Goodbye 1X1! It Was Good To Know Ya!

Highly manipulated image of the ol' 1X1 from about 18 years ago.

The Surly 1X1, which I have had in my possession for a little more than five years, has a new home now. This is the bike that has a long history with former and current bicycle mechanics from this area. I think a brief overview is in order to bring the proper weight and gravity to this story. So, bear with me a moment as I take you through the history of this particular Surly 1X1.

The 1X1 in this story was first purchased by Vance McCaw, who now is with Trek Bicycles, in 1999 when he was an employee at a local shop here. At that time I was a car mechanic locally, but still a cyclist. I had visited this shop several times during this period and recall seeing the bike then and remarking at it because it was a 'purpose built single speed' which in 1999 was weird.

Vance eventually moved on to Trek, then selling the bike as a training tool to Jeff Kerkove, now of Ergon USA. Jeff used the bike as a Winter hack, logging thousands of miles of gravel and snow-ridden roads while commuting back and forth to work and while training for his solo 24 hour events. Of course, I met Jeff in 2002, so this bike's history was well known to me after this point.

Before Jeff left for Colorado, he sold the bike (or gave it to- not sure which) to Carl Buchanan, who had also worked at the same shop. Carl, who is still a local resident here, sold it to Adam Lorenz, who used to work at the shop and at Velocity USA for a while. Adam then gave the bike to Brian Bottke, who worked at the shop and used the bike as part of an Xtracycle set up to haul his toddler son with. When Brian left to pursue his medical career, he gave the bike to me, at the tail end of 2014, and I've had it since.

I used the bike mostly as a commuter and errand bike. I have gotten great use out of it and while I love that little rig, and the history it represents, it was a medium sized frame and a touch too small for the likes of me. Besides, as you all well know as readers here, I have a LOT of bicycles. I can afford to be picky. I had been charged by Brian to give the bike to the next mechanic in line if I ever left the shop. Well, the shop had to shut its doors, and I was forced to find other employment. Now that's the history up to the present time.

The bike as I last had it set up. This is behind Andy's Bike Shop.

Of course, now I work at Andy's Bike Shop. I was released from my promise to Brian, but I had hatched a plan. See, Andy used to work at that same shop which I had worked at. In a sort of way, it would be congruent in the chain of things to pass the 1X1 along to Andy. I mentioned the possibility to him one day and he was excited about this idea. Besides, the bike, as a medium sized 1X1, fit him perfectly. So, on Wednesday July 8th, 2020, I passed on the 1X1 to Andy.

Andy has already tweaked out the bike to his liking and has ridden it to work as his commuter. This makes me smile. This was what I was hoping would happen. One more happy owner in the chain of the 1999 Surly 1X1 and one less bike in my storage area. Win-win.

It was good to know ya, you rascal of a bike! But you've found a new, good home where you are loved.

Goodbye 1X1! It Was Good To Know Ya!

Highly manipulated image of the ol' 1X1 from about 18 years ago.

The Surly 1X1, which I have had in my possession for a little more than five years, has a new home now. This is the bike that has a long history with former and current bicycle mechanics from this area. I think a brief overview is in order to bring the proper weight and gravity to this story. So, bear with me a moment as I take you through the history of this particular Surly 1X1.

The 1X1 in this story was first purchased by Vance McCaw, who now is with Trek Bicycles, in 1999 when he was an employee at a local shop here. At that time I was a car mechanic locally, but still a cyclist. I had visited this shop several times during this period and recall seeing the bike then and remarking at it because it was a 'purpose built single speed' which in 1999 was weird.

Vance eventually moved on to Trek, then selling the bike as a training tool to Jeff Kerkove, now of Ergon USA. Jeff used the bike as a Winter hack, logging thousands of miles of gravel and snow-ridden roads while commuting back and forth to work and while training for his solo 24 hour events. Of course, I met Jeff in 2002, so this bike's history was well known to me after this point.

Before Jeff left for Colorado, he sold the bike (or gave it to- not sure which) to Carl Buchanan, who had also worked at the same shop. Carl, who is still a local resident here, sold it to Adam Lorenz, who used to work at the shop and at Velocity USA for a while. Adam then gave the bike to Brian Bottke, who worked at the shop and used the bike as part of an Xtracycle set up to haul his toddler son with. When Brian left to pursue his medical career, he gave the bike to me, at the tail end of 2014, and I've had it since.

I used the bike mostly as a commuter and errand bike. I have gotten great use out of it and while I love that little rig, and the history it represents, it was a medium sized frame and a touch too small for the likes of me. Besides, as you all well know as readers here, I have a LOT of bicycles. I can afford to be picky. I had been charged by Brian to give the bike to the next mechanic in line if I ever left the shop. Well, the shop had to shut its doors, and I was forced to find other employment. Now that's the history up to the present time.

The bike as I last had it set up. This is behind Andy's Bike Shop.

Of course, now I work at Andy's Bike Shop. I was released from my promise to Brian, but I had hatched a plan. See, Andy used to work at that same shop which I had worked at. In a sort of way, it would be congruent in the chain of things to pass the 1X1 along to Andy. I mentioned the possibility to him one day and he was excited about this idea. Besides, the bike, as a medium sized 1X1, fit him perfectly. So, on Wednesday July 8th, 2020, I passed on the 1X1 to Andy.

Andy has already tweaked out the bike to his liking and has ridden it to work as his commuter. This makes me smile. This was what I was hoping would happen. One more happy owner in the chain of the 1999 Surly 1X1 and one less bike in my storage area. Win-win.

It was good to know ya, you rascal of a bike! But you've found a new, good home where you are loved.

A Year With Project 1 X 1

Project 1 X 1 almost a year after the work began.

The Surly 1 X 1 project I started almost a year ago now has been a smashing success. I should say that the date Saturday will be the actual day I announced it a year ago, but I'll be gone and I've got another post scheduled for that anyway. So, you get my overview a couple of days early.

I won't belabor the opinions I have already expressed. Most of that I published in April here. What I will say is that this bike has been a complete turnaround from what I had before I engaged in making the major changes to it that I did.

In a perfect world, this six time hand-me-down frame would have morphed into a 20" sized 1 X 1 when my former co-worker Brian gave it to me. That said, it works okay as is from a sizing standpoint. In fact, for the urban cruising I mostly do with it, the more upright riding position is better than a 20'er would provide. That said, this is the wrong size for me. At least from today's standards. maybe in a true 1990's sense, it fits. We rode odd set ups back then. I see old 1990's bikes much like I do old high school graduation photos of myself. I felt pretty good about my look back then, but in reality, I was full on dork mode. Yeah.....I said it. 1990's era mountain bikes were total dork-mobiles. Especially if you mixed purple ano with blue paint jobs. Sheesh! Ultra-dorky!

