Seeing Stuff.

I see a lot of stuff on my rides. Take this past weeks worth of riding, for example. I saw a lot of stuff.

One day, I saw a lot of elk.

Another day, I saw a rockin' sunset.

Friday, I felt like I needed to see a different set of handlebars, and a great view.

 Saturday was the annual Pedals vs. Pistons vs. Hiking Boots vs. Horseshoes trail day. The motorcyclists won it again, but a lot of work was done, and fun was had by most. I even got Exegete to come along.

My one picture of the day, Anthony starting off the parade of speeches on a stump chair. 

Today, there was no rain in the forecast, and barely any clouds in the sky, so I took a chance and took Pretty out for a ride.  After starting off across Observatory Mesa and heading up the trail we worked on yesterday, I hooked up with the Arizona Trail and rode on one of the last new local sections that I haven't ridden on.

I got to see some nice views:

Hey there, rock.

Trail to the left, trail to the right.

The new segment goes from the Fort Valley Trail system all the way to Schultz Pass, where it ties back in to Little Elden Trail. Along the way, it branches off, with the branch heading to Schultz Creek Trail, and eventually Flagstaff.

I opted to head for the pass, and made a big loop around Flagstaff.

Just past Schultz Pass on Little Elden.

It's not that rocky...

I spy some subtle leaf changing going on on the mountain.

Pretty decided to be pretty and pick up a flower in the spokes.

And that's a lap around Flagstaff.

Mileage: 48.6

I can't think of a title.

I swear, sometimes the hardest part about writing a blog post is thinking up a title. So, until I think of one, I'll just write.

It's getting towards the end of summer, now. The monsoons are starting to wind down, (though I still can't take Pretty out without getting rained on.) and the sun is setting earlier and earlier. Consequently I'm strapping lights to my bikes, in case the after work rides keep me out longer than daylight allows for. This has already happened a couple times now.

The added consequence is the sun rising later and later in the morning, opening my twice a year sunrise windows:

Let there be light!

Soon the leaves will start changing colors, and one of the best times of year to own a mountain bike will begin. So many places to ride, so many options to go see some color, so little time. And I'll bet that I'll still get rained out if I ride Pretty.

Snowblind and I made it to the Kachina Wetlands in time to watch the sun hide behind a thundercloud.

Today I ended up riding out south of Kachina Village, on a forest road that runs across Pumphouse Wash. I'd never been in this area, and thought I might see something cool. Turns out I was right, there was a couple nice spots.

Pumphouse Wash, looking southward.

And turn, and picture.

It was a nice chill ride, though the mosquitoes from the standing water in the wash chased me half way home.

Now, where to ride tomorrow?

Mileage: 26.3

Old Fashioned Racing.

It seems to be a sort of tradition for me.

I plan months in advance on riding in the Taylor House Century every year. Maybe even a year in advance, since I'm planning on riding it again next year.

Yup, a year in advance.

The St. Mary's Food Bank Mountain Bike Race? Not so much. Not a couple months, not even a month. Heck, not even a week in advance.

I signed up for it Wednesday night. Captain Procrastination, that's me.

That left me Thursday and Friday to prepare, make sure the bike was in order, laundry, and all that stuff, Which meant that I put it off until Friday. Go me.

And of course, rather than go straight home after work on Friday, I took a detour, because I'd never ridden next to the Rio de Flag when it was actually flowing, and we had gotten a pretty good storm right before I left work.

And flowing it was.

So much green...

  Upon getting home, I started laundry, and proceeded with bike work. I signed up for the singlespeed class, which meant I'd be riding Tri. Tri's fork was getting stiff, and the chain was dry, so a fork service and chain lubing were in order.

How well did that go over?

Well, let's Tarantino this up a bit.

Here is a picture of Tri on the wall, having completed the race earlier today:

That's my bike, 29 inches, single, and rigid.

 That is not a suspension fork. 

Where is Tri's suspension fork?

Here is part of it, the lowers in the oil drain pan on the garage floor...

...And the uppers on the workbench

 Fork carnage all over the garage! What happened?

Well, in order to service the fork, I need to separate the uppers from the lowers, in order to wipe the dirt from the dust seals in the lower casting, which causes the fork to stiffen up, known as "stiction." In doing this, there is a bolt on the compression side to undo, at the bottom of the lower casting, just a regular old bolt.

On the damping side, however, it's a bit different. I take an allen key, of the 8mm breed, and use it to screw the damping rod INTO the lower casting, not out the bottom. This means I have to turn it the opposite direction of the bolt I just took out of the compression side. This is something I knew, as I'd done it before.

Apparently my hand had other ideas, and went with business as usual, turning the damping rod to the left, effectively over-torquing it against the lower casting, while my brain was going "Wow, that's really tight." This continued until I heard a pop, which flipped a switch in my hand, which started turning it the proper way while saying "I didn't do it!"

