Goodbye Sawyer

 Yesterday I said goodbye to Sawyer. No......not a person. The bike. The cruiser style hard tail masterpiece that should have been a Gary Fisher branded bike, but was one of the victims of the timing of Trek's absorption of the Gary Fisher brand. While it was hoped that elements of the Gary Fisher brand, then called the Gary Fisher Collection, would survive, it disappeared a few years later, never to be heard from again. To my way of thinking, this is still one of the strangest, and biggest, mistakes Trek ever made. 

Well, back in the day, I was sent one of these Sawyers and I have had it around since then. I often enjoyed the bike, but with so many single speeds, it just didn't get used as it should have. 

I've written a few posts dedicated to the lines of this swoopy cruiser. I've talked about how Trek screwed up the marketing for this bike, how it was a big failure at retail, and how there has been a cultish following for Sawyers since then. I won't cover that old ground again. I'll just say that after three years, maybe more, of wondering what to do with this bike, I finally pulled the trigger on selling it. Then "Mr. W" answered my sales page ad and asked if he could be the bike's next caretaker. Well, the exchange happened, and now the Sawyer is all his to ride into the Sunset.

And that is exactly what should happen. Bicycles weren't made to be collected and sat in rooms to be ogled by bike nerds until they die and relatives have to dispose of them. They were made to be ridden. They were made to be scratched, beat up, and eventually worn out. I often think about what Mike Varley, of Black Mountain Cycles, told me once when I asked for touch up paint codes for my "Orange Crush" rig. He said something to the effect that he'd rather I let the scratches be and they would be "character marks", scratches that invoked stories and memories of adventures had with that bike. He's right, you know.

I don't think you've had a successful time with a bike unless you've ridden it so much you've worn out parts, dinged it up, and somehow kept it going for years and years. Bikes with character marks, and maybe more importantly, stories to tell. That should be the goal. Not having some pristine garage queen parked on a pedestal. But to each their own. This is only my view.

And getting back to the Sawyer- I was happy to hear "Mr W" say to me, as he wheeled the bike out the door, that he'd "definitely be riding this bike a lot". More than anything else, those words were music to my ears. 

I grinned to myself later, long after the Sawyer was gone, thinking about "Mr W" and his new-to-him Sawyer, blasting some single track somewhere, making memories, and gaining a few of those "character marks" in the process. It made me glad I decided to let that bike have a new lease on life. It made me happy to know that I could, at least one time, let a bike go I really liked, but wasn't utilizing, and let someone else experience the joy of riding a bike that a person cherished and loved on terrain that made for good times. 

Be well, Sawyer! May you and "Mr W" have miles of smiles with each other!

Goodbye Sawyer

 Yesterday I said goodbye to Sawyer. No......not a person. The bike. The cruiser style hard tail masterpiece that should have been a Gary Fisher branded bike, but was one of the victims of the timing of Trek's absorption of the Gary Fisher brand. While it was hoped that elements of the Gary Fisher brand, then called the Gary Fisher Collection, would survive, it disappeared a few years later, never to be heard from again. To my way of thinking, this is still one of the strangest, and biggest, mistakes Trek ever made. 

Well, back in the day, I was sent one of these Sawyers and I have had it around since then. I often enjoyed the bike, but with so many single speeds, it just didn't get used as it should have. 

I've written a few posts dedicated to the lines of this swoopy cruiser. I've talked about how Trek screwed up the marketing for this bike, how it was a big failure at retail, and how there has been a cultish following for Sawyers since then. I won't cover that old ground again. I'll just say that after three years, maybe more, of wondering what to do with this bike, I finally pulled the trigger on selling it. Then "Mr. W" answered my sales page ad and asked if he could be the bike's next caretaker. Well, the exchange happened, and now the Sawyer is all his to ride into the Sunset.

And that is exactly what should happen. Bicycles weren't made to be collected and sat in rooms to be ogled by bike nerds until they die and relatives have to dispose of them. They were made to be ridden. They were made to be scratched, beat up, and eventually worn out. I often think about what Mike Varley, of Black Mountain Cycles, told me once when I asked for touch up paint codes for my "Orange Crush" rig. He said something to the effect that he'd rather I let the scratches be and they would be "character marks", scratches that invoked stories and memories of adventures had with that bike. He's right, you know.

I don't think you've had a successful time with a bike unless you've ridden it so much you've worn out parts, dinged it up, and somehow kept it going for years and years. Bikes with character marks, and maybe more importantly, stories to tell. That should be the goal. Not having some pristine garage queen parked on a pedestal. But to each their own. This is only my view.

And getting back to the Sawyer- I was happy to hear "Mr W" say to me, as he wheeled the bike out the door, that he'd "definitely be riding this bike a lot". More than anything else, those words were music to my ears. 

I grinned to myself later, long after the Sawyer was gone, thinking about "Mr W" and his new-to-him Sawyer, blasting some single track somewhere, making memories, and gaining a few of those "character marks" in the process. It made me glad I decided to let that bike have a new lease on life. It made me happy to know that I could, at least one time, let a bike go I really liked, but wasn't utilizing, and let someone else experience the joy of riding a bike that a person cherished and loved on terrain that made for good times. 

Be well, Sawyer! May you and "Mr W" have miles of smiles with each other!

Single Speed Mind- Part 2

The Sawyer is ready to roll.

So, like I said in the last post about single speeds here, I have a lot of single speed bikes. I wasn't done fixing up those devices just yet, and to be honest, I'm still not done yet. Got a few more to get to yet.

Well, one of the bikes I did get around to was the Sawyer. You've seen it here before if you've been around reading this blog a long time. The Sawyer is an odd bike. It probably wasn't ever meant to be a Trek branded bike, but the 2010 absorption of Fisher by Trek going into the 2011 season kind of put things off kilter with this bike. So, following is my interpretation of the events which made the Sawyer one of the failures of the shuttering of the Fisher brand.

It is a fact that only a small handful of people had previous knowledge about the early Summer announcement that Fisher Bikes was going to be no more. Obviously, all the 2011 product was well into production. Marketing was being developed for the coming year, and all of that was scuttled after Trek announced the change. One of those marketing ideas was centered around the Sawyer. A retro styled 29"er. A bike that was all about embodying all that Gary Fisher was best known for.

Think about the geared 2X10 drive train. Fisher was often credited for slapping gears on a 30's era Schwinn cruiser frame so he could ride to the top of the Repack course instead of pushing, or hitching a ride on a stake truck. The Sawyer was a nod to that. Also, Fisher was preeminent in pushing 29" mountain bikes into production. This occurred in 2001, exactly ten years previous to the introduction of the Sawyer. The Sawyer featured G2 geometry, a Fisher Bikes innovation, which radically changed how 29"er bikes were designed going forward. This bike was to be a celebration of Gary Fisher's MTB contributions, but with the absorption of Fisher into Trek, all the marketing plans had to be scrapped.

