Fargo Adventure Ride 2010: Part III

This will conclude my report on the Fargo Adventure Ride 2010. Once again, these will be photo highlights of the ride with a concluding commentary at the end.

After leaving the U-More area and doing some more traditional gravel sections, we pulled into Farmington, Minnesota for a re-supply and rest at about 30 miles. We invaded the convenience store, and the, (for me), usual stares from the locals started in earnest. Women hurriedly shuffled children by us before they could ask questions. Grown men stared at our "outlandish" dress. Had we ridden up in leathers on Harleys we would have garnered little attention, but you'd have thought that Marlon Brando was staging a ghostly reprise of "The Wild One" by the looks on the faces of the townspeople.

Actually, I find this sort of reaction almost anywhere I end up with a bunch of cyclists in a rural convenience store setting. I find it rather humorous, and I'll admit, it appeals to a certain facet of my weird personality. It may not be for everyone!

After the lengthy stop in Farmington, and a nice roll out into the countryside, Jason led us down some two track leading to a turn into this farm field and what amounted to an access road. Grass overgrown and barely recognizable as two track in many places, this path wound up, down, around, and over the contours of the Minnesota farmland in a serpentine fashion. I was losing my sense of direction in this twisty, turny track, and getting my kidneys punched out by the unseen potholes, horse hoof tracks, and general bumpiness of this section. What I wouldn't have given for a dually about right then!

By now it was hot and humid. I was getting cooked down in the valley where there was no breeze and our speeds were pretty low due to the bumpy track and, by now, the sandy traps that started showing up. It was pretty obvious that these hills were sand dunes at one time or another back in history.

Jason told us that these hills and vales were XC ski territory during the winter months and horse trails during the rest of the year, for the most part. He said he'd never seen another cyclist out there since he had discovered the place. Hey, maybe we were the first group of cyclists to ever have ridden those hills. Who knows for sure? It was certainly beautiful out there, and definitely very brutal! I suffered the worst during this portion of the ride, that's for certain.

 Immediately after leaving that sector, one of the riders with us named Josh had recollected that there was a big rock outcropping not far off the other side called "Lone Rock". He said it would be fun to check it out, but we'd be obliged to hike to the exact spot, if his memory served correct. I think we were still too whacked from the previous beat down we'd all just survived to say yes or no, and before I knew it, here we were parking our bikes in the remote woods and hiking up some steep, sandy trail towards what, I had no idea.

Hey, they don't call it "adventure" for nothing! So I figured it fit into the game plan alright. We probably hiked in about a half a mile at most, and then we found what Josh was looking for. I climbed up to almost the summit, but being a person that doesn't take kindly to exposed high places, I went down and around the base for.......

.........the shot from the bottom!

It was a pretty tall feature out in the middle of nowhere. I suppose at one time, before the trees got so tall, it was much easier to spot this landmark. Given about another 15-20 years though, with no fires to threaten them, the trees will have pretty much taken over this spot and finding this rock will be even more challenging!

One of the benefits of this side track was finding wild raspberries growing all over the place. They were just shy of primo, and in a couple of weeks, these all will be ripe for the taking, but we still managed to find plenty of tasty, sweet treats.

Someone mentioned that there had been a bear sighting just south of here around Northfield, Minnesota. I can't imagine a more "bear friendly" place than this one, and if that bear finds it, I bet it won't be moving anytime soon from it!

After getting back on track, two track, that is, we were heading north with a tail wind. The road here we had ridden in on, but since we had been on it, the moisture content had gone way down, and the sandy, loose nature of the road was giving us fits. It was making riding much more difficult!

We then went by these installations which were connected with the abandoned munitions plant. They were shelters where shells were filled with gunpowder and armed. If something went wrong, the concrete walls prevented the blast from causing any further damage outside of the barriers. Funny thing was that all of these installations were never put into production or used at all. Now they stand as silent reminders of a World At War.

