Not Quite Right

Preparing for Winter

Saturday morning rolled around and I tried rolling out of bed. unnnnh! oooh! OW! 

Something was not quite right. You know the feeling. When the joints ache, the head feels like someone is trying to crack it open from the inside, and are you dead tired, despite getting plenty of sleep. Yep! I was sick. Something.....whatever it was, was trying to bring me down. So, I knew I was out as far as riding a bicycle went.

I did get some work done that I'd been neglecting over the last few weeks. Can redemption, grocery shopping with Mrs. Guitar Ted, and some other little things. I took it pretty easy though, and I drank water throughout the day. I still felt "not quite right" when I went to bed though. It continued on into Sunday as well. So, the rain on Sunday was not a big deal to me.

Instead, I decided to get some Winter preparation work done. On bicycles, that is. I had thought about those studded tires, the 45NRTH Gravdals, and I found a spare set of wheels that weren't going anywhere soon, and slapped those together. These could go on the pink BMC MCD whenever I needed grip on ice. Of course, this level of preparation guarantees that I will not need them the rest of the Winter. (I hope) We'll see......

Then I decided to refresh the 650B Irwin Cycles wheels shod with the WTB Venture tires. This combination worked last March in a surprising way on some icy, snowy bike trails. I already know it works well on softer, wet gravel too. These are the sort of conditions we get in Winter on gravel roads, unless it goes all ice, or it gets so cold it becomes impossible to stay warm for longer than an hour. Then I will retreat into the woods and ride a fat bike.

Now, my body being not quite right isn't the only thing lately which hasn't been "quite right" and this has also been an issue for me. It has to do with my job at the bike shop. Things are in upheaval, and in the coming weeks, there could be some major changes. Well........there will be. Just what will happen has me, and the rest of my co-workers, in a state of stress which is not a lot of fun to be going through, as you might imagine. And I have to believe this has something to do with what happened with me this weekend as well.

I don't have a lot to complain about in life, and really, I have it pretty good. So, don't go and think my life is going down the toilet, or that things are super-bad here with me. There are folks with a LOT worse things going on than myself, and I realize that. But that said, I won't be looking back on 2019 with a ton of fondness. Especially on the professional side. Still, I am blessed, and that's what I'm focusing on.

Not Quite Right

Preparing for Winter

Saturday morning rolled around and I tried rolling out of bed. unnnnh! oooh! OW! 

Something was not quite right. You know the feeling. When the joints ache, the head feels like someone is trying to crack it open from the inside, and are you dead tired, despite getting plenty of sleep. Yep! I was sick. Something.....whatever it was, was trying to bring me down. So, I knew I was out as far as riding a bicycle went.

I did get some work done that I'd been neglecting over the last few weeks. Can redemption, grocery shopping with Mrs. Guitar Ted, and some other little things. I took it pretty easy though, and I drank water throughout the day. I still felt "not quite right" when I went to bed though. It continued on into Sunday as well. So, the rain on Sunday was not a big deal to me.

Instead, I decided to get some Winter preparation work done. On bicycles, that is. I had thought about those studded tires, the 45NRTH Gravdals, and I found a spare set of wheels that weren't going anywhere soon, and slapped those together. These could go on the pink BMC MCD whenever I needed grip on ice. Of course, this level of preparation guarantees that I will not need them the rest of the Winter. (I hope) We'll see......

Then I decided to refresh the 650B Irwin Cycles wheels shod with the WTB Venture tires. This combination worked last March in a surprising way on some icy, snowy bike trails. I already know it works well on softer, wet gravel too. These are the sort of conditions we get in Winter on gravel roads, unless it goes all ice, or it gets so cold it becomes impossible to stay warm for longer than an hour. Then I will retreat into the woods and ride a fat bike.

Now, my body being not quite right isn't the only thing lately which hasn't been "quite right" and this has also been an issue for me. It has to do with my job at the bike shop. Things are in upheaval, and in the coming weeks, there could be some major changes. Well........there will be. Just what will happen has me, and the rest of my co-workers, in a state of stress which is not a lot of fun to be going through, as you might imagine. And I have to believe this has something to do with what happened with me this weekend as well.

I don't have a lot to complain about in life, and really, I have it pretty good. So, don't go and think my life is going down the toilet, or that things are super-bad here with me. There are folks with a LOT worse things going on than myself, and I realize that. But that said, I won't be looking back on 2019 with a ton of fondness. Especially on the professional side. Still, I am blessed, and that's what I'm focusing on.