The frame is very detailed and had to be a nightmare for Trek to get it produced. The twin top tube starts at the head tube and then flares out to become the seat stays. Maybe a nod to Breezer's first bikes? The support tubes from the top tubes to the seat tube had to be "just so", and there are a lot of other details to this frame which make it a really interesting production bike. The drive side drop out is split, so I run the bike single speed with a Gates Carbon Drive Center Track belt. The frame can accept really fat tires. I've seen examples stuffed with 29" X 3.0 and 27.5" X 3.0 tires. Mine has 27.5" X 2.8"ers on there. Anyway, enough about that. It's a special bike that failed due to a larger plan Trek had and, of course, after a two year run it was over.

Don't forget your special tools.....

I also got to working on another stalwart of the G-Ted bike stable, the 1999 Surly 1X1. Again, you've seen this before if you've been reading here awhile. It's the "mechanic's bike" of Europa Cycle & Ski. I'm the seventh of the line to have had possession of it.

I've had these Surly Extraterrestrials on the bike tubeless since I built up the wheels for it. That's been.......what? Late 2015? Yeah.... Three solid years. I never have had the tires off to inspect things. So, late last Fall, the rear tire up and goes flat. I figured that it probably was high time I took off the tire and see what was up inside of there.

Fortunately I did not find any balls of rubbery stuff, or any other untoward things, so I did a bit of tidying up and remounted the tires with new sealant. Then I switched back to freewheel from fixed, and the next order of business is a new chain, chain wheel, and perhaps a crank to accommodate a different bolt pattern. So, after that I should be okay to roll another three years!

That'll be two more single speeds gone through. I have to get to my Pofahl, my Blackbuck, and the fixie Raleigh in the garage. Then I think I'll be done, but I was looking at building some new wheels for the Blackbuck with some hubs I was gifted, and so......you never know.

Single Speed Mind- Part 2

The Sawyer is ready to roll.

So, like I said in the last post about single speeds here, I have a lot of single speed bikes. I wasn't done fixing up those devices just yet, and to be honest, I'm still not done yet. Got a few more to get to yet.

Well, one of the bikes I did get around to was the Sawyer. You've seen it here before if you've been around reading this blog a long time. The Sawyer is an odd bike. It probably wasn't ever meant to be a Trek branded bike, but the 2010 absorption of Fisher by Trek going into the 2011 season kind of put things off kilter with this bike. So, following is my interpretation of the events which made the Sawyer one of the failures of the shuttering of the Fisher brand.

It is a fact that only a small handful of people had previous knowledge about the early Summer announcement that Fisher Bikes was going to be no more. Obviously, all the 2011 product was well into production. Marketing was being developed for the coming year, and all of that was scuttled after Trek announced the change. One of those marketing ideas was centered around the Sawyer. A retro styled 29"er. A bike that was all about embodying all that Gary Fisher was best known for.

Think about the geared 2X10 drive train. Fisher was often credited for slapping gears on a 30's era Schwinn cruiser frame so he could ride to the top of the Repack course instead of pushing, or hitching a ride on a stake truck. The Sawyer was a nod to that. Also, Fisher was preeminent in pushing 29" mountain bikes into production. This occurred in 2001, exactly ten years previous to the introduction of the Sawyer. The Sawyer featured G2 geometry, a Fisher Bikes innovation, which radically changed how 29"er bikes were designed going forward. This bike was to be a celebration of Gary Fisher's MTB contributions, but with the absorption of Fisher into Trek, all the marketing plans had to be scrapped.

The frame is very detailed and had to be a nightmare for Trek to get it produced. The twin top tube starts at the head tube and then flares out to become the seat stays. Maybe a nod to Breezer's first bikes? The support tubes from the top tubes to the seat tube had to be "just so", and there are a lot of other details to this frame which make it a really interesting production bike. The drive side drop out is split, so I run the bike single speed with a Gates Carbon Drive Center Track belt. The frame can accept really fat tires. I've seen examples stuffed with 29" X 3.0 and 27.5" X 3.0 tires. Mine has 27.5" X 2.8"ers on there. Anyway, enough about that. It's a special bike that failed due to a larger plan Trek had and, of course, after a two year run it was over.

Don't forget your special tools.....

I also got to working on another stalwart of the G-Ted bike stable, the 1999 Surly 1X1. Again, you've seen this before if you've been reading here awhile. It's the "mechanic's bike" of Europa Cycle & Ski. I'm the seventh of the line to have had possession of it.

I've had these Surly Extraterrestrials on the bike tubeless since I built up the wheels for it. That's been.......what? Late 2015? Yeah.... Three solid years. I never have had the tires off to inspect things. So, late last Fall, the rear tire up and goes flat. I figured that it probably was high time I took off the tire and see what was up inside of there.

Fortunately I did not find any balls of rubbery stuff, or any other untoward things, so I did a bit of tidying up and remounted the tires with new sealant. Then I switched back to freewheel from fixed, and the next order of business is a new chain, chain wheel, and perhaps a crank to accommodate a different bolt pattern. So, after that I should be okay to roll another three years!

That'll be two more single speeds gone through. I have to get to my Pofahl, my Blackbuck, and the fixie Raleigh in the garage. Then I think I'll be done, but I was looking at building some new wheels for the Blackbuck with some hubs I was gifted, and so......you never know.

Friday News And Views

Remember when white was a component color choice? What the heck were we thinking?! From I-bike '11

Interbike 2018 Closes: 

Well folks, "that time of year" is over. Interbike, the industry trade show, ended, and I didn't go......again.  I used to go every year for the defunct "Twenty Nine Inches" site, but I stopped going in 2014 and haven't been back since. Now when this time of year comes around I start to think of the things I liked and disliked about going to the show.

Number one on the list of dislikes has to be getting in an airplane. I get it.......you have to fly to make travel make sense, but I just dislike airplanes and everything about the process of flying. Being canned into a small space with no freedom (relatively) to move makes me think that this must be what it is like to be a dog in a kennel. That lasts for maybe 3.5 to four hours and then you have all the shuffle, hustle, and bustle of getting into and out of airports. That would have been worse, for me, this year, as Interbike went to Reno, Nevada, which would have added even more complexity and airport transfers to a flight itinerary for me.

I didn't like being away from my family either. That's never fun, and when I went to Interbike all those years it was in Las Vegas, which kind of amplified those feelings of missing my family even more. The whole "Las Vegas experience" was a negative one for me. Sorry if you live there and all, but I just wasn't into it. The only saving grace I could find was Great Buns Bakery on Flamingo. Check it out if you ever find yourself out that way.

