Friday News And Views

2015 version- OS Bike Blackbuck

A Keeper: There aren't many bikes I have that I would "never get rid of", but this is one of them. It is a 2007 OS Bikes Blackbuck. Longtime readers of this blog will no doubt recognize it.

It is a bicycle designed and sold by Mark Slate, a principal in WTB, and their tire designer. "Slate", as he's known as, has been around the mtb scene for as long as there has been a scene. He's seen a thing or three, and the Blackbuck is sort of an "old skool meets new school" 29"er circa 2007. It has a crusier-ish look with the rounded seat stays, an eccentric bottom bracket, for easy rear wheel removal and chain tensioning without a goofy slider drop out look, and a classy, understated look. It's hopelessly outdated now though, since it doesn't have through axles or "Boost" spacing. That's okay though.

I finally got it out for the year and put some different wheels and tires on there. The stickers will come off those wheels at some point, and maybe I will get around to mounting some right proper skin wall tires. This will be where I will stay with this bike though. I will have the option of a suspension fork or this rigid fork, or the original rigid fork, if I get really crazy! But the main thing is that it is up and running, which was important to get done!

A little North of Missouri, but it'll have to do!

Fall Gravel Events: 

It used to be that if you were into doing a gravel event, you had to get to gettin' by Labor Day, or you'd have to ride a cross event. Not that there is anything wrong with that....

Point is, now you can grind yer gravel almost all year long these days, thanks in part to folks that paid attention to the Gravel Grinder News calendar, and planned their events when there weren't any going on, like in the Fall. Just like the Cuban Gravel Crisis event.

What is cool about this event is that it is put on, in part, by a Trans Iowa vet, and is an event that you can bring the entire family to. There is a festival in the town of Cuba, Missouri that weekend and they have all sorts of cool things lined up for people to partake of. There will be wine and beer tasting, music, crafts, and other entertainment. It sounds pretty rad, so if you want to do an event and have some fun things for the family to do, check this one out. There are 20, 50, or 100 mile course options and there is also a running event that day in Cuba.

Still recovering from this.....

Looking Past The GTDRI:

 This week past has been a slow going one for me. That ride last weekend blasted me pretty good, and even today I can still feel the effects of that beat down. I've been resting and doing only commutes and errands by bicycle, so I would not over extend myself and cause further delay in my recovery.

The next gig upcoming is the Geezer Ride. That's an easier ride, by far, than what I have been doing. Hopefully the weather is good for that one. I may get out and ride that course once again just to see how things are. Otherwise, it's a go, and I will look forward to seeing whomever shows up on Saturday morning, August 15th, 2015. The very next weekend is Gravel Worlds and I will be making the trip down to see if I can knock out a 150 miler again. I've had a lot of experiences in the heat this year, so I suspect this one will be another cooker and that experience will pay off for me. Well......it's a theory I have anyway! 

Then I'm done for the year with events. I will be riding just for the fun of it, looking forward to Fall mountain biking, and Winter fat bike stuff. So, that's the plan, at any rate.

Thanks for reading, as always, and get out and have an adventure this weekend!