Not An Ideal Start

The season of gravel riding for 2026 is very close to starting. March will be here before we know it and with that comes the longer days and warmer weather. I've been itching to get out again now that the cold weather snap which ended January and began February is over.

Trouble is, I got off on the wrong foot, as far as my strategy to get fitness tuned up goes. I had decided a week ago today things were warm enough I'd ride into work. There was a lot of snow around yet from recent light snowfalls we had experienced. And Waterloo doesn't clear the streets at all, or if they do, it isn't done very well, at least in my neighborhood. So riding can be a little treacherous when snow gets compacted into what amounts to a sheet of ice. 

I had removed the studded tires from the Twin Six Standard Rando v2 in anticipation of getting clearer roads soon. So, I rode the Ti Mukluk into work instead, which went well. However; coming home I hit the only patch of black ice around. In between Doughy Joey's and Carpenter's Restaurant there is an alley. I tried steering into this and there it was. There I went down. Quickly. 

I went down so fast I didn't even get my hand out of the pogie to break my fall. My left arm was pinched between pavement and my rib cage. It was then I felt something very unusual. It was a s if a large band under my left side moved upward, then snapped back into place. My whole abdomen shuddered, it was so violent a movement back where whatever it was belonged. And it hurt like the devil, as we say here in the Mid-West. 

Now, I smashed my kneecap on my left leg hard into the pavement as well, but this was a trifle compared to my rib cage. I was stunned for a few moments but able to string together curse words like a sailor. So, I could breathe, and I could stand up. Barely, hut not because of any injury. Because of the ice!

I remounted after walking away from the scene. I was able to pull on the bars, push the pedals, and both with no pain. It felt harder to breathe a bit, but not really significantly. Tuesday was better, Wednesday was okay, and so was Thursday. A steady diet of ibuprofen and Mrs. Guitar Ted's CBD roll-on pain medication worked nicely. My ribs were painful where they joined at the sternum in a couple of places. Then Friday came and I was feeling more pain than before. 

I did a quick ride on the fixed gear Gravel Bus. It made me feel a whole lot better, but this obviously has slowed me down a bit. No sharp pains, nothing like that, just dull, achey pain and stiffness. I just have to take it easy and work back into it. 

Not an ideal start to the effort to get in shape for the Legends of Gravel ride in April. Men my age are not supposed to be slamming themselves into pavement. Well, if they do, it usually breaks things. I am very fortunate I did not break anything. 

Ari, my friend from Chicago, says I need studded fat bike tires. He said, "We need you in one piece!" 

Looks like I'll be getting some new fat bike tires for the next Winter season

Bikes Of 2025: Ti Muk 2 (Salsa Cycles Titanium Mukluk)

  It's another end-of-year period on the blog. You know what that means? Yep! Another round of my bikes I used in 2025. This round-up will not include some of the bikes I did not use this year much, or at all. I focus only on the bikes that played a big role in my riding during this year.  As always, any changes or future plans for any bike I feature will also be detailed. I hope that you enjoy this year's round-up.

2015 Salsa Cycles Titanium Mukluk:

This bike is the ultimate Winter commuter bike, but I use it for more than just Winter riding. Obviously, not too long ago it was my Virtual Turkey Burn Ride bike of choice.  I use it for gravel riding at times also. The name, "Ti Muk 2" goes with this bike because it is my second titanium Mukluk I've owned. 

But the main thing is Winter gettin' around. This is an "ultimate" because of the drive train and the wheels. The drive train because it does not have exposed gears or derailleurs. The single chain, chain ring, and cog are a lot less prone to premature wear due to Winter slop. The gears, all fourteen of 'em, are housed internally. The range I get is perfect for commuting or for grinding up a steep dike or slogging through deep slushy snow. 

Doing some saddle testing early in 2025 with the Ti Muk 2

The bike requires little from me other than a periodic oil change and a once-every-five-year sealant clean-up. Since I've upgraded the lights, replaced a bottom bracket and chain ring, and went with an Answer carbon handlebar I've pretty much dialed this bike in. 

I did have a wrangle with the rear caliper on this bike, but since replacing the Avid BB-7 with a Spyke TRP caliper the rear brake issue has been put to bed. I now have an actual rear brake instead of a speed scrubber! 

 

I ended up going back to the OG Salsa branded WTB Silverado which came to me on the bike when I got it six years ago or so. I like that saddle a lot on this bike, for some reason, because I wasn't thinking I'd like the older narrower Silverado. But I do. 

I guess the only other thing here which is interesting is when people look at the bike and ask me how much it would cost. You have to figure in today's economy the cost would be pretty exorbitant. Probably nearly the price of a decent sub-compact used car. I don't really know, though, because this sort of thinking does not compute with my brain. I simply don't care about the subject. It is what it is. Buy one or do not buy one like it. I only know it is a whole lot of fun to ride and it can go a lot of places cars cannot go. Besides, I've saved a load of cash by not burning dinosaur sueezin's instead. 