Pluses were seeing bicycles, riding bicycles, meeting old friends, acquaintances, and meeting new folks. A few nights out were notable...... That's about all. I could do without it since the negatives were outweighing the positives, which honestly, I could get elsewhere without all the hassles of air travel. Add in that the show itself was contracting at an alarming rate and the appeal was just not there anymore.

I hear this year's show was tiny compared to ten years ago. If that is true, boy! I am really glad I didn't make the effort to go again.

 Enjoying The Sawyer:

I wrote about my Sawyer a while back, wondering if I shouldn't just get rid of the thing because I rarely ride it anymore. Then I got it out and started riding it again. I'll be danged if I didn't end up really liking it........again. 

This wasn't ever designed to be a 27.5+ wheeled bike, but this bike is so much better as a B+ rig, I cannot imagine going back to 29"er wheels on it. I have 27.5 X 2.8 WTB Trailblazers on it right now, but I was curious. Would the full 3.0 fit? Well, I found out.

At work there is a take-off set of 27.5 X 3.0 WTB Ranger tires on WTB Scraper rims from a Fargo we switched out wheels on. I rode the Sawyer in and did a little test fitting. Amazingly, even with the wide Scraper rims, the 3.0 tires cleared. Not with any appreciable mud clearances, but they cleared. If I could run the sliding drops all the way back, I'd be better, but the gates Carbon Drive belt won't allow for that. I'd likely have to commit to a 1X drivetrain to get that right, and that would make more sense anyway.

The downside is that I would have to go with the original rigid fork, or buy a brand new fork from Fox, since they do just about anything in straight steer tubed forks if you want it. Or get some other brand that isn't quite as good. The straight 1 1/8th head tube really keeps my choices limited. One cool idea I had was that I could use my idle Ti Mukluk uni-crown steel fork and get a wheel built up for that using a 27.5" hoop. I have the hub, and the fork has Three Pack bosses on it, so that would make for a cool set up with fat 27.5" rubber.

Then again, I could just get a new set of 2.8" tires and ride this as is. Cheaper and less fuss. But it is fun to consider possibilities and since this bike is so fun and has versatility, I figured I better keep it around. Not to mention its cool frame, which I have waxed poetic about here before. That said, I found a story about how Merlin, freshly sold to Dean Bicycles, is going to make the Newsboy again. That was a titanium framed 26"er cruiser bike from the 90's that was a cult classic. This new one will be a 29"er, but that's not why I was intrigued by the story.

The story told of how the cantilever stays took a week to bend and fabricate. I've said that the Sawyer's frame had to have been a money loser for Trek, because of the complexity of the Sawyer's frame tubing. The bends in two planes, and all the details in it. Well, that Merlin story confirmed this to my mind. Consider that if you want one of the eight frames Merlin is going to make you have to pony up $5,000.00. That's not with a fork either! Makes me think that the Sawyer should have been a really expensive frame. Not 5G, but in steel, it would be less. I bet it would cost 2G plus to have a person make you a copy today.

I think I'll hang onto this ol' bike.

Speaking of bikes I think I'll just hold on to......

Dreaming Of Fat Bike Rides:

I'll tell ya what..... We've had a LOT of rain in September here and it has just about killed my riding opportunities for now and the foreseeable future. Especially for off road. Gravel travel will bounce right back, but anything else is going to be tough sledding for a while.

With the prospects for a shortened Fall mtb season upon us, I am looking more and more at my fat bikes for some off road salvation. Trails will likely be a mess once things do dry out around here, so fat biking makes a lot of sense when you've got debris, muddy patches, and softer trails anyway.

I'm happy and satisfied that I have that ol' Blackborow DS sitting there in the shadows waiting to roll out when the time comes. I must say that I was a little apprehensive about getting a fat bike with only two gears. But I haven't had any issues riding it around these parts this way. So, it remains a dinglespeed. In fact, the drive train hasn't been touched besides having the occasional cleaning and lubrication done to it. Low maintenance and durable.

Anyway, it should be good to go here after a brief inspection and clean up from last Winter's abuse. While I have been really happy with this bike, it has been on my mind a time or two to sell it. I never went much beyond the occasional thinking stages though. The bike is just too good, and alternatives available just cannot measure up. Not even the new Blackborow long tail, which has been touted to me as something I should get by trusted friends. I just don't see it being better for me and my situation. Just storing a bigger fat bike, for instance, would cause me a LOT of trouble. So, yeah. I am sticking with the ol' dinglespeed, thank you very much!

That's all for this week. Have a great weekend and get out to ride if you can!

Friday News And Views

Remember when white was a component color choice? What the heck were we thinking?! From I-bike '11

Interbike 2018 Closes: 

Well folks, "that time of year" is over. Interbike, the industry trade show, ended, and I didn't go......again.  I used to go every year for the defunct "Twenty Nine Inches" site, but I stopped going in 2014 and haven't been back since. Now when this time of year comes around I start to think of the things I liked and disliked about going to the show.

Number one on the list of dislikes has to be getting in an airplane. I get it.......you have to fly to make travel make sense, but I just dislike airplanes and everything about the process of flying. Being canned into a small space with no freedom (relatively) to move makes me think that this must be what it is like to be a dog in a kennel. That lasts for maybe 3.5 to four hours and then you have all the shuffle, hustle, and bustle of getting into and out of airports. That would have been worse, for me, this year, as Interbike went to Reno, Nevada, which would have added even more complexity and airport transfers to a flight itinerary for me.

I didn't like being away from my family either. That's never fun, and when I went to Interbike all those years it was in Las Vegas, which kind of amplified those feelings of missing my family even more. The whole "Las Vegas experience" was a negative one for me. Sorry if you live there and all, but I just wasn't into it. The only saving grace I could find was Great Buns Bakery on Flamingo. Check it out if you ever find yourself out that way.

Pluses were seeing bicycles, riding bicycles, meeting old friends, acquaintances, and meeting new folks. A few nights out were notable...... That's about all. I could do without it since the negatives were outweighing the positives, which honestly, I could get elsewhere without all the hassles of air travel. Add in that the show itself was contracting at an alarming rate and the appeal was just not there anymore.

I hear this year's show was tiny compared to ten years ago. If that is true, boy! I am really glad I didn't make the effort to go again.

 Enjoying The Sawyer:

I wrote about my Sawyer a while back, wondering if I shouldn't just get rid of the thing because I rarely ride it anymore. Then I got it out and started riding it again. I'll be danged if I didn't end up really liking it........again. 

This wasn't ever designed to be a 27.5+ wheeled bike, but this bike is so much better as a B+ rig, I cannot imagine going back to 29"er wheels on it. I have 27.5 X 2.8 WTB Trailblazers on it right now, but I was curious. Would the full 3.0 fit? Well, I found out.

