New Year - New Decade

The "Rear View" is over and out. Now with the turn of a page on the calendar, I am looking at a new year, and a new decade. It's a unique time to consider.

Ten years ago here on this blog I did the same thing. I looked ahead, set some goals, and had hopes. My life was so very different back then. There were two, now defunct, websites I worked very hard at. There was a brand new one that I had no idea would become my primary focus within the next four years. I ran one of the legendary gravel events in Trans Iowa, and I had a "day job" I never really ever talked about here for several reasons.

Now, looking at the future, I have a focus on my next stage in my family life. My two children will set off on their own adventures in life. What they do, I have no idea right now, but I want to be present in that. My wonderful wife will be by my side, I hope, all through this time coming up. Our lives are bound to change, what with my new chapter professionally which is going to happen soon. (Stay tuned)

But I want to focus now on the blog here. I've mentioned it before, but I'll have 15 years under my fingers here in May. There should be something to mark that occasion with, so I am going to come up with a few items of merch to put up for sale to commemorate the occasion. This will be a one-time, limited offering. I don't like to monetize the blog here, and I don't want to offer merch for sale on a regular basis, because, well........it wouldn't be special then now, would it?

Over the years I have found you, the readers, like the series, like the ongoing "Trans Iowa Stories" series. I'll find ways to keep stuff like that coming. I also found that you folks like the adventures I go on, the images, and the tales that go with those. So, I want to get away from home more in 2020. I want to ride in more interesting places and report on that here.

My professional life will be a part of the story, unlike in the past. There will be a shift here as well. My past at the old shop is a tale I could tell, but...... yeah..... That's touchy. Not for myself, but for the former owner of the shop, who, shall we say, is a difficult personality to portray in anything other than a dim light. I know I mentioned back when I left that shop that I might get into the details around that, but......nah. Better left unsaid. Besides, it's a very negative thing to deal with and I won't be bringing that into this blog. Which explains why I almost never spoke about my place of work here in the past.

My hope is that with a new opportunity, I won't be reticent to give out more details on my life at work. My immediate goals are to be able to get employed again and be comfortable with my employment situation, unlike before.

I'm hoping to diversify in the coming years also. I am dinking around with guitar amp servicing and repair. I want to mess about with music recording at home. I've mentioned the podcast thing. Art is another avenue I want to explore more and share here. So, the bicycle thing will always be number one, but perhaps a glimpse into other aspects of Guitar Ted might be fun to have here on the blog in the future.

As always, I am very grateful to you for reading this and my other posts here. I am always open to suggestions and ideas, criticisms, and any constructive comments you may want to share. I started out here almost 15 years ago with a lot of enthusiasm and not much knowledge. I've learned a lot along the way, and I want to continue to keep learning more.

Thanks!
Guitar Ted

Starting tomorrow will be a three part series on the "State Of The Gravel Scene - 2020". 

New Year - New Decade

The "Rear View" is over and out. Now with the turn of a page on the calendar, I am looking at a new year, and a new decade. It's a unique time to consider.

Ten years ago here on this blog I did the same thing. I looked ahead, set some goals, and had hopes. My life was so very different back then. There were two, now defunct, websites I worked very hard at. There was a brand new one that I had no idea would become my primary focus within the next four years. I ran one of the legendary gravel events in Trans Iowa, and I had a "day job" I never really ever talked about here for several reasons.

Now, looking at the future, I have a focus on my next stage in my family life. My two children will set off on their own adventures in life. What they do, I have no idea right now, but I want to be present in that. My wonderful wife will be by my side, I hope, all through this time coming up. Our lives are bound to change, what with my new chapter professionally which is going to happen soon. (Stay tuned)

But I want to focus now on the blog here. I've mentioned it before, but I'll have 15 years under my fingers here in May. There should be something to mark that occasion with, so I am going to come up with a few items of merch to put up for sale to commemorate the occasion. This will be a one-time, limited offering. I don't like to monetize the blog here, and I don't want to offer merch for sale on a regular basis, because, well........it wouldn't be special then now, would it?

Over the years I have found you, the readers, like the series, like the ongoing "Trans Iowa Stories" series. I'll find ways to keep stuff like that coming. I also found that you folks like the adventures I go on, the images, and the tales that go with those. So, I want to get away from home more in 2020. I want to ride in more interesting places and report on that here.

My professional life will be a part of the story, unlike in the past. There will be a shift here as well. My past at the old shop is a tale I could tell, but...... yeah..... That's touchy. Not for myself, but for the former owner of the shop, who, shall we say, is a difficult personality to portray in anything other than a dim light. I know I mentioned back when I left that shop that I might get into the details around that, but......nah. Better left unsaid. Besides, it's a very negative thing to deal with and I won't be bringing that into this blog. Which explains why I almost never spoke about my place of work here in the past.