I said back in April that this was like having an adult BMX bike. I think that every time I ride it.  It is so nimble and twitchy it is dangerous, but fun. The other thing is that those danged Velo Orange hubs roll so freely that it makes every other bike I have feel like the brakes are dragging when I coast. This bike just flat out flies when coasting. Those are some really good hubs on there!

So, basically this simple, easy to maintain rig doesn't take much maintenance, is a bit on the dangerously twitchy side, and does what I wanted it for perfectly. The only thing I think I'll upgrade or change is the pedals. This cries out for a pair of Fixation Mesa MP's. I'll have to get a pair of those before the Winter comes.

A Year With Project 1 X 1

Project 1 X 1 almost a year after the work began.

The Surly 1 X 1 project I started almost a year ago now has been a smashing success. I should say that the date Saturday will be the actual day I announced it a year ago, but I'll be gone and I've got another post scheduled for that anyway. So, you get my overview a couple of days early.

I won't belabor the opinions I have already expressed. Most of that I published in April here. What I will say is that this bike has been a complete turnaround from what I had before I engaged in making the major changes to it that I did.

In a perfect world, this six time hand-me-down frame would have morphed into a 20" sized 1 X 1 when my former co-worker Brian gave it to me. That said, it works okay as is from a sizing standpoint. In fact, for the urban cruising I mostly do with it, the more upright riding position is better than a 20'er would provide. That said, this is the wrong size for me. At least from today's standards. maybe in a true 1990's sense, it fits. We rode odd set ups back then. I see old 1990's bikes much like I do old high school graduation photos of myself. I felt pretty good about my look back then, but in reality, I was full on dork mode. Yeah.....I said it. 1990's era mountain bikes were total dork-mobiles. Especially if you mixed purple ano with blue paint jobs. Sheesh! Ultra-dorky!

I said back in April that this was like having an adult BMX bike. I think that every time I ride it.  It is so nimble and twitchy it is dangerous, but fun. The other thing is that those danged Velo Orange hubs roll so freely that it makes every other bike I have feel like the brakes are dragging when I coast. This bike just flat out flies when coasting. Those are some really good hubs on there!

So, basically this simple, easy to maintain rig doesn't take much maintenance, is a bit on the dangerously twitchy side, and does what I wanted it for perfectly. The only thing I think I'll upgrade or change is the pedals. This cries out for a pair of Fixation Mesa MP's. I'll have to get a pair of those before the Winter comes.

Friday News And Views

Trans Iowa v13 Registration Update:

 A couple of things to note. One- Plus Six and Active Finishers registration closes up shop tomorrow. So, there will be two mail deliveries to go until that window shuts up. So far there are 12 registered out of a possible 25. Keep in mind that if I don't get 25 folks I will throw the extra slots into the Veteran's Lottery batch which will be a minimum of 55 roster slots.

Two- The Veteran's window to send in cards ends a week from tomorrow. There are several on the list so far, and I expect many more are on their way. However; should there not be over 55 cards sent in, the list will all automatically transfer in on the roster without a drawing, since it wouldn't be necessary. We'll see......

A final note- Rookie Registration has not opened up yet, and won't until the17th. I got one card already and it won't transfer in because of the early arrival. Just a note to ya'all there to make sure you've read the instructions which are linked from the Trans Iowa site.

Maxxis Ravager

Maxxis Introduces A New Aggressive 40mm Tire:

One of the several things "gravel" to come out of Interbike was a tire that is kind of a curious beast. It has an aggressive tread, is tubeless ready, and is 40mm wide. 

Okay, so let's take a look at how this "all-road", adventure bike thing is playing out here for a minute. It would seem that the marketing machine is dictating to us now that an "adventure bike" is a road bike, with big saddle to bar drop difference, a stiff carbon fork, and a big, almost racing bike sized chain ring mated to mountain bike sized tires, or tires that mimic mtb designs.

I disagree with that notion, (and make no mistake, it is where this is all going in terms of design and the narrative the companies are pushing),  but let's just focus on this tire for now. The tire is cool and all, but just think about history for a minute here.

29"er tires were not very numerous ten years ago and of those offerings, 2.1- 2.2"ers were the norm. Racers using 29"er tires were often seen going with 1.8"ers. Guys that were pushing into the 26"er only realm of XC like Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski of the Gary Fisher/Subaru XC racing squad were doing this back then. Why? Because those tires were seen as capable, (barely), and light enough to actually use in that discipline.

But what has this got to do with this Maxxis tire? Consider that 1.8" is equal to 45.7mm, and you can see where I am going here. These 40mm-45mm tires are verging on 29"er territory, and when you design such an aggressive tire, maybe you are looking at a "mtb-lite tire", and not an "all-road" tire, so much. Call this thing a "monster-cross"tire then. Maybe that is what it is. Well, at any rate, the Ravager seems to fall into the end of the spectrum that is more dirt/single track and less "road". I just thought it was an interesting tire from that standpoint.

The whole adventure bike thing, as described by the industry now, is another post for another day. Short version: They are missing the boat big time as far as bringing back riders and bringing in new ones because of how they are portraying these niche bikes now.

One of the several connections I have with Brian and Alexa

Special Occasion:

Today is a special day for a couple that have special connections with myself. Yes......a bicycle is part of the story, so hold on here.

I normally don't get off topic here too far, but today is a special occasion since a former co-worker of mine is marrying a women I've known since she was born. Literally since she was born. I used to be very close to her family, and since I know both of the folks in this marriage, and one of them bequeathed the Surly 1X1 to me , I wanted to give a G-Ted Productions "Congratulations" to the couple.

So, I am attending the nuptials and will be off gallivanting around Central Iowa all weekend long. I won't be getting any bicycling done, but that's excusable for this deal, in my opinion. I wouldn't miss this and since it is happening so close, I don't have to. I am not sure I'll have much else going on except maybe keeping tabs on cards coming in for Trans Iowa, so don't look for any adventurous posts come Monday!

Okay, that's a wrap. Forget about football and get outside and ride, y'all!!

 

Friday News And Views

Trans Iowa v13 Registration Update:

 A couple of things to note. One- Plus Six and Active Finishers registration closes up shop tomorrow. So, there will be two mail deliveries to go until that window shuts up. So far there are 12 registered out of a possible 25. Keep in mind that if I don't get 25 folks I will throw the extra slots into the Veteran's Lottery batch which will be a minimum of 55 roster slots.

Two- The Veteran's window to send in cards ends a week from tomorrow. There are several on the list so far, and I expect many more are on their way. However; should there not be over 55 cards sent in, the list will all automatically transfer in on the roster without a drawing, since it wouldn't be necessary. We'll see......