At work there is a take-off set of 27.5 X 3.0 WTB Ranger tires on WTB Scraper rims from a Fargo we switched out wheels on. I rode the Sawyer in and did a little test fitting. Amazingly, even with the wide Scraper rims, the 3.0 tires cleared. Not with any appreciable mud clearances, but they cleared. If I could run the sliding drops all the way back, I'd be better, but the gates Carbon Drive belt won't allow for that. I'd likely have to commit to a 1X drivetrain to get that right, and that would make more sense anyway.

The downside is that I would have to go with the original rigid fork, or buy a brand new fork from Fox, since they do just about anything in straight steer tubed forks if you want it. Or get some other brand that isn't quite as good. The straight 1 1/8th head tube really keeps my choices limited. One cool idea I had was that I could use my idle Ti Mukluk uni-crown steel fork and get a wheel built up for that using a 27.5" hoop. I have the hub, and the fork has Three Pack bosses on it, so that would make for a cool set up with fat 27.5" rubber.

Then again, I could just get a new set of 2.8" tires and ride this as is. Cheaper and less fuss. But it is fun to consider possibilities and since this bike is so fun and has versatility, I figured I better keep it around. Not to mention its cool frame, which I have waxed poetic about here before. That said, I found a story about how Merlin, freshly sold to Dean Bicycles, is going to make the Newsboy again. That was a titanium framed 26"er cruiser bike from the 90's that was a cult classic. This new one will be a 29"er, but that's not why I was intrigued by the story.

The story told of how the cantilever stays took a week to bend and fabricate. I've said that the Sawyer's frame had to have been a money loser for Trek, because of the complexity of the Sawyer's frame tubing. The bends in two planes, and all the details in it. Well, that Merlin story confirmed this to my mind. Consider that if you want one of the eight frames Merlin is going to make you have to pony up $5,000.00. That's not with a fork either! Makes me think that the Sawyer should have been a really expensive frame. Not 5G, but in steel, it would be less. I bet it would cost 2G plus to have a person make you a copy today.

I think I'll hang onto this ol' bike.

Speaking of bikes I think I'll just hold on to......

Dreaming Of Fat Bike Rides:

I'll tell ya what..... We've had a LOT of rain in September here and it has just about killed my riding opportunities for now and the foreseeable future. Especially for off road. Gravel travel will bounce right back, but anything else is going to be tough sledding for a while.

With the prospects for a shortened Fall mtb season upon us, I am looking more and more at my fat bikes for some off road salvation. Trails will likely be a mess once things do dry out around here, so fat biking makes a lot of sense when you've got debris, muddy patches, and softer trails anyway.

I'm happy and satisfied that I have that ol' Blackborow DS sitting there in the shadows waiting to roll out when the time comes. I must say that I was a little apprehensive about getting a fat bike with only two gears. But I haven't had any issues riding it around these parts this way. So, it remains a dinglespeed. In fact, the drive train hasn't been touched besides having the occasional cleaning and lubrication done to it. Low maintenance and durable.

Anyway, it should be good to go here after a brief inspection and clean up from last Winter's abuse. While I have been really happy with this bike, it has been on my mind a time or two to sell it. I never went much beyond the occasional thinking stages though. The bike is just too good, and alternatives available just cannot measure up. Not even the new Blackborow long tail, which has been touted to me as something I should get by trusted friends. I just don't see it being better for me and my situation. Just storing a bigger fat bike, for instance, would cause me a LOT of trouble. So, yeah. I am sticking with the ol' dinglespeed, thank you very much!

That's all for this week. Have a great weekend and get out to ride if you can!

Too Early

End of the line for the single track here.....

The Cedar Valley just experienced some major flooding. The crest was over the weekend and the flood warning went away after Tuesday. Wednesday I decided I needed to get something other than gravel riding in. A steady diet of gravel, when I could ride, was all I had done since "fat bike season" ended last Spring.

So, I grabbed my single speed Sawyer and decided to go see if the single track in the Green Belt was still under water or what. Originally I had no intentions or thoughts that I even could ride in the Green Belt. I figured I would end up on top of the dike, at best, and just do some viewing of the carnage.

I saw that the flood gate, which is used to close down the road when the water is high in the Green Belt, was open. I figured I'd go take a look. The grass was dried out, so I went down in and found that it wasn't bad. I got sucked in and tried the wide "single track" which runs out to Ansborough and the parking lot there. Actually, it wasn't bad for the first half.

Well, then it got slimy, the wheels packed up, and I was sliding like I was on ice. Not sinking in, but slipping. The mud was firm, just really greasy. I had to walk it, but then I came upon the end of the line. (See the image at left here) The flooding changed things and the old way was gone. It was time to figure out how to go forward, because, you know......going back wasn't an option! I mean, c'mon! 

So, I looked around for a way forward and eventually I did find a way. It involved a bit of wading, some bushwhacking, and trudging along with a bike that probably weighed 50lbs with all the wet mud stuck on it. 

The way through was found here. Yes- it was a mess.

I managed to get to drier ground, scraped off a bit of mud, and then tried riding, which didn't last long. I was off again pretty quickly, and this time I just gave up and walked out to the parking lot area. There I grabbed a stick and scraped a bunch of mud off and then headed up onto the dike on the North side of the Black Hawk Creek. I ended up riding a while hoping that the dry grass would clear off the mud, but this mud was so wet and sticky it wasn't coming off. So, I stopped and grabbed my tire lever and went to work.

Finally cleaned up.....well, kinda!

Okay, so the Green Belt isn't quite ready yet. My bad. Too soon! But it was fun to do a different form of riding and break it up a bit. Hopefully things bounce back soon around here because Fall is so great for riding the Green Belt. I gotta get my fat bikes going too. Meanwhile I have a very messy Sawyer to clean up! That's the price you pay for playing in the mud.

Too Early

End of the line for the single track here.....

The Cedar Valley just experienced some major flooding. The crest was over the weekend and the flood warning went away after Tuesday. Wednesday I decided I needed to get something other than gravel riding in. A steady diet of gravel, when I could ride, was all I had done since "fat bike season" ended last Spring.

So, I grabbed my single speed Sawyer and decided to go see if the single track in the Green Belt was still under water or what. Originally I had no intentions or thoughts that I even could ride in the Green Belt. I figured I would end up on top of the dike, at best, and just do some viewing of the carnage.

I saw that the flood gate, which is used to close down the road when the water is high in the Green Belt, was open. I figured I'd go take a look. The grass was dried out, so I went down in and found that it wasn't bad. I got sucked in and tried the wide "single track" which runs out to Ansborough and the parking lot there. Actually, it wasn't bad for the first half.

