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Tuesday, September 27, 2016

Fat Bike Century Challenge: Update

Swapped tires.
Last Friday, after the deluge from Thursday evening which caused the flooding to get started, I decided to ride the Ti Muk in and test out the Bar Yak system on the way to and from work. I figured I may have some positioning issues I might be able to sus out on the commute. I am happy to say that there were no such issues though. Only a comfortable position which should prove to be stable and get me a bit more aero on the gravel this weekend.

My next issue was tires, The big, lugged tread Lou on the front and the Chao Yang whatchamacallit on the back wasn't necessary for the gravel. Overkill and far too heavy. So, I found my 5 year old Larry 3.8"er and a 4 year old Big Fat Larry to swap in there. The BFL went up front and that "skinny" Larry went on the back. It is really weird how a 3.8" Larry looks positively anemic these days when we have 4.8+ inch tires roaming the Earth. Anyway, the Larrys are mounted and ready. It is great to have a slightly lower bottom bracket again. Those big tires really jack the Ti Muk up like a 4X4.

On the nav/computer front, I put in a request for that new Lezyne Micro C GPS unit through work. I'm not sure that'll happen before this ride though. We'll see. If not, oh well. I'll just rely on Tony's computer and count miles for fun as I ride. The cues for this will be figured out ahead of time and perhaps I can write up my own for the route. And speaking of the route......

Tony had a route in mind but it followed one of the recently flooded out rivers, which we both agreed might prove to be a bad idea due to potential washouts and/or bridge damage. So, as of now, it looks as though we'll be heading West then back East again. At any rate, it will be 100 miles of gravel with some small towns thrown in as resupply points. We're going out Saturday October 1st at around 9am from an as yet undisclosed spot in town here. Interested? Join us if you can on your fat bike. We could have a "thundering herd' of fat bike tires the likes of which hasn't been seen in a while around these parts.
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7 comments:

  1. Ari8:26 AM

    I have 3.8 larrys on the blackborow with qbp sl tubes. The bike rides pretty good.

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  2. Exhausted_Auk11:47 AM

    GT, I'd love to join you guys but alas - other commitments. Have fun!

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  3. Ari9:04 PM

    Are you riding flats on your long ride?

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  4. Guitar Ted10:07 PM

    That's my plan for now.

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  5. Tim10:34 PM

    Sounds like great fun! The 5th edition of the Woodchipper 100 gravel ride will occur near Hawley, MN this Saturday. There may be a fat bike or two, but probably on the 45 mile route. The 100 mile looks like all skinny gravel tires.

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  6. Tom Scott1:14 PM

    I've never ridden more than 70 miles on my Salsa Mukluk but I find I really feel the wide "Q" factor in my hips after a couple of hours. Anybody else experience this?

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  7. Guitar Ted2:27 PM

    @Tom Scott- Oh yes, I feel different muscles getting used, and it affects me for a bit, then I tend to get over that and be okay. Mostly in the hips, but some folks say that and their knees hurt too.

    I know some folks cannot deal with that and won't ride fat bikes because of that.

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