#psyck part 4

Secret Testing

Yep.........still sick. It is really frustrating since it gets better, there seems to be light just around the corner, then I wake up with the same symptoms- Mostly sinus related. I'll spare you the gory details....

This has meant that I haven't done much at all with longer rides, and nothing at all this year on gravel. Which pretty much sucks, but I haven't been totally off the bike. I have been doing some fat biking here and there and also some double-secret testing of an accessory item that may be a thing for fat bikers and......well, we'll see. I cannot talk a whole bunch about it, but it is in the image here, so you can probably figure things out from there.

Also quite obvious, it is slop season again. Daytime temperatures are now up to where the snow is melting and causing many sloppy, slushy areas, and of course, puddles. In fact, it may be time to break out the Vaya and use the 45NRTH Gravdal studded tires since those puddles will likely be frozen puddles going into work. Oh yeah........I still plan on riding to work no matter what. Even though I didn't get to ride, or even get out of the house, all weekend.

Tweaking the Gryphon

Since things out on the gravel roads may be messy when I get healthy enough to venture forth, I decided to start in working on the Singular Cycles Gryphon to get it up to snuff to go out and grind some slow miles to gain some fitness back. It didn't need much, but I wasn't completely sold on the ochre colored Brooks I put on it so I switched back up to the original B-17 Green Special, which is old enough now that it looks more like a ripe olive than it does "green". Originally I had put on this cork tape that matched the saddle really well, but now would look garish on there with the patina the saddle has now. Well, fortunately I found this Planet Bike that is a dark green and approximates the level of green in my saddle much better. Once I finally get to riding again, the wearing in of the tape should bring it to match the saddle perfectly.

I tried out the Becker Bike frame bag on it that was really meant to be on my Gen 1 Fargo, but it fits really well on this bike too. I think having the extra cargo space may be a good idea once I get back to going again for the longer rides I have planned.

#psyck part 4

Secret Testing

Yep.........still sick. It is really frustrating since it gets better, there seems to be light just around the corner, then I wake up with the same symptoms- Mostly sinus related. I'll spare you the gory details....

This has meant that I haven't done much at all with longer rides, and nothing at all this year on gravel. Which pretty much sucks, but I haven't been totally off the bike. I have been doing some fat biking here and there and also some double-secret testing of an accessory item that may be a thing for fat bikers and......well, we'll see. I cannot talk a whole bunch about it, but it is in the image here, so you can probably figure things out from there.

Also quite obvious, it is slop season again. Daytime temperatures are now up to where the snow is melting and causing many sloppy, slushy areas, and of course, puddles. In fact, it may be time to break out the Vaya and use the 45NRTH Gravdal studded tires since those puddles will likely be frozen puddles going into work. Oh yeah........I still plan on riding to work no matter what. Even though I didn't get to ride, or even get out of the house, all weekend.

Tweaking the Gryphon

Since things out on the gravel roads may be messy when I get healthy enough to venture forth, I decided to start in working on the Singular Cycles Gryphon to get it up to snuff to go out and grind some slow miles to gain some fitness back. It didn't need much, but I wasn't completely sold on the ochre colored Brooks I put on it so I switched back up to the original B-17 Green Special, which is old enough now that it looks more like a ripe olive than it does "green". Originally I had put on this cork tape that matched the saddle really well, but now would look garish on there with the patina the saddle has now. Well, fortunately I found this Planet Bike that is a dark green and approximates the level of green in my saddle much better. Once I finally get to riding again, the wearing in of the tape should bring it to match the saddle perfectly.

I tried out the Becker Bike frame bag on it that was really meant to be on my Gen 1 Fargo, but it fits really well on this bike too. I think having the extra cargo space may be a good idea once I get back to going again for the longer rides I have planned.

Solid Ice Testing

Thursday night we got some ice and it made everything nice and slick. So, it was a perfect opportunity to test out the 45NRTH Gravdal tires with 252 studs in each tire.

Now, I've ridden 35mm-38mm studded tires before. Innova and Kenda tires that felt dead and stiff as a board. They made me hate studded tires so much I swore I'd never ride them again. Sure, there were more expensive, hard to track down Nokians and some others, but these were for my old commuter bike and they needed to be 38mm tires or so to work. Not 26 inch mountain bike tires.

