Minus Ten Review- 9

My very first fixed gear attempt/bike.

Ten years ago on the blog I was talking most of the week about this fixed gear thing. I had gotten a Tomi Cog, the cog that attaches to a six bolt rotor interface, and I was riding my '03 Karate Monkey through another Winter. I think this was the last time I ever had a flat bar on it as well.

I ran it this way until Spring broke then I am pretty sure I went back to drop bars and a free wheel set up until maybe in '09 when it got parked and I pretty much quit riding the bike until I got it repaired last year, but that is another story........

Riding fixed was absolutely alien to me. I had never done it up to that point in 2008. I wasn't very proficient at it either, but going slow and learning the ropes was probably the best way for me to pick up on the nuances of the ways of the fixie. I remember being pretty clunky, but amazed by the traction I was able to get on ice.

I eventually set up a Raleigh Grand Prix fixed and used it for errands and what not for several years, which taught me even more about riding fixed. I started to become a lot more confident and comfortable riding that way. Then I kind of let that go for a couple of years. This year I started back up, only now I am using my 1X1 commuter rig with the 2.5" Extraterrestrial tires set up tubeless. Now it feels even more natural to ride over curbs and stuff than it ever has before.

It all started with this old Karate Monkey set up in '08.

Minus Ten Review- 9

My very first fixed gear attempt/bike.

Ten years ago on the blog I was talking most of the week about this fixed gear thing. I had gotten a Tomi Cog, the cog that attaches to a six bolt rotor interface, and I was riding my '03 Karate Monkey through another Winter. I think this was the last time I ever had a flat bar on it as well.

I ran it this way until Spring broke then I am pretty sure I went back to drop bars and a free wheel set up until maybe in '09 when it got parked and I pretty much quit riding the bike until I got it repaired last year, but that is another story........

Riding fixed was absolutely alien to me. I had never done it up to that point in 2008. I wasn't very proficient at it either, but going slow and learning the ropes was probably the best way for me to pick up on the nuances of the ways of the fixie. I remember being pretty clunky, but amazed by the traction I was able to get on ice.

I eventually set up a Raleigh Grand Prix fixed and used it for errands and what not for several years, which taught me even more about riding fixed. I started to become a lot more confident and comfortable riding that way. Then I kind of let that go for a couple of years. This year I started back up, only now I am using my 1X1 commuter rig with the 2.5" Extraterrestrial tires set up tubeless. Now it feels even more natural to ride over curbs and stuff than it ever has before.

It all started with this old Karate Monkey set up in '08.

Friday News And Views

T.I.v14 Registration Update:

There is today's mail and tomorrow's mail and then that's it! So far we have a pile of 77 entrants with more sure to come. The lottery drawing will take place on October 31st, because trick-or-treat, ya know?

I plan on hosting a live drawing for the Rookie Class on my Periscope account which you can access from Twitter at @guitarted1961. Just keep checking back for an exact time for that. All Trans Iowa related Tweets are hashtagged #TIv14, so you can search that on Twitter to keep tabs on the goings on with this. I will not be posting the live feed anywhere else, so don't even ask. If you cannot do Twitter, or won't, then you'll have to wait until I upload the roster to the Trans Iowa v14 page later that evening.

New Riding Gravel Radio Ranch Podcast!

Episode #23 of the Riding Gravel Radio Ranch podcast is up and ready for you to check out. Here is the page you can listen to it on and pretend to be working. (Or whatever.....ya know? )

It's been a while since we've posted a podcast, but my partner, Ben Welnak, has been involved in a big cross-state move for he and his family which caused a lot of disruption on the podcast side for Riding Gravel. Now that things have settled down a bit, we're both hoping that the podcast becomes a bit more "regular".

I know. We've said that before! But we cannot always predict how the changes in life will go and that almost always will be more important than the podcast is. Honestly, I like doing the podcast. I find it to be fun and enjoyable. I missed doing it all Summer long. (Our last podcast previous to #23 was back in May!!) So, if you tuned out over the past several months, I get it, but give it another chance and we will see if we cannot be a bit more regular going forward.

