They Get Longer From Here

The wind was stiff coming up from the South

What an incredible Winter so far here in Iowa. Okay......yes, it doesn't officially start till today, but generally we're very cold and have some snow on the ground at this time of the year. We have neither now. While we have had a few days that were cold here and there, for the most part we've held steady in the upper 30's and all the way up to 50 degrees since October ended. That's just plain weird. Really weird!

Last year we had some great days leading up to Christmas too, so it's been two years running with extremely warm, (relatively speaking), late Falls/early Winters with great road conditions in the country for riding. I've been totally taking advantage of that, and Sunday was no exception.

The plan was to swap out wheels on the Black Mountain Cycles rig and use the HED Ardennes+ wheels which were set up with the tubeless Clement MSO 36mm tires. With everything pretty much dialed in, I was ready to ride just after noon and as I was about to leave my daughter advised me that it was "really windy out", and that I should be careful. I saw that the computer showed that it was 20mph out of the South, but as I have found, you can easily add 5mph to that when you get out there and are actually dealing with the wind. It seems it is always worse away from the city.

So, I did the table top flat grind on the Sergent Road bike path South till I was well out of town and could jump on Aker Road, which is my usual route South. Since I was out of sorts a few weeks back, and feeling very weak, I assumed that I had contracted some malady or another, and since then I have been building my way back up to longer rides. The wind was amplifying the difficulty, but what was there to do? I either learn to deal with that and get stronger or I don't ride outside, which isn't an option at all for me. More power to you who can ride indoors on a trainer. That isn't for me at all!

Stopped to pay my respects and remember how blessed I am.

Heading South out in the open country, I felt okay, but it was obvious that I was working hard. Still, I felt I was putting down some steady power and my breathing was steady and not labored. That's good progress so far since a few weeks back. I figured on pushing a few extra miles since I was last out this way a week ago. I don't want to over do it, but I want to go a little longer every time I can get out.

Interestingly, there are scads of cemeteries in Iowa and they can be found all over the countryside. I often see several on my rides around here. Another commonly seen thing are markers on highways where someone has lost their life. Used to be that insurance companies would put markers out to advertise their business and honor the dead, but that stopped back in the 1970's and now individuals will make their own, home made markers. Again, this is very common on paved roadways, since that's where most accidents occur. However; there is a marker on Aker Road, which is curious, since it isn't where you might expect it to be. I have seen these homemade markers on occasion in the country on rural roads, but they are rare. Anyway, I thought to stop and take a picture of the one and only one I have noticed around here on a gravel road. Maybe I've forgotten others? I should check that out........

 So, anyway, I was feeling strong against the wind and at one point I was so optimistic that I was considering a longer ride, but my practical side prevailed. Keep it just a bit longer, build up, and before I know it, the longer rides will be happening. I'd like to get to where I can go down to Traer and use that as a stop, then come back. That will be 60-ish miles or more depending upon the exact route, so not only do I have some work to do to get there, but I need longer days to do it on! With today being the shortest day of the year, I am hoping to start seeing some longer days on the bike in the near future.

Taking a break on Quarry Road.

Of course, that all depends upon when and if Winter decides to rear its frozen head again. I am quite certain that will happen at some point. Then I will shift gears to riding the fat bikes and I will be doing a totally different kind of riding then. Pushing, going slower in snow, and busting my own trail. That will be a more time based activity and miles won't matter as much. I know sometimes I work harder fat biking than I do any other type of cycling!.

Whenever it comes, Winter will certainly put a different spin on things around here, but until then, I will be riding gravel roads as much as I possibly can. The thing is, when Winter does hit, even if I can ride gravel. it is probably going to have to be on fatter tires to deal with the ice and snow. Which isn't all bad, but you never know what the air temperatures will be and add in wind chill and, well....... Staying in the woods and within the city might be the best option then. 

Any way that you slice it, things are going to be looking up. Longer rides, as long as I stay healthy, and longer days are both on the way. It's a great Christmas present, as far as I am concerned, and I am glad that I have the capacity to ride as much as I do at the age that I am. I am pretty blessed, really. So, I'll be taking each warm day as it comes, and keeping in mind that one more warm day now is one less day of "real" Winter. One day closer to Spring.

Sorry if you are a snow lover! I like it just fine, but this is more fun, and I like warmer weather for cycling.

They Get Longer From Here

The wind was stiff coming up from the South

What an incredible Winter so far here in Iowa. Okay......yes, it doesn't officially start till today, but generally we're very cold and have some snow on the ground at this time of the year. We have neither now. While we have had a few days that were cold here and there, for the most part we've held steady in the upper 30's and all the way up to 50 degrees since October ended. That's just plain weird. Really weird!