Well, then it got slimy, the wheels packed up, and I was sliding like I was on ice. Not sinking in, but slipping. The mud was firm, just really greasy. I had to walk it, but then I came upon the end of the line. (See the image at left here) The flooding changed things and the old way was gone. It was time to figure out how to go forward, because, you know......going back wasn't an option! I mean, c'mon! 

So, I looked around for a way forward and eventually I did find a way. It involved a bit of wading, some bushwhacking, and trudging along with a bike that probably weighed 50lbs with all the wet mud stuck on it. 

The way through was found here. Yes- it was a mess.

I managed to get to drier ground, scraped off a bit of mud, and then tried riding, which didn't last long. I was off again pretty quickly, and this time I just gave up and walked out to the parking lot area. There I grabbed a stick and scraped a bunch of mud off and then headed up onto the dike on the North side of the Black Hawk Creek. I ended up riding a while hoping that the dry grass would clear off the mud, but this mud was so wet and sticky it wasn't coming off. So, I stopped and grabbed my tire lever and went to work.

Finally cleaned up.....well, kinda!

Okay, so the Green Belt isn't quite ready yet. My bad. Too soon! But it was fun to do a different form of riding and break it up a bit. Hopefully things bounce back soon around here because Fall is so great for riding the Green Belt. I gotta get my fat bikes going too. Meanwhile I have a very messy Sawyer to clean up! That's the price you pay for playing in the mud.

Friday News And Views

Make that 2019. It's on!

DKXL On For '19:

This past week came news from the DK Promotions team regarding next year's events that they promote. The DK200 and 100 will see new routes using the "return of iconic checkpoint towns", which I would believe has to be a nod toward a route North of Emporia and West as well. They also mention roster increases, but don't give a number.

But the interesting news to me is the DKXL is now going to be opened up to the "public"....... kind of. Checking the DKXL page, it looks like the DK Promotions team is taking up to 200 applications, and then they will screen those and give permission as they see fit. Applications are opened December 1st and are open for the next 8 days, closing on the 9th. No word on what qualifications they are looking for, or how the process will be accomplished. Interestingly, in a Trans Iowa-like twist, they are not refunding entry fees if you drop and there doesn't seem to be any waiting list, nor are transfers going to be allowed.

There isn't any word on roster limitations, nor is there an entry fee specified at this time. But we can infer a couple of things from the release of this info. First, if they are taking 200 applications only, and maybe 200 won't even try to sign on, then we know the roster limit is less than that. The event, if run like this year's, would be totally self-supported in terms of water, food, etc. So- no support at any checkpoints, if there are any checkpoints. Last June they did the whole 350 straight through, and they ran riders through towns so they could resupply, but no "official" checkpoints were set up. This means that, due to the very nature of the Kansas Flint Hills, they cannot run all that many through these towns and expect the stores available to absorb the kind of pressure a couple of hundred riders would bring. That is if they do this like the first one. 

My guess would be that the roster cut off is around 100 or less, but we'll see for real later this year, I am sure. They could do aid stations set up just for this part of the event too, and that would be a totally different scenario then. Who knows? Only they do at DK Promotions right now. That and the entry fee, which I am going to guess is more than that for the 200 miler. But again, I am speculating here.

This perch is good!  WTB Siverado

WTB Siverado 142mm Width:

I just wrote up a review on two WTB saddles now offered in wider widths. One, the SL8, was "okay", but it didn't fit me great. Still, it is a very nice saddle for those who might get on with its features. I ended up giving the Silverado the nod, and I ended up really getting along with that one.

My good friend, MG, is a devotee of the OG Silverado, but it was too skinny for my behind. But I know he liked that saddle a lot because it came up in almost every conversation we had about saddles. Now I understand why. The wider 142mm width works well for me and the shape of the Silverado, sort of like a pared down Pure V, really works well underneath me. It has all those WTB saddle trademarks but maybe a bit more subtly so than the old SST and Pure V series did.

Like I said though in yesterday's post, this saddle may be "the one" for the Tamland. Time will tell. I like the light weight, it's got Ti rails, so it has a bit of give to it, and the Microfiber cover is nice. Not too grippy but not slippery either.

Will it usurp the Pure or the Brooks Cambium as my favorite saddle? Might. I don't know yet. Longer rides will tell the tale, but until then, I think the Silverado is on my short list of saddles that work for me in just about every sense.

The Sawyer out on the single track in town the other day.

Should It Stay Or Should It Go?

I've got a LOT of bicycles. No doubt about that. I do not need all of them, but some of them are special in one way or another. That gets in the way of practicality. It gets in the way of what makes sense too. It isn't an easy road to navigate for me.

Which brings me to the Sawyer. That was a two year and out model Trek did right when they folded Gary Fisher into the Trek brand. (Still one of the biggest mistakes Trek ever made, in my opinion.) I've no doubt that the Sawyer was destined to have Gary Fisher livery, but Trek deep sixed the name at the eleventh hour the year they pulled the trigger on the brand change. I was told only a small handful of Trek's highest brass ever knew that was happening until they unleashed the news one fateful Summer day.

Anyway, the Sawyer was, and to this day still is, one of the best renderings of a cruiser/paper boy style bike ever done with fat tires. That includes all custom bikes I've ever seen. To know that this was a production bike, and to see all the fine detail that went into its design and manufacture, well, it wouldn't be hard to pass off the Sawyer as a custom one-off.

That said, I've had a love-hate relationship with this bike over the years. I made the mistake of putting a too-long of a fork on it and couldn't figure out what it was that made the bike stink so bad afterward. Then I got the right length fork on it and it came back alive. A switch to 27.5+ wheels then sealed the deal. I like the bike and it rides very well. But, now what? I hardly ever ride it. Someone should be enjoying this rig. It's a shame to let it sit so much, despite the fact I think so much of its design and now- how it rides.

The thing is, if I let it go, I likely will never get anything close to it again, and I do like to ride it now and again. Just like the past few days where I have been commuting on it. But.....

Bah! 

First world problems.

Have a great weekend and stay safe on this Labor Day Holiday!

Friday News And Views

Make that 2019. It's on!

DKXL On For '19:

This past week came news from the DK Promotions team regarding next year's events that they promote. The DK200 and 100 will see new routes using the "return of iconic checkpoint towns", which I would believe has to be a nod toward a route North of Emporia and West as well. They also mention roster increases, but don't give a number.

But the interesting news to me is the DKXL is now going to be opened up to the "public"....... kind of. Checking the DKXL page, it looks like the DK Promotions team is taking up to 200 applications, and then they will screen those and give permission as they see fit. Applications are opened December 1st and are open for the next 8 days, closing on the 9th. No word on what qualifications they are looking for, or how the process will be accomplished. Interestingly, in a Trans Iowa-like twist, they are not refunding entry fees if you drop and there doesn't seem to be any waiting list, nor are transfers going to be allowed.

