Dirty Kanza 200 Chronicles V2: Cheater Bike

The roads were clear- just- and so they were very mushy!

My friend Ari of the Slender Fungus Cycling Asscociation has a term for road bikes. He calls them "cheater bikes". I suspect it is because they are so easy to motivate and keep going due to their light weight and what not. I'm guessing here, so Ari: If you read this correct me if I am wrong!

Anyway, I've spent the last two months either sick and not riding at all, or on a fat bike. I had not ridden any of my gravel bikes save the Vaya on a few short commutes, and nothing outside the city limits on any bike all year long till yesterday. It's just been a tough year so far. Either weather, circumstances, or sickness has prevailed against me in riding bikes, but now that should be changing. At least it did yesterday.

But enough of that. Back to the "cheater bike" theory. Since I've been slogging around town on either the Blackborow DS or the Ti Mukluk, I have become accustomed to heavier bikes, heavy wheels, and soft surfaces. Yesterday I eliminated two out of those three things! The bike was the Tamland Two, and the tires were the Soma Cazaderos, but the soft surfaces- at least on the gravel roads- persisted. And man! Were they ever soft in places!

A rare, drier section, heading West.

Barns For Jason: Tin roof. Rusted!

You can see how the road is saturated with moisture. Right here your feet would sink in several inches if you attempted to walk on the road.

The weather, until yesterday bitterly cold and often below zero degrees Fahrenheit, finally punched above freezing, and soared into the upper 40's with a clear sky and stiff Northwesterly wind. That made for massive amounts of snow melt and that is what saturated the roads. I found very few stretches which I would deem "dry" out there. Between that and the wind, it was rough going North or West. Really slow! Managing 10-11mph was about all I had. However; when I turned with the wind, I could really motor. The bike would feel incredibly light, and on some pavement sections I could easily cruise at above 20mph, even though I am really not in very good riding shape. Yes- the wind helped- but even into the wind, I could turn the cranks over easier, so, ya know.......cheater bike! 

A bit of snow melt covered bicycle path once back into town.

 It was a great first gravel ride for 2015. I am really sorry it took this long to finally get that in there, but really happy to say that I was actually healthy enough to do it. It wasn't all that long of a ride, just two hours, but "baby steps", as they say.

I have a long, long way to go before I get "DK 200" ready, but this upcoming week helps with the temperatures finally staying above freezing daily and no precipitation for several days. That will help eliminate the super mushy places out there and hopefully firm up the roads overall. That said, the mushy, wet roads combined with the wind made for a real kick in the junk and should help put me back on the road to becoming better fitness-wise.

A couple tid-bits. I was asked to participate in the DK 200 trading card deal. Would anyone actually want a DK 200 card with me on it? Anyway..... On the hardware side, I have something happening soon that will kind of dictate bike choice, or at least severely narrow things down Stay tuned on that front. I also will be doing some training on a single speed coming up as well. I suspect that will get me the "steady miles" and keep me from racing like a dog off the leash as weather and roads improve.

Okay, more soon......