Not long after this, we hit some grass covered two track that was shoulder high to us on our bikes! You couldn't see the ruts or holes, so a couple guys went down in this section, albeit softly! We also had some fun trashing our bikes in some big mud puddles here and there as well.

The wind sort of shifted around from the Southwest, which ended up being right in our faces most of the way back in, but still, we persevered to our appointed finishing spot, the Lebanon Hills Campground. Approximately 60 miles, and many a laugh and good times were had by all.

We had six Fargos on the ride and they showed why they are the perfect all terrain adventure rig. We had everything from pavement, gravel, grass, dirt, a wee bit of mud, and water thrown at us and we made mincemeat of all of it aboard the Fargos we had. Kudos to Salsa Cycles once again for making the Fargo and opening up a whole new way to explore the world by bicycles.

A big shout of thanks to Jason Boucher also for taking the time to scout out a really challenging, fun, interesting, and flexible course. Thanks for setting up the structure for all of the Fargo Adventure Ride and your efforts were appreciated by all in attendance. Super job of hosting!

I was supposed to travel up to the Chequamegon area that evening, but I had forgotten about Father's day, and I was beat by the Fargo Adventure Ride, so I decided to be with my family instead. Good thing too, because Saturday I was in a zombie-like state from the effort on Saturday.

The Fargo Adventure Ride never fails to disappoint. If you ever get a chance to join one, make time for it! Thanks to everyone on the ride for making it a great time. See ya down the trail!

Fargo Adventure Ride 2010: Part III

This will conclude my report on the Fargo Adventure Ride 2010. Once again, these will be photo highlights of the ride with a concluding commentary at the end.

After leaving the U-More area and doing some more traditional gravel sections, we pulled into Farmington, Minnesota for a re-supply and rest at about 30 miles. We invaded the convenience store, and the, (for me), usual stares from the locals started in earnest. Women hurriedly shuffled children by us before they could ask questions. Grown men stared at our "outlandish" dress. Had we ridden up in leathers on Harleys we would have garnered little attention, but you'd have thought that Marlon Brando was staging a ghostly reprise of "The Wild One" by the looks on the faces of the townspeople.

Actually, I find this sort of reaction almost anywhere I end up with a bunch of cyclists in a rural convenience store setting. I find it rather humorous, and I'll admit, it appeals to a certain facet of my weird personality. It may not be for everyone!

After the lengthy stop in Farmington, and a nice roll out into the countryside, Jason led us down some two track leading to a turn into this farm field and what amounted to an access road. Grass overgrown and barely recognizable as two track in many places, this path wound up, down, around, and over the contours of the Minnesota farmland in a serpentine fashion. I was losing my sense of direction in this twisty, turny track, and getting my kidneys punched out by the unseen potholes, horse hoof tracks, and general bumpiness of this section. What I wouldn't have given for a dually about right then!

By now it was hot and humid. I was getting cooked down in the valley where there was no breeze and our speeds were pretty low due to the bumpy track and, by now, the sandy traps that started showing up. It was pretty obvious that these hills were sand dunes at one time or another back in history.

Jason told us that these hills and vales were XC ski territory during the winter months and horse trails during the rest of the year, for the most part. He said he'd never seen another cyclist out there since he had discovered the place. Hey, maybe we were the first group of cyclists to ever have ridden those hills. Who knows for sure? It was certainly beautiful out there, and definitely very brutal! I suffered the worst during this portion of the ride, that's for certain.

 Immediately after leaving that sector, one of the riders with us named Josh had recollected that there was a big rock outcropping not far off the other side called "Lone Rock". He said it would be fun to check it out, but we'd be obliged to hike to the exact spot, if his memory served correct. I think we were still too whacked from the previous beat down we'd all just survived to say yes or no, and before I knew it, here we were parking our bikes in the remote woods and hiking up some steep, sandy trail towards what, I had no idea.

Hey, they don't call it "adventure" for nothing! So I figured it fit into the game plan alright. We probably hiked in about a half a mile at most, and then we found what Josh was looking for. I climbed up to almost the summit, but being a person that doesn't take kindly to exposed high places, I went down and around the base for.......