A final note- Rookie Registration has not opened up yet, and won't until the17th. I got one card already and it won't transfer in because of the early arrival. Just a note to ya'all there to make sure you've read the instructions which are linked from the Trans Iowa site.

Maxxis Ravager

Maxxis Introduces A New Aggressive 40mm Tire:

One of the several things "gravel" to come out of Interbike was a tire that is kind of a curious beast. It has an aggressive tread, is tubeless ready, and is 40mm wide. 

Okay, so let's take a look at how this "all-road", adventure bike thing is playing out here for a minute. It would seem that the marketing machine is dictating to us now that an "adventure bike" is a road bike, with big saddle to bar drop difference, a stiff carbon fork, and a big, almost racing bike sized chain ring mated to mountain bike sized tires, or tires that mimic mtb designs.

I disagree with that notion, (and make no mistake, it is where this is all going in terms of design and the narrative the companies are pushing),  but let's just focus on this tire for now. The tire is cool and all, but just think about history for a minute here.

29"er tires were not very numerous ten years ago and of those offerings, 2.1- 2.2"ers were the norm. Racers using 29"er tires were often seen going with 1.8"ers. Guys that were pushing into the 26"er only realm of XC like Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski of the Gary Fisher/Subaru XC racing squad were doing this back then. Why? Because those tires were seen as capable, (barely), and light enough to actually use in that discipline.

But what has this got to do with this Maxxis tire? Consider that 1.8" is equal to 45.7mm, and you can see where I am going here. These 40mm-45mm tires are verging on 29"er territory, and when you design such an aggressive tire, maybe you are looking at a "mtb-lite tire", and not an "all-road" tire, so much. Call this thing a "monster-cross"tire then. Maybe that is what it is. Well, at any rate, the Ravager seems to fall into the end of the spectrum that is more dirt/single track and less "road". I just thought it was an interesting tire from that standpoint.

The whole adventure bike thing, as described by the industry now, is another post for another day. Short version: They are missing the boat big time as far as bringing back riders and bringing in new ones because of how they are portraying these niche bikes now.

One of the several connections I have with Brian and Alexa

Special Occasion:

Today is a special day for a couple that have special connections with myself. Yes......a bicycle is part of the story, so hold on here.

I normally don't get off topic here too far, but today is a special occasion since a former co-worker of mine is marrying a women I've known since she was born. Literally since she was born. I used to be very close to her family, and since I know both of the folks in this marriage, and one of them bequeathed the Surly 1X1 to me , I wanted to give a G-Ted Productions "Congratulations" to the couple.

So, I am attending the nuptials and will be off gallivanting around Central Iowa all weekend long. I won't be getting any bicycling done, but that's excusable for this deal, in my opinion. I wouldn't miss this and since it is happening so close, I don't have to. I am not sure I'll have much else going on except maybe keeping tabs on cards coming in for Trans Iowa, so don't look for any adventurous posts come Monday!

Okay, that's a wrap. Forget about football and get outside and ride, y'all!!

 

Project 1X1: Long Term Review

Many of you long time readers know the story of the Surly 1X1 that has been passed down from one mechanic to another at the shop where I work. Well, there was the big wheel build I did last Fall to get this thing running again. Velocity Cliffhanger rims, DT Swiss spokes and nipples, and Velo Orange hubs. Then I stuck on a pair of the Surly Extraterrestrial tires tubeless to top it all off.

The frame is from 1999, so no disc brakes here! Otherwise, I have a mish-mash of 1990's mtb parts, a few items that are more "late model", and some nice Planet Bike Cascadia fenders which have turned this bike into a urban shredder. The only period of time I did not ride this a lot was when there was a lot of snow and ice around. Otherwise, this is my go-to bike for commuting to work, errands, and sometimes just to get around the city when I can't get away further for a ride.

I am just going to throw out my current thoughts on this bike with no real particular thing being more important than the other. Think of this as an "off the top of my head" stream of consciousness type of review of Project 1X1. Keeping in mind that this bike was about the most evil thing I had in my stable back last Fall, I feel this bike has had the biggest transformation of anything I have tinkered with in years.

The wheels have been awesome.

The Wheels: Every time I ride this bike I think about the wheels on it. I find that the fact that they are 26 inch wheels makes the bike squirrely as all get out. That's one thing that just jumps out after I've been on 700c stuff, 29"ers, or any of my fat bikes. So, I've kind of come to think of this bike as my "adult sized BMX rig. It is easy to toss around, pop over stuff, and it changes directions in a manner that is alarming sometimes. I get why people bitched and moaned when 29"ers came along, because all that instability they were feeling was gone. Instead of pushing harder, which 29"ers allow you to do, they slagged them off as being "barges", or worse. But.....different strokes for different folks. 

The Tires & Rims: I think a lot about the tires and rims too. These Extraterrestrials are just downright awesome fun in an urban environment. I actually push these tires into areas that maybe they were not meant to go as well. Mud, sand, dirt, and snow to a degree are all conquered with ease. I think the tubeless nature of the set up is paramount to the tire working as well as it does. That thanks to the Cliffhanger rims, which are the only wide, tubeless ready, rim brake compatible 26" rims I know of anymore. Maybe there are other rims, I don't know, but when I was looking at stuff, these were the only rims that ticked all the boxes. Together these tires and rims have been bombproof. I had to slightly true the rear the other day, but I cased a curb hop, and I figured it would be a lot worse. Otherwise, these are great wheels and tires. The Surly tires might be heavy, but they roll so well and are so cushy, I really don't think anyone should care about the weight.

The tires are tough as well. No cuts or punctures that I am aware of. The only negative I can think of is that I wish that Velocity did this rim in a 35mm wide version, because I think the tires would work even better than they do now. Oh heck......I may as well ask for a 45mm wide rim while I am at it, because, why not? A 65mm wide tire on a 45mm wide rim sounds about right to me.

The Rest Of The Bike: 

The rest of the Project 1X1 is.....well, simple comes to mind. Basic stuff, sturdy, pretty durable, and low maintenance. Of the other things about the bike, the standouts for me are the way the frame rides, and the fenders. One is a subjective, feeling based thing, the other is pure practicality. The 1X1 frame and fork are either flexy due to 17 years of rusting from the inside out, or were just done right from the get go. Flex isn't a "bad word" in bicycles if it doesn't take away from the ride experience, and they are good words when one feels it adds to the experience. In this case, it adds to the experience, but I cannot say if it is due to age, wear, and tear, or if it really just has always been that way.

The fenders have been something that I still am not enamored of when it comes to simple, stripped down looking mountain bike frames, but they do add a certain air of class to the over all look. Of course, they do a great job at keeping the muck down. If they could only have been about 4mm wider over all though. Oh well.....