Last year we had some great days leading up to Christmas too, so it's been two years running with extremely warm, (relatively speaking), late Falls/early Winters with great road conditions in the country for riding. I've been totally taking advantage of that, and Sunday was no exception.

The plan was to swap out wheels on the Black Mountain Cycles rig and use the HED Ardennes+ wheels which were set up with the tubeless Clement MSO 36mm tires. With everything pretty much dialed in, I was ready to ride just after noon and as I was about to leave my daughter advised me that it was "really windy out", and that I should be careful. I saw that the computer showed that it was 20mph out of the South, but as I have found, you can easily add 5mph to that when you get out there and are actually dealing with the wind. It seems it is always worse away from the city.

So, I did the table top flat grind on the Sergent Road bike path South till I was well out of town and could jump on Aker Road, which is my usual route South. Since I was out of sorts a few weeks back, and feeling very weak, I assumed that I had contracted some malady or another, and since then I have been building my way back up to longer rides. The wind was amplifying the difficulty, but what was there to do? I either learn to deal with that and get stronger or I don't ride outside, which isn't an option at all for me. More power to you who can ride indoors on a trainer. That isn't for me at all!

Stopped to pay my respects and remember how blessed I am.

Heading South out in the open country, I felt okay, but it was obvious that I was working hard. Still, I felt I was putting down some steady power and my breathing was steady and not labored. That's good progress so far since a few weeks back. I figured on pushing a few extra miles since I was last out this way a week ago. I don't want to over do it, but I want to go a little longer every time I can get out.

Interestingly, there are scads of cemeteries in Iowa and they can be found all over the countryside. I often see several on my rides around here. Another commonly seen thing are markers on highways where someone has lost their life. Used to be that insurance companies would put markers out to advertise their business and honor the dead, but that stopped back in the 1970's and now individuals will make their own, home made markers. Again, this is very common on paved roadways, since that's where most accidents occur. However; there is a marker on Aker Road, which is curious, since it isn't where you might expect it to be. I have seen these homemade markers on occasion in the country on rural roads, but they are rare. Anyway, I thought to stop and take a picture of the one and only one I have noticed around here on a gravel road. Maybe I've forgotten others? I should check that out........

 So, anyway, I was feeling strong against the wind and at one point I was so optimistic that I was considering a longer ride, but my practical side prevailed. Keep it just a bit longer, build up, and before I know it, the longer rides will be happening. I'd like to get to where I can go down to Traer and use that as a stop, then come back. That will be 60-ish miles or more depending upon the exact route, so not only do I have some work to do to get there, but I need longer days to do it on! With today being the shortest day of the year, I am hoping to start seeing some longer days on the bike in the near future.

Taking a break on Quarry Road.

Of course, that all depends upon when and if Winter decides to rear its frozen head again. I am quite certain that will happen at some point. Then I will shift gears to riding the fat bikes and I will be doing a totally different kind of riding then. Pushing, going slower in snow, and busting my own trail. That will be a more time based activity and miles won't matter as much. I know sometimes I work harder fat biking than I do any other type of cycling!.

Whenever it comes, Winter will certainly put a different spin on things around here, but until then, I will be riding gravel roads as much as I possibly can. The thing is, when Winter does hit, even if I can ride gravel. it is probably going to have to be on fatter tires to deal with the ice and snow. Which isn't all bad, but you never know what the air temperatures will be and add in wind chill and, well....... Staying in the woods and within the city might be the best option then. 

Any way that you slice it, things are going to be looking up. Longer rides, as long as I stay healthy, and longer days are both on the way. It's a great Christmas present, as far as I am concerned, and I am glad that I have the capacity to ride as much as I do at the age that I am. I am pretty blessed, really. So, I'll be taking each warm day as it comes, and keeping in mind that one more warm day now is one less day of "real" Winter. One day closer to Spring.

Sorry if you are a snow lover! I like it just fine, but this is more fun, and I like warmer weather for cycling.

Ground Down

Barren lands

Sometimes I feel that when we are getting close to the Winter Solstice, and the snow hasn't taken a hold of the land just yet, that color is drained from the world. To me, when it gets like this, it seems as though the world is best viewed from a black and white perspective. Maybe the angle of the Sun in relationship to the latitude I live at makes the contrasts between dark and shadow more interesting, and more descriptive of existence now, than times when there are bright, vibrant colors. It's not that I am depressed, per se, because I am not at the present time, but black and white "speaks" to me now more than at any other time of the year. So, you are seeing more black and white images here due to that reasoning of mine.

