep from taking a picture of it.

Mileage: 21.3 yesterday.

Lupine Betty 7 Bicycle Lighting System

2010-08-30T21:00:00.000-07:00

It is not very often that I get the chance to test new equipment. So when I was asked to test a "Really bright light" of course I said yes, which is how I found myself with a Lupine Betty 7 light system. This system is rated at a max output of 1,750 lumens, with a claimed 3 hour burn time at full power, from a package that weighs in at about 485 grams.

The first thing I noticed with the Betty 7 system, besides how bright it was, was how small the battery pack is, not much larger than a D cell battery. I had expected something larger to power such a powerful light. After that, was the solid feel of the light head, the body of which is machined from a solid piece of aluminum. A hefty rubber band mounts the lighthead to the handlebars, while the battery mounts to the frame with a large velcro flap, and a smaller strap to keep it from spinning around your top tube, should the ride get rough. The power leads are long enough to give you plenty of mounting options, and are pretty well reenforced.

Use:

I took the Betty 7 on a few night rides, the first of which saw it mounted on the bars of my cross bike. With the battery pack attached to the stem, the lighthead mounted on the bar top, and the extra length of power leads wrapped around the stem and battery pack, I set out on a group ride over MUPs, streets and some rough fire roads. The light never flickered, and the default light settings (high beam, low beam, and flash) let me chose how much light I wanted based on conditions. Everyone I was riding with was very impressed by the light output and small size of the system, especially when I lit up trees 200 feet away with the low beam. Despite the high pressures I run my tires at, and the rocky roads we rode over, the light never flickered or dimmed on its own, though the light head did tend to move a little, requiring position adjustments now and then.

The light then got moved to my full rigid single speed mountain bike for some true trail testing on some local singletrack. Once again, no matter how rough the trails got, the light never blinked or flickered, and delivered consistent light on the trail in front of me for the entire duration of every ride. I found myself blazing through familiar trails just as fast as I would in sunlight, and new (to me) trails I was able to tackle with confidence. Once again, the light head moved around, which got a little annoying on more technical sections.

One thing I did notice on tighter trails is that despite having a 16 degree lens, with a lot of spill light outside the focused pattern, the intensity of the main beam tends to wash out any peripheral view. In sharp turns and switchbacks, the trail would disappear into the darkness, and even with a helmet lamp, was hard to discern, due to my eyes being used to the bright patch of light in front of me from this light. A brighter helmet light would aid with this, of course, but Lupine is also releasing a 22 degree lens, for greater light spread.

I also took some time to explore the programming options. Out of the box, the light is set up with a high beam, (100% power) low beam, (55%) and a super flash setting. But it can be programmed for any number of stepped dimming and flashes, including an SOS beacon. The programming chart looks a little daunting and hard to understand at first, but a little trial and error didn't hurt anything when I tried it, and it is easy enough to revert back to factory settings. Before long, I had it set up for 2 step dimming, 3 step dimming, and a stepless setting that adjusts from 5% to 100% power, in 5% increments. I did find that at the lowest (5%) setting, the light did flicker badly, but anything higher and it shone steadily.

There were many "Wow! This thing is bright!" moments as I used this light. Moments such as lighting up part of the side of a mountain to show the group I was with how bright it was, and being able to say "Wait, let me turn it up!" Moments like realizing that this light is nearly as bright as some car headlights, so maybe I should turn it down a little so that I am not blinding them. It is far brighter than many people think necessary, including myself, until I rode at night with it. It was really nice being able to have my own swath of daylight in front of me on the trail.

A few quick numbers and features: The Betty 7 lighthead uses 7 Cree XP-G LEDs, for a combined output of 1,750 lumens, adjustable from 23 watts down to .25 watts, with programmable steps between. It has a claimed burn time from 3 hours all the way up to 168 hours, as well as a half-hour "reserve tank." It is powered by a 7.5 amp-hour lithium ion battery, which takes 4 hours to recharge. The light body is machined from a solid piece of aluminum, and acts as a heatsink for the heat generated by 7 LEDs, to keep them from burning up. The light also has a temperature management system that shuts it off if it gets too hot. A titanium ring wraps around a polycarbonate lens, similar to what is used in motorcycle helmet face shields. The system weighs 485 grams.