There isn't any word on roster limitations, nor is there an entry fee specified at this time. But we can infer a couple of things from the release of this info. First, if they are taking 200 applications only, and maybe 200 won't even try to sign on, then we know the roster limit is less than that. The event, if run like this year's, would be totally self-supported in terms of water, food, etc. So- no support at any checkpoints, if there are any checkpoints. Last June they did the whole 350 straight through, and they ran riders through towns so they could resupply, but no "official" checkpoints were set up. This means that, due to the very nature of the Kansas Flint Hills, they cannot run all that many through these towns and expect the stores available to absorb the kind of pressure a couple of hundred riders would bring. That is if they do this like the first one. 

My guess would be that the roster cut off is around 100 or less, but we'll see for real later this year, I am sure. They could do aid stations set up just for this part of the event too, and that would be a totally different scenario then. Who knows? Only they do at DK Promotions right now. That and the entry fee, which I am going to guess is more than that for the 200 miler. But again, I am speculating here.

This perch is good!  WTB Siverado

WTB Siverado 142mm Width:

I just wrote up a review on two WTB saddles now offered in wider widths. One, the SL8, was "okay", but it didn't fit me great. Still, it is a very nice saddle for those who might get on with its features. I ended up giving the Silverado the nod, and I ended up really getting along with that one.

My good friend, MG, is a devotee of the OG Silverado, but it was too skinny for my behind. But I know he liked that saddle a lot because it came up in almost every conversation we had about saddles. Now I understand why. The wider 142mm width works well for me and the shape of the Silverado, sort of like a pared down Pure V, really works well underneath me. It has all those WTB saddle trademarks but maybe a bit more subtly so than the old SST and Pure V series did.

Like I said though in yesterday's post, this saddle may be "the one" for the Tamland. Time will tell. I like the light weight, it's got Ti rails, so it has a bit of give to it, and the Microfiber cover is nice. Not too grippy but not slippery either.

Will it usurp the Pure or the Brooks Cambium as my favorite saddle? Might. I don't know yet. Longer rides will tell the tale, but until then, I think the Silverado is on my short list of saddles that work for me in just about every sense.

The Sawyer out on the single track in town the other day.

Should It Stay Or Should It Go?

I've got a LOT of bicycles. No doubt about that. I do not need all of them, but some of them are special in one way or another. That gets in the way of practicality. It gets in the way of what makes sense too. It isn't an easy road to navigate for me.

Which brings me to the Sawyer. That was a two year and out model Trek did right when they folded Gary Fisher into the Trek brand. (Still one of the biggest mistakes Trek ever made, in my opinion.) I've no doubt that the Sawyer was destined to have Gary Fisher livery, but Trek deep sixed the name at the eleventh hour the year they pulled the trigger on the brand change. I was told only a small handful of Trek's highest brass ever knew that was happening until they unleashed the news one fateful Summer day.

Anyway, the Sawyer was, and to this day still is, one of the best renderings of a cruiser/paper boy style bike ever done with fat tires. That includes all custom bikes I've ever seen. To know that this was a production bike, and to see all the fine detail that went into its design and manufacture, well, it wouldn't be hard to pass off the Sawyer as a custom one-off.

That said, I've had a love-hate relationship with this bike over the years. I made the mistake of putting a too-long of a fork on it and couldn't figure out what it was that made the bike stink so bad afterward. Then I got the right length fork on it and it came back alive. A switch to 27.5+ wheels then sealed the deal. I like the bike and it rides very well. But, now what? I hardly ever ride it. Someone should be enjoying this rig. It's a shame to let it sit so much, despite the fact I think so much of its design and now- how it rides.

The thing is, if I let it go, I likely will never get anything close to it again, and I do like to ride it now and again. Just like the past few days where I have been commuting on it. But.....

Bah! 

First world problems.

Have a great weekend and stay safe on this Labor Day Holiday!

Tree Wrasslin'

A trail runs through it.

Just about this time every year since, oh I don't know when, I go on a ride through the Green Belt to check on the Fall colors. Sometimes I have to go a few times to hit "peak color". That's why I decided to try and see what the trees were up to yesterday.

The Green Belt isn't a place that gains or loses much elevation. A few feet, I'd wager, is about what it amounts to since the Green Belt contains Black Hawk Creek. Plus, this part of Iowa isn't known for its hills. It's got some hills, to be sure, but they don't help you with views of the Green Belt. Back in there, it is very flat! 

There is one place; however, that does offer a vista of the trees in the Green Belt and it is where there has been a meadow for a long time. The trail has traditionally just skirted this meadow, and recently a walking path has been mowed into the grasses there so you can get a good, up close look at things. While the trees haven't taken over this area yet, they are encroaching upon the meadow and it won't take long for this vista to be choked with trees. I would like to see the City do a prescribed burn back in there. It is getting very close to critical mass for a few places back there in regard to tree encroachment.

Well, anyway, the vista was reached and the trees are not quite ready yet for prime time.  I think in about ten days or so, it will be at the peak colors, so I will have to come back and check this out then. For now, I have a couple of shots to share.

So, moving on from there I wasn't very far from the Western entrance to Marky-Mark Trail. This year marks the 20th year of its existence! Man! I can hardly believe it  has been that long since I and another "Mark" worked to put this in. Essentially, for those locals that don't know, Marky-Mark runs roughly parallel to Ridgeway Avenue between the main entrance on the north side of the road and the secondary trail entrance further to the East on the same side of the road. There used to be more to it than there is, but the Eastern section was lost long ago and the only part that other riders seemed to be interested in was the connector bit, so it is all that is left now.

Cleared trail. I moved two dead falls here.

So, anyway, about 20 years ago I started clearing trail back there and I had a little assistance from a guy named Mark as well, which is ironic because he was a dyed in the wool roadie. But be that as it may, I did most of the trail back there. I was a bit frustrated when riders only seemed interested in the connector bit, but that's the way it goes sometimes. At least that bit got burned in and lasted the last 20 years.

There were a couple of times that Marky-Mark nearly disappeared. As recently as a few years ago was one of those times. Someone else decided to take up the mantle for clearing it and saved it. I still am not sure who that was. Today I found three deadfall trees on the trail and one more that will require a saw. I decided the other three were things I could tackle. Well.......wrassle would be more like it. Tree wrasslin' is one of my specialties!