The end result of all this? I broke the threaded end of the damping rod off, essentially making the fork useless.

Well, fork you.

 Enter in a hasty fork swap to the Karate Monkey's original rigid fork, and a quick test ride up the street before calling it quits for the night. A 20 minute fork service ended up being a couple hour ordeal.

All that on the night before the race today.

Exegete was kind enough to give me a ride in and hang out during the race waiting for me to finish again. After getting my number plate and shwag, I hopped on Tri and did a quick warm up ride up Lower Moto, partly to, y'know, warm up, but also to see if I still knew how to ride technical stuff with a rigid fork.



Fortunately, my skills in riding a jackhammer have not diminished.

The general agreement with folks I talked to at the start was "Rigid? Oof, you're gonna be feeling it." This I already knew. Let's face it, I rode Tri as full rigid for a couple years before I got the suspension fork.


A fair amount of time and breeze-shooting with other folks passed, and the race started.

Now. How far did I make it before I started missing front suspension? Well, here is a map of the race course. I've marked the approximate spot where I admitted it to myself.

There. I'll admit it, I've been spoiled.

Overall, the race was pretty uneventful. I didn't crash, I didn't flat, I didn't even break anything. But I pushed hard. I'd never passed so many people, and I even conquered a climb on Pipeline that I've never been able to before. Ever. A lot of people that went by me later in the race had the same question for me, though: "Hey, man, how's that rigid fork treatin' ya?"

By the fourth or fifth person, my answer had evolved into the simple, "Like a red-headed step-child."

The best exchange of the day came on the last lap, when as I was passing a group on the side of the trail, one of the guys let out a "Singlespeeds rule!" As I rode past him, I slurred "I wish I could agree with you right now." Much laughter and a smattering of applause. (He had done this on the previous lap, too, and I responded with a hearty "Indeed they do!")

All said and done, it was a great day at the races. No crashes, no flats, no broken parts (during the actual race...) and I felt good, with the exception of my arms, which had been pummeled and pulverized into overcooked spaghetti by the end of the race. The soreness has moved up into my shoulders too, and I'm sure I'll be worse tomorrow.

But, I'll take solace in four things.

1: I had a blast! Seriously, it was fun, and I like how Anthony summed it up for me: "Kevin's riding the  Old Fashioned on an old fashioned bike!"

2: I finished twelfth out of 18 singlespeeders. I was surprised at how far up from the bottom of the list I was!

C: Had there been a full rigid category, I would have finished first in it!

And the best quote of the day, from the owner of Absolute Bikes: "Man, just looking at that fork makes me hurt."

Mileage: 33.9 warmup and race, plus 7 to and from the awards ceremony.

Don't forget Winona...

There has been riding this week. When a fair amount of that riding has been on a Pugsley with so little air in the tires that it doesn't register on the floor pump's gauge, you feel it after a while. Especially 3 days in a row. Rolling resistance on a tire that big running that low is insane.

But man, the ride was smooth, and the traction, incredible.

However... I think I'll run the tires up to 5 psi. High enough not to kill me, low enough to still be bouncy.

But zero psi did net me some great views along the Arizona Trail on Monday.

Fisher Point from the backside. Walnut Canyon looks deep and dark from here.

Fisher Point from the view everyone knows, at sunset. Makes the whole ride worth it.

  

 It was a sort of stressful week at work, so some self-inflicted torture and punishment was in order. This really just means I wanted to ride a singlespeed.  My ride of choice for the day ended up being STeve, and we ended up riding FR128, a dirt road that runs more or less from Lake Mary Road to Winona, passing south of Walnut Canyon.

Hard to believe I'm looking over a canyon and a city at the mountains, yeah?

  The ride out to Winona ended up passing quickly, despite the mud I hadn't planned on, so I tacked on a bit of historic road to my ride.

Winslow, Arizona, and don't forget Winona!

   

After a few miles of old route 66, I came to my favorite piece of the road.

Padre Canyon Bridge, the original Route 66 bridge in this area.

They don't build them like this anymore.

 I decided to try to follow the original alignment up the opposite canyon wall, but lost it at the rim, next to I-40. Darn.

Hmm, those clouds are building. I had probably start heading homeward.

Ok, one last picture.

One thing I didn't realize is that Townsend Winona Road is also a part of Route 66, as is the old metal truss bridge that runs over lower  Walnut Canyon. The bridge is even on the register of historic places. All this cool stuff, and I've been past that bridge hundreds of times, and I never stopped, nor ever thought about the fact that I was on Route 66.

Well, I'll take care of that.

And then I rode across it.