My hope is that with a new opportunity, I won't be reticent to give out more details on my life at work. My immediate goals are to be able to get employed again and be comfortable with my employment situation, unlike before.

I'm hoping to diversify in the coming years also. I am dinking around with guitar amp servicing and repair. I want to mess about with music recording at home. I've mentioned the podcast thing. Art is another avenue I want to explore more and share here. So, the bicycle thing will always be number one, but perhaps a glimpse into other aspects of Guitar Ted might be fun to have here on the blog in the future.

As always, I am very grateful to you for reading this and my other posts here. I am always open to suggestions and ideas, criticisms, and any constructive comments you may want to share. I started out here almost 15 years ago with a lot of enthusiasm and not much knowledge. I've learned a lot along the way, and I want to continue to keep learning more.

Thanks!
Guitar Ted

Starting tomorrow will be a three part series on the "State Of The Gravel Scene - 2020". 

What's Up, GT?

A new fork on the Raleigh....

The end of the year business and the "State Of The Gravel Scene" posts have gobbled up all my space for recounting the day-to-day stuff around here. So, without further adieu, here's what has been happening since, or, around Christmas time.....

• Hours cut waaaay back at work. The business climate in bicycle retail has, well.......it sucks. Not just where I work either. But suffice it to say that the purse strings were tightened and Christmas time was a frugal one at the G-Ted household.
• 24hrs of Cumming entry: Sam, my co-conspirator in the 24hrs of Cumming last August started sending me some messages that were......cryptic. Then at the end I get a confirmation that I was in the 24hrs of Cumming and a "Merry Christmas" from Sam. This all a day ahead of registration opening, which.......I don't know how that worked. Point is, I am in with Sam. This time we will be known as "Team Snack Sabbath". 
• 20th Anniversary: Mrs. G-Ted and I celebrated our 20th Anniversary January 2nd. Again- a frugal affair, so no big deal, but it didn't matter because our family was together.  
• Sickness: Yep. Regular readers know I usually get sick around this time of year. Had a 24hr bug, recovered in a few days. 
• Renegade Gents Race 9.0: April 6th. The Careless Whispers are in for their 9th time. Lets see if we can get EVERY team member to the finish on the regulation course! 
• C.O.G. 100 Registration: Opened January 2nd. Sold out two thirds of the field within four hours and we only had a handful of spots left by the end of day one of the registration process. Sold all 75 spots in three days. Added 25 additional spots over the weekend. Pretty surprised by that, I won't lie. I figured finding 75 single speed freaks would be tougher than that.

Then this retro single speed stuff showed up.

Speaking Of Single Speed..........

I got a message between Christmas and New Years from Grannygear. He asked me if I might be interested in some single speed hubs he had, some old White Industries ENO hubs. I said yeah, and he said, no problem. Okay, so filed away for some other time.

Then on the day of my 20th wedding anniversary, I got a heavy box of pretty decent size. What? I opened it, and besides the vintage hubs, there were two Shimano square taper cranks with rings, a White Industries free wheel, two saddles from WTB, and to top it all off- the White Industries ENO freewheel tool!

Thank you, Grannygear! Wow! This is so cool. One of the cranksets is even a 180mm length! That one, a 9000 series crank, has a rare 34T Onza Buzzsaw chain ring too. The stuff needs cleaning and a touch of TLC, but hey! I ain't complainin'! First thing to do after a bit of polishing up will be to get a new set of bearings in the rear hub. Then I'll build up a wheel set for my Blackbuck rig with some rims from Velocity of some sort. Probably some Velocity Blunt SS rims. Anyway, these wheels are gonna be sweet.

That White Industries free wheel will probably end up on the Blackbuck at some point. It's a 21T or 22T job, too low for any gravel travel. The cranks...... Dunno yet. I probably will put one set on the Blackbuck and retire the ano-green Suginos I've run on there for the last ten plus years. One of the saddles is a Pure V, my favorite, so I'll have no trouble finding a home for that. The other is a well worn, possibly an OG from the 90's, WTB SST saddle. I have one and have broken my other. Good time to replace that.

So, there ya go. Some catching up, housecleaning, and whatnot from late last year till the present. Back to "regularly scheduled" postings tomorrow.

What's Up, GT?

A new fork on the Raleigh....

The end of the year business and the "State Of The Gravel Scene" posts have gobbled up all my space for recounting the day-to-day stuff around here. So, without further adieu, here's what has been happening since, or, around Christmas time.....