So, I got off my bike and assessed the situation first. After determining what to do, I started in, and the duff, rotten branches, and insects were flying! The first one was an easy "slide job" off the trail. The next one was actually a hangar. It was laying across the trail about five feet in the air suspended by other smaller branches and shrubs. This one was a little sketchy. I easily could have dropped this one on myself, gotten injured, and had been in a world of hurt, but it went my way instead. No harm to me and after a bit of wrangling, it was clear of the tread of the trail. The last one took a lot of effort, and I was not sure I would win, but in the end I did by swinging it to be parallel to the tread of the trail.

I have a plan to extend the length of this section of trail in to some unused area of the Green Belt up along Ridgeway Avenue. I'll probably keep it short and manageable first. The Fall is an excellent time to do trail work, so I think I'll get in to that a bit again here and see how it goes.

Tree Wrasslin'

A trail runs through it.

Just about this time every year since, oh I don't know when, I go on a ride through the Green Belt to check on the Fall colors. Sometimes I have to go a few times to hit "peak color". That's why I decided to try and see what the trees were up to yesterday.

The Green Belt isn't a place that gains or loses much elevation. A few feet, I'd wager, is about what it amounts to since the Green Belt contains Black Hawk Creek. Plus, this part of Iowa isn't known for its hills. It's got some hills, to be sure, but they don't help you with views of the Green Belt. Back in there, it is very flat! 

There is one place; however, that does offer a vista of the trees in the Green Belt and it is where there has been a meadow for a long time. The trail has traditionally just skirted this meadow, and recently a walking path has been mowed into the grasses there so you can get a good, up close look at things. While the trees haven't taken over this area yet, they are encroaching upon the meadow and it won't take long for this vista to be choked with trees. I would like to see the City do a prescribed burn back in there. It is getting very close to critical mass for a few places back there in regard to tree encroachment.

Well, anyway, the vista was reached and the trees are not quite ready yet for prime time.  I think in about ten days or so, it will be at the peak colors, so I will have to come back and check this out then. For now, I have a couple of shots to share.

So, moving on from there I wasn't very far from the Western entrance to Marky-Mark Trail. This year marks the 20th year of its existence! Man! I can hardly believe it  has been that long since I and another "Mark" worked to put this in. Essentially, for those locals that don't know, Marky-Mark runs roughly parallel to Ridgeway Avenue between the main entrance on the north side of the road and the secondary trail entrance further to the East on the same side of the road. There used to be more to it than there is, but the Eastern section was lost long ago and the only part that other riders seemed to be interested in was the connector bit, so it is all that is left now.

Cleared trail. I moved two dead falls here.

So, anyway, about 20 years ago I started clearing trail back there and I had a little assistance from a guy named Mark as well, which is ironic because he was a dyed in the wool roadie. But be that as it may, I did most of the trail back there. I was a bit frustrated when riders only seemed interested in the connector bit, but that's the way it goes sometimes. At least that bit got burned in and lasted the last 20 years.

There were a couple of times that Marky-Mark nearly disappeared. As recently as a few years ago was one of those times. Someone else decided to take up the mantle for clearing it and saved it. I still am not sure who that was. Today I found three deadfall trees on the trail and one more that will require a saw. I decided the other three were things I could tackle. Well.......wrassle would be more like it. Tree wrasslin' is one of my specialties!

So, I got off my bike and assessed the situation first. After determining what to do, I started in, and the duff, rotten branches, and insects were flying! The first one was an easy "slide job" off the trail. The next one was actually a hangar. It was laying across the trail about five feet in the air suspended by other smaller branches and shrubs. This one was a little sketchy. I easily could have dropped this one on myself, gotten injured, and had been in a world of hurt, but it went my way instead. No harm to me and after a bit of wrangling, it was clear of the tread of the trail. The last one took a lot of effort, and I was not sure I would win, but in the end I did by swinging it to be parallel to the tread of the trail.

I have a plan to extend the length of this section of trail in to some unused area of the Green Belt up along Ridgeway Avenue. I'll probably keep it short and manageable first. The Fall is an excellent time to do trail work, so I think I'll get in to that a bit again here and see how it goes.

Small Changes- Big Differences

The Sawyer with a shorter travel Reba G2 fork

Tuesday I had a gritchy throat which ended up becoming a full blown cold on Wednesday. so, any thoughts of long rides in the country on a chilly early Fall day were thrown out the window. I ended up nursing myself along at home and in the meantime I decided to monkey around with the Sawyer which I posted about yesterday.

Fork exchanges are no big deal, especially when the wheel standards and head set standards remain the same between parts. I just took about ten minutes to swap things around. That was the easy part.

The change to the Rock Shox Reba meant the same offset with a shorter axle to crown since the fork is set at 80mm of travel. That's positively unheard of these days, 80mm of travel, but that is what the Sawyer was developed around. By the way, I still have the original fork, but suspension for off roading sure is nice to have. The thought here was that maybe the fact that I'd been running a fork that was technically "too long" was causing my dislike of the bike's ride to some degree. Millimeters of difference, but sometimes small changes result in very different feelings and sensations while riding.

The game of millimeters and degrees of angle change are sometimes scoffed at by some cyclists. However; I would say that if I lowered your saddle by 5mm, or lengthened your stem by one centimeter, you'd notice a "big" difference. So, small changes really do matter. Even novice cyclists can tell these things. We see this all the time in the bike shop.

Te Reba has plenty of clearance with the 27.5+ tires as they are on Blunt 35 rims.

 Plunking around the neighborhood, (I was too ill to go for a full blown ride), I felt that the bike was "better". It didn't feel so up in the air, and the lowered front end made the top tube a touch more roomy. Definitely a move in the right direction. I'll have to actually get it out on a trail, obviously, but I think the slightly longer fork wasn't doing this bike any favors. Not for me, at any rate.

As a side note I also discovered I still have an 80mm travel Manitou Tower fork that would also work on this bike. It is not 51mm offset, but- and I may be wrong- I believe it is 46mm offset. Manitou liked that 46mm offset for 29"ers back then, as I recall. So, popping that one on the Sawyer would result in a different feel as well. More stability, and maybe not as eager to turn in. I may try it out as well. The axle to crown is similar to the Rock Shox, maybe a tick taller, I didn't take an exact measurement.

That all said, I probably will not be using any of the three forks. The thing I want to do here is get a 3.0" tire on an internal 40.mm wide rim and forks made the better part of a decade ago did not take such wheels in to account. I'll likely look for a newer, Boost spaced fork I can lower to 80mm of travel and that has through axles. The current, B plus wheels will likely be moved to gravel grinding duty.

The rear of the bike is a quick release, of course, but with aluminum sliding drop outs, well.......maybe I could get something made in through axle. It isn't imperative that I do so, but being that I am moving in to a modern front end at some point, it might prove to be nice to have the rear end match up.

All because the smallest differences seem to make all the difference in how much I like the bike.