VTBR Ride Report: Weather Related Failure - Part 2

Note: This is the conclusion of Guitar Ted's Virtual Turkey Burn Ride report. Tomorrow others submissions will begin to be posted with the first received posts until all are worked through which were sent in by the deadline.  

The beginning of the afternoon ride.

Take Two:

I had a great lunch of roasted Italian sausage, roasted vegetables, and a slice of Mrs. Guitar Ted's Kentucky Butter Cake. Then I switched out jerseys, jackets, and socks before heading back out again right at 1:00pm. I also managed to find my Wahoo, so I was able to track mileage a bit more accurately on my second leg. 

The plan was to skip the Green Belt with all the stop-and-go nonesense and see if maybe heading Northwestward to Cedar Falls and looping around Big Woods Lake might prove to be a better way to go. I was hoping it would take less time, as I had about 3.5 hours of good light left before it would get gloomy.  Then maybe it would cloud up for the oncoming storm. If the clouds got thick before Sunset I'd be in the dark sooner. 

So I headed back out on bike path, alleys, and streets before hopping on the bike path by Northland Oil. Some yayhoos had a big motor home parked in the street there at this point which was blocking the road and view ahead. I shook my head as I rolled on by the guys milling about the vehicle.

Not much going on here!

Our Redeemer Lutheran Church, Cedar Falls, Iowa.

When I reached downtown Cedar Falls and the amphitheater/community space at the corner of State Street and Second I turned toward the river on the dedicated bike path to get to the path which reaches around the back end of the area, goes underneath the highway, and along the riverside. But before I got to the top of the little hill I met an SUV with a woman driver who was going down the path toward the set up area for a community gathering later celebrating the beginning of the holiday season. I suppose she thought she was being smart and efficient since she wouldn't have to park in the street with the plebeians and haul whatever she had over where it needed to be? Maybe.  

Either way she shouldn't have been on the bike path driving an SUV, and by her look of trying not to see me as she whizzed by, it was obvious she knew. Oh....she knew. 

Ducks gliding across Big Woods Lake

Heading into George Wyth State Park

There was an uncanny amount of cars coming into and out of the City composting area which the bike path comes near to at one point. It stank of something horrible burning as well. Yuck! I was glad to leave this area, but I was also going to have to come back through it one more time. My plan was to loop around Big Woods Lake on the bike path to get some more mileage, then head back to the house on the North/East side of the Cedar River. 

This would take me through George Wyth State Park. I was hoping to find the little gazebo along the river and stop to rest and drink water. On the way in I saw a few folks running.. I suppose it was their way of burning the turkey. I was foiled in my plan to stop at the gazebo because I had to stop to cross a dead fall....

More carnage as a result of Tuesday's windstorm. 

 

Go ride in the woods to get out of the wind, they say. It'll be fine!

I ran across a couple big blow-downs and several branches on the trail in George Wyth. Just a good reminder here to stay out of the woods in this area when the winds are gusty and strong. You never know when some dead tree, branch, or limb will come crashing down on you. This is why I do not ride anywhere near trees - or out in the open country, obviously - when it is very windy here. 

My path homeward took me by many small lakes, backwaters of the Cedar River, and the river itself. 

 

The Cedar River near Tibbits Park

Reality Sets In: 

I was getting pretty fatigued by this point. I was happy with my mileage and it looked like I was going to top 40 miles on the day. This doesn't sound like much, but the Green Belt was slower going and I was running out of time and energy to do anything more in the afternoon. It was barely 30 degrees, so being cold also burns up energy as well as the riding. 

Pogies saved my hands from freezing, and perhaps if I had set up the old On One Inbred for this riding I may have spent less energy on pedaling and would still have been able to use pogies since the Inbred has flat bars. But I used what I used and the Ti Muk is surprisingly light. Anyway, I was doing the best I could at the time. I also knew I was not going to get my metric century in if this weather was coming. 

Big game hunting in Exchange Park. This cement elephant is a remnant of an old theme park. 

 

Along the Cedar River in downtown Waterloo, Iowa.

I was thinking I may as well head over to the Collective and hang the signs telling people we'd be closed Saturday due to the weather. Kind of like my Virtual Turkey Burn Ride, it would be shut down by the arrival of Winter. Fall was going away, and a new season is upon us now. 

Saturday morning @ 9:00am.

Turns Out "They" Were Right: 

I ended up with 42 miles. It started snowing Friday evening, and by Saturday morning it was clear that I was going to be socked in and the VTBR for me was over. Shut down by weather. 

I'm not too bummed about it. I got the Blackborow DS out and plunked around a bit on Sunday, but whatever mileage I got will not approach the metric goal. It's okay. I did well by riding most of the day on Friday and turkey was burned. This was the goal anyway.

Now for gearing up for some fat biking in snow. The forecast appears to be saying we will stay cold for the near term. This snow is more than enough to play around in, (14+ inches!), so I look forward to hitting up some trails and riding in Winter conditions for a bit. We have not had a good Winter for this in several years. 

That is a wrap on my Virtual Turkey Burn Ride Report. Following will be a few reports I have received and there should be several more coming in. As of this writing I have two in and I know of at least three others who said they were doing this challenge and were posting images over the weekend of their riding. 