• Hours cut waaaay back at work. The business climate in bicycle retail has, well.......it sucks. Not just where I work either. But suffice it to say that the purse strings were tightened and Christmas time was a frugal one at the G-Ted household.
• 24hrs of Cumming entry: Sam, my co-conspirator in the 24hrs of Cumming last August started sending me some messages that were......cryptic. Then at the end I get a confirmation that I was in the 24hrs of Cumming and a "Merry Christmas" from Sam. This all a day ahead of registration opening, which.......I don't know how that worked. Point is, I am in with Sam. This time we will be known as "Team Snack Sabbath". 
• 20th Anniversary: Mrs. G-Ted and I celebrated our 20th Anniversary January 2nd. Again- a frugal affair, so no big deal, but it didn't matter because our family was together.  
• Sickness: Yep. Regular readers know I usually get sick around this time of year. Had a 24hr bug, recovered in a few days. 
• Renegade Gents Race 9.0: April 6th. The Careless Whispers are in for their 9th time. Lets see if we can get EVERY team member to the finish on the regulation course! 
• C.O.G. 100 Registration: Opened January 2nd. Sold out two thirds of the field within four hours and we only had a handful of spots left by the end of day one of the registration process. Sold all 75 spots in three days. Added 25 additional spots over the weekend. Pretty surprised by that, I won't lie. I figured finding 75 single speed freaks would be tougher than that.

Then this retro single speed stuff showed up.

Speaking Of Single Speed..........

I got a message between Christmas and New Years from Grannygear. He asked me if I might be interested in some single speed hubs he had, some old White Industries ENO hubs. I said yeah, and he said, no problem. Okay, so filed away for some other time.

Then on the day of my 20th wedding anniversary, I got a heavy box of pretty decent size. What? I opened it, and besides the vintage hubs, there were two Shimano square taper cranks with rings, a White Industries free wheel, two saddles from WTB, and to top it all off- the White Industries ENO freewheel tool!

Thank you, Grannygear! Wow! This is so cool. One of the cranksets is even a 180mm length! That one, a 9000 series crank, has a rare 34T Onza Buzzsaw chain ring too. The stuff needs cleaning and a touch of TLC, but hey! I ain't complainin'! First thing to do after a bit of polishing up will be to get a new set of bearings in the rear hub. Then I'll build up a wheel set for my Blackbuck rig with some rims from Velocity of some sort. Probably some Velocity Blunt SS rims. Anyway, these wheels are gonna be sweet.

That White Industries free wheel will probably end up on the Blackbuck at some point. It's a 21T or 22T job, too low for any gravel travel. The cranks...... Dunno yet. I probably will put one set on the Blackbuck and retire the ano-green Suginos I've run on there for the last ten plus years. One of the saddles is a Pure V, my favorite, so I'll have no trouble finding a home for that. The other is a well worn, possibly an OG from the 90's, WTB SST saddle. I have one and have broken my other. Good time to replace that.

So, there ya go. Some catching up, housecleaning, and whatnot from late last year till the present. Back to "regularly scheduled" postings tomorrow.

Looking Ahead At 2018

Heading toward my 14th complete year of blogging in 2018.

Well, another stellar year of posting ends today for this blog. I am amazed that anyone still cares enough to actually read this blog at all, but you do. To all of you, a hearty "thank you!" and may you all have a Happy and Joyous New Year!

As for me, I have plans! (Insert evil laugh) Many of you will be surprised by at least one of the plans I have in store. Some of you will be nodding in agreement and understanding. Some of you won't give a rip. Some will deride me and say derogatory things. Nothing new about any of that!

Things concerning the blog will stay stable as long as I am around to punch keyboards out here. So, don't expect any big changes there. The blog should live on. That's my intention for now, at any rate.

Personally I am taking a different approach to my events. In the past I had a mix of competitive and "fun" riding. This coming year I am going to cut back on the competitive bits. I will be doing the Renegade Gent's race, but for all intents and purposes that is a fun ride. So, I am not counting that event as competition. There may be an excursion in Minnesota I will be on. That isn't set in stone just yet. Trans Iowa will take up the rest of my Spring's efforts along with just riding around here for fun.

June will be left completely wide open. There was some talk about riding three days in Odin's territory, but that is not solid as of now. It could happen though. Then the GTDRI will happen again probably the last weekend in July. Somewhere in the Spring I may still do a Geezer Ride. That will happen as part of a local, "get folks out on gravel" thing.

Summer won't have any other scheduled riding other than the Gravel Worlds, which is one I won't miss. Then that's it. Nothing else competitive at all is on my radar. Everything else I am leaving wide open to interpretation. I may want to go ride in Jackson County, Iowa, as an example, or along the Mississippi River somewhere, or out in the Loess Hills. I probably will go to the Northfield area, Des Moines area, and maybe some other places where I have friends to ride next year.

So yeah, the Renegade Gent's Race, GTDRI, and Gravel Worlds. That's all I am planning on for sure. The rest will be filled in with riding for fun, with friends, hopefully, and in some different places. I hope to get my 100 mile rides in on my single speed, gravel bikes, and maybe even a fat bike century too.

I look forward to this coming year. Less stress, less "big deals", and more fun with friends. That's my outlook right now.

Goodbye 2017......

Looking Ahead At 2018

Heading toward my 14th complete year of blogging in 2018.