Well, at any rate, that all has nothing to do with the title of today's post. That all has to do with how I've been feeling on rides of late. I've been tired, lacking pep, maybe a bit "ground down" in terms of fitness. It just seems as though I am working twice as hard for less than I could manage when it was warmer out. Maybe the cold has nothing to do with this, but it could be that I have a mild cold! Seems I've been sneezing a lot of late and my head is draining stuff more than usual. Maybe it is my body's way of telling me to take a break. Anyway....

The temperatures have been rather on the mild side for early December and are forecast to only get a little bit better. We had a similar situation last year where I was out during the weeks running up to Christmas only to have Winter shut everything down and clamp an icy grip on us until later on in March. I'll take it again this year, and try to squeeze out whatever rides I can get in before the hammer falls down and Winter shows up for real.

It was a fenders kind of day out there.

I'm hearing that now this year is to close out on a warmer note and maybe that will extend on into January a bit. Hmm....... We will see about that! But if so, I am prepared with a couple of rigs sitting at the ready outfitted with fenders. Those came in rather handy yesterday since the roads were soft and wet in many places. The frost comes and goes everyday now, so it is like an early Spring situation out there on the gravel roads. The frost comes at night, then the warm air and Sun work to turn it into moisture that softens the roads and makes a fine, mud-paste that splatters all over, if you do not have fenders.

I'm riding these Clement 36mm tubeless tires, and to be honest, if it stays like this much longer I'll be wanting to start to ride my 29"ers or the Fat Fargo. Those "skinny" tires cut in and the rolling resistance gets crazy. That was a mild nuisance yesterday, but what was really getting to me was my low power versus the Northwest wind I was riding into.

It all conspired to grind me down even more. But hey! At least I got to ride my bicycle!

Ground Down

Barren lands

Sometimes I feel that when we are getting close to the Winter Solstice, and the snow hasn't taken a hold of the land just yet, that color is drained from the world. To me, when it gets like this, it seems as though the world is best viewed from a black and white perspective. Maybe the angle of the Sun in relationship to the latitude I live at makes the contrasts between dark and shadow more interesting, and more descriptive of existence now, than times when there are bright, vibrant colors. It's not that I am depressed, per se, because I am not at the present time, but black and white "speaks" to me now more than at any other time of the year. So, you are seeing more black and white images here due to that reasoning of mine.

Well, at any rate, that all has nothing to do with the title of today's post. That all has to do with how I've been feeling on rides of late. I've been tired, lacking pep, maybe a bit "ground down" in terms of fitness. It just seems as though I am working twice as hard for less than I could manage when it was warmer out. Maybe the cold has nothing to do with this, but it could be that I have a mild cold! Seems I've been sneezing a lot of late and my head is draining stuff more than usual. Maybe it is my body's way of telling me to take a break. Anyway....

The temperatures have been rather on the mild side for early December and are forecast to only get a little bit better. We had a similar situation last year where I was out during the weeks running up to Christmas only to have Winter shut everything down and clamp an icy grip on us until later on in March. I'll take it again this year, and try to squeeze out whatever rides I can get in before the hammer falls down and Winter shows up for real.

It was a fenders kind of day out there.

I'm hearing that now this year is to close out on a warmer note and maybe that will extend on into January a bit. Hmm....... We will see about that! But if so, I am prepared with a couple of rigs sitting at the ready outfitted with fenders. Those came in rather handy yesterday since the roads were soft and wet in many places. The frost comes and goes everyday now, so it is like an early Spring situation out there on the gravel roads. The frost comes at night, then the warm air and Sun work to turn it into moisture that softens the roads and makes a fine, mud-paste that splatters all over, if you do not have fenders.

I'm riding these Clement 36mm tubeless tires, and to be honest, if it stays like this much longer I'll be wanting to start to ride my 29"ers or the Fat Fargo. Those "skinny" tires cut in and the rolling resistance gets crazy. That was a mild nuisance yesterday, but what was really getting to me was my low power versus the Northwest wind I was riding into.

It all conspired to grind me down even more. But hey! At least I got to ride my bicycle!

A Tale Of Two Tubeless Set Ups

Tubeless and meant to be.