.........the shot from the bottom!

It was a pretty tall feature out in the middle of nowhere. I suppose at one time, before the trees got so tall, it was much easier to spot this landmark. Given about another 15-20 years though, with no fires to threaten them, the trees will have pretty much taken over this spot and finding this rock will be even more challenging!

One of the benefits of this side track was finding wild raspberries growing all over the place. They were just shy of primo, and in a couple of weeks, these all will be ripe for the taking, but we still managed to find plenty of tasty, sweet treats.

Someone mentioned that there had been a bear sighting just south of here around Northfield, Minnesota. I can't imagine a more "bear friendly" place than this one, and if that bear finds it, I bet it won't be moving anytime soon from it!

After getting back on track, two track, that is, we were heading north with a tail wind. The road here we had ridden in on, but since we had been on it, the moisture content had gone way down, and the sandy, loose nature of the road was giving us fits. It was making riding much more difficult!

We then went by these installations which were connected with the abandoned munitions plant. They were shelters where shells were filled with gunpowder and armed. If something went wrong, the concrete walls prevented the blast from causing any further damage outside of the barriers. Funny thing was that all of these installations were never put into production or used at all. Now they stand as silent reminders of a World At War.

Not long after this, we hit some grass covered two track that was shoulder high to us on our bikes! You couldn't see the ruts or holes, so a couple guys went down in this section, albeit softly! We also had some fun trashing our bikes in some big mud puddles here and there as well.

The wind sort of shifted around from the Southwest, which ended up being right in our faces most of the way back in, but still, we persevered to our appointed finishing spot, the Lebanon Hills Campground. Approximately 60 miles, and many a laugh and good times were had by all.

We had six Fargos on the ride and they showed why they are the perfect all terrain adventure rig. We had everything from pavement, gravel, grass, dirt, a wee bit of mud, and water thrown at us and we made mincemeat of all of it aboard the Fargos we had. Kudos to Salsa Cycles once again for making the Fargo and opening up a whole new way to explore the world by bicycles.

A big shout of thanks to Jason Boucher also for taking the time to scout out a really challenging, fun, interesting, and flexible course. Thanks for setting up the structure for all of the Fargo Adventure Ride and your efforts were appreciated by all in attendance. Super job of hosting!

I was supposed to travel up to the Chequamegon area that evening, but I had forgotten about Father's day, and I was beat by the Fargo Adventure Ride, so I decided to be with my family instead. Good thing too, because Saturday I was in a zombie-like state from the effort on Saturday.

The Fargo Adventure Ride never fails to disappoint. If you ever get a chance to join one, make time for it! Thanks to everyone on the ride for making it a great time. See ya down the trail!

Fargo Adventure Ride 2010: Part II

When I awoke at something like 4:30am to the sounds of robins, cardinals, and other various song birds going nuts, I knew it was still too early to get rolling. But.........try as I might, I couldn't fall back asleep. So I kitted up, rode down to the bathrooms, charged my cell phone up, and just hung out for a bit. The other two lazy bones, (read: Jason and MG) were sound asleep until about 7am. Lucky dawgs!

Another rider or two showed up right about 8am, and Jason headed out to the Lebanon Hills parking lot to check on others who may have shown up. We ended up having 10 riders total. A nice sized group for a ride like this one. Jason led the way out of town on a combination of pavement and bike path, but it wasn't long at all before we got into the gravely goodness.

The rest of this post will be highlights from the first part of the ride which mainly featured the munitions plant, U-More Park, and some sweet double track "b road".

The opening stretches of gravel were in and around Rosemount,  Minnesota. These were fast, smooth sections that were packed down perfectly by the previous nights rain.

There were a few turns here and there and each section was short-ish, flat, but fun, as we got a chance to chat with each other and get to know one another.

So here it is. This is the old, abandoned munitions plant that you see often on Gnat Likes... This is what it looks like as you approach from the north.