Well, another stellar year of posting ends today for this blog. I am amazed that anyone still cares enough to actually read this blog at all, but you do. To all of you, a hearty "thank you!" and may you all have a Happy and Joyous New Year!

As for me, I have plans! (Insert evil laugh) Many of you will be surprised by at least one of the plans I have in store. Some of you will be nodding in agreement and understanding. Some of you won't give a rip. Some will deride me and say derogatory things. Nothing new about any of that!

Things concerning the blog will stay stable as long as I am around to punch keyboards out here. So, don't expect any big changes there. The blog should live on. That's my intention for now, at any rate.

Personally I am taking a different approach to my events. In the past I had a mix of competitive and "fun" riding. This coming year I am going to cut back on the competitive bits. I will be doing the Renegade Gent's race, but for all intents and purposes that is a fun ride. So, I am not counting that event as competition. There may be an excursion in Minnesota I will be on. That isn't set in stone just yet. Trans Iowa will take up the rest of my Spring's efforts along with just riding around here for fun.

June will be left completely wide open. There was some talk about riding three days in Odin's territory, but that is not solid as of now. It could happen though. Then the GTDRI will happen again probably the last weekend in July. Somewhere in the Spring I may still do a Geezer Ride. That will happen as part of a local, "get folks out on gravel" thing.

Summer won't have any other scheduled riding other than the Gravel Worlds, which is one I won't miss. Then that's it. Nothing else competitive at all is on my radar. Everything else I am leaving wide open to interpretation. I may want to go ride in Jackson County, Iowa, as an example, or along the Mississippi River somewhere, or out in the Loess Hills. I probably will go to the Northfield area, Des Moines area, and maybe some other places where I have friends to ride next year.

So yeah, the Renegade Gent's Race, GTDRI, and Gravel Worlds. That's all I am planning on for sure. The rest will be filled in with riding for fun, with friends, hopefully, and in some different places. I hope to get my 100 mile rides in on my single speed, gravel bikes, and maybe even a fat bike century too.

I look forward to this coming year. Less stress, less "big deals", and more fun with friends. That's my outlook right now.

Goodbye 2017......

The No "DS" Ride

New bike "mojo" token was found.

You know, as long as I have been a "bike nerd" it has been kind of an unwritten rule that you (a) ride on News Year's Eve or (b) ride on New Year's Day. I didn't get out of the house at all on Wednesday, since we were all feeling under the weather here. However; I did manage to grind out a ride on New Year's Day, to uphold "traditions". This will keep me in good stead with the "Unwritten Rules Of Engagement For Bike Nerds". (There is no such thing, but you'd think so by following us "bike nerds" around.)

So, I stayed up pretty late on New Year's Eve doing the family deal. The children are old enough now where staying up until midnight is considered "novel" but they can actually hold out that long and stay awake these days. We watched the "Apple Dumpling Gang" and the Wallace & Gromit short, "A Grand Day Out". Then I stayed up a bit longer and toodled around before hitting the hay. That meant a very late start on Thursday- 11:00am or so, actually, and I took my normal lengthy time to get going. I wasn't out on the bike until well into the afternoon.

We're enjoying a brief respite from bitter cold so the temperatures weren't all that bad out for a New Year's Day ride. I have seen temperatures into the 50's on New Year's Day, but more often than not it is bitterly cold. Yesterday it was right around freezing with a stiff Westerly wind. Not bad, but considering the time of year, above average weather for sure.

I decided the theme of the ride would be an easy, steady pace. To spice it up a bit, I decided to ride the Blackborow DS, (or Snow Dog v2), and to not use the lower range gearing. I would keep it in the high range and truly single speed it- a "no DS ride". That really shouldn't be all that hard to do around here, but there were a few observations along the way where I felt dropping into the lower range would have been a good thing. We'll get to that in a bit.....

Not 20 feet from my front door I found a colorful bracelet on the sidewalk. A remnant from the previous evening's festivities, perhaps? Who knew? I took it as a token that my Snow Dog v2 needed a "mojo", and I laced it initially around the right side of the handlebar. What? You've never heard of a handlebar mojo before? Well, it goes way back to the early days of mountain biking when folks would affix all sorts of "talismans" to their handlebars for fun, good luck, or some other superstitious reason. Most commonly dubbed "mojos", the practice seemed to fall out of favor sometime in the 90's. I never really got into it all that much, although over time I have had such things as a silver strand of "temple bells", a plastic rose, and maybe some other oddments on my bars throughout the years. I wouldn't say I was superstitious by any stretch, but I maybe am a bit sentimental and I like doing the odd thing from time to time. The bracelet deal seemed appropriate, seeing as how it was the first found item on a bike ride in 2015, and me without a handlebar mojo on the Snow Dog v2 and all. So there it is.

