Tour Divide: Today the Tour Divide kicks off in Banff Canada. I have an interest in this year's event since I know a few folks in the ride. One of them I know pretty well, since he is a local, and I have ridden with him a few times. That would be Mike Johnson, and I'll be doing the "blue dot junkie" thing for a few weeks watching his progress. You can check on any of the Tour Divide riders by watching this site here.
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| 'Sippi Hole |
Last Winter I got ahold of a G2 offset, 80mm travel Reba and stuck it on my Fargo off road specific rig. I've often wondered if this would be a "drop bar El Mariachi", for all intents and purposes. The suspension fork really changes the way I feel about the bike for sure.
I used to have my El Mar set up as a rigid, geared bike, and it was an awesome bike in that set up. The Fargo before the sus fork was similar, and now with that Reba, it is downright peachy. Very much different from the "gravel road" set up on the Gen 1 Fargo. Completely different bikes now, even though they are exactly the same color, (albeit with different graphics). That's a good thing, because it doesn't make any sense to have two Fargos that are the same, or even similar. Hint: It will not be the last Fargo I have either.......
So, this is good. I have a geared hard tail 29"er off road rig again. For awhile there I thought I'd have nothing but 29"er single speeds and fat bikes! (Not that there is anything wrong with any of those.) I may look into a frame bag for this one. But I may not and I may go a different route. We'll see.... The whole 29+ thing, which I hope expands, looks like a great platform for bikepacking, so I am holding out for more options to appear there. If they do, as I think, that will be where I go with a bike packing rig.
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| My Son on a ride with me recently |
I was riding with my Son recently and I noticed his leg extension wasn't. So, I stopped him, grabbed the multi-tool and raised his saddle an inch and a half to the max extension line. No surprises here. I mean, he's going to be 10 next month and he's growing up. Well, we get back going again and I see that things are better, but.......it's time for a new bike.
Now he knows all about what a fat bike can do, and he gets real bummed when he can not go or do what I do on my fat bike. He has wished for one of his own for sometime now, but I always had to remind him that he was too small. Well, that's not an issue anymore. It appears from my measuring him that he may fit an XS sized Mukluk now. So, I've determined that I am going to put the youngin' on a fat bike. Why not? I know he'd love it, and why should I hog all the fun?
So, I'll likely be denying myself some goodies in the upcoming months to set the boy up with something. Stay tuned....
Once again, there is flooding going on and I will start the 3GR from the Gates Park Swimming Pool parking lot in Waterloo at 8:30, if it isn't raining. There are thunderstorms forecast for Saturday, but it may not kick in till later in the day. Still, if it looks iffy, I'll be calling it off. No need to be a lightning rod!
The route appears to be a tad over 30 miles the way we are doing it now, and if you haven't done Ivanhoe Road in Bremer County, it's a pretty nice ride. Join up and see for yourself. I may or may not be doing a single speed ride, but we'll see. I need to get the single speed legs going again.
Okay- have a great weekend and ride your bicycles!
Ha! I thought I was the only nut-job parent who sized his 11-year-old up for a XS Mukluk. Glad to hear I have company. :-) My son and daughter really loved those bikes when they laid eyes on them for the first time.
ReplyDeleteAwesome about getting the boy a "Fatty!!"
ReplyDeleteOur 9 year old loves his XS 9:ZERO:7, and has been rocking the fat tires since x-mas!
The lower stand over height of the 9:ZERO:7 frame made it an easy choice for a "fatty" for the young one! Now his younger sister has been bugging for one. As we tell her, all in due time little girl, all in due time!!