Jason was a great ride leader, giving us the history and background behind the installation and the land surrounding it. Very cool stuff. Thanks Jason!

During one of Jason's informational stops, the chatter turned to what to eat on rides. MG brought up his list of packed goodies which included Dum-Dums. Someone guffawed and called his bluff, MG proffered the goods, and promptly spilled all the contents of his zip-loc bag of candy on the road. It was like a 4th of July parade! We scrambled to grab a few of the confectionery goods to consume for ourselves. Sorry MG! One of you "secret weapons is "out of the bag" now. (<====Ha!)

During the time we were in the vicinity of the munitions plant, we were serenaded by repetitious spurts of gun fire. The staccato rat-a-tat-tat could be heard consistently, seemingly without end. Someone mentioned it and another rider said there was a firing range in the area. Well, we saw this sign, and then it all made sense. Your "gubmint dah-lahs" hard at work here!

Salsa Cycles engineer, Pete Koski, said the "FBI" part stood for "Fargo Bike Invitational" We liked that!

The road through U-More is a B-road-ish double track punctuated by a few gates which we were obliged to dismount and hop over.

Somewhere along the way here someone noted clouds of gnats along the ditches and in the woods which marched alongside the roadway. They were definitely thick!

After leaving the U-More area we were back onto more traditional gravel again. Coming up to an intersection with a paved area, a rider along with us had a flat. So we all lounged around, chatted, and ate food we had brought along as we waited.

The day so far had been warm with mostly overcast skies and light breezes. Perfect for riding bicycles!

The spot where we stopped was adjacent to a pasture with sheep grazing in it. Pete Koski was "talking to the animals", and his "sheep whisperings" enticed one of the male sheep to come over and check us out. Here MG gives the critter a little attention, which the sheep seemed to enjoy.



That's a wrap on Part II. Look for the final installment of my report on the Fargo Adventure Ride tomorrow.

Fargo Adventure Ride 2010: Part II

When I awoke at something like 4:30am to the sounds of robins, cardinals, and other various song birds going nuts, I knew it was still too early to get rolling. But.........try as I might, I couldn't fall back asleep. So I kitted up, rode down to the bathrooms, charged my cell phone up, and just hung out for a bit. The other two lazy bones, (read: Jason and MG) were sound asleep until about 7am. Lucky dawgs!

Another rider or two showed up right about 8am, and Jason headed out to the Lebanon Hills parking lot to check on others who may have shown up. We ended up having 10 riders total. A nice sized group for a ride like this one. Jason led the way out of town on a combination of pavement and bike path, but it wasn't long at all before we got into the gravely goodness.

The rest of this post will be highlights from the first part of the ride which mainly featured the munitions plant, U-More Park, and some sweet double track "b road".

The opening stretches of gravel were in and around Rosemount,  Minnesota. These were fast, smooth sections that were packed down perfectly by the previous nights rain.

There were a few turns here and there and each section was short-ish, flat, but fun, as we got a chance to chat with each other and get to know one another.

So here it is. This is the old, abandoned munitions plant that you see often on Gnat Likes... This is what it looks like as you approach from the north.

Jason was a great ride leader, giving us the history and background behind the installation and the land surrounding it. Very cool stuff. Thanks Jason!

During one of Jason's informational stops, the chatter turned to what to eat on rides. MG brought up his list of packed goodies which included Dum-Dums. Someone guffawed and called his bluff, MG proffered the goods, and promptly spilled all the contents of his zip-loc bag of candy on the road. It was like a 4th of July parade! We scrambled to grab a few of the confectionery goods to consume for ourselves. Sorry MG! One of you "secret weapons is "out of the bag" now. (<====Ha!)

During the time we were in the vicinity of the munitions plant, we were serenaded by repetitious spurts of gun fire. The staccato rat-a-tat-tat could be heard consistently, seemingly without end. Someone mentioned it and another rider said there was a firing range in the area. Well, we saw this sign, and then it all made sense. Your "gubmint dah-lahs" hard at work here!

