Minus Ten Review - 12

No dirt here folks. A trail in Franklin State Park near El Paso, Texas

Ten years ago this week I was in El Paso, Texas to visit my relatives and ride in the desert. This would have been the second time I had ridden down there.

It's hard to impart just how difficult it is to ride through these trails. Everything is a rock that you are riding on. They vary in size and shape, being loose, hard, bedrock, or deep gravel depending upon where you are. Since it typically is so rough, loose, and rocky, the going is very slow. I once rode about 15 miles, I think it was, and it took over 3 hours. I was just crawling, but then again, on that trip I had a hard tail.

The trip ten years ago was to test two rigs I had for Twenty Nine Inches. One was a rare Siren Song soft tail single speed. It was over-geared for the terrain but a nice bike. The Hi-Fi was a better match there but unfortunately I have no good recollection of that ride anymore. Not that particular one, anyway.

So, what I do know is that I liked riding there. While, as I say, it was tough going, it was very different than anything I've done before then or since. I enjoy it every time I get the chance to ride down there. Unfortunately, it has been several years since I've been able to. The last time I was there my father in law was in hospital, so we spent the main portion of the stay with him there, and then I got sick at the end and.......well, I'd rather forget that!

Here's a couple more shots of the trails down there for reference......

That's the Hi-Fi in the image there. 

I remember thinking this looked like a brick building had been razed here and someone made a path through the middle.

Minus Ten Review - 12

No dirt here folks. A trail in Franklin State Park near El Paso, Texas

Ten years ago this week I was in El Paso, Texas to visit my relatives and ride in the desert. This would have been the second time I had ridden down there.

It's hard to impart just how difficult it is to ride through these trails. Everything is a rock that you are riding on. They vary in size and shape, being loose, hard, bedrock, or deep gravel depending upon where you are. Since it typically is so rough, loose, and rocky, the going is very slow. I once rode about 15 miles, I think it was, and it took over 3 hours. I was just crawling, but then again, on that trip I had a hard tail.

The trip ten years ago was to test two rigs I had for Twenty Nine Inches. One was a rare Siren Song soft tail single speed. It was over-geared for the terrain but a nice bike. The Hi-Fi was a better match there but unfortunately I have no good recollection of that ride anymore. Not that particular one, anyway.

So, what I do know is that I liked riding there. While, as I say, it was tough going, it was very different than anything I've done before then or since. I enjoy it every time I get the chance to ride down there. Unfortunately, it has been several years since I've been able to. The last time I was there my father in law was in hospital, so we spent the main portion of the stay with him there, and then I got sick at the end and.......well, I'd rather forget that!

Here's a couple more shots of the trails down there for reference......

That's the Hi-Fi in the image there. 

I remember thinking this looked like a brick building had been razed here and someone made a path through the middle.

Minus Ten Review - 11

Siren "Song" 29"er

Ten years ago this week on the blog I was talking about many varied subjects. First notable thing was commuting by bicycle. Gas was approaching $4.00/gallon and many folks were thinking commuting by bicycle was in the imminent future.

Well, we all know how that turned out! Istill cannot believe gas prices haven't been anywhere near that level now for almost a decade.

The other thing I was gabbing about was the planning for the next Big Wheeled Ballyhoo. I had gone up to Decorah, Iowa to meet with the trail group there to discuss ideas for the event. It was fun.......then. Several months later it was not so much fun, but that pivotal story will have to wait for later.

There was a lot of tubeless tire converting going on in advance of my trip to Texas to see my in laws and ride at Franklin Mountain State Park. This would be my second trip with bicycles to this area. I set up my first set of tires with the now famous "MG's Secret Sauce" tubeless goo and another wheelset with Stan's.

I also was taking the fetching Siren Song single speed soft tail mountain bike along for the ride. I was pretty stoked to try this rig and I was honored to once again ride a small builder's bike. But not all was well in the custom bike builder's world and at about this time Badger Cycles was imploding and since I had one of their bikes it was making me a target for some nasty comments. It is one of the reasons I put the bike away for many years, with only brief encounters with the outside world.

Minus Ten Review - 11

Siren "Song" 29"er

Ten years ago this week on the blog I was talking about many varied subjects. First notable thing was commuting by bicycle. Gas was approaching $4.00/gallon and many folks were thinking commuting by bicycle was in the imminent future.

Well, we all know how that turned out! Istill cannot believe gas prices haven't been anywhere near that level now for almost a decade.