Small Changes- Big Differences

The Sawyer with a shorter travel Reba G2 fork

Tuesday I had a gritchy throat which ended up becoming a full blown cold on Wednesday. so, any thoughts of long rides in the country on a chilly early Fall day were thrown out the window. I ended up nursing myself along at home and in the meantime I decided to monkey around with the Sawyer which I posted about yesterday.

Fork exchanges are no big deal, especially when the wheel standards and head set standards remain the same between parts. I just took about ten minutes to swap things around. That was the easy part.

The change to the Rock Shox Reba meant the same offset with a shorter axle to crown since the fork is set at 80mm of travel. That's positively unheard of these days, 80mm of travel, but that is what the Sawyer was developed around. By the way, I still have the original fork, but suspension for off roading sure is nice to have. The thought here was that maybe the fact that I'd been running a fork that was technically "too long" was causing my dislike of the bike's ride to some degree. Millimeters of difference, but sometimes small changes result in very different feelings and sensations while riding.

The game of millimeters and degrees of angle change are sometimes scoffed at by some cyclists. However; I would say that if I lowered your saddle by 5mm, or lengthened your stem by one centimeter, you'd notice a "big" difference. So, small changes really do matter. Even novice cyclists can tell these things. We see this all the time in the bike shop.

Te Reba has plenty of clearance with the 27.5+ tires as they are on Blunt 35 rims.

 Plunking around the neighborhood, (I was too ill to go for a full blown ride), I felt that the bike was "better". It didn't feel so up in the air, and the lowered front end made the top tube a touch more roomy. Definitely a move in the right direction. I'll have to actually get it out on a trail, obviously, but I think the slightly longer fork wasn't doing this bike any favors. Not for me, at any rate.

As a side note I also discovered I still have an 80mm travel Manitou Tower fork that would also work on this bike. It is not 51mm offset, but- and I may be wrong- I believe it is 46mm offset. Manitou liked that 46mm offset for 29"ers back then, as I recall. So, popping that one on the Sawyer would result in a different feel as well. More stability, and maybe not as eager to turn in. I may try it out as well. The axle to crown is similar to the Rock Shox, maybe a tick taller, I didn't take an exact measurement.

That all said, I probably will not be using any of the three forks. The thing I want to do here is get a 3.0" tire on an internal 40.mm wide rim and forks made the better part of a decade ago did not take such wheels in to account. I'll likely look for a newer, Boost spaced fork I can lower to 80mm of travel and that has through axles. The current, B plus wheels will likely be moved to gravel grinding duty.

The rear of the bike is a quick release, of course, but with aluminum sliding drop outs, well.......maybe I could get something made in through axle. It isn't imperative that I do so, but being that I am moving in to a modern front end at some point, it might prove to be nice to have the rear end match up.

All because the smallest differences seem to make all the difference in how much I like the bike.

Back To The Jungle

Single track = Just wide enough to get a bicycle through.

Sunday I busted out the Sawyer and actually rode some single track in the woods. Mind you.......it was only a couple of short sections. The majority of the Green Belt is so wide you can drive a school bus through it. And no- that isn't hyperbole or exaggerating. That area is cleared with an end loader and an 8ft wide bush hog type mower, and if it doesn't fit between trees, they go around them. It is the most dumbed down woods riding in the area, unfortunately, but with the City in charge, this is what we get.

Only the trail connector I put in circa 1997 is actually single track, along with another bandit connector from the lake back there to the main trail. Otherwise, it is sanitized to the point of being boring. Which wasn't the case five years ago and before all this brutal machine driven trail maintenance nonsense got started.

Well, I can pretend that it's single track, I guess. It's either that or I have to ride across town or put my bike in the truck and drive 12 miles, so yeah..... First world problems. I get that. It's just that the way they do maintenance in the Green Belt drives me nuts. It's so dumb. Anyway......

So I rode the Sawyer. Belt driven single speed. I will run that until it dies, but when it does, I'm done with belts. I just don't see the value in them. I cannot change ratios, for instance, without a new Gates cog and a new belt, which are far more expensive than a simple Surly cog and a bit of chain. (Or whatever bling-tastic cog and chain you want to use.)

About as narrow as the Green Belt gets here. Still wide enough for a car to pass.

The Sawyer! It came out the year Trek absorbed Fisher, but it was obvious this was supposed to be another Klunker tribute bike like the one they had done in the 90's. Unfortunately, it came with Trek livery, albeit really subdued graphics. I peeled off the offensive Trek head badge and stuck an NOS Fisher Bikes badge I had stashed away on there in its place. Ah! Much better! And the way it should have been to begin with.

If I am not mistaken, the name- "Sawyer"- comes from one of Gary Fisher's sons. I may be off on that though. But regardless of the origins of the name, it remains as one of the most elaborate, elegant tributes to the "paper boy bike" style of mountain bike I know of from a production line. I am not a fan of the high bottom bracket, but otherwise, this bike rips. It came with 29" wheels, but I like it 100% better with the 27.5+ wheels and tires. In fact, I think I may be getting some slightly wider rims to better support those plus tires than the Blunt 35's which are laced up on there now.

I'm running a circa 2007 Fox 100mm G2 fork on this now which is pretty nice. It matches up in terms of offset and the length is a bit longer than the stock rigid fork, but not excessively so. It works. I keep thinking I might have to try this G2 Reba I have which is set at 80mm to see if that makes a difference in handling. It probably will lower the bike a tick, which I wouldn't mind.

Tons of "Grandpa Flowers" along the trail now.

Anyway, the ride was fun despite the ease of it. The sand on the South end made the plus tires worth it, and the flowers and dappled Sunlight were beautiful. I enjoyed the Sawyer despite my love/hate relationship with this bike I've had in the past.

There was a time I couldn't stand the thing and I was about ready to pull the trigger on sending it down the line to someone else. In fact, the last time I almost did that was last Spring.

But, as they say, "almost only counts in horse shoes and hand grenades", so I ended up keeping the curvaceous rig and once again, I am glad that I have. I guess the key is that I actually have to ride the thing. That probably goes a long way in wanting to keep it around. That and there really isn't anything else quite like it. Versatile in the ways that it can be set up, that's a key right there. I don't think 650B+ was even on the radar at Fisher when this thing was developed, but it works really well on the Sawyer. I've seen 29+ wheels put on a Sawyer bike before, but I would think the bottom bracket would be sky high on that set up. Well, anyway- The Sawyer can be set up geared with a front derailleur as well as the belt and single speed, obviously. Very versatile in many ways.

The Sawyer is sticking around, and I need to get back to the "jungle" more often. But I think I need to load the Sawyer up and travel to Ingawanis. That's where real single track lives and the challenges are greater than in the Green Belt.