Then I beat feet home, towards the darkening thunder clouds. I didn't get rained on, but I swore I was seeing funnel clouds at the cloud line, and the lightning show I got to watch as I rode across town was spectacular. But, safely home I made it, where, after a shower, Exe decided to take Su to a lake.

I wasn't gonna miss this.

"Yep, a rock."

"Screw you guys. To the Su Cave!"

Now, I have a choice to make. Next Saturday is the annual St. Mary's Food Bank Alliance Race, about the only race I do, because it's local, smallish and fun, and for a good cause.

Also next Saturday is a loop trail day. Also fun, I learn stuff every time, and I help build something that'll be around for a while.

I don't know which one I want to do more.

Mileage: 62.2

Monsoon Greenery

We've had some good weather as of late in the Flagstaff area. Lots of rain here and there, which is good, since rain keeps the fires at bay.

But I do have a problem with it.

As much as I like the rain, it does dissuade me from my riding. And as much as I don't mind riding in the rain, I do try not to get caught in it. And most of the time (But not ALL the time...) if the weather looks questionable, the odds are that I'll hang up the bike and do something else, and miss out on a perfectly good day of riding.

But, a lot of times, I'll ride towards the dark clouds, poke a thunderstorm to make it angry, and see if I can beat it home.

That may be an exaggeration, but it's not that far off.

Friday was one of those days, but with less thunderstorm poking. I worked a half day at work. With the prospect of an entire afternoon to myself, I decided I was going to ride STeve out to, up and over Friedlein Prairie Road, which runs between Schultz Pass and Snowbowl Road. This was also where the darkest clouds were when I rolled out of work. However, when I got there, the darkest of clouds had moved on, letting me ride without the worry of getting drenched.

However... tying this back to the monsoons, I love how green everything is when it rains:

Hard to believe this is "high desert."

Ferns!

No riding today, but tomorrow I may take Pretty out for a shred.

Mileage: 0

Racing Against the Rain.

 I made a friend at work, let's start with that.

We're naming him Li'l Stinky.

We're going to make friends with him and make him our perimeter defense guard.

Friday... I didn't go to work! *jazz hands*  So, I teamed up with Su...

"Whatever."

 ...and we played with Henry. I'd been thinking about putting a 29er wheel on the Big Dummy for quite some time, but was too lazy to try it, since just trying it would require pulling the front fender, front rack, and possibly even the front brake. But, after deciding that I wanted to build a Porteur rack for Henry, those things had to come off anyways, so why not give it a shot? So I pulled everything apart, and popped Tri's front wheel on Henry's front end.

Henry's front wheel is the little one in front. What a difference!

 After a few spins around the neighborhood, and hopping several curbs, I can say that I like the way Henry rides with a big wheel up front. Very little handling change, no toe-verlap issues, and pops up over obstacles much easier than before. And with as much offroading as I've been doing with Henry lately, that's a good thing. The only thing I'm not sure of is how well a front fender will fit. A 29x2.25 tire clears the crown of the Big Dummy fork by a little over a quarter of an inch, which doesn't leave much room for a fender. I'll worry about that later, though.

As for the porteur rack, I designed it around the 29er wheel, so it will clear just fine. I finished the framework for it, and the deck has been shaped, sanded, burned and drilled, and is only waiting to be finished. I'll take pictures of the finished product. I think it will look nice, though.

Saturday was Loop Trail Day. We had a good turnout, and after giving some attention to the tread we built in May, we connected to Forest Road 301D, effectively completing the entire southern section of the Loop!

This was a cool view.

Of course, Henry got to lay the first tracks, again.

 We then rode the Loop Trail all the way to within a mile of home. That was a great feeling, and a great ride.

Today was race day.

What race?

The I'm Going to Ride up Elden and Down Little Bear Trail Before it Rains Because I've Been Trying to Since the Trail Officially Opened But it Keeps Raining Classic.

It's quite the popular race, and I met several people along the way.

I made it to the top before the rain...

 I'd never ridden The Catwalk and Hobbit Forest when the trail was damp and tacky from rain, and the skies looked decent, so I passed up Red Onion and headed up to Sunset Trail.

This is why The Catwalk is scary.

 I survived, and more than that, had fun, and found myself at the top of Little Bear.

The Trail Closed sign is gone! IT'S OPEN!

 And then, for the second time ever, and the first time in three or four years, I rode Little Bear.

Downhill was had.

Some of the views have changed.

 Largely, the trail is still on the original alignment. Most of the fun stuff is still there, and it's just as scary and fun as I remember it being. But some things are different... The views and lack of trees in some sections, and the massive drains to control erosion and give the trail a bench to ride on in some of the drainage.

One of the amazing drains that had to be built to keep the trail in place.