The other thing I was gabbing about was the planning for the next Big Wheeled Ballyhoo. I had gone up to Decorah, Iowa to meet with the trail group there to discuss ideas for the event. It was fun.......then. Several months later it was not so much fun, but that pivotal story will have to wait for later.

There was a lot of tubeless tire converting going on in advance of my trip to Texas to see my in laws and ride at Franklin Mountain State Park. This would be my second trip with bicycles to this area. I set up my first set of tires with the now famous "MG's Secret Sauce" tubeless goo and another wheelset with Stan's.

I also was taking the fetching Siren Song single speed soft tail mountain bike along for the ride. I was pretty stoked to try this rig and I was honored to once again ride a small builder's bike. But not all was well in the custom bike builder's world and at about this time Badger Cycles was imploding and since I had one of their bikes it was making me a target for some nasty comments. It is one of the reasons I put the bike away for many years, with only brief encounters with the outside world.

I Like 29"ers, Bicycles, And Guitars!

<===Siren Bikes make some cool 29"ers!

Siren Bikes, led by Brendan Collier, is a custom bicycle company that I have had the pleasure of working with in the past. Brendan is a cool guy and super passionate about bicycles and mountain biking, no matter what the wheel size. I've had the pleasure of talking with Brendan and I admire his hard working attitude and attention to detail. You can check out more on his views in a recent post up now on Twenty Nine Inches. Also, I want to congratulate Brendan on landing Dave Harris and Lynda Wallenfels as part of his World Bicycle relief/Siren Bikes Endurance Team.



<===Is this my heaven? (Click to enlarge)

A fellow bike freak sent me this the other day thinking I'd get a kick out of it. It is a bike shop somewhere out west by the name of "Bikes and Guitars". Oh yeah.........that's right up my alley there!








<===Interesting chainstay/bottom bracket interface.

For those that are not familiar, Brant Richards used to design bike paraphernalia for On One, a U.K. based bike purveyor. Now he's doing his own thang called, (for the time being) Shedfire.
He's got this crazy idea to start up his own brand of bicycles and the first fruits of this are seen here.





<===Manufactured by Lynskey Performance Designs.

Brant's titanium prototype shown here is a 26"er and looks pretty interesting. He says a 29"er is in the works too. Should be a pretty innovative rig, by the looks of this so far.










<====Look interesting? You could ride here!

I was forwarded a map of the Potter's Pasture area out near Brady, Nebraska which will be the site of the next Big Wheeled Ballyhoo. This will happen October 10-11th.

For those of you who think Nebraska is flat, well........this should help dispel that myth!

I hope to get out there sometime soon to do a recon/planning mission. I'll be sure to get some photos and descriptions up once I come back, but so far this is looking pretty rad! Details are being hammered out now, s look for more info soon.

I Like 29"ers, Bicycles, And Guitars!

<===Siren Bikes make some cool 29"ers!

Siren Bikes, led by Brendan Collier, is a custom bicycle company that I have had the pleasure of working with in the past. Brendan is a cool guy and super passionate about bicycles and mountain biking, no matter what the wheel size. I've had the pleasure of talking with Brendan and I admire his hard working attitude and attention to detail. You can check out more on his views in a recent post up now on Twenty Nine Inches. Also, I want to congratulate Brendan on landing Dave Harris and Lynda Wallenfels as part of his World Bicycle relief/Siren Bikes Endurance Team.



<===Is this my heaven? (Click to enlarge)

A fellow bike freak sent me this the other day thinking I'd get a kick out of it. It is a bike shop somewhere out west by the name of "Bikes and Guitars". Oh yeah.........that's right up my alley there!








<===Interesting chainstay/bottom bracket interface.

For those that are not familiar, Brant Richards used to design bike paraphernalia for On One, a U.K. based bike purveyor. Now he's doing his own thang called, (for the time being) Shedfire.
He's got this crazy idea to start up his own brand of bicycles and the first fruits of this are seen here.





<===Manufactured by Lynskey Performance Designs.

Brant's titanium prototype shown here is a 26"er and looks pretty interesting. He says a 29"er is in the works too. Should be a pretty innovative rig, by the looks of this so far.










<====Look interesting? You could ride here!

I was forwarded a map of the Potter's Pasture area out near Brady, Nebraska which will be the site of the next Big Wheeled Ballyhoo. This will happen October 10-11th.

For those of you who think Nebraska is flat, well........this should help dispel that myth!

I hope to get out there sometime soon to do a recon/planning mission. I'll be sure to get some photos and descriptions up once I come back, but so far this is looking pretty rad! Details are being hammered out now, s look for more info soon.