Cruising around the backwaters of the Cedar River

I decided to not do the Green Belt again. That is an easy route to use, since it is so close to my home, but others are not much further away and I decided to visit a bit of a different stretch along the Cedar River instead. I made my way via city streets and alley ways to Lower Hartman Reserve and the new trails over that way. After a bit, I moved further West and hit the old trail I helped put in back in '97 or so. It was dubbed "John's Trail" back in the day, although I doubt many remember that John Adamson put that in there over what was mostly a deer trail. I helped him out with marking it and added a bit of an "optional" curve down off a ridge and back up again. That being the only noticeable contribution I made to that trail. I always dub that tiny diversion "Mark's Option". But again, nobody cares or even remembers that old stuff. To most, it's just one of the Lower Hartman trails. Which is fine by me, by the way. I just point that out for historical purposes, if anyone would care to know locally.

You can see the rut I put in on that sandy tongue out into the back water here.

Another trail that probably no one realizes the history of is the one that parallels the old Shirey Way closer to the West entrance to Lower Hartman on the North side. It eventually rides up on a ridge that has a bit of exposure to the back water pond before it dumps out onto the old Shirey access road that goes back into the woods. That wasn't rideable until the mid-90's when some of us started clearing out a pretty significant deer trail that the current trail follows the line of. I remember bushwhacking my way through there on an old 26"er before we had it cleared out for use. By 1996 it was fairly well established. For a deer trail, it ain't all that bad.

The old "pond hockey" area and the Lower Hartman observation tower in the distance.

The "no DS ride" went well, actually. I had to time some whoop-de-doos and obstacles a bit more carefully, but I only dabbed twice during the entire ride. I had to make some fancy moves in a couple of spots, but I think given more time to get more fittness on the bike, the old Snow Dog v2 will be fine as a straight up single speed rig around here. I was looking longingly at a few beach cruise opportunities, but I really would have needed the crawling gear for those, so I limited my self to sticking with the plan. I can always come back and crawl those nice looking stretches of sand again later.

The ride was great. The day was a clear, blue bird sky day, and although the winds were stiff, I was out of the main blast down in the woods for the most part. A good ride to kick off the new year on. Now let's see if the ball can be kept rolling.....

The No "DS" Ride

New bike "mojo" token was found.

You know, as long as I have been a "bike nerd" it has been kind of an unwritten rule that you (a) ride on News Year's Eve or (b) ride on New Year's Day. I didn't get out of the house at all on Wednesday, since we were all feeling under the weather here. However; I did manage to grind out a ride on New Year's Day, to uphold "traditions". This will keep me in good stead with the "Unwritten Rules Of Engagement For Bike Nerds". (There is no such thing, but you'd think so by following us "bike nerds" around.)

So, I stayed up pretty late on New Year's Eve doing the family deal. The children are old enough now where staying up until midnight is considered "novel" but they can actually hold out that long and stay awake these days. We watched the "Apple Dumpling Gang" and the Wallace & Gromit short, "A Grand Day Out". Then I stayed up a bit longer and toodled around before hitting the hay. That meant a very late start on Thursday- 11:00am or so, actually, and I took my normal lengthy time to get going. I wasn't out on the bike until well into the afternoon.

We're enjoying a brief respite from bitter cold so the temperatures weren't all that bad out for a New Year's Day ride. I have seen temperatures into the 50's on New Year's Day, but more often than not it is bitterly cold. Yesterday it was right around freezing with a stiff Westerly wind. Not bad, but considering the time of year, above average weather for sure.

I decided the theme of the ride would be an easy, steady pace. To spice it up a bit, I decided to ride the Blackborow DS, (or Snow Dog v2), and to not use the lower range gearing. I would keep it in the high range and truly single speed it- a "no DS ride". That really shouldn't be all that hard to do around here, but there were a few observations along the way where I felt dropping into the lower range would have been a good thing. We'll get to that in a bit.....

Not 20 feet from my front door I found a colorful bracelet on the sidewalk. A remnant from the previous evening's festivities, perhaps? Who knew? I took it as a token that my Snow Dog v2 needed a "mojo", and I laced it initially around the right side of the handlebar. What? You've never heard of a handlebar mojo before? Well, it goes way back to the early days of mountain biking when folks would affix all sorts of "talismans" to their handlebars for fun, good luck, or some other superstitious reason. Most commonly dubbed "mojos", the practice seemed to fall out of favor sometime in the 90's. I never really got into it all that much, although over time I have had such things as a silver strand of "temple bells", a plastic rose, and maybe some other oddments on my bars throughout the years. I wouldn't say I was superstitious by any stretch, but I maybe am a bit sentimental and I like doing the odd thing from time to time. The bracelet deal seemed appropriate, seeing as how it was the first found item on a bike ride in 2015, and me without a handlebar mojo on the Snow Dog v2 and all. So there it is.