Stay tuned for those reports all week long. If enough come in I may have to extend the reportage through the weekend and into next week. Thanks to all who either are doing the full challenge, or to anyone who was inspired by this just to get out and ride. I appreciate all of you. 

VTBR Report: Weather Related Failure - Part 1

  Note: The first Turkey Burn Ride Report is from Guitar Ted. Others will follow after his report in the order they were received. 

 Pre-Burn:

Early last week the weather people started crowing about colder air coming and a big Winter storm after Thanksgiving. We had been seeing regular temperatures into the 50's, but this was to go away and our highs would be barely reaching the low 30's by the day after Thanksgiving. 

I scrapped my original plans for a recap of "Jacob's Ride" on gravel. It would be just way too cold for this and I wasn't acclimated to being out riding in near-zero wind chills and temperatures in teens and 20's. Additionally, any wind at all would be a big issue out in the open with zero ground cover now that the crops are out. 

So, I re-upped the tubeless sealant on the front wheel of my Ti Mukluk, (the rear wheel had been done some time ago now). I installed the 45NRTH pogies on it. I went over all the contents of the two bags on the bike and fitted water bottles so everything would be set up the way I'd need it after Thanksgiving. I test rode the bike on my test loop both Sunday and Monday. It pained me to think the 50 degree temperatures would be gone. Tuesday came along and the evening of Tuesday and into Wednesday we had high winds of up to 50mph. This would also end up affecting my ride on Friday. 

Friday after Thanksgiving in the Green Belt.

An Attempt Was Made:

My gut told me I was going to end up being in the same pickle I found myself in last year. The VTBR in 2024 saw me ducking into the Green Belt and other local bike paths to rack up short bits of mileage over three days.  

However; there was this pesky snow storm which was being hyped up over the days leading up to Thanksgiving. By Wednesday there were Winter Storm Warnings in effect for Saturday through Sunday with predictions varying from 8" to as high as 14" in our area. This meant I was going to have to pack in as much riding as I could on Friday, which fortunately was Sunny to start out with and would have gentle breezes instead of a stiff, cold wind.  

I made it out by 9;20am in the morning. When I awoke at 6;00am it was a bone-chilling 15°F. That was too cold for my tastes after living in 50 degree days for several weeks just prior to this. So, I had decided to wait for the Sun to get up a bit and the temperatures to begin to crawl upward.  

 

I started out on the nearby bike path

I got in a short bit of gravel road!

Then I ended up in the Green Belt for quite a long while.

One snafu before I left for the ride was my misplacing of my Wahoo GPS unit. Since I was in a hurry to get going and since I was using a similar route from last year to start out, I was fine with this. However; my plan would require my finding the confounded thing before the end of the day. 

Onward. My fear was I would run into a ton of dead falls due to the violent wind storm we went through Tuesday night into Wednesday. However; I did not immediately run into anything impassable. I did have to dismount and remove a 4" diameter branch which was right in the tread of the trail. Immediately after this I ran across a woman trail running who shouted out she had "cleared the trail for me". I responded I had also done so for her. She turned around and shouted something else after I had passed her, but I couldn't make it out. It did sound friendly, at least! 

I used little used spurs and branches of the trail to up the mileage. 

There ended up being several places where I had to get off and walk around big dead falls. 

The Green Belt ended up becoming a work of riding a fair distance, coming around a blind corner to have to jump on the binders to avoid crashing into a dead fall, and then either clearing the trail as best I could, or working around stuff which was too big to deal with. Not only was this time consuming, but I also had issues with the foam gaskets on the pogies where the handle bar and cables passed through the ends of the pogies. Those foam pieces were shifting and wanting to fall out. The Green Belt trails were rough, and the dirt was frozen and unforgiving. This ended up rattling out one of the gaskets, which I lost, and displacing the other. I ended up stopping to fix this issue. 

The Green Belt Lake

Rapids on Black Hawk Creek which I saw on my return leg.

All the stopping and starting was eating away at time. Eventually I was stopped about a mile from the end of the trails Southward by a giant mess of deadfalls and no good way to scoot around it. With time being so precious, and my being so close to the turnaround point, I just made a decision to head back the way I had come, well....mostly. 

I did use other spurs and loops of the trail going back I had skipped going outbound. This added up mileage. I got home with a solid 25 miles in and I arrived at home just in time for lunch. I was hungry, so this was a good thing. The plan was to eat, change out some clothing, and head back out again in the afternoon to get in as much as possible. 

Stay tuned for Part 2 and the conclusion of my report tomorrow.  

Maintenance Of Fat Bike Tubeless Tire - A Pictorial

 CAUTION! If you are easily offended by gross images or scared of seeing "intestinal" type images, do not read further. You've been warned! 

Today I am going to share what it took to check and clean out the old sealant in my front wheel of my Ti Muk 2 fat bike. The detail most important to know here is the sealant has never been cleaned out of this tire since 2019. So, after around six years, I would imagine it would be time to do this job, wouldn't you think? Ha!

