Fall Schedule

It's August and that means Fall is coming soon. The days will be shorter, the temperatures will be cooler, and it will be what is possibly my most favorite time of the year to ride. So, with that in mind I am taking this day to make a post about what I expect to be doing through the Fall here. 

So, August: There will be no planned events since I work on Saturdays and I am pretty much the only option for an employee on that day. Getting a stand in is possible, but things don't go well with my assistant, nor with the shop in general, if I am not there on Saturdays. So, no events for me. 

My open day for adventure is going to be Friday, and maybe Thursdays, so some time away from the house and opportunities for longer rides do exist there. That's when I am planning to fit in any century ride, sub24 trip, or the like. Again, things like nails in car tires and other life happenings can, and probably will, rear their ugly heads during this time, so no guarantees. And weather, as always, is the wildcard. 

But, I am ready for both a longer ride, possibly a century, and the sub24 ride. I can be out of the house with a minimum of notice, so, if the opportunity arises, I'm gone. Stay tuned on any of of that.  Besides these things being possibilities, I have pre-Winter maintenance to attend to. In fact, I've already started it.

First in the stand for maintenance was the Blackborow DS

The above image from Winter 2023 may have been the last time I've ridden the Blackborow DS because when I drug it out for maintenance it was set up exactly as shown there. Well, here is the deal with this bike. It needs a new chain, since the Rustbuster chain it came with in 2014 is about shot. No surprise there.

But other than that? Not much other than some accessorizing. Through a set of strange and unfortunate circumstances, I ended up in possession of a set of 45NRTH pogies that will be going on this bike. They will replace the big, overgrown ATV pogies I've had since 2011. 

I also came into possession of a Thomson seat post in the correct size and I attached a WTB Volt saddle to that. A bit lighter than the stock set up I've run on the bike since 2014. I still may do a set of wheels for this bike, but that has been pushed back by the next project/update which will be happening soon.

Gonna get rid of that lean.

I use the Big Dummy on a fairly regular basis as a bike to haul our orders for the Cedar Valley Biccyle Collective and as a hauler for recycling stuff from G-Ted Headquarters. This has brought up the single most glaring weakness of the bike, ts kickstand. 

To load this bike with a single legged kickstand is a very dicey thing to do if the loads are heavy, big, or both. You have to have a level, solid surface to work from, hopefully no wind, and the load has to be carefully placed before you secure it or all hell breaks loose. It's not an easy task to load this rig. 

That all will go away when I get the dual-legged Surly kickstand this week. Stay tuned for more on that to come.

I have to fab up a new rear fender flap-thingie for the Ti Muk, (or should this be called a Ti Heyday! ? - more on that later this week....) I also have to re-up the tubeless sealant and this one will likely be fine to go through another Winter. Plus, it may be a candidate for a fat Tire Century, if I can ever get around to it, that is. 

Anyway, that's it for this update on the schedule for Fall. I'll be playing it by ear, mostly, as opportunities to ride longer, more focused rides will happen more spontaneously than ever before here.