Cruising around the backwaters of the Cedar River

I decided to not do the Green Belt again. That is an easy route to use, since it is so close to my home, but others are not much further away and I decided to visit a bit of a different stretch along the Cedar River instead. I made my way via city streets and alley ways to Lower Hartman Reserve and the new trails over that way. After a bit, I moved further West and hit the old trail I helped put in back in '97 or so. It was dubbed "John's Trail" back in the day, although I doubt many remember that John Adamson put that in there over what was mostly a deer trail. I helped him out with marking it and added a bit of an "optional" curve down off a ridge and back up again. That being the only noticeable contribution I made to that trail. I always dub that tiny diversion "Mark's Option". But again, nobody cares or even remembers that old stuff. To most, it's just one of the Lower Hartman trails. Which is fine by me, by the way. I just point that out for historical purposes, if anyone would care to know locally.

You can see the rut I put in on that sandy tongue out into the back water here.

Another trail that probably no one realizes the history of is the one that parallels the old Shirey Way closer to the West entrance to Lower Hartman on the North side. It eventually rides up on a ridge that has a bit of exposure to the back water pond before it dumps out onto the old Shirey access road that goes back into the woods. That wasn't rideable until the mid-90's when some of us started clearing out a pretty significant deer trail that the current trail follows the line of. I remember bushwhacking my way through there on an old 26"er before we had it cleared out for use. By 1996 it was fairly well established. For a deer trail, it ain't all that bad.

The old "pond hockey" area and the Lower Hartman observation tower in the distance.

The "no DS ride" went well, actually. I had to time some whoop-de-doos and obstacles a bit more carefully, but I only dabbed twice during the entire ride. I had to make some fancy moves in a couple of spots, but I think given more time to get more fittness on the bike, the old Snow Dog v2 will be fine as a straight up single speed rig around here. I was looking longingly at a few beach cruise opportunities, but I really would have needed the crawling gear for those, so I limited my self to sticking with the plan. I can always come back and crawl those nice looking stretches of sand again later.

The ride was great. The day was a clear, blue bird sky day, and although the winds were stiff, I was out of the main blast down in the woods for the most part. A good ride to kick off the new year on. Now let's see if the ball can be kept rolling.....

A Year End Visit

The last time I'll do that......

This past weekend was marked by a visit from my good friend, MG. He was up from Lincoln visiting relatives and we managed to hook up on Saturday morning for a late breakfast and some great conversation.

It was a good thing to see him after so long a time. No bikes were ridden on trails, but MG did take a short spin on my Blackborow and deemed it pretty nice. There was MG's dog, Amy, and she was sweet as could be. She even gave me a tiny lick. Guess I'm okay in her book!

Anyway, I was glad to have seen him and after this weekend's events I am reminded again how tenuous and precious life is. Making time for friends......well, I say don't miss the chances you get. You never know. That's all I'll say about that.

Then on Sunday I got out for a proper ride. I did something I'll never do again, (which you'll figure out after tomorrow's post), and that was kind of an interesting deal on top of what would normally have been a pretty fun ride any other time. The ground was melted in spots, and frozen and firm most every where else. This made for a ride where you weren't sure when you'd get real loose, or be railing with great traction. I did one of those diggers which always seem like they happen in slow motion. No harm done, so it was just kind of an interesting experience to have. Kind of like sliding into home plate, only on a bicycle.

Now its time for a New Year and I'm looking forward to doing a lot of cool stuff. I'll get around to detailing some of that in tomorrow's post........

A Year End Visit

The last time I'll do that......

This past weekend was marked by a visit from my good friend, MG. He was up from Lincoln visiting relatives and we managed to hook up on Saturday morning for a late breakfast and some great conversation.

It was a good thing to see him after so long a time. No bikes were ridden on trails, but MG did take a short spin on my Blackborow and deemed it pretty nice. There was MG's dog, Amy, and she was sweet as could be. She even gave me a tiny lick. Guess I'm okay in her book!

Anyway, I was glad to have seen him and after this weekend's events I am reminded again how tenuous and precious life is. Making time for friends......well, I say don't miss the chances you get. You never know. That's all I'll say about that.

Then on Sunday I got out for a proper ride. I did something I'll never do again, (which you'll figure out after tomorrow's post), and that was kind of an interesting deal on top of what would normally have been a pretty fun ride any other time. The ground was melted in spots, and frozen and firm most every where else. This made for a ride where you weren't sure when you'd get real loose, or be railing with great traction. I did one of those diggers which always seem like they happen in slow motion. No harm done, so it was just kind of an interesting experience to have. Kind of like sliding into home plate, only on a bicycle.

Now its time for a New Year and I'm looking forward to doing a lot of cool stuff. I'll get around to detailing some of that in tomorrow's post........

Triple D Winter Race: Training Log 6- Into The Paint Shaker

Surprisingly rideable....