Secondly, you may wonder how I dealt with sealant for this tire, (and the rear, by the way). I simply added about 100ml of sealant every Fall for the past five years. yep! I never did anything else. Now, I will also add here the rear wheel was done several weeks ago, and due to the laborious, time consuming peeling of sealant, I wasn't in any big hurry to do the front wheel. So, this was why I waited a while longer, in case any of you regular readers were wondering. 

 

The front wheel of my Ti Muk 2 consistes of a SON dynamo hub laced to a carbon Whisky Co. rim. These were rims which came stock on Beargrease fat bikes circa 2016 or so. The previous owner had these wheels laced up, so as far as any other details of these wheels goes, I am unaware of those. I mounted the Terrene Cake Eater 26" x 4.0" tires in about 2019 or so. These wheels originally had 45NRTH Van Helga tires which I found to be too slow and clunky for my uses. 

Removal of the wheel requires careful disconnection of the two spade connectors near the drop out so the wiring for the dynamo hub can be separated to get the wheel out. Then the Maxle through axle is utilized to release the wheel from the fork. The next step is to break the tire bead from its place on the carbon rim. 

 The first order of business is to remove as much air as you can from the tire. I usually don't take the core out, and in fact, I close the valve when I am finished pushing out air. I cannot say this is an aid, or cool trick to use, but I've always done it this way with fat bike tires. 

To break the bead from its place on the rim I lay the rim against the bench at a slight angle, not allowing a lot of the rim to overhang the bench. This is important for leverage. You want the rim supported at two points closer together so you won't damage the rim. 

Next I use the butt of each hand to apply pressure right at the point where the tire meets the rim at the sidewall facing upward at me. (See where I have my thumb in the image. This is where you want to apply pressure)

Using a downward force at a right angle to the rim, (essentially pushing 'sideways' across the rim), I carefully apply pressure until the tire breaks free. I use my finger to grasp the tire in this process, but I am not really doing anything with force at the fingers. The force is concentrated at the butt end of my hands. Think of how an automobile tire machine works, if you are at all familiar with this type of machine. 

Once the bead breaks free the rest generally will come apart with little effort. When you have pushed the bead on one side all the way around away from the rim edge, flip the wheel and repeat the above process

Next, you will need a tire lever to peel off one bead from the rim. Now in my case, here is where I found a big surprise. The sealant had formed a sort of 'tube' which was acting much like a butyl rubber tube in that it wanted to come out in one piece. So, I went with this situation. 

Here you can see what this looked like. I simply started to look at this as I would a tube replacement. The sealant slipped right out of the tire with little effort. 

Now I know some of you will want to know what I used for sealant for the past five-plus years. The answer to this question is a little complicated and murky. 

I'm pretty sure most of the sealant was WTB sealant. Some of it was Finish Line sealant, because I could see the black additive particles they used as an extra measure to seal up punctures. I am certain the last sealant I put in was Orange Seal for cold weather, and I may have used my own home-brew sealant which is a recipe I have shared here several times and which I call "MG's Sealant". 

Yeah.... I realize many say do not mix sealants. But to my mind, most sealants are more similar than dissimilar, and in practice, mixing sealants has never caused me any negative effects. So, you probably should not do what I did, but also - I am not at all concerned about mixing sealants. So, take all this under advisement and consider what you do carefully in regard to your own sealant use practices. 

After peeling out the sealant I simply remounted the tire, introduced 300ml of new sealant, and aired up the tire again with no further issues. For the record, I used some mixed up sealants again. So, I cannot tell you exactly what I used because I don't even know for certain. But before I discarded the old sealant "tube" I thought I'd weigh it for fun. 

Not bad, eh? I think this is in the range of TPU fat bike tubes, maybe a touch heavier. But I thought it was interesting the sealant did not accumulate to a weight  which was more than it turned out to be. Obviously, this was still far less than a butyl tube would weigh in at for a 26" x 4.0" tire. 

So, there you have it. My maintenance of my front wheel is finished and I am ready for Winter. Also, this might be the bike I end up using for the Virtual Turkey Burn Ride, since we may be getting blasted with Arctic air right around that time. I'd rather ride this bike when, or if, it gets windy and cold. 

Two Things

Five years worth of sealant pulled from a 26" x 4" tire.

 Sprucing Up The Ti Mik 2:

This job I had to do had been hanging over my head now for a couple of years. I kept putting it off because it is not a fun job. Last year I just shrugged, put more sealant in, and said to myself, "I'll get around to it next year for sure." 

Actually, I knew I was long overdue to peel off the tires, clean out the sealant, replace valve stems, re-tape the rims, and reinstall everything with new sealant.  

Like I said, it is a big job, and with my having to replace the oil in my Rohloff Speed Hub as well as doing the tires, this became a major deal. Fortunately pulling off the rear wheel was made easier since the cables to run the Rohloff are attached to a metal box which when the shifter is put on "7" allows me to unscrew a thumbscrew, remove the box where the cables enter, and keep the hub indexed. The front has its own difficulties because it is a dynamo hub and I have wires to disconnect via spade connectors. 