This episode deals with the changes to the Dirty Kanza 200 registration, some Trans Iowa stuff, news about stuff I am reviewing, and more. Check it out, please, and if you do, let me know what you think. Thanks!

Thinking of fixing it for Winter

Fascination With Fixed:

I've had a hankerin' for riding fixed gear again. I don't know quite where that comes from either. It's kind of weird.

Why deny the free coasting fun of "normal" bicycles and hamstring yourself to some 19th Century technology? I know........there are benefits, it's great for your pedal stroke, yada, yada, yada.............

And there are those of you reading, no doubt, that are proficient in the fixed gear ways. I get it. The thing is, I don't understand why I sometimes gravitate toward fixed gear riding. I almost always am a klutz at it. I forget I cannot coast and I about launch myself and tweak my knee. Then I have that anxious few seconds when I approach the curb and I am not in a good part of my pedal stroke to pop that front wheel up. Or how about when I stop and my "chocolate foot" isn't in the prime starting position? (Don't know what "chocolate foot" is? See Hans Rey.... It's old skool trialsin/mtb lingo)

I actually have a rat-rod Raleigh Grand Prix converted into a fixed gear bike in the garage and my 1X1 Surly has a flip-flop hub with a fixed cog on one side. Then I also have that Tomi cog in the picture as well. One of the three is getting some use this Winter, maybe all three. We will see. If we get inundated with snow and it gets super cold, well maybe the fat bike rules. Time will tell.

Have a great weekend and hopefully you get to ride your bicycles!

Friday News And Views

T.I.v14 Registration Update:

There is today's mail and tomorrow's mail and then that's it! So far we have a pile of 77 entrants with more sure to come. The lottery drawing will take place on October 31st, because trick-or-treat, ya know?

I plan on hosting a live drawing for the Rookie Class on my Periscope account which you can access from Twitter at @guitarted1961. Just keep checking back for an exact time for that. All Trans Iowa related Tweets are hashtagged #TIv14, so you can search that on Twitter to keep tabs on the goings on with this. I will not be posting the live feed anywhere else, so don't even ask. If you cannot do Twitter, or won't, then you'll have to wait until I upload the roster to the Trans Iowa v14 page later that evening.

New Riding Gravel Radio Ranch Podcast!

Episode #23 of the Riding Gravel Radio Ranch podcast is up and ready for you to check out. Here is the page you can listen to it on and pretend to be working. (Or whatever.....ya know? )

It's been a while since we've posted a podcast, but my partner, Ben Welnak, has been involved in a big cross-state move for he and his family which caused a lot of disruption on the podcast side for Riding Gravel. Now that things have settled down a bit, we're both hoping that the podcast becomes a bit more "regular".

I know. We've said that before! But we cannot always predict how the changes in life will go and that almost always will be more important than the podcast is. Honestly, I like doing the podcast. I find it to be fun and enjoyable. I missed doing it all Summer long. (Our last podcast previous to #23 was back in May!!) So, if you tuned out over the past several months, I get it, but give it another chance and we will see if we cannot be a bit more regular going forward.

This episode deals with the changes to the Dirty Kanza 200 registration, some Trans Iowa stuff, news about stuff I am reviewing, and more. Check it out, please, and if you do, let me know what you think. Thanks!

Thinking of fixing it for Winter

Fascination With Fixed:

I've had a hankerin' for riding fixed gear again. I don't know quite where that comes from either. It's kind of weird.

Why deny the free coasting fun of "normal" bicycles and hamstring yourself to some 19th Century technology? I know........there are benefits, it's great for your pedal stroke, yada, yada, yada.............