Another New Year's day, another training ride. This one goes for 3.5 hours again but with less pushing, like the last log entry. Well......I could have gone the entire time without getting off, but I sought out harder paths. You know, for training purposes.....

The temperature was pretty frigid in the morning, and I slept in late, but by noon it was crawling above zero. A good sign. Then by the time I took off at 1:30pm, I had a "warm" temperature of above 10°F to enjoy! WooHoo!

The winds were light and the sun was out, so it looked great for riding. The recent traffic on the trail near my home has compacted down a nice route to ride on, albeit a bit bumpy. I suppose even a wide tired 29"er would have been good here.

That all changed a bit once I crossed Fletcher. There I had two snow machine tracks and it was a bit looser, but not bad, really. You might have been able to negotiate this on a 29"er, but it would have been sketchy, slow going. I was still cruising along at a good clip. Then Ansborough and it got a little deeper out here. Less foot traffic, but still enough of a snow machine track to support me. It maybe was a touch slower through there. Infinitely better than the last time I had ridden here a week ago.

I made my way to Martin Road and turned off to the right to see what I could do with the lake path this time. Last time I had a long hike-a-bike through here.

...and surprisingly bumpy!

Well, the snow shoe folk had beaten a path that was rideable- rough, but rideable, through to the main trail on Black Hawk Creek. I decided to go South to the rail road bridge and hike up the embankment to the hard surface trail, then back to Sergent Road.

But I didn't take the straight way there, and before I reached Ridgeway, I had been slowed to picking a line here and there. The going was definitely fat bike only by now. I noted a few new dead tree falls, and one that blocked the trail near Ridgeway. I stopped and removed it so the main way could be used again.

Once across Ridgeway I took the left trail after the entrance and went up. This trail hasn't seen enough traffic to get the shifty snow packed in yet. It was like riding through sugar with a mashed potato base. Not much good for anything but hike-a-bike. So I walked that section until the trail re-joined the more trafficked sectors.

Once I reached the rail road bridge, I dismounted and climbed up to the trail in hopes that snowmobiles had traversed through there. You never know- the trails are not for motorized use, so it could have been nothing, or just a single pass. Both would have meant hike-a-bike for quite a long ways. Fortunately, the trail had seen plenty of snowmobiles and it was easy going here.

Inspired by GNAT

Once I reached Highway 63, turned left, and headed down the Sergeant Road Trail again, I hit on some awesome drifts that had some snowmobile traffic over them. It was super cool to be riding over three to four foot drifts without punching through.

It was the confirmation I was waiting for over a year to get. The knowledge that at the right air pressure,  Big Fat Larrys on my Rolling Darryls would be just enough to float me through deep, snowmobile trail. Still, I was wondering what a couple of Bud 4.8"ers might do on Rolling Darryls for my riding in these conditions. I bet it would be about the best. While I had considered a 3.8"er on the back, I think that extra big casing is what is keeping me from punching through, and 100mm rims are just not all that necessary here. Not that it wouldn't be nice to have, but with clearance being limited, I don't think I'll go that route with my Mukluk.

Anyway, back to Martin Road, going back to the lake and hitting the opposite shoreline, then punching through the cedar trees, through the little creek run off, and hike-a-bike to the top of the dike. I rode to the Green Belt Trail and took it back to the Ansborough trail head, then back to the Sergent Road Trail till I got to the cut-off to cross 63 and over to Summit Avenue. That takes me only a few more blocks, then back home again on alleyways and city streets.

It was a great afternoon on the bike, but the main order of business was negotiating miles of really bumpy trail. I was about to give a vital organ for a suspension fork yesterday, I'll tell ya that much! My hands and shoulders were a wreck after that one. But another great effort in the log on my way to Triple D.

Triple D Winter Race: Training Log 6- Into The Paint Shaker

Surprisingly rideable....

Another New Year's day, another training ride. This one goes for 3.5 hours again but with less pushing, like the last log entry. Well......I could have gone the entire time without getting off, but I sought out harder paths. You know, for training purposes.....

The temperature was pretty frigid in the morning, and I slept in late, but by noon it was crawling above zero. A good sign. Then by the time I took off at 1:30pm, I had a "warm" temperature of above 10°F to enjoy! WooHoo!

The winds were light and the sun was out, so it looked great for riding. The recent traffic on the trail near my home has compacted down a nice route to ride on, albeit a bit bumpy. I suppose even a wide tired 29"er would have been good here.

That all changed a bit once I crossed Fletcher. There I had two snow machine tracks and it was a bit looser, but not bad, really. You might have been able to negotiate this on a 29"er, but it would have been sketchy, slow going. I was still cruising along at a good clip. Then Ansborough and it got a little deeper out here. Less foot traffic, but still enough of a snow machine track to support me. It maybe was a touch slower through there. Infinitely better than the last time I had ridden here a week ago.

I made my way to Martin Road and turned off to the right to see what I could do with the lake path this time. Last time I had a long hike-a-bike through here.