Well, as you can see here, the sealant was dried up and came out in almost one pull. I had the rear tire cleaned out in well under 15 minutes. Not as bad as I was expecting it to be! The tape job, installing a brand new valve  stem, and re-installation of the rear  tire went pretty smoothly. I was a bit surprised the Cake Eater tire went on so well after being on the bike for so long. 

Replacing the oil in a Rohloff hub is pretty easy if you've done it once, and by my count, this is the fifth time I've done it. Gotta keep this hub running smoothly and well for many more years! As for the connectors on my dynamo hub, I'd sure like to get some of those fancy co-axial connectors, but I haven't done this as of yet. It would be easier to get the front wheel off, but then again, I do not take this wheel off very often. So, maybe it is a "why bother" situation. 

Image seen on Facebook

In The "Nothing Is New" File:

I follow several bicycle related accounts on Facebook, (it isn't all garbage if you can stay disciplined), and once in a while you end up learning something. In this case, it is an adaptation for a specific niche in cycling which has found its way into gravel events over the years. 

As you can see, this Bianchi cross bike is fitted with a factory installed pair of bosses which were meant to have this sling attached to them. This allowed the rider to portage the bicycle through ravines, across streams, and up or down steeps, back when cyclo-cross was not run on manicured courses with artificial barriers. 

I also noted the geometry of this bike, which is quite a bit unlike today's cyclo cross bikes, is something which looks good for gravel. And why wouldn't it be? Early cross bikes essentially were converted road bikes. The geometry was still fairly slack in the times before the mid-20th Century, and was exactly what would work with a gravel rider.  

But what about "aero" and frame storage and wireless, blah, blah, blah? Well, maybe we don't really need all that stuff. 

Something to think about. 

Winter Is Coming

 I know....we haven't even officially gotten to Fall yet, and GT is talking up Winter! I get it, but like the wild animals, I feel Winter coming, and it is time to get ready for it now, not later when it may be too late.

One of those things I need to get done, (besides the stuff around the house I need to do), is refresh/clean/lubricate my Rohloff Speedhub. 

The internally geared hub has 14 speeds and if you have never used one, it is a very nice piece of gear. In my estimation, there is nothing quite like a Rohloff Speedhub, with the possible exception of the Pinion gearbox, which I have not had the chance to use. 

The main advantage here is the lower maintenance and the ability to shift gears when not pedaling. In fact, letting up on the pedals, or a slight "hiccup" in your cadence is necessary before a gear change can be made at all. Internally geared hubs do not like to shift with pressure on the pedals, no matter what brand they happen to be from.  

All these internal Sun and planet gears, with all their bearings and bushings, look like a Swiss watch's guts, and all that stuff requires a lubricant to keep everything happy and spinning along. here is where the Rohloff Gear Lubricant and cleaner comes in. 

I was changing this out once a year, but I decided this was a bit foolish as I was only riding the Ti Muk 2 around five months a year, if that. Plus I was mainly only using it as a commuter bike, and therefor the mileage was very low on the bike. So, I decided not to change out the gear oil last year at all, and now I will change it out for the remainder of 2025 and for 2026. 

Okay, so another interesting thing to consider here is the folowing: I have had the Ti Muk 2 since 2018, and I have changed out the fluids probably maybe five times since then. Kits cost around 30 bucks. This means I have spent about $150.00 on maintenance on the Ti Muk 2's hub since 2018. Given that I have gone through a bottom bracket and a chain ring and chain as well, this means I have spent around $225.00-ish on this bike in seven years. This does not include labor, as I do my own work, so the price would be higher for anyone who relies on outside labor services. 

So.....I don't know that IGH hubs are less money on service. Some believe they are, but I feel it is bike-dependent. I mean, a single speed bike is still probably far less money for maintenance over a period of years than this fat bike has been. Then add in a fixed gear, brakeless situation, and it gets even less expensive. 

Anyway, just some things to think about there. The main point is Winter is coming and I have to get the Ti Muk 2 up and going for the season. 
 

Inspection Time

A Canadian goose glides along Black Hawk Creek.

Sunday the winds died down enough here that I was feeling okay about checking out the Green Belt and seeing how bad things were. We had a 70mph wind gust during all the storm madness of Friday/Saturday, so I figured on seeing a lot of downed tree carnage. 

I decided also to take the Ti Muk 2 as it would likely be muddy. I did not know if the frost had come out yet, but I figured it may have since it had gotten up to the lower 80's on Friday. 

It certainly wasn't anywhere near that on Sunday! The temperature when I left the house was 39°F, a full 42°F lower than the high on Friday. This is not unheard of here. March can be wildly variable. In fact, we expect to be in the seventies tomorrow and then get 3 - 6" of snow on Wednesday. 

Anyway, I was fine as far as all of that went, but I did have to wear gloves and a wool cycling hat. 

Those are not figures carved by some ancient civilization. They are the tell-tale marks of the Emerald Ash Borer found on this dead Ash tree. 