The Gravdals are 38mm tires and would have fit that old commuter rig I had, but I don't, and now the tires are on an older Vaya. That's a good bike to have them on too, because of the low bottom bracket and longer stays which give me more stability anyway. With the Gravdal tires, I figured I wouldn't be in too much danger of going down suddenly. 

See the white scratches? The studs scraped the ice when I laid the bike down

Still, these were "skinny" tires and getting bounced around, or sent offline a bit on ice was going to put those studs in a bind as far as grip is concerned. There is little room for error with such a small footprint. That's why I usually opted for a grippy, really wide 29"er tire at a ridiculously low pressure. I used to have really good luck with WTB WeirWolf LT's at 15psi, for instance. But these tires were no where near that foot print, and I was going to have to be very careful.

Fortunately I did not take a dive or even get close to going down. I had a couple of tense moments and I knew that the studs were gripping, or I should have gone toppling over. I stopped on the way home to see if a certain stretch of pavement I had just crossed was still ice covered and by the scratch marks left in the ice by my studs when I laid the bike down, I knew that indeed it was still very slick.

So, the tires passed the test with flying colors. However; I'd feel a lot more secure on, say Dillingers with studs! I'll have more to add to this later, but for now, these are pretty darn good Winter tires if you are stuck with, or choose to ride skinnier shoes in Winter.

Solid Ice Testing

Thursday night we got some ice and it made everything nice and slick. So, it was a perfect opportunity to test out the 45NRTH Gravdal tires with 252 studs in each tire.

Now, I've ridden 35mm-38mm studded tires before. Innova and Kenda tires that felt dead and stiff as a board. They made me hate studded tires so much I swore I'd never ride them again. Sure, there were more expensive, hard to track down Nokians and some others, but these were for my old commuter bike and they needed to be 38mm tires or so to work. Not 26 inch mountain bike tires.

The Gravdals are 38mm tires and would have fit that old commuter rig I had, but I don't, and now the tires are on an older Vaya. That's a good bike to have them on too, because of the low bottom bracket and longer stays which give me more stability anyway. With the Gravdal tires, I figured I wouldn't be in too much danger of going down suddenly. 

See the white scratches? The studs scraped the ice when I laid the bike down

Still, these were "skinny" tires and getting bounced around, or sent offline a bit on ice was going to put those studs in a bind as far as grip is concerned. There is little room for error with such a small footprint. That's why I usually opted for a grippy, really wide 29"er tire at a ridiculously low pressure. I used to have really good luck with WTB WeirWolf LT's at 15psi, for instance. But these tires were no where near that foot print, and I was going to have to be very careful.

Fortunately I did not take a dive or even get close to going down. I had a couple of tense moments and I knew that the studs were gripping, or I should have gone toppling over. I stopped on the way home to see if a certain stretch of pavement I had just crossed was still ice covered and by the scratch marks left in the ice by my studs when I laid the bike down, I knew that indeed it was still very slick.

So, the tires passed the test with flying colors. However; I'd feel a lot more secure on, say Dillingers with studs! I'll have more to add to this later, but for now, these are pretty darn good Winter tires if you are stuck with, or choose to ride skinnier shoes in Winter.

Timely

Studding

This past weekend I decided I'd better get on the stick and get that last Gravdal tire studded up. The weatherman was calling for a big swing in the weather and maybe there would be some ice and snow.

Not that I put a lot of faith into what the weatherman says, and even the weather people will tell you Winter weather is the hardest to predict. So, I was just being motivated by a false prophecy, or so I thought, and that was okay, because the deed would be done. When the time came that I really needed studded tires, I wouldn't be scrambling to get them on the bike.

I got the last one done watching the race Sunday, and then mounted them both up on some older Bontrager Race X Lite wheels I have with tubes. The Gravdal tires are not tubeless rated, and I figured tubes would be just fine in this case.

That all went on the Vaya. I figured I would ride it Monday when there was a chance of flurries, but not because I thought I needed studded tires, but because I figured I would bed the studs in by going to work and back. I could hear the difference in the sound the studs were making by about a mile in, and I knew that they were seating into their molded in spots well. By the time I got to work, they all looked great, setting just perfectly into the beefy tread blocks of the Gravdal tires. Mission accomplished.

And whatta ya know? They were right!