Back in 2012 I had my first experiences with Clement tires and I was playing around with two models- The MSO 40mm and the USH 35mm tires. I liked the MSO straight away, but I wasn't falling in love with the narrower, harsher riding USH. So, I decided upon trying the USH out with the Velocity A-23's in a tubeless manner. That went........well, rather poorly. I struggled for weeks until I finally got the USH tires set up tubeless with some guidance from my friend MG. You can check out a brief recap of the deal by clicking here to read my August 2012 post about it.

The USH was vastly better tubeless, but the tire leaked down a lot, and I wasn't 100% confident in the fit on the rim, being very afraid to raise the pressures above 45psi for fear of blowing them off. That pressure, as it turns out, wasn't high enough to handle me on gravel roads. So, I abandoned the whole deal, and since the USH was a wholly different tire in a worse way with tubes, I never rode them again.

The silver A-23's make the BMC look more classy than ever.

Fast forward to November of this year. I received the newest tire from Clement for review on RidingGravel.com. It is a 36mm wide tire in the MSO model. Very similar width to the USH, but with a design that considered tubeless set ups from the onset.

Using the same A-23 rims- as in the exact same ones as I had in 2012- I was able to set up both tires tubeless from the beginning to the end of the process in a half an hour. Compare that to the hours and hours of work and trial and error to get those USH tires to go tubeless and it becomes evident that a specific design for tubeless makes a world of difference here.

Plus, I can run higher pressures since the tire fits better and has an actual tubeless bead that can handle the stresses of being set up tubeless. The sole barrier against you having a great ride or having the tire blow off the rim catastrophically and causing you to biff yourself spectacularly is the bead of the tire and how it fits the rim. And things could go really bad if it were only a folding bead tire like the USH I tried. A real tubeless design? That's peace of mind right there, that's what that is! Now I can have a decent pressure for me and my style of riding. That's important.

One more thing to add, and that is that these are, (hopefully they rectified this), compatible with sealant. The old, folding bead Clements were not getting along with sealants at all. Delaminated casings were the main cause for concern here, but blistering was also noted by some riders. So, say what you will about converting tires that are folding bead, non-tubeless design to tubeless. I ain't listening to that clap-trap. Not when you don't have to do that dance anymore. Now that several tubeless tires from 32mm-42mm tires exist, there is no need to convert something that was never meant to be converted.

A Tale Of Two Tubeless Set Ups

Tubeless and meant to be.

Back in 2012 I had my first experiences with Clement tires and I was playing around with two models- The MSO 40mm and the USH 35mm tires. I liked the MSO straight away, but I wasn't falling in love with the narrower, harsher riding USH. So, I decided upon trying the USH out with the Velocity A-23's in a tubeless manner. That went........well, rather poorly. I struggled for weeks until I finally got the USH tires set up tubeless with some guidance from my friend MG. You can check out a brief recap of the deal by clicking here to read my August 2012 post about it.

The USH was vastly better tubeless, but the tire leaked down a lot, and I wasn't 100% confident in the fit on the rim, being very afraid to raise the pressures above 45psi for fear of blowing them off. That pressure, as it turns out, wasn't high enough to handle me on gravel roads. So, I abandoned the whole deal, and since the USH was a wholly different tire in a worse way with tubes, I never rode them again.

The silver A-23's make the BMC look more classy than ever.

Fast forward to November of this year. I received the newest tire from Clement for review on RidingGravel.com. It is a 36mm wide tire in the MSO model. Very similar width to the USH, but with a design that considered tubeless set ups from the onset.

Using the same A-23 rims- as in the exact same ones as I had in 2012- I was able to set up both tires tubeless from the beginning to the end of the process in a half an hour. Compare that to the hours and hours of work and trial and error to get those USH tires to go tubeless and it becomes evident that a specific design for tubeless makes a world of difference here.

Plus, I can run higher pressures since the tire fits better and has an actual tubeless bead that can handle the stresses of being set up tubeless. The sole barrier against you having a great ride or having the tire blow off the rim catastrophically and causing you to biff yourself spectacularly is the bead of the tire and how it fits the rim. And things could go really bad if it were only a folding bead tire like the USH I tried. A real tubeless design? That's peace of mind right there, that's what that is! Now I can have a decent pressure for me and my style of riding. That's important.

One more thing to add, and that is that these are, (hopefully they rectified this), compatible with sealant. The old, folding bead Clements were not getting along with sealants at all. Delaminated casings were the main cause for concern here, but blistering was also noted by some riders. So, say what you will about converting tires that are folding bead, non-tubeless design to tubeless. I ain't listening to that clap-trap. Not when you don't have to do that dance anymore. Now that several tubeless tires from 32mm-42mm tires exist, there is no need to convert something that was never meant to be converted.