 

This tree was at handlebar height across the trail.

Amazingly, most of the trail was tacky to dry. Maybe the frost is out now? I did actually hear frogs croaking at one point during the ride. Those frogs might be reconsidering waking up from hibernation when the snow hits Wednesday! 

I took a lap around the lake.

Part of the new prairie "lollipop" trail which goes down to Martin Road and back.

I took things easy and started out down by Hope Martin Park. I made it across the drainage dip, which is not easy, and after that first little section I climbed the dike, crossed Ansborough, and rode the spine of the dike till I was able to enter the Green Belt trail. 

Like I said, it was surprisingly dry-ish. I was expecting much worse. I did find about a 20 yard section where it was so greasy the bike just took off sideways like it was on ice. But besides that, it was easy-peasy.

One example of three where Marky-Mark will require some saw work.

A grove of Cedar trees along the Green Belt Lake.

Marky-Mark will need some saw work, but it all was much cleaner than I had hoped for, which was refreshing to find. I feared it would be much worse. So, besides a bit of clearing out of dead falls, this Spring should be a great season for these trails.

A Small Step Forward

 Since I've been researching the blog for 20th Anniversary posts, ( You'll see another which will go up this weekend), I have noticed a pattern. I usually get sick in January, February, or both months. 

Now over the past few years, since COVID really, I've been much better in terms of staying healthy in Winter. However; my luck sort of ran out this year and I had some sort of weird malaise over the past couple of weeks. 

I say "sort of" because I usually either get really sick, like bedridden sick, or I get annoyingly under the weather, but never really full-on sick, like most people do. The latter was what happened this time. I actually had to ask around to see if other people were getting sick in my locale and see what their symptoms were, so I could know if I had the "crud du jour' which was going around, or if I was imagining things. 

Turns out I wasn't imagining things. I was definitely just in an annoying state of "not well". This all coincided with the worst of Winter weather we've had all season. So, I have not been riding much at all lately. And THAT is the real problem here! 

I finally was able to crack off a 45 minute fat bike ride on Tuesday afternoon in single digit above zero temperatures. At least it was Sunny and I could cut my own trail easily enough due to the consistency of this snow we've received. It was a good ride and I was glad to have gotten out again. 

A small step forward to Spring. Soon riding season will kick into full speed ahead mode. I will be a lot happier then when it finally does happen.

Gremlins

 Sometimes I am at a loss for explanations as to how things happen with bicycles. Take for instance what happened on Monday of this week. I was going to ride to work and had decided I'd use my Ti Muk 2, the Salsa Cycles titanium Mukluk I own. 

Immediately upon pedaling away from the house I felt like the right side pedal was weird. Like it was sagging. Bent pedal spindle? No.... That wouldn't feel the same way through the pedal's orbit. What the....!

Now I have to stop here to point out that I last had ridden the bike home from work. I felt nothing wrong at all. Everything was completely normal. In fact, I remember really cranking out some speed riding up the hill on West 2nd Street. No weirdness felt whatsoever.

Okay, so now back to Monday. I stopped a half a block from the house, looked down, and I could see the right crank arm was seriously loose. Like, not just a little bit. And when a Race Face crank set comes loose, the whole assembly can move laterally, and it was moving about a half an inch! 

Now, you tell me - This did not just happen all of a sudden - so why did I not notice something so awry as this the last time I had ridden it before Monday? 

These are the mysteries of cycling that may never be explained. And it didn't really matter how it got to that point, it needed to be fixed. So, I went back home, grabbed another bike, (the benefits of having several), and went on to work. 

The caliper had crept over toward the centerline of the bike.

When it came time to fix it, I found that it was just a loose crank bolt so I torqued that back on. I will just have to be more vigilant about checking that bolt from now on. But then I discovered my rear caliper was dragging on the rotor badly. 

Another of life's mysterious happenings. Creeping calipers! So, I had to reset that, torque it down, and then I noticed that the chain was a bit too slack. Now this one comes down to wear. No mystery here! 

The Salsa Mukluk has the v1 Alternator drop out plates and well..... I find the design a bit annoying in that you need three hex keys of different sizes to adjust it. 

I get the big six millimeter fixing bolt, because that is the anchor that holds everything in place. But could we have had the other two just be 5mm hex heads? Nope! The adjuster is a 3mm fitment. Anyway.... A minor gripe. Nothing to fret over. 

Then I found out that the adjustment to the chain tension threw off my brake adjustment and I had to do that again. A great example of how everything is not as rock solid on a bicycle as you might think. Oh, and working a post mount brake bolt that is inside the rear triangle and behind a rack stay is really fun. You should try it sometime! (I kid!) 

Then I took off the XT flat pedals because they have woefully inadequate pins and reinstalled my Fyxation Mesa MP's. Quite the work session! But it all came out fine in the end and all gremlins were eradicated.

If You Know - You Know

 In celebration of the twentieth year of this blog, I have a few tales to tell. This post is one of them. This series will occur off and on throughout this anniversary year, I hope to illuminate some behind-the-scenes stories and highlights from the blog during this time. Enjoy!

