Bog Monster

Der-dee!

I have this fat bike I call "The Snow Dog", but I may need to re-think that name. Maybe it should be "Muddy Mucky Mukluk"!

This was a frame and fork that came to me through many friends that pitched in to get it for my birthday, which is in January. It was cold and snowy that year, so "Snow Dog" made a lot of sense. (Thanks again you guys, by the way!)

Well, I have since put Big Fat Larry tires on it and it positively floats on softer grounds. Really. It is a noticeable difference from 3.8"ers to 4.7"ers.

And this translates to mud, boggy, and wet areas well. I have been searching out the wettest, muddiest spots on my commute to work after rains, and especially when the frost was coming out of the ground back in early March.

What I have found is fun. (Also being very sensitive to staying off trails that don't need tearing up, by the way.) I guess it must be the boy in me that never grew up, but hitting the mud puddles has been fascinating. Trying to see just what I can get through, and having Larry treads makes it tough sometimes. They slip and slide around a bit, making things more interesting.

However, they never cease to float, so it becomes a game of balance and power transmission. I find it to be a fun game. But it isn't everyone's cup-o-tea.

I've made a few attempts at cleaning the Snow Dog since winter, but it never lasts very long, nor gets completely finished. Always another rain, more mud, and more goo to tackle out there.

So it ends up being a constantly changing palette of mud splattered blue powder coated aluminum. The wheels are particularly bad! I really need to pull the (probably) rotting cloth rim strip off and replace it with something like my chrome duct tape. Or maybe orange. I think some orange skewers and seat collar are in the offing for sure, but that's really just window dressing.

Besides, it'd all just get covered in mud right away anyhow!