All this highlights what this light would really shine at, which is 24 hour races. Lupine offers a 14.5 amp-hour bottle battery as an upgrade, for nearly 6 hours of runtime at full power. Between its rugged construction, light output, and battery life options, it seems ideal for night races. The only potential problem is the mounting system, which did indeed keep the light attached to the bars on rougher trails, but didn't keep the light aimed where I put it.

All of this comes at a price, though, as a system similar to that which I tested retails for around US $995. If you want the brightest light made for a bike, there's not much that even comes close to the Betty 7.

This is the best example I can give of the power of this light:

A 160 lumen bicycle headlight.

Motorcycle headlight, on high beam. The fence visible is about 100 feet away.

Lupine Betty 7 Light system, on high beam.

Test Mileage: Around 62 miles ridden with the light.

Thanks to Absolute Bikes for loaning me the light to test!

Wind, Rain, Lightning, and all that kind of thing!

2010-08-29T15:35:00.000-07:00

So as I sit here in the apartment listening to the wind whip around trees and buildings, I've got one thought in my head, besides Billy Idol's White Wedding.

Boy am I glad I decided to turn around and come home yesterday, or else I'd be riding into the wind all day today.

Wind is at the top of my list as far as conditions I don't like riding in, right up there with mud and washboarded roads. Keep that in mind, there will be a quiz later.

Riding to the Grand Canyon on the Moqui Stage Route has been something I've wanted to do for almost 2 years now, and on Friday morning, I loaded down Henry with food, lots of water, a change of clothes, and some camping gear, and set out for adventure. Let me tell you, nature certainly delivered.

Aww, Henry thinks he's cars now!

Nice view of the Peaks. It looks like it's going to be a nice day.

Darkening clouds 10 miles later... What was that about a nice day?

Rain falling right where I want to go.

At about 1 in the afternoon, I tied up the tarp and huddled with Henry while the rain pounded away, and lightning danced around. Four times, lightning struck within 50 feet, shaking the ground and leaving me deaf for a few minutes. After about 4 hours, I decided to call it a day, and pitched my tent under the tarp, figuring the ground there was fairly dry compared to the rest of the forest. I had only gone 27 miles, but I figured I would make it up the next day.

Camp.

It then proceeded to rain off and on all night, stopping just before dawn, when it started to clear out.

I broke camp, packed everything up, and set off down the road, meeting up with the Arizona trail, to follow it through an area called Lava Wash, which would take me to the Babbitt Ranch.

Remember what I said about mud?

The road through Lava Wash is a winding rocky road, with deep ruts and decent drops. And, because of all the rain, it was now a mud pit. 15 miles of it. I had to stop 3 times to clear mud from Henry's fenders, because it was binding the tires. It took me almost 4 hours to make it 15 miles.

I was not happy, nor was I having fun. And because of the progress, I wasn't going to make my mileage goals. So I called it, made it to the Babbitt Ranch, and took the dirt road (Which was dry, and only mildly washboardy) to Highway 180, to ride back home.

But I wasn't home free, not yet. Remember what I said about wind? I fought a 20 mph headwind all the way back to Flagstaff, with higher gusts. Finding the fun in that was hard.

Frustrating? A little. Disappointing? Mildly, but weather happens. Fun? Overall, yes. Would I do it again? Now that I have a better idea about certain aspects of bike camping and touring, absolutely! Though, preferably without the mud.

Mileage: Nil for the day.

Hit It Like You Mean It!

2010-08-21T17:39:00.000-07:00

My thought processes are finicky. I was seriously kicking around entering the Absolute Bikes Old Fashioned Mountain Bike Race to benefit the St. Mary's Food Bank Alliance. I figured, it was one of my goals, and I'd never been in a race before, why not?

Then I successfully talked myself out of it, with reasons like "I'm not competitive enough." and "I can ride on the trails anytime I want to." I hadn't ever ridden the course, and just wasn't sure about it. Also, the race was capped to 300 riders, and I had figured it was full.

Then I went on a night ride with some folks from Team Absolute, and they talked me in to signing up.

Yeah, successfully indeed.

So, I found myself signed up, and sitting in eager anticipation waiting to start riding this morning, trying to convince myself that it's just a bike ride, and to just have fun, and ride my own pace, and stick to my goal of just finishing my three laps before the 1PM cutoff time. It wasn't until most of the riders had passed me at the end of the first lap that I finally started relaxing and falling into a groove with the climbs. I had no ambitions about trying to finish well, I just wanted TO finish, so every time someone was coming up behind me, I moved over with more haste and enthusiasm than was probably necessary.