And there are those of you reading, no doubt, that are proficient in the fixed gear ways. I get it. The thing is, I don't understand why I sometimes gravitate toward fixed gear riding. I almost always am a klutz at it. I forget I cannot coast and I about launch myself and tweak my knee. Then I have that anxious few seconds when I approach the curb and I am not in a good part of my pedal stroke to pop that front wheel up. Or how about when I stop and my "chocolate foot" isn't in the prime starting position? (Don't know what "chocolate foot" is? See Hans Rey.... It's old skool trialsin/mtb lingo)

I actually have a rat-rod Raleigh Grand Prix converted into a fixed gear bike in the garage and my 1X1 Surly has a flip-flop hub with a fixed cog on one side. Then I also have that Tomi cog in the picture as well. One of the three is getting some use this Winter, maybe all three. We will see. If we get inundated with snow and it gets super cold, well maybe the fat bike rules. Time will tell.

Have a great weekend and hopefully you get to ride your bicycles!

Tomi-cide!

<===A little hand made death star!

One of the highlights of Frostbike for me was finally getting my Tomi Cog which was hand delivered to me by Arsbars who made the trip up from the South East to see what winter was really supposed to be like!

Anyway, some folks think I'm mad, but this is one of the key pieces towards the completion of my Karate Monkey Fixie Death Machine. (KMFDM for short) It is going to be an off road fixie. Yep! I'm goin' for it, although it will also see plenty of duty as a gravel grinder bike for base training for the upcoming Dirty Kanza 200. I tinkered with the bike a bit last night and it'll be ready soon.

I got another unexpected addition for the build at Frostbike when I scored a Wipperman BMX-1 G 8 chain for the bike. It's a brute of a chain that the Wipperman folks told me would be twice as strong in tensile strength as a regular chain. I suppose that's a good thing for a fixie, which they assured me it was. Well as well as any 6 foot plus German woman could assure me. "Ze chain....yezz it eez veddy stronnngah." Umm.......okay. I believe you......please don't hurt me! Heh heh! So, anyway, yeah........that's a beefy chain all right. Very heavy at least if not veddy stronnngah.

Not that this all matters yet anyway. We got new ice over the weekend and snow on top of it. Now it is -4 Fahrenheit and a bit of a wind plummets the death chill factor to a point where I'm not risking getting any sicker riding out side. Yep! Got a head cold going. Serves me right, I suppose for all the hi-jinx over the weekend. All will be well, I'm sure.

It just means I have time to really dial in the KMFDM before Slop Season hits. Oh yeah, it's got fenders too. I'm ready!

Tomi-cide!

<===A little hand made death star!

One of the highlights of Frostbike for me was finally getting my Tomi Cog which was hand delivered to me by Arsbars who made the trip up from the South East to see what winter was really supposed to be like!

Anyway, some folks think I'm mad, but this is one of the key pieces towards the completion of my Karate Monkey Fixie Death Machine. (KMFDM for short) It is going to be an off road fixie. Yep! I'm goin' for it, although it will also see plenty of duty as a gravel grinder bike for base training for the upcoming Dirty Kanza 200. I tinkered with the bike a bit last night and it'll be ready soon.

I got another unexpected addition for the build at Frostbike when I scored a Wipperman BMX-1 G 8 chain for the bike. It's a brute of a chain that the Wipperman folks told me would be twice as strong in tensile strength as a regular chain. I suppose that's a good thing for a fixie, which they assured me it was. Well as well as any 6 foot plus German woman could assure me. "Ze chain....yezz it eez veddy stronnngah." Umm.......okay. I believe you......please don't hurt me! Heh heh! So, anyway, yeah........that's a beefy chain all right. Very heavy at least if not veddy stronnngah.

Not that this all matters yet anyway. We got new ice over the weekend and snow on top of it. Now it is -4 Fahrenheit and a bit of a wind plummets the death chill factor to a point where I'm not risking getting any sicker riding out side. Yep! Got a head cold going. Serves me right, I suppose for all the hi-jinx over the weekend. All will be well, I'm sure.

It just means I have time to really dial in the KMFDM before Slop Season hits. Oh yeah, it's got fenders too. I'm ready!