So, in the end, this has been an unqualified success. I was so ready to give up on this tube eating machine last Fall and I nearly did do that deed. Instead I have transformed this into one of the most practical bikes in my stable and it even rides pretty nicely. I may add a rack on the rear soon to increase the utility factor even more. Otherwise, this rig has gone from goat to great, and I think I'll hang on to it for a while longer after all.

Project 1X1: Long Term Review

Many of you long time readers know the story of the Surly 1X1 that has been passed down from one mechanic to another at the shop where I work. Well, there was the big wheel build I did last Fall to get this thing running again. Velocity Cliffhanger rims, DT Swiss spokes and nipples, and Velo Orange hubs. Then I stuck on a pair of the Surly Extraterrestrial tires tubeless to top it all off.

The frame is from 1999, so no disc brakes here! Otherwise, I have a mish-mash of 1990's mtb parts, a few items that are more "late model", and some nice Planet Bike Cascadia fenders which have turned this bike into a urban shredder. The only period of time I did not ride this a lot was when there was a lot of snow and ice around. Otherwise, this is my go-to bike for commuting to work, errands, and sometimes just to get around the city when I can't get away further for a ride.

I am just going to throw out my current thoughts on this bike with no real particular thing being more important than the other. Think of this as an "off the top of my head" stream of consciousness type of review of Project 1X1. Keeping in mind that this bike was about the most evil thing I had in my stable back last Fall, I feel this bike has had the biggest transformation of anything I have tinkered with in years.

The wheels have been awesome.

The Wheels: Every time I ride this bike I think about the wheels on it. I find that the fact that they are 26 inch wheels makes the bike squirrely as all get out. That's one thing that just jumps out after I've been on 700c stuff, 29"ers, or any of my fat bikes. So, I've kind of come to think of this bike as my "adult sized BMX rig. It is easy to toss around, pop over stuff, and it changes directions in a manner that is alarming sometimes. I get why people bitched and moaned when 29"ers came along, because all that instability they were feeling was gone. Instead of pushing harder, which 29"ers allow you to do, they slagged them off as being "barges", or worse. But.....different strokes for different folks. 

The Tires & Rims: I think a lot about the tires and rims too. These Extraterrestrials are just downright awesome fun in an urban environment. I actually push these tires into areas that maybe they were not meant to go as well. Mud, sand, dirt, and snow to a degree are all conquered with ease. I think the tubeless nature of the set up is paramount to the tire working as well as it does. That thanks to the Cliffhanger rims, which are the only wide, tubeless ready, rim brake compatible 26" rims I know of anymore. Maybe there are other rims, I don't know, but when I was looking at stuff, these were the only rims that ticked all the boxes. Together these tires and rims have been bombproof. I had to slightly true the rear the other day, but I cased a curb hop, and I figured it would be a lot worse. Otherwise, these are great wheels and tires. The Surly tires might be heavy, but they roll so well and are so cushy, I really don't think anyone should care about the weight.

The tires are tough as well. No cuts or punctures that I am aware of. The only negative I can think of is that I wish that Velocity did this rim in a 35mm wide version, because I think the tires would work even better than they do now. Oh heck......I may as well ask for a 45mm wide rim while I am at it, because, why not? A 65mm wide tire on a 45mm wide rim sounds about right to me.

The Rest Of The Bike: 

The rest of the Project 1X1 is.....well, simple comes to mind. Basic stuff, sturdy, pretty durable, and low maintenance. Of the other things about the bike, the standouts for me are the way the frame rides, and the fenders. One is a subjective, feeling based thing, the other is pure practicality. The 1X1 frame and fork are either flexy due to 17 years of rusting from the inside out, or were just done right from the get go. Flex isn't a "bad word" in bicycles if it doesn't take away from the ride experience, and they are good words when one feels it adds to the experience. In this case, it adds to the experience, but I cannot say if it is due to age, wear, and tear, or if it really just has always been that way.

The fenders have been something that I still am not enamored of when it comes to simple, stripped down looking mountain bike frames, but they do add a certain air of class to the over all look. Of course, they do a great job at keeping the muck down. If they could only have been about 4mm wider over all though. Oh well.....

So, in the end, this has been an unqualified success. I was so ready to give up on this tube eating machine last Fall and I nearly did do that deed. Instead I have transformed this into one of the most practical bikes in my stable and it even rides pretty nicely. I may add a rack on the rear soon to increase the utility factor even more. Otherwise, this rig has gone from goat to great, and I think I'll hang on to it for a while longer after all.

WW4M: Surly Extraterrestrial Tires

Fat "plus" sized 26 inch "urbantastic" tires from Surly

WW4M stands for "What Works For Me". This is a review of a product I found extremely useful, that lives up to its billing, and provides a good value. Your mileage may vary. 

 Okay, here we go. I can already hear you long time blog readers firing up your 26"er comments. Well, smaller wheels have their place too. One of those places is when it comes to fat, over-sized rubber for urban thrashing. There are probably other good places to use this tire, like over the road touring, or gravel, but I haven't done any of that, and so this is going to focus on what I have used these tires for.

So, the Extraterrestrial tires have been a revelation. Sure, they are heavy, but when set up tubeless, they roll really well. They are very comfortable set up at 20psi as well. I have set them as high as about 22psi, and I have gone as low as 15psi sometimes. They roll a little sluggishly down that low, but when it gets icy, they grip better then. Tubeless is fantastic for that sort of thing.

Those are great things, but that wasn't the revelatory thing about these tires. No, it was something that came as a complete surprise to me. To explain I have to reference my fat bike. The commute to work has been interrupted in one place along University Avenue where they have dug up certain places to work on utilities. The Winter weather stopped the progress on this and subsequently there is a place where this beige colored, clayish mud has been exposed. It is kind of all over the place and hard to avoid. I found out the hard way that if you do not avoid it, the evil beige mud sticks to my fat bike tires like a pile of steel shavings to a magnet. Well, I ran into that mud with the Extraterrestrials and......hey! The mud didn't stick! Not even a little bit, which is super weird. I have no explanation for that, but I like that this is the case, and it was really surprising.

These tires make the 1X1 ride like a Cadillac. 

The Extraterrestrials don't do too badly on packed up snow trails made by fat bikes, they work in the mud pretty okay, but slide a bit due to the lack of side knobs. They really cut down on chatter and bumps a ton. They ride super smooth. Pumping them up to 20 plus psi makes them speedy, and with a good set of hubs, you get those things rolling and they don't want to stop. Urban curb hopping and pot hole navigation is really good too.