Hey, I know I'm gonna come in last, I just don't want to slow anyone else down.

So, about 4 or so miles into my second lap, I spun a rock out from under my rear wheel as I was negotiating a technical climb, and bashed my right pedal into a rock. My foot popped out of the pedal, and I could not clip back in. "Ok, this is annoying." Stop, drag the bike off the side of the trail, and look:

There's yer problem, right there.

One bent wing with cracks where it is brazed to the body, the spring's kicked off it's seat, and the entire pedal body bent along it's axis, binding the bearings on the spindle. After spending a few moments thinking "Ok, how can I fix this" I pulled out my Leathermans, and pulled the pedal body off the spindle, with the intention of finishing the race like this:

Yeah, that didn't happen. With no foot retention on my right foot, my left leg was doing most of the work. I couldn't climb anything technical, and my right foot kept slipping around and off the spindle. My first race, and it became my first DNF.

Oddly enough though, I had a blast after I bashed the pedal. Now that I wasn't racing at all, I could just ride with my head up and enjoy the scenery. I made sure to stay out of everyone's way, and just sort of cruised. It's a shame I didn't have that mentality at the start of the race, as I think I would have done much better, but I'll attribute that to the fact that it was my first time racing.

Another thing was that, even with the broken pedal, I wasn't that much slower, and probably could have finished the race on it. But, it wasn't safe, with that sharp spindle hanging out waiting to gouge my leg if I let my foot slip off, or if I was involved in a crash with another rider. Better to take the DNF with no bodily injury, no shame in that.

All in all, a great race, a great FIRST race for me, with (in my opinion) excellent support, for a good cause. I'll probably be back next year for it, and hopefully, with a finishing time.

"3: Enter in a mountain bike race. Preferably the Crazy 88, but we'll see. This one is highly uncertain, but we'll see."

Two of three goals down.

Mileage: 29.7

Just another ride.

2010-08-11T20:48:00.000-07:00

And what a good ride it was. I'll let the pictures speak for it.

Mileage: 20.4

Riding between the rain.

2010-08-02T22:51:00.000-07:00

So Flagstaff's been getting a lot of rain. This seems to be shaping up to be one of the better monsoon seasons we've had for quite a while. Welcome news for most, since we've been in the midst of a years long drought, though the folks under the Schultz Fire burn area are getting flooded out, which sucks.

After work today I found myself walking out into very humid air, but it seemed to be a break in the rain, so I rode around town some. I'm starting to think Flagstaff is shifting into a sub-tropical rainforest climate. The air's been thick with mist, and the clouds have been hanging low and heavy, which is not something I'm used to seeing.

But it does look cool:

Mileage: 21.2

Like a bolt of Lightning.

2010-07-29T17:34:00.001-07:00

So, there I was, riding to the Home Depot after work, when I glanced into the wooded lot alongside the road, like you do, anHOLY COW LOOKIT THAT TREE!!

This was a part of the middle of the tree.

The treetop dropped straight down to the ground.

It threw pieces of wood bigger than me 100+ feet away.

Lightning. It's an awesome thing.

Mileage: ~6

Two for the post of one!

2010-07-25T21:32:00.000-07:00

Once again, falling behind on my bloggery. This should bring me up to current though, unless halfway through the typing of this I spontaneously find myself going for a ride and snapping pitcures of the darkness.

Unlikely. You'll see why in a bit.

This post starts off last Friday. I decided to try to do a circle around the peaks, with a minor hiking detour up Abineau Canyon trail to Waterline Road on the north side of the peaks, then riding down waterline to a viewpoint overlooking Lockett Meadow, and the Schultz fire burn area. But, about 15 miles into the ride, I decided not to do all that and just ride for the sake of enjoyment. Some nice pictures came out of it...

Slowly clouds move in...

After taking a bit of a nap on a rock near Bismark Lake, I headed out with the planned intention of making it around the peaks still. But the building thunderstorms persuaded me to head back towards home. I ended up racing the storm front all the way back to town.

Blasting across Baderville, I had to stop and take a picture of the rain marching down the side of the mountain. I knew I was gonna get wet.