At work I saw the flakes start to fill the air. Nice, fluttering flakes of snow. No big deal. Then a barrage of snow, but I knew that the first few snows of the year generally don't stick. However; it kept coming down, and the temperatures were plummeting, and the winds were blowing hard.

Wait a minute....

I kept a watchful eye on the outdoor happenings from inside the shop. I was starting to get concerned when the streets were getting very wet, and cars were getting covered in the white stuff. Much more of this and we'd be seeing accumulations on pavement, and then the ice would form from car traffic. Hmm....

But then the snow faded, then it quit altogether. Maybe it would be all melted before I left. I figured it was no big deal, and I went about my business, satisfied that there would be no icy threat to getting home. Besides, I had studded tires! I had nothing to fear, right?

And I didn't need to worry, but I did run across plenty of snow and even some patches of ice that maybe would have been trouble on tires of this width. A fat bike or even a 29"er? pffft! Child's play for that, but I was glad I had studs all the same. And the bonus? These actually ride pretty okay for studded tires, which isn't usually the case at all. Oh- and let's not forget, I am ready for the next time!

Timely

Studding

This past weekend I decided I'd better get on the stick and get that last Gravdal tire studded up. The weatherman was calling for a big swing in the weather and maybe there would be some ice and snow.

Not that I put a lot of faith into what the weatherman says, and even the weather people will tell you Winter weather is the hardest to predict. So, I was just being motivated by a false prophecy, or so I thought, and that was okay, because the deed would be done. When the time came that I really needed studded tires, I wouldn't be scrambling to get them on the bike.

I got the last one done watching the race Sunday, and then mounted them both up on some older Bontrager Race X Lite wheels I have with tubes. The Gravdal tires are not tubeless rated, and I figured tubes would be just fine in this case.

That all went on the Vaya. I figured I would ride it Monday when there was a chance of flurries, but not because I thought I needed studded tires, but because I figured I would bed the studs in by going to work and back. I could hear the difference in the sound the studs were making by about a mile in, and I knew that they were seating into their molded in spots well. By the time I got to work, they all looked great, setting just perfectly into the beefy tread blocks of the Gravdal tires. Mission accomplished.

And whatta ya know? They were right!

At work I saw the flakes start to fill the air. Nice, fluttering flakes of snow. No big deal. Then a barrage of snow, but I knew that the first few snows of the year generally don't stick. However; it kept coming down, and the temperatures were plummeting, and the winds were blowing hard.

Wait a minute....

I kept a watchful eye on the outdoor happenings from inside the shop. I was starting to get concerned when the streets were getting very wet, and cars were getting covered in the white stuff. Much more of this and we'd be seeing accumulations on pavement, and then the ice would form from car traffic. Hmm....

But then the snow faded, then it quit altogether. Maybe it would be all melted before I left. I figured it was no big deal, and I went about my business, satisfied that there would be no icy threat to getting home. Besides, I had studded tires! I had nothing to fear, right?

And I didn't need to worry, but I did run across plenty of snow and even some patches of ice that maybe would have been trouble on tires of this width. A fat bike or even a 29"er? pffft! Child's play for that, but I was glad I had studs all the same. And the bonus? These actually ride pretty okay for studded tires, which isn't usually the case at all. Oh- and let's not forget, I am ready for the next time!

Weekend Report

Out with the boy Muklukin'

Saturday was a day that I felt was a better day spent with family, so part of that included getting out with my son and getting his new Mukluk dirty. The venue was going to be the Green Belt.

The plan was to take him back out to where we had ridden out there this past Summer when he still was riding his 24"er. On that ride he complained profusely about the sand, and he struggled mightily with trying to get through the sand without dabbing. Then there was also the Prescott Creek crossing, which I wasn't letting him try with that 24"er, with those skinnier tires, which I felt would not work well on those loose, baby head rocks out there.

The light was perfect for dramatic photos and the woods were a perfect place to be with the strong winds. Our fat bikes were crunching leaves and snapping twigs. I was just hoping that one of those sneaky twigs wouldn't find their way into one of our rear derailleurs. Fortunately, that did not happen. I suppose we could have set up either bike in single speed mode had it occurred though. Both our Mukluks have Alternator drop outs.