Surly says these are 2.5" tires and on the Velocity Clffhanger rims, which are 30mm wide OD, they measure 64mm wide, so actually these are bigger tires, by a little bit, than Surly says. I wouldn't want them any bigger in that respect, but I could totally see these in a 650B format where a bigger diameter would get you closer to a fat, 700c-ish tire diameter with huge volume and the flotation/comfort that would bring.

Sometimes I gripe because these tires don't grip and they slide out, but then I remind myself I'm not riding fat mtb tires. It's hard to not think you are invincible when you ride these tires, they seem like they should steam roll anything in your path, but they do have their limitations. In some ways, they are overkill for their intended purposes. I guess that would be my only complaint here. It's a tire looking for a good reason to have you get it. It's fat, and cool looking, and you make it fit your intentions, even though it is a bit ridiculous. Oh well...... It makes my urban riding "urbantastic", so I like it. 

NOTE: I bought these tires with my own damn money and was not asked or paid to write this review. So there......

WW4M: Surly Extraterrestrial Tires

Fat "plus" sized 26 inch "urbantastic" tires from Surly

WW4M stands for "What Works For Me". This is a review of a product I found extremely useful, that lives up to its billing, and provides a good value. Your mileage may vary. 

 Okay, here we go. I can already hear you long time blog readers firing up your 26"er comments. Well, smaller wheels have their place too. One of those places is when it comes to fat, over-sized rubber for urban thrashing. There are probably other good places to use this tire, like over the road touring, or gravel, but I haven't done any of that, and so this is going to focus on what I have used these tires for.

So, the Extraterrestrial tires have been a revelation. Sure, they are heavy, but when set up tubeless, they roll really well. They are very comfortable set up at 20psi as well. I have set them as high as about 22psi, and I have gone as low as 15psi sometimes. They roll a little sluggishly down that low, but when it gets icy, they grip better then. Tubeless is fantastic for that sort of thing.

Those are great things, but that wasn't the revelatory thing about these tires. No, it was something that came as a complete surprise to me. To explain I have to reference my fat bike. The commute to work has been interrupted in one place along University Avenue where they have dug up certain places to work on utilities. The Winter weather stopped the progress on this and subsequently there is a place where this beige colored, clayish mud has been exposed. It is kind of all over the place and hard to avoid. I found out the hard way that if you do not avoid it, the evil beige mud sticks to my fat bike tires like a pile of steel shavings to a magnet. Well, I ran into that mud with the Extraterrestrials and......hey! The mud didn't stick! Not even a little bit, which is super weird. I have no explanation for that, but I like that this is the case, and it was really surprising.

These tires make the 1X1 ride like a Cadillac. 

The Extraterrestrials don't do too badly on packed up snow trails made by fat bikes, they work in the mud pretty okay, but slide a bit due to the lack of side knobs. They really cut down on chatter and bumps a ton. They ride super smooth. Pumping them up to 20 plus psi makes them speedy, and with a good set of hubs, you get those things rolling and they don't want to stop. Urban curb hopping and pot hole navigation is really good too.

Surly says these are 2.5" tires and on the Velocity Clffhanger rims, which are 30mm wide OD, they measure 64mm wide, so actually these are bigger tires, by a little bit, than Surly says. I wouldn't want them any bigger in that respect, but I could totally see these in a 650B format where a bigger diameter would get you closer to a fat, 700c-ish tire diameter with huge volume and the flotation/comfort that would bring.

Sometimes I gripe because these tires don't grip and they slide out, but then I remind myself I'm not riding fat mtb tires. It's hard to not think you are invincible when you ride these tires, they seem like they should steam roll anything in your path, but they do have their limitations. In some ways, they are overkill for their intended purposes. I guess that would be my only complaint here. It's a tire looking for a good reason to have you get it. It's fat, and cool looking, and you make it fit your intentions, even though it is a bit ridiculous. Oh well...... It makes my urban riding "urbantastic", so I like it. 

NOTE: I bought these tires with my own damn money and was not asked or paid to write this review. So there......

Minus Ten Review- 3

This is Project 1X1 loooooong before I got it! J. Kerkove's mess from '06

Ten years ago here on the blog this week I was thinking about what might happen at T.I.v2 if the gravel roads were messy like they were back then. My  co-worker at that time, Jeff Kerkove,  had done a training ride for his 24 hour solo stuff coming up that year. He rode my Project 1X1 Surly, which was just another old bike at the time that Jeff was treating like a farm animal during Winter. I think Jeff was third in the line to have this steed. Anyway....

I was speculating on how people might come out looking had they been on a wet, messy Trans Iowa version 2, which wasn't to happen for another three months. Turns out that it was really wet and messy! Maybe I shouldn't speculate on such matters...........

The thing that strikes me about this image now is that Jeff treated this 1X1 horribly for at least two Winters, and then it went through three other owners before I got my hands on it. This is amazing to me- that the bike is still in one piece. It has not rusted, nor been damaged severely through more than 17 years of abuse. A true testament to Surly's early efforts. I have cleaned the frame and I have really looked it over with a fine toothed comb and it doesn't show 17 years of abuse, in my opinion. Really, this is quite extraordinary, for how badly this bike was abused over all those years. Hopefully I haven't jinxed myself........

Big kitty tracks? I found these down near Hickory Hills in January of '06.

 Back in January of 2006 I was riding a single speed a lot as well. Mine was a Surly, but with bigger wheels! The Karate Monkey was my steed, and I was doing a lot of rides on gravel now, having been bitten by the bug when we had done the first Trans Iowa in 2005.

That week in January ten years ago was not too bad temperature wise. We had gone through a bit of a thaw, and snow was rare except in ditches where drifts had been thick. I was on a ride down Ansborough Avenue to Tama County, where that turns into "U" Avenue, and to where that tees off into an East-West gravel. There I took a break to have a bit of Hammer gel and water.

I was just casually looking around when I finally noticed these huge animal prints in the snow. A big kitty? I looked around, but saw no other evidence. I laid my gel flask next to one of the prints, took my picture that I wanted, and perhaps rode away a bit more hastily than I might have otherwise. This was near to Hickory Hills, a large, heavily wooded rural county park which had a lot of small game and deer within its boundaries. I suppose a bobcat wouldn't be out of the question, but in all my country travels, I have never seen evidence beyond this that they haunt our environs.

These were also the rides I missed doing for the next seven years or so, since I had to place more effort into riding review stuff for Twenty Nine Inches. I think I really got the gravel bug bad, because I always wanted to get back to doing these rides after '06-'07 when that faded out of my repertoire. 

And here she is! The Karate Monkey from the ride I saw the cat tracks on.

Then there is that bike- the Karate Monkey. My first 29"er. By this time, after three years of owning it, I had it dialed in about as well as I could get it for the technology of the day.