...and surprisingly bumpy!

Well, the snow shoe folk had beaten a path that was rideable- rough, but rideable, through to the main trail on Black Hawk Creek. I decided to go South to the rail road bridge and hike up the embankment to the hard surface trail, then back to Sergent Road.

But I didn't take the straight way there, and before I reached Ridgeway, I had been slowed to picking a line here and there. The going was definitely fat bike only by now. I noted a few new dead tree falls, and one that blocked the trail near Ridgeway. I stopped and removed it so the main way could be used again.

Once across Ridgeway I took the left trail after the entrance and went up. This trail hasn't seen enough traffic to get the shifty snow packed in yet. It was like riding through sugar with a mashed potato base. Not much good for anything but hike-a-bike. So I walked that section until the trail re-joined the more trafficked sectors.

Once I reached the rail road bridge, I dismounted and climbed up to the trail in hopes that snowmobiles had traversed through there. You never know- the trails are not for motorized use, so it could have been nothing, or just a single pass. Both would have meant hike-a-bike for quite a long ways. Fortunately, the trail had seen plenty of snowmobiles and it was easy going here.

Inspired by GNAT

Once I reached Highway 63, turned left, and headed down the Sergeant Road Trail again, I hit on some awesome drifts that had some snowmobile traffic over them. It was super cool to be riding over three to four foot drifts without punching through.

It was the confirmation I was waiting for over a year to get. The knowledge that at the right air pressure,  Big Fat Larrys on my Rolling Darryls would be just enough to float me through deep, snowmobile trail. Still, I was wondering what a couple of Bud 4.8"ers might do on Rolling Darryls for my riding in these conditions. I bet it would be about the best. While I had considered a 3.8"er on the back, I think that extra big casing is what is keeping me from punching through, and 100mm rims are just not all that necessary here. Not that it wouldn't be nice to have, but with clearance being limited, I don't think I'll go that route with my Mukluk.

Anyway, back to Martin Road, going back to the lake and hitting the opposite shoreline, then punching through the cedar trees, through the little creek run off, and hike-a-bike to the top of the dike. I rode to the Green Belt Trail and took it back to the Ansborough trail head, then back to the Sergent Road Trail till I got to the cut-off to cross 63 and over to Summit Avenue. That takes me only a few more blocks, then back home again on alleyways and city streets.

It was a great afternoon on the bike, but the main order of business was negotiating miles of really bumpy trail. I was about to give a vital organ for a suspension fork yesterday, I'll tell ya that much! My hands and shoulders were a wreck after that one. But another great effort in the log on my way to Triple D.

Walking Into 2011

While most of my friends and cycling aficionados that I know, (and even those I do not know), were out busily doing training rides, or "notable feats of cycling" while I was simply taking it easy.

I mean, it's a holiday weekend, fer cryin' out loud. You can take it easy. Really. Once in awhile.

And why not do it with close family and friends while it is cold out? I don't know, but somehow it got to be "cool" to do the New Year's Day ride thing, and well, that's all well and fine.

And it doesn't mean you have to become a sedentary pig while you do it either. Although, for other reasons, my physical activity level was on low this weekend. I did get out for a hike with my son. It was good.

Winter time always amazes me with the low angle of the sun, and the way it plays off things in the sky and on the ground. It is great to be out at sunrise, or near sunset, (as I was), to check out the amazing beauty of it all.

So anyway, here's a thought for all you cyclists out there for next New Years time. Do your ride at night, on New Year's Eve, and celebrate New Year's coming out in the woods somewhere. I've done that a couple of times. Pretty cool.



I walked into 2011. Probably will get my first ride in as a commute to work, just like my last ride was in 2010. The holiday times are over. Time to start riding in earnest again!

Walking Into 2011

While most of my friends and cycling aficionados that I know, (and even those I do not know), were out busily doing training rides, or "notable feats of cycling" while I was simply taking it easy.

I mean, it's a holiday weekend, fer cryin' out loud. You can take it easy. Really. Once in awhile.

And why not do it with close family and friends while it is cold out? I don't know, but somehow it got to be "cool" to do the New Year's Day ride thing, and well, that's all well and fine.

And it doesn't mean you have to become a sedentary pig while you do it either. Although, for other reasons, my physical activity level was on low this weekend. I did get out for a hike with my son. It was good.

Winter time always amazes me with the low angle of the sun, and the way it plays off things in the sky and on the ground. It is great to be out at sunrise, or near sunset, (as I was), to check out the amazing beauty of it all.

So anyway, here's a thought for all you cyclists out there for next New Years time. Do your ride at night, on New Year's Eve, and celebrate New Year's coming out in the woods somewhere. I've done that a couple of times. Pretty cool.



I walked into 2011. Probably will get my first ride in as a commute to work, just like my last ride was in 2010. The holiday times are over. Time to start riding in earnest again!