Well, my son crushed every obstacle and rode well. I was so pumped for him, and so glad that I went the fat bike route for him instead of a 26 inch wheeled, traditional mountain bike. It was so obvious riding behind him, as I did for quite awhile, that the stability and roll over anything nature of the fatter wheels was working for him and keeping him riding instead of having to ditch off the bike or crash.

More pics from the ride...

Checking out Black Hawk Creek

Rest stop on the way back

Dirt path going under paved cycling path

Like needlepoint for Men

Sunday I spent the afternoon watching a race on the television while I studded a 45NRTH Gravdal tire. I had a pair laying around here waiting to get worked on, and I decided to just be done with as much as I could get done with in one sitting. That turned into about three hours of on again-off again tire studding.

Yeah, that's a long time for one tire, but there were 252 studs that I pushed in by hand! The Gravdal has stud pockets molded into it and you can opt to use them all, or do a minimal pattern if you want to save some weight. However; with the alloy wrapped steel studs that 45NRTH uses only weighing an extra 80 grams for all 252 studs, I figured why not just put them all in.

The Gravdal tires and the studs for them came with a 45NRTH stud installation tool that made sticking the studs into the tire pretty easy. I just probably took longer to do 252 than most folks, but that's okay.

One thing I will say about this tire so far that has impressed me. It is an Innova made tire, and I have had several examples of Innova studded tires in the past. They were effective, but dismal in terms of ride quality. The tread compound seemed hard, the casing very stiff, and of course, they were wire bead tires. These tires are very different. They have a folding bead, for one thing, and the tread compound feels worlds softer and the casing is by far more supple. With the different studs, I expect a nicer ride quality. We'll see soon enough when the snow flies. These are to be my commuter tires when the Winter finally comes, so stay tuned....

Anyway, that was my weekend!

Weekend Report

Out with the boy Muklukin'

Saturday was a day that I felt was a better day spent with family, so part of that included getting out with my son and getting his new Mukluk dirty. The venue was going to be the Green Belt.

The plan was to take him back out to where we had ridden out there this past Summer when he still was riding his 24"er. On that ride he complained profusely about the sand, and he struggled mightily with trying to get through the sand without dabbing. Then there was also the Prescott Creek crossing, which I wasn't letting him try with that 24"er, with those skinnier tires, which I felt would not work well on those loose, baby head rocks out there.

The light was perfect for dramatic photos and the woods were a perfect place to be with the strong winds. Our fat bikes were crunching leaves and snapping twigs. I was just hoping that one of those sneaky twigs wouldn't find their way into one of our rear derailleurs. Fortunately, that did not happen. I suppose we could have set up either bike in single speed mode had it occurred though. Both our Mukluks have Alternator drop outs.

Well, my son crushed every obstacle and rode well. I was so pumped for him, and so glad that I went the fat bike route for him instead of a 26 inch wheeled, traditional mountain bike. It was so obvious riding behind him, as I did for quite awhile, that the stability and roll over anything nature of the fatter wheels was working for him and keeping him riding instead of having to ditch off the bike or crash.

More pics from the ride...

Checking out Black Hawk Creek

Rest stop on the way back

Dirt path going under paved cycling path

Like needlepoint for Men

Sunday I spent the afternoon watching a race on the television while I studded a 45NRTH Gravdal tire. I had a pair laying around here waiting to get worked on, and I decided to just be done with as much as I could get done with in one sitting. That turned into about three hours of on again-off again tire studding.

Yeah, that's a long time for one tire, but there were 252 studs that I pushed in by hand! The Gravdal has stud pockets molded into it and you can opt to use them all, or do a minimal pattern if you want to save some weight. However; with the alloy wrapped steel studs that 45NRTH uses only weighing an extra 80 grams for all 252 studs, I figured why not just put them all in.

The Gravdal tires and the studs for them came with a 45NRTH stud installation tool that made sticking the studs into the tire pretty easy. I just probably took longer to do 252 than most folks, but that's okay.

One thing I will say about this tire so far that has impressed me. It is an Innova made tire, and I have had several examples of Innova studded tires in the past. They were effective, but dismal in terms of ride quality. The tread compound seemed hard, the casing very stiff, and of course, they were wire bead tires. These tires are very different. They have a folding bead, for one thing, and the tread compound feels worlds softer and the casing is by far more supple. With the different studs, I expect a nicer ride quality. We'll see soon enough when the snow flies. These are to be my commuter tires when the Winter finally comes, so stay tuned....

Anyway, that was my weekend!