A scene from the start of the 2015 Gravel Worlds

In 2016 I was asked to attend the Iowa Bicycle Summit and their events director's meeting. It was the only time in the 15 years I was organizing gravel events that I had been asked to attend that meeting, which looking back on it now, seems like a gross oversight on the part of the Iowa Bicycle Coalition, who organized this event. 

I still remember sitting there and hearing all the "horror stories" concerning how one should put on a cycling event. Of course, I was a very non-traditional promoter, and much of the trappings of "normal cycling events" was not part of what I did or ever wanted to do. 

But the thing that struck me was how big events get bogged down in details that most event attendees never grasp. You will hear people gripe about an event after they have ridden in one, perhaps, and maybe even you have done this, but the "other side" has a LOT of headaches and thankless minutiae to wade through that, frankly, I don't think many of the complainers would ever face up to wading through. 

It's a long story, and I haven't got the time, nor the space, to detail it all out here, but suffice it to say that I have experienced these things and I have heard from other event directors about these things. If you know - you know. It's a really hard thing to express to those who have never put on an event before in the cycling realm. 

That said, if you have read these pages over the years, you probably have somewhat of an idea of what I mean. I'll leave it at that. It is definitely something that has influenced the blog.

The Blackborow DS on Marky-Mark Trail.

I noted also that in 2016 we had some of the best snow we've ever had for fat biking. I thought 2011 was really good, but then for the next four years it was always that "sugar-snow". You know the type - Snow that is granular and will never set up to support flotation by fat bike tires. 

Well, we hadn't really had any snow for fat biking during the Winter of 2015-2016 until the beginning of February. Then we had about two perfect weeks before the weather turned mild and I started going out to ride gravel more and more. We may have had a few weeks here and there since that time where fat biking was decent, but this snow was perfect. 

I feel like fat biking has been so hit and miss around here the last five years or so that the desire for many to try it has waned quite a bit. Many fat bike races see no snow here anymore, and if they do get some, it is wet and muddy along with that. 

It has caused fat biking content here on the blog to be a rare thing, at least on snow, so until that changes, I really think that my fat bikes are kind of a luxury item, and not so much a necessity. Maybe I should convert the Ti Muk into a 29"er full rigid MTB with a Rohloff hub. 

I'd probably get more out of the bike from doing that than I am now!

Bikes Of 2024: Ti Muk 2

 It's another December here on the blog. You know what that means? Yep! Another round of my bikes I used in 2024. This round-up will not include some of the bikes I did not use this year much, or at all. I focus only on the bikes that played a big role in my riding during this year.  As always, any changes or future plans for any bike I feature will also be detailed. I hope that you enjoy this year's round-up.

 This bike is a special rig for me. In case you did not know, my good friend Matt Gersib basically 'crowd-funded' this for me back in 2019. I did pay a very small amount for the bike, so it was not 'totally' free, but yeah.... Thanks again to everyone that contributed to getting this for me. 

I think it is the perfect fat bike, for me at any rate. Your mileage may vary, but this bike, with its titanium main frame, aluminum fork, dynamo hub lighting system, internally geared 14 speed Rohloff hub, and carbon rims with 26 X 4" tires is as good as it gets from an all-arounder fat biking perspective. 

I added the Salsa rack on the bike when I got it. I also have had to upgrade the front light since I have had it and put a new drive train on including a bottom bracket. But other than that, it has been really easy to own and it is fun to ride. 

Recently I replaced the old rear mud flap with a highly modded Dave's Mud Shovel. I scored some old 45NRTH pogies for my Answer carbon bars and I refreshed the sealant in the Cake Eater tires. I also did a swap of the rear brake caliper to a Tektro Spyre caliper back in November. Now that brake works great! I will have to drain the fluid from the Rohloff hub soon and refresh that again. But it isn't a big deal to do the job. 

Of course, many of you will have noted that this is the bike I completed my most recent Turkey Burn ride on. I hope to have a couple more rides on this rig to talk about later here soon. Stay tuned for that!

I had thought about swapping out the Advocate Cycles aluminum fork for a lighter carbon one, and I still think about that yet. The main thing there is I cannot seem to move past the "thinking" part of that idea! So, for now, no other planned changes here on this bike!

Ti Muk 2 Maintenance

Recent test ride after fixing up the Ti Muk 2

Ever since I've had the Ti Muk 2 (My second titanium Mukluk, thus "Ti Muk 2), it never has had a very good rear brake. Not that it mattered a whole lot since I haven't been mountain biking the Ti Muk 2 but rather just using it as a poor weather commuter. 

It isn't very hilly where I go and so both brakes didn't need to be 100% efficient. It was something on my mind, but not anything I needed to get to right away. It also did not help that I primarily use the front brake. 

However; this Fall I knew I had to give the bike a once over. Check sealant, refresh that, and maybe take a closer look at that brake. I knew what the issue was. It had been compromised by contamination emanating from the shifter box/hub connection for the Rohloff 14 speed internal geared hub. 