Salsa Cycles engineer, Pete Koski, said the "FBI" part stood for "Fargo Bike Invitational" We liked that!

The road through U-More is a B-road-ish double track punctuated by a few gates which we were obliged to dismount and hop over.

Somewhere along the way here someone noted clouds of gnats along the ditches and in the woods which marched alongside the roadway. They were definitely thick!

After leaving the U-More area we were back onto more traditional gravel again. Coming up to an intersection with a paved area, a rider along with us had a flat. So we all lounged around, chatted, and ate food we had brought along as we waited.

The day so far had been warm with mostly overcast skies and light breezes. Perfect for riding bicycles!

The spot where we stopped was adjacent to a pasture with sheep grazing in it. Pete Koski was "talking to the animals", and his "sheep whisperings" enticed one of the male sheep to come over and check us out. Here MG gives the critter a little attention, which the sheep seemed to enjoy.



That's a wrap on Part II. Look for the final installment of my report on the Fargo Adventure Ride tomorrow.

Fargo Adventure Ride 2010: Part I

This year's Fargo Adventure Ride was based out of the same campground as last year, the Lebanon Hills Campground, which is a really great camping area right in the heart of the Twins Cities suburban sprawl. It would be even better if not for the constant drone of traffic and the occasional roar and whine of jets coming into and out of the airport, but hey! It works and you do get a feel for nature in this beautiful setting. My favorite oddity about the campground is that it is located just off a street called "Johnny Cake Ridge Road". Sounds like something out of a fantasy novel to me.

So I left for this destination on Thursday, taking my time and not in too much of a hurry, since I didn't want to arrive too soon before anyone else. I had reserved a camping space, but I didn't know where I would end up in relation to the others, so that was going to be a mystery until I got there. 

When I arrived Jason and Matt were already there and curiously, they hadn't set up any tents or anything. They were just hanging out talking with the bikes leaning up against a picnic table. I found my spot just up the path from them, so I was pretty close to their spot after all.

Jason informed me that it probably would be a good idea to not set up camp just yet. He said that a strong line of thunderstorms were bearing in on the Twin Cities from the Southwest. It was then decided that if Jason could swing it, we would retire to a local brew pub and wait out the impending doom. Jason's situation was resolved, and with darkening skies threatening rain, we hopped into the cars and hit up the brew pub for eats and beers.

Watching the television with the closed captioning, we could see that tornadoes, large hail, and high winds were going to be a very real possibility for us. Video from storm chasers showed a couple big tornadoes and some images of large, softball sized hail stones. Great! Maybe we would be having a different kind of adventure!

Well, by some miracle we were spared because the storm line broke up and went around the Twin Cities to the north and the south. After we felt all was clear, we went back to the campground where we met up with Ben Witt from Milltown Cycles.

While we walked up to get Ben his visitor pass, we noted the strange clouds in the skies around us. There was distant lightning, weird colors, and odd shapes. We all sat around and watched the "show" unfold while Jason was taking a bunch of pictures of the bizarre spectacle. (Look for something on his blog later on that).  After the sun started to fade in the West, we went back to the camping spot in awe of what had just happened. It was pretty cool, and I had never seen such clouds in the sky before. I know you all will think I'd been smoking something when you read this, but we actually saw clouds that were sky blue in color. Really!

Then we built a fire with the skills of Matt Gersib and Ben Witt, which we enjoyed far into the night. Oddly enough, we noted that we were the only cyclists there. Jason was puzzled a bit because he knew that the camping area was totally booked up and that there were several empty spots that night. Perhaps the reports of severe weather had scared away potential Fargo riders?

Whatever it was, we were having fun and enjoying some great conversation.

Unfortunately, Ben wouldn't be joining us either, as he had just come off a very bad bout with food poisoning  and he was still in a pretty weak state yet as he hadn't fully recovered. It was great to hang out with Ben though, and I am really glad he made the effort to come out to hang with us Fargo Adventurers.