Most notably, I had fitted On One Midge bars and an old Wright's English made saddle I got from an early 70's Raleigh. The bike had Cooks Brothers cranks in the 177.5mm length, and I ran a 37 X 18T gear on it, as I recall. Lots of folks were curious, at the time, as to what brake levers I was running with mountain BB-7's, which were what I had for disc brakes. I used old Shimano aero levers with the SLR cable pull. These were likely late 80's/early 90's levers. They pulled just enough cable more than standard aero levers that I could get the disc brakes to work pretty well, actually. It was a tricky, tricky set up to get it that way though.

It looks like I have Bontrager XR tires on the bike here. This would have been one of the first tires Bontrager made for 29"ers, and they were really quite good. I remember how supple they were, and on hard pack they were fast, grippy, and never let me down. I'm pretty sure this is possibly the only set of 29"er tires I have worn completely out. All those miles on gravel too, for the most part. By the time I had accomplished that, Bontrager had dropped the original XR folders for a TLR version made in a different factory. They were never quite the same tire.

Minus Ten Review- 3

This is Project 1X1 loooooong before I got it! J. Kerkove's mess from '06

Ten years ago here on the blog this week I was thinking about what might happen at T.I.v2 if the gravel roads were messy like they were back then. My  co-worker at that time, Jeff Kerkove,  had done a training ride for his 24 hour solo stuff coming up that year. He rode my Project 1X1 Surly, which was just another old bike at the time that Jeff was treating like a farm animal during Winter. I think Jeff was third in the line to have this steed. Anyway....

I was speculating on how people might come out looking had they been on a wet, messy Trans Iowa version 2, which wasn't to happen for another three months. Turns out that it was really wet and messy! Maybe I shouldn't speculate on such matters...........

The thing that strikes me about this image now is that Jeff treated this 1X1 horribly for at least two Winters, and then it went through three other owners before I got my hands on it. This is amazing to me- that the bike is still in one piece. It has not rusted, nor been damaged severely through more than 17 years of abuse. A true testament to Surly's early efforts. I have cleaned the frame and I have really looked it over with a fine toothed comb and it doesn't show 17 years of abuse, in my opinion. Really, this is quite extraordinary, for how badly this bike was abused over all those years. Hopefully I haven't jinxed myself........

Big kitty tracks? I found these down near Hickory Hills in January of '06.

 Back in January of 2006 I was riding a single speed a lot as well. Mine was a Surly, but with bigger wheels! The Karate Monkey was my steed, and I was doing a lot of rides on gravel now, having been bitten by the bug when we had done the first Trans Iowa in 2005.

That week in January ten years ago was not too bad temperature wise. We had gone through a bit of a thaw, and snow was rare except in ditches where drifts had been thick. I was on a ride down Ansborough Avenue to Tama County, where that turns into "U" Avenue, and to where that tees off into an East-West gravel. There I took a break to have a bit of Hammer gel and water.

I was just casually looking around when I finally noticed these huge animal prints in the snow. A big kitty? I looked around, but saw no other evidence. I laid my gel flask next to one of the prints, took my picture that I wanted, and perhaps rode away a bit more hastily than I might have otherwise. This was near to Hickory Hills, a large, heavily wooded rural county park which had a lot of small game and deer within its boundaries. I suppose a bobcat wouldn't be out of the question, but in all my country travels, I have never seen evidence beyond this that they haunt our environs.

These were also the rides I missed doing for the next seven years or so, since I had to place more effort into riding review stuff for Twenty Nine Inches. I think I really got the gravel bug bad, because I always wanted to get back to doing these rides after '06-'07 when that faded out of my repertoire. 

And here she is! The Karate Monkey from the ride I saw the cat tracks on.

Then there is that bike- the Karate Monkey. My first 29"er. By this time, after three years of owning it, I had it dialed in about as well as I could get it for the technology of the day.

Most notably, I had fitted On One Midge bars and an old Wright's English made saddle I got from an early 70's Raleigh. The bike had Cooks Brothers cranks in the 177.5mm length, and I ran a 37 X 18T gear on it, as I recall. Lots of folks were curious, at the time, as to what brake levers I was running with mountain BB-7's, which were what I had for disc brakes. I used old Shimano aero levers with the SLR cable pull. These were likely late 80's/early 90's levers. They pulled just enough cable more than standard aero levers that I could get the disc brakes to work pretty well, actually. It was a tricky, tricky set up to get it that way though.

It looks like I have Bontrager XR tires on the bike here. This would have been one of the first tires Bontrager made for 29"ers, and they were really quite good. I remember how supple they were, and on hard pack they were fast, grippy, and never let me down. I'm pretty sure this is possibly the only set of 29"er tires I have worn completely out. All those miles on gravel too, for the most part. By the time I had accomplished that, Bontrager had dropped the original XR folders for a TLR version made in a different factory. They were never quite the same tire.

Wish List

This wheel with a Rohloff Speed Hub came in for re-lacing recently

Every cyclist has a "wish list". A set of components or bicycles that, if say- you won the lottery today- you'd run out and buy for yourself. I am no different in that department, so I figured, hey! Why not just put it out there. It could be fun, and who knows? They say if you write down your dreams, they are more likely to come true. So, here ya go......

Heading up my "wish list" is a component that I've been intrigued with for several years now. The Rohloff Speed Hub is an internal gear hub featuring 14 speeds. It isn't some gimmicky piece of bicycle engineering either, these hubs have been proven to be a working, reliable, durable component. It would essentially replace the drive train on one of my bicycles and I already have one in mind for this sort of hub. By that I mean that I already have the bicycle I would put one of these on, well......actually two! Why not? I mean, heck......it's a wish list, fer cryin' out loud. One would be a fat bike. The other is currently a drop bar single speed bike. At approximately $1500.00 plus to almost $1800.00 for a hub alone, (depends upon the exact model you want), this hub is a lot of money up front for something I'd just like to give a try. I mean, I may not like it, because I've never ridden one. So, it remains a wish list item to this day.....

That said, the benefits to fat biking and mucky-muck gravel road riding are plain to see. No derailleur to rip off, and a single speed chain, a rear driver cog, and a chain ring will go through a whole lot of stuff a derailleur drive train will not. The wide gearing range is there, so it makes a lot of sense. On a fat bike you get a better tire clearance with the chain to boot. No worries about dragging a chain on the rear tire in low gear there.

Still, that hub price! Ouch!

Big Dummy. Image courtesy of Surly Bikes

Next up would be a Surly Big Dummy frame and fork. I have had an 80's era Schwinn mountain bike set up with an XtraCycle long tail add on for a long time, and I love being able to carry almost anything with the set up, however, it has its drawbacks. For one thing, my set up is a bike + add on, which makes for flexy flying under heavy loads. Not to mention the weak brakes, and limited tire clearances. I would use this more if it were a turnkey, integrated long tail solution, which is what the Big Dummy frame and fork is. I don't really need a complete Big Dummy, but hey! This is a wish list, so.... But my thoughts were that, ya know, I do have plenty of spare parts and I could almost kit out a full build for a Big Dummy with just what I have laying about.