Like many things, there is always more to the story once you dig into it. I had never addressed the rear brake on this bike before, so I wasn't aware that the Avid BB7 caliper was not able to center over the Rohloff rotor. I could not move the caliper inward enough to get the inner pad to quit rubbing the rotor slightly. I probably did not notice that before because it was lubricated by the internal gear hub oil! Finding that out was kind of a bummer. 

The mess had been cleared up, after several applications of degreaser and isopropyl alcohol. But now what? Well, I had somehow acquired a single TRP Spyre SLC caliper along my travels, and I noted that the caliper mounting holes were larger/longer than the Avid's were. I dry fit the caliper and was able to get a good result. So, that fancy-pants caliper is now doing the job of braking in the rear of the Ti Muk 2. 

I know....it is a drop bar lever caliper. But I do things you should not do. So, don't follow my lead here. It is not recommended. That said, it is working really well for me. So, that problem has been solved. 

Bring it on Winter! I'm ready.

Bikes Of 2023: Salsa Cycles Titanium Mukluk

 It's another December here on the blog. You know what that means? Yep! Another round of my bikes I used in 2023. This round-up will not include some of the bikes I did not use this year much, or at all. I focus only on the bikes that played a big role in my riding during this year.  

As always, any changes or future plans for any bike I feature will also be detailed. I hope that you enjoy this year's round-up. Note; Throughout December there will be a lot of double-post days. Scroll back to make sure you haven't missed anything!

The Ti Muk 2 ready for whatever Winter throws at us.

The Salsa Cycles Titanium Mukluk, or "Ti Muk 2" as it is known as here, is in regular rotation as a commuter bike and sometimes MTB/Gravel bike around here. This is a 2015 model with a Advocate Bikes Watchman aluminum fork on it. It got the name Ti Muk 2 because it is the second titanium Mukluk I have owned. The first was a 2012 model.

Last year I upgraded the drive train and the lighting unit, so this year was basic maintenance and adding some accessories. I like the Old Man Mountain Juniper Trunk bag and the 45NRTH pogies I have on the bike now. This Winter should be a great one for getting around town with this set up. I also fashioned a new, much better looking rear "fender". More like a splash guard, I would say. I'll be interested to see if it does more than the old set up did for me. I am hopeful it will. 

There could be a gravel or off-road adventure on this bike in the coming days. Stay tuned....

Getting Set For Fat Biking Season

The Blackborow DS on my test run.

Well, sooner than later Winter is going to show up. At least for a bit, and I wanted to be ready for it when it does. So, I did some maintenance and tweaking on two of my three fat bikes over the last weekend. 

My dedicated, max-flotation device is the Salsa Blackborow DS. I have essentially done zero maintenance on this bike since I got it in 2014. The one thing I needed to do was to swap out the chain, which had finally worn out and had finally shown signs of rusting. Pretty remarkable seeing as how I almost never rode this bike unless it was going through rain, mud, flooded waters, or snow. 

During my maintenace on the chain, I checked the bottom bracket, (good!), and the rear wheel bearings, (also good!),and did some deep cleaning. The two stainless steel cogs were showing some signs of discoloration, but that is typical of Surly's single speed cogs. The chain rings, also stainless and Surly branded, cleaned up slick as a whistle. 

The original chain was a KMC 99 model, (no onger in production), so I used a new KMC 9 speed chain I had here anyway. Stripped of its shipping lube, which was easy, since it was so light, I then added DuMonde Tech lube. We will see how that fares in the snow!

A better look at those Revelate pogies.

The really cool deal here is that I finally got these rare Revelate Jones H-Bar specific pogies on this bike. These came out in late 2015 but they were insanely expensive and not many people bought them. So they weren't made for very long. 

I got them because they were gifted to me by the former owner of the Ti Muk 2. I promptly stored them and well.....I finally found them again! So on those went and they are fantastic! These are really well made and they should keep the cold out quite nicely. 

They are huge, but they do not impinge on the ability to use all the Jones H-Bar positions. So, that explains their profile. The hand gaskets are a nice touch and very easy to get in and out from. There are even venting zippers in front which are those waterproofed, weather-proofed ones. Expensive stuff here. I can completely see why these are not made anymore.It's definitely a typically well-built and designed Revelate product with zero compromises. But that makes the price sky-high, and added in with the small niche market these would have and well..... Ya know? It's not hard to figure it out. 

But there it is. My Blackborow DS ready for deep Winter and snow. 

The Ti Muk 2

The Ti Muk 2 didn't need much, but I did need to fashion a new rear fender for it. I ended up using a front Mud shovel and with a few minor modifications t went on very nicely. The previously reviewed Old Man Mountain Juniper Trunk bag is on the rack and will serve as a place to stow the ubiquitous mammoth-sized fat bike tube, and maybe some changes of clothes or a hot Thermos of chicken soup.

So, that bike is ready, and it probably will be my main commuter rig, along with being my "normal conditions" fat bike choice. And what of the other fat bike I have? Well, that will be getting a major refresh and you will all just have to sit tight to see what happens there.