 At the bottom, I turned right and headed around the eastern side of Elden, instead of climbing up and over Schultz Pass. I think it paid off, because when I rounded the side of the mountain, I saw this:

That's where home is!

I must be good at riding in between storms, because by the time I got downtown, it was only sprinkling, and I got wet more from the tire spray than the actual rain.

But... Didn't matter. Rode Little Bear.

Mileage: 34.6

I've been busy...

 ...and busy riding, too. Obviously I haven't been blogging lately, for two main reasons... Things have taken a (tentative) upswing at work, which has made me more motivated to be there, so I've been busy with that. Secondly... I just haven't been motivated to blog. It struck me a while ago that most of my blog posts are the same "I went on a ride, here's some pics" blather. That's my view, anyways. Maybe a break will do me some good, in that sense.

That's not to say I haven't been riding... In lieu of bloggery, feel free to poke at my RideWithGPS profile that I keep linking to, and you'll see what rides I've been on. I may start putting the pictures I take on each ride up there too, so there's less of a "photodump with some words!" on the blog. We'll see. Not that I'm abandoning the blog... just posting a little less frequently.

Aaannnywhoo... None of that is the point of today's post. No, today, I shall blog about a bike ride. A long one. One I look forward to every year, this year especially, since I got to do it with gears.

Yup... the Taylor House Century Ride.

I managed to get Friday off from work, so I could spend the day being lazy and resting up for the ride.

Yeah, that's not what happened.

I ended up getting struck by inspiration, and took Henry for a ride to Home Depot for supplies.

Here's what the end of the ride looked like.

 The rest of the day was spent building the frame for my new bed, because, what better way to get ready for a 100 mile bike ride than to spend the night before in a new and unfamiliar bed?

Fortunately, my new bed was comfy, and I slept great. I showed up at the ride start at the hospital ready to go. Exegete was even there, having volunteered to drive one of the SAG wagons.

Some Team Absolute riders, waiting for the start.

Everyone lined up behind me.

And everyone in front of me, too.

 We all took off for the roll down Beaver Street and through downtown, which is always a little nerve wracking for me, this year especially. People rode their brakes all the way down the hill, and it was a game of dodging other riders, loose bottles, and at one point an inner tube. But I made it down without incident, and rolled through town fairly quickly.

Unlike last year, we had to stop for the train this time.

 The roll down Townsend Winona and through Doney Park was smooth, and while a lot of people passed me on the downhills and flats, I passed a lot of people on the uphills, even pulling for a bit.

Once again, the view I grew up with. Mt. Elden on the left, Cave Hill center, and The Peaks.

 I made very quick work of Highway 89, and passed a lot of people on the big climb out of Timberline. It seemed like I ended up being the first one of the pack I was in to make it to the aid station at the top of the hill, which was nice for a couple reasons. No line at the outhouses, and short line for water refills and snacks. I felt good, so I didn't spend a lot of time there, and kept on trucking down 89 to the next aid station, which was a repeat.

Riding away from station number 3.

Onward, to the desert!

 The stretch through Wupatki, between station 3 and 4, is beautiful, and I never seem to catch enough pictures of it. It also goes fairly quickly, as it's mostly downhill until about 2 miles before the next aid station. At this point, I was loving having the gears, as the miles were melting away, and I was staying in the big ring for the most part. I was making great time.

 

 

Blurry picture of the painted desert. Shortly after this point, the road disappears from under you.

 And it really does drop. It's about 500 to 600 feet of elevation drop in about 2 miles. It's a 40 mile an hour drop. It is an absolute blast.

After that, things start pointing uphill. I spent less time in the big ring, started moving slower, and for the most part, crawled into my pain cave, and ground away at the miles.

At this point, I really couldn't tell a difference between doing this ride with gears or without.

The only difference was that the cockpit looked different this year.

 At this point... my camera decided the battery was dead, so no more pictures of the ride. But there were still high points to be had... like the guy at aid stop number 5 who was spraying people down with a water mister.

That felt incredible.

There's also a great picture that the ride photographer took of me rolling in to the last aid station at the top of the climb out of Sunset Crater.

But the best part was the finish. I hit rain at the bottom of Cedar Hill, which is the last obstacle of the ride, between me and the food at the finish at the hospital. The rain is my reset button, and I powered up Cedar Hill, and down the other side.

Pizza, salad, and cookies were eaten, the rain stopped, Exe finished his driving rounds, and I rode home. Exe arrived shortly after, with the most delicious strawberry shake ever, to finish the ride.

And after a shower, my nice comfy new bed was waiting for me.

It may or may not have a different hammock today than yesterday. >.>

While I can't say if gears were a good choice or not for the ride, I can definitely confirm that a hammock is the best way to relax after a big ride.

Mileage: None today, 102.something yesterday.