That would leave me with a much stiffer, better braking, better handling cargo bike that I would use a lot more than my current XtraCycled Schwinn I have now. In fact, it probably would replace my current townie bike as well. The frame and fork, for me, aren't out of the realm of purchasing, but other small projects in my cycling world tend to push this back on the back burner too often.

These would be the kind of wheels I would put on a Big Dummy

Finally, for this edition of the "Wish List", I would add the Surly Extraterrestrial tires mounted to Velocity Blunt 35 rims,  and a set of disc brake hubs of some sort. Those would go on the above Big Dummy frame and fork.

My Project 1X1 Surly bike has similar wheels, only with the Velocity Cliff Hanger rims, and this wheel set up is a phenomenally great ride and would be perfect for a Big Dummy, in my opinion. You'd get a tubeless set up for worry free urban riding, a cushy ride feel, and those big fat meats just are awesome looking on a bike. That's an important technical consideration, by the way.

Well, that's maybe not the list you might expect me to write up, and certainly, if I really thought I was going to win the lottery, (which I will not, since I don't play it), I would really shoot for the moon. No, this is a "wish list" based somewhat on reality! Reality and practicality. It would be stuff I really would put to good use, and would allow me to accomplish leaving the car/truck at home even more often than I do already. It is a list of stuff I have been thinking about for a long, long time. Maybe, as I stated above, since I've written about it, I will be more focused on actually doing something about it. Maybe.....

But then there are things like $1250.00 timing belt jobs for the "Truck With No Name" that need to be done sooner than later, house maintenance stuff I need to spend some money to get done, and more. Not to mention getting that Twin Six bike up and running, fixing the Vaya so I can ride it, and getting that bottom bracket out of that Karate Monkey, which I've written about several times here.

On second thought, that Karate Monkey reminds me that writing about stuff doesn't really help get things done after all. It's all just wishful thinking, I suppose!

Wish List

This wheel with a Rohloff Speed Hub came in for re-lacing recently

Every cyclist has a "wish list". A set of components or bicycles that, if say- you won the lottery today- you'd run out and buy for yourself. I am no different in that department, so I figured, hey! Why not just put it out there. It could be fun, and who knows? They say if you write down your dreams, they are more likely to come true. So, here ya go......

Heading up my "wish list" is a component that I've been intrigued with for several years now. The Rohloff Speed Hub is an internal gear hub featuring 14 speeds. It isn't some gimmicky piece of bicycle engineering either, these hubs have been proven to be a working, reliable, durable component. It would essentially replace the drive train on one of my bicycles and I already have one in mind for this sort of hub. By that I mean that I already have the bicycle I would put one of these on, well......actually two! Why not? I mean, heck......it's a wish list, fer cryin' out loud. One would be a fat bike. The other is currently a drop bar single speed bike. At approximately $1500.00 plus to almost $1800.00 for a hub alone, (depends upon the exact model you want), this hub is a lot of money up front for something I'd just like to give a try. I mean, I may not like it, because I've never ridden one. So, it remains a wish list item to this day.....

That said, the benefits to fat biking and mucky-muck gravel road riding are plain to see. No derailleur to rip off, and a single speed chain, a rear driver cog, and a chain ring will go through a whole lot of stuff a derailleur drive train will not. The wide gearing range is there, so it makes a lot of sense. On a fat bike you get a better tire clearance with the chain to boot. No worries about dragging a chain on the rear tire in low gear there.

Still, that hub price! Ouch!

Big Dummy. Image courtesy of Surly Bikes

Next up would be a Surly Big Dummy frame and fork. I have had an 80's era Schwinn mountain bike set up with an XtraCycle long tail add on for a long time, and I love being able to carry almost anything with the set up, however, it has its drawbacks. For one thing, my set up is a bike + add on, which makes for flexy flying under heavy loads. Not to mention the weak brakes, and limited tire clearances. I would use this more if it were a turnkey, integrated long tail solution, which is what the Big Dummy frame and fork is. I don't really need a complete Big Dummy, but hey! This is a wish list, so.... But my thoughts were that, ya know, I do have plenty of spare parts and I could almost kit out a full build for a Big Dummy with just what I have laying about.

That would leave me with a much stiffer, better braking, better handling cargo bike that I would use a lot more than my current XtraCycled Schwinn I have now. In fact, it probably would replace my current townie bike as well. The frame and fork, for me, aren't out of the realm of purchasing, but other small projects in my cycling world tend to push this back on the back burner too often.

These would be the kind of wheels I would put on a Big Dummy

Finally, for this edition of the "Wish List", I would add the Surly Extraterrestrial tires mounted to Velocity Blunt 35 rims,  and a set of disc brake hubs of some sort. Those would go on the above Big Dummy frame and fork.

My Project 1X1 Surly bike has similar wheels, only with the Velocity Cliff Hanger rims, and this wheel set up is a phenomenally great ride and would be perfect for a Big Dummy, in my opinion. You'd get a tubeless set up for worry free urban riding, a cushy ride feel, and those big fat meats just are awesome looking on a bike. That's an important technical consideration, by the way.

Well, that's maybe not the list you might expect me to write up, and certainly, if I really thought I was going to win the lottery, (which I will not, since I don't play it), I would really shoot for the moon. No, this is a "wish list" based somewhat on reality! Reality and practicality. It would be stuff I really would put to good use, and would allow me to accomplish leaving the car/truck at home even more often than I do already. It is a list of stuff I have been thinking about for a long, long time. Maybe, as I stated above, since I've written about it, I will be more focused on actually doing something about it. Maybe.....

But then there are things like $1250.00 timing belt jobs for the "Truck With No Name" that need to be done sooner than later, house maintenance stuff I need to spend some money to get done, and more. Not to mention getting that Twin Six bike up and running, fixing the Vaya so I can ride it, and getting that bottom bracket out of that Karate Monkey, which I've written about several times here.

On second thought, that Karate Monkey reminds me that writing about stuff doesn't really help get things done after all. It's all just wishful thinking, I suppose!

Bikes Of 2015: Surly 1X1

Current state of the 1X1

Here's another bike that has seen a lot of play- both here on the blog as Project 1X1 and as a rider. Since most of this bike's play here has been fairly recent, I won't get into any technical breakdown on the spec, or what have you. I mean.......it's a single speed with cantilever brakes. What more do you need to know? 