The storm caught me about a half mile away from a gas station. Normally, the peaks are above this tree.

Eventually, the rain let up, and I made it home. Later in the afternoon, I met up with TC and we went for a ride up and over Observatory Mesa. We met a few nice people, and had a good ride.

Runoff from Tunnel Spring.

Fast forward a week, and I found myself shopping for powerbars and stuff to add to energy drink mix to make it taste somewhat decent. Why? Because I was going to ride in the Taylor House Century Ride on Saturday, with plans to ride the 65 mile route, or possibly the 90 mile route.

Yes, I am insane.

Day of the ride, Code shows up to ride too, which motivated me even more. TC was there to see us off, and take our goody bags for us, since she couldn't ride due to her knees. The closer we got to start time, the more excited I got, until finally, a few minutes past 7, a police car barked it's siren, and the horde moved out, amidst the hundreds of clicks of hundreds of riders clipping into their pedals. We rolled out of the hospital parking lot, down Beaver Street, and wove through town, out to Townsend Winona Road, and onto Leupp Road. I caught up with Code pretty quick in town, and managed to drop him before we got out of town.

I was feeling great, riding well within my limits, and was actually passing a couple people. I even passed a couple of groups of riders on uphills, who had passed me on the preceding downhill. I was feeling so good I didn't even realize I had done 22 miles already until I blazed past the first aid station, the turn around for the 43 mile route. No wind, just enough cloud over to keep the sun cool, it was a great day for a ride.

Code finally caught up to me at the 65 mile ride turn around point. I was feeling great, and he felt good, so we both decided to ride on to Leupp, the halfway point for the 90 mile ride. We stuck together, got passed by some folks, but paced ourselves to the aid station in Leupp.

The only picture I have of the ride. The peaks look small...

After taking a break in Leupp, Code and I took off. I fell into a groove, which was just a little faster than Code's, and I left him behind. I made it to the aid station, rested up, and waited for Code, where a similar scenario played out. We left, and I ended up leaving him behind. I made it to the last aid station, at the end of a long climb, and took some time to rest and eat a popsicle and refill my bottles. One of the volunteers, after asking how well my ride was going, asked if I'd gotten any flats. I held my hands up. "Don't say that, man! The first rule of Flat Club is we do not talk about Flat Club!" Everyone laughed. I left after Code rolled in on the last, and what I knew to be the hardest leg of the ride.

Why is it they always schedule the hardest climbs for the last 10 miles, when you're dead beaten tired?

Up Townsend Winona, through town, up Cedar Hill, just focusing on the pavement 6 feet in front of me. Before I knew it, I was waiting at a stop light to turn into the hospital. A few people clapped and cheered as I rolled up, and TC came and gave me a hug, told me that she volunteered to help out for the ride, and took STeve so I could go get food. I sat down to a great burger, and talked with other riders and volunteers.

I guess some people were talking about "That crazy guy riding the 90 in denim shorts on a singlespeed" and how amazed they were at how well I was doing. That made me feel good. Great ride, great riders, great volunteers, great experience. By the time I had gotten home, I had ridden 100 miles in 6 hours and one minute.

"1: Ride a full century. This mainly is just a round about way of saying I want to build up my endurance further."

I can cross that one off my list.

Mileage: None today, but I did walk some.

Riding in Durango, part deux.

2010-07-18T11:04:00.000-07:00

Part 1 is here.

Yesterday was a leisurely ride through Durango, followed by a motorcycle ride to Ouray.

Up to that point I'd been itching to go find some singletrack to ride on, but I'd been busy doing lots of other stuff. (River rafting, train rides, eating, playing Scrabble...) Finally, two days before we were supposed to leave, I filled the Camelbak and both bottles with water, (shudder) and took off to the trailhead at the base of Animas City Mountain, right next to the campground we pitched our tents in.

Animas City Mountain is a brutal assault on the legs. The first mile is nothing but steep uphill switchbacks, followed by another two and a half miles of steep uphill to the summit, which is about 1,500 feet above the trailhead, according to the map. It doesn't help matters that the trail is very rocky and loose, so it was hard to get any momentum built up or get a rhythm down, and I ended up hike-a-biking a pretty good bit of the way up. The views, however were worth it.

Looking along Main Street, towards downtown Durango, from about a third of the way up.

The Animas River valley from the same spot.

Sailplane! They get towed over the mountain and released to ride the thermals.

This is how rocky the trail was.

I loved the layering of the rocks on the opposite side of the valley, and how you can see the lifting over time.

I was hoping the storm would come closer.

Tri at the top of the mountain!

The storm to the north.

Hidden Valley, from a little further along the top.

Looking westward from the top.I'm not used to seeing mountains everywhere you look from the top of a mountain.

Southwest-ish.

After riding down the backside of the mountain, I consulted my map to see where I wanted to go next. The Colorado trail looked inviting, so I rode to a gas station, bought some Sobe for the bottles, and headed down to the trailhead, 6 miles down the road. I didn't ride too far down the trail, as I didn't want to be out in unfamiliar terrain after dark, but the part I rode on was a great length of trail. Wonderful flow, low technicality, and friendly people out for walks and rides.

The trail itself follows Junction creek, winding along the canyon wall for a few miles, before crossing the creek and scaling the wall on the other side. I turned around at the crossing.

I would have taken more pictures, but I was having fun.

The last day before we left, I went downtown, with the intention of walking back to the campground, to see the sights, and walk into every bike shop I came across. I met some great people, friendly dogs, and even some art:

Outside the Durango City Hall.

This was just cool. Too bad it looks like the tallbike doesn't move regularly.

I was not expecting to see so many bikes in Durango, and certainly not the types of bikes I saw. Lots of classic and vintage bikes, lots of higher quality mountain and road bikes, tons of cruisers, lots of Xtracycles, and only 3 or 4 department store Bicycle Shaped Objects. They were locked up or being ridden everywhere. It was great, and I really enjoyed it there. If it weren't for the mosquitoes, I'd put it on my list of places I'd like to live.

Mileage: cero.

Biking in Durango, part une

2010-07-17T13:12:00.000-07:00

...Or, How I Spent My Summer Vacation. I would have posted these sooner, but I've been distracted by riding my bikes. Falling behind in my blogging means there's a lot to blog about. Also, sorry about the date stamps in the pictures. My camera decided to just start randomly adding those in.

As you may have guessed by now, I recently spent some time in the beautiful Durango, Colorado. It was very pretty, and... Durango-y. I did a lot, and even managed to squeeze in some biking, the photo evidence of which I'll get to shortly.

It all started with a 300 mile motorcycle ride. Alex and I both rode our motorcycles there, with the intent of heading up to Ouray at some point during the week. Sorry, no pictures of the ride to and from.

Since TC and I both brought our mountain bikes, we hopped on them one day and took off through town in search of some leisurely riding. I can say that the Animas River trail, which runs most of the length of Durango along the (you guessed it!) Animas River, delivered in that aspect. It's a pretty arterial urban trail, with beautiful scenery.

Part way down, we fund a BMX track. Of course I had to have a go.

Unfortunately, my mountain biking skills kept both wheels fairly planted on the ground, but it was fun to ride around a few times.

At a few points, the trail parallels the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad.

A couple days later, TC, Alex and I headed up on the motorcycles to Ouray, through some of the most beautimus terrain I've ever seen with my own eyes. Over 10 and 11,000 foot mountain passes, with peaks still towering over us, scary tight hairpin turns, through rain and sleet, it was an incredible ride.

On the way down from Coal Bank Pass.

Snowden Peak, from Molas Pass. The picture doesn't show it as well, but it had this pearlescent shine to it.

Molas Lake.

Red Mountain. It's amazing just how red it really is. My camera sort of washed the colors out.

Main Street in Ouray, looking southward.

Once we arrived in Ouray, cold, hungry, and stiff, we went to a little burger joint, called Maggie's Kitchen. On a table next to the register, there's a basket of permanent markers and a note that said "Leave us your autograph!" All the walls were painted white, and you could sign them. Great feature of the place, and all three of us left our mark. So, as we're sitting at the table, Alex pointed out something that completely made my day:

Yup, from the Fat Cyclist blog I read so much, and it's actually (I'm guessing, but I'm pretty sure) from when Fatty's sister and her friends did the Ride the Rockies event mentioned in this post on his blog.

More pictures to follow in Part Deux, tomorrow, if I don't get distracted by something shiny.

Also, for pictures of the other not so bike related stuff I did, I have an album up on Facetube.

Mileage: de nada.