We all then hit our tents with a plan to roll out by 8am the next morning. Who would show up? Would we be a threesome? Check out my next post to find out the answers.

Fargo Adventure Ride 2010: Part I

This year's Fargo Adventure Ride was based out of the same campground as last year, the Lebanon Hills Campground, which is a really great camping area right in the heart of the Twins Cities suburban sprawl. It would be even better if not for the constant drone of traffic and the occasional roar and whine of jets coming into and out of the airport, but hey! It works and you do get a feel for nature in this beautiful setting. My favorite oddity about the campground is that it is located just off a street called "Johnny Cake Ridge Road". Sounds like something out of a fantasy novel to me.

So I left for this destination on Thursday, taking my time and not in too much of a hurry, since I didn't want to arrive too soon before anyone else. I had reserved a camping space, but I didn't know where I would end up in relation to the others, so that was going to be a mystery until I got there. 

When I arrived Jason and Matt were already there and curiously, they hadn't set up any tents or anything. They were just hanging out talking with the bikes leaning up against a picnic table. I found my spot just up the path from them, so I was pretty close to their spot after all.

Jason informed me that it probably would be a good idea to not set up camp just yet. He said that a strong line of thunderstorms were bearing in on the Twin Cities from the Southwest. It was then decided that if Jason could swing it, we would retire to a local brew pub and wait out the impending doom. Jason's situation was resolved, and with darkening skies threatening rain, we hopped into the cars and hit up the brew pub for eats and beers.

Watching the television with the closed captioning, we could see that tornadoes, large hail, and high winds were going to be a very real possibility for us. Video from storm chasers showed a couple big tornadoes and some images of large, softball sized hail stones. Great! Maybe we would be having a different kind of adventure!

Well, by some miracle we were spared because the storm line broke up and went around the Twin Cities to the north and the south. After we felt all was clear, we went back to the campground where we met up with Ben Witt from Milltown Cycles.

While we walked up to get Ben his visitor pass, we noted the strange clouds in the skies around us. There was distant lightning, weird colors, and odd shapes. We all sat around and watched the "show" unfold while Jason was taking a bunch of pictures of the bizarre spectacle. (Look for something on his blog later on that).  After the sun started to fade in the West, we went back to the camping spot in awe of what had just happened. It was pretty cool, and I had never seen such clouds in the sky before. I know you all will think I'd been smoking something when you read this, but we actually saw clouds that were sky blue in color. Really!

Then we built a fire with the skills of Matt Gersib and Ben Witt, which we enjoyed far into the night. Oddly enough, we noted that we were the only cyclists there. Jason was puzzled a bit because he knew that the camping area was totally booked up and that there were several empty spots that night. Perhaps the reports of severe weather had scared away potential Fargo riders?

Whatever it was, we were having fun and enjoying some great conversation.

Unfortunately, Ben wouldn't be joining us either, as he had just come off a very bad bout with food poisoning  and he was still in a pretty weak state yet as he hadn't fully recovered. It was great to hang out with Ben though, and I am really glad he made the effort to come out to hang with us Fargo Adventurers.

We all then hit our tents with a plan to roll out by 8am the next morning. Who would show up? Would we be a threesome? Check out my next post to find out the answers.

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A Requiem For Gary Fisher Bikes

Unless you were under a rock somewhere yesterday you probably heard about the end of the Gary Fisher Bike brand. It is dead.

In a press release issued on Wednesday, Trek Bicycle Corporation announced that "effective immediately" the Gary Fisher Bikes brand no longer exists. Wow! I don't think anyone saw that one coming. (Unless they worked for Trek, of course!)

So what? Many would ask this question and would point out that Trek has owned Gary Fisher Bikes since 1994. It hasn't been the same company since then. Maybe. (and of course!) But Gary Fisher Bikes did have some autonomous creations from Trek, some engineering ideas separate from Trek, and marketing and branding, of course. Of all of Trek's acquisitions during the 90's, Gary Fisher