I am not sure I've had a proper image up with these fenders though, so let me talk about that here now. The Extraterrestrial tires on the Velocity Cliffhanger rims set up tubeless has made these tires about 64mm wide or so. The widest fenders I could source within reason are these Planet Bike Cascadia fenders which are 60mm wide. Sooooo......... Mounting the fenders was a bit tricky.

I had to take particular care in centering the fenders over the tires so that the tread area is covered up and what is not is mostly just the casing/sidewall as it "bellies out" on its way to the rim edges. That was tedious, but not difficult. The other thing, which did not become readily apparent until I started riding this bike, was that due to the Cascadia fender's proclivity to twist, I had to modify the hard points where the stays attach to the fenders so they wouldn't bounce off the tires as much. No doubt that the new ALX (aluminum, so stiffer), versions of the Cascadia fender would be better here, but these will do for now.

So, with that done the bike is good to go and performs its task well. The fenders really do keep me dry and mud free despite their lack of coverage in width, which is more than made up for in length here. I will be trying to see if I can fit a rack onto this rig next to further its utilitarian nature and turn it into one of my grocery getters.

Bikes Of 2015: Surly 1X1

Current state of the 1X1

Here's another bike that has seen a lot of play- both here on the blog as Project 1X1 and as a rider. Since most of this bike's play here has been fairly recent, I won't get into any technical breakdown on the spec, or what have you. I mean.......it's a single speed with cantilever brakes. What more do you need to know? 

I am not sure I've had a proper image up with these fenders though, so let me talk about that here now. The Extraterrestrial tires on the Velocity Cliffhanger rims set up tubeless has made these tires about 64mm wide or so. The widest fenders I could source within reason are these Planet Bike Cascadia fenders which are 60mm wide. Sooooo......... Mounting the fenders was a bit tricky.

I had to take particular care in centering the fenders over the tires so that the tread area is covered up and what is not is mostly just the casing/sidewall as it "bellies out" on its way to the rim edges. That was tedious, but not difficult. The other thing, which did not become readily apparent until I started riding this bike, was that due to the Cascadia fender's proclivity to twist, I had to modify the hard points where the stays attach to the fenders so they wouldn't bounce off the tires as much. No doubt that the new ALX (aluminum, so stiffer), versions of the Cascadia fender would be better here, but these will do for now.

So, with that done the bike is good to go and performs its task well. The fenders really do keep me dry and mud free despite their lack of coverage in width, which is more than made up for in length here. I will be trying to see if I can fit a rack onto this rig next to further its utilitarian nature and turn it into one of my grocery getters.

Rear View 2015- Part 3

I PR'd my coldest commute ever in 2015

As detailed in my Rear View Part 1, the year started out bad in terms of health. I was so sick most of the time I hardly turned a pedal in January and February.

There were a few bright spots. One was when I felt good enough to ride and the air temperature was -17°F and I was not going to miss riding my bike just because it was so cold! Careful layering and riding the Blackborow DS kept me warm and safe. It wasn't so bad, really.

It may have, in the end, actually made me more susceptible to becoming sick again, as I ended up battling some malady or another after this as well. It had to rank as one of the worst starts to a year, in terms of cycling, that I have ever endured. Not since the mid-90's had I endured such dismal cycling opportunities due to ill health, weather, and other circumstances.

Of course, I eventually got all of that kicked and started riding more in earnest once the weather broke in March and after a final bout with some possible food poisoning when I was in El Paso, Texas visiting family. When I returned, gravel riding started and I pretty much stuck to that until much later into 2015.

There was a gravel ride to and from Ingawanis to attend a fund raiser/clinic on endurance riding which was fun. 

Dodging large agricultural implements on a 3GR ride in June.

I held a few 3GR rides in 2015, but they were few and far between due to my traveling schedule and for other reasons. It just never seemed to be something I could do on a regular basis in 2015. The rides I did get in were fun and well attended.

I was blessed by a visit from T.I.Vet, Warren Wiebe in July

I ended up doing a lot of solo gravel rides whenever I could find the time to fit them in. I also rode a lot more in different parts of Black Hawk and surrounding counties. Earlier in the year I did a couple longer rides up into Bremer County on unfamiliar roads. I spent a lot of time riding South on Aker Road and then over to the East at times off that road.

On a couple of occasions I rode West over to Grundy County which proved to yield a few good adventures. On one I found a Nalgene bottle knock off which I picked up and now I use that as my water container at work. On another ride later on into the Fall I went North through parts of Butler County and then into Bremer County and on back home through Cedar Falls. The new roads invigorated me and I had a lot of fun doing some different routes at my own pace.

There were a very few outings on the fat bike and those were almost all exclusively into the Green Belt with a couple of rides into George Wyth to bag a couple of new trails that I had heard of so I could keep up my string of having ridden every dirt trail in the park since 1992 that has ever been put in. Many are gone now, but I remember them and now I have the new ones to ride as well.

I got to ride with my co-worker at Europa Cycle and Ski, Andy, on our fat bikes and we dove into much of Geo Wyth that day along with some of the trails on the South side of the Cedar River as well. Oddly enough, I didn't ride any of my mountain bikes at all for most of the year. If it was dirt, I used the Blackborow DS almost exclusively with the Bluto suspension fork. Although Ingawanis is a lot of fun, and the trails were good most of the year, I just never seemed to get a day when I could get up there, or I chose to ride gravel instead.

I managed a couple of "Dirt Home From Work" rides on the ol' Inbred

I spent several weeks following my son's football team in the Fall.

This bike bedeviled me and caused me to start Project 1X1

I got to ride with another co-worker, Joel, for the first time this past Fall.

Yes- this was just about a month ago!

Now it is just dreary, wet, and cold!

The mountain bike thing got done at Ingawanis later in November, but even then I rode my Blackborow! Mountain bikes have been gathering dust, for the most part, in 2015. Maybe '16 will play out differently and those bikes will gather dirt, mud, and trail dust!

The Project 1X1 happened, I did a few Periscope broadcasts, and Trans Iowa registration came and went. Meanwhile, I kept rather busy riding gravel and doing reviews. test riding parts, and swapping out bits and pieces all the while.

I got some much needed house work stuff done after my last event for the year, which was Gravel Worlds in August. The Fall went on forever, and early Winter was unusually warm, and I kept riding all along. It's been a great year for that, barring the first three months or so, but the end is making up for the beginning for sure.

So, that about wraps up my Rear View for 2015 here. I hope you enjoyed stopping by and reading about my adventures, my opinions, and I also hope that some of this craziness was helpful to someone in some small way. I thank you all for stopping by.

Next up, I will ponder what 2016 may have in store, put out my thoughts on bikes, technology, and maybe a few plans on events for the coming season. Maybe more, we'll see what comes out of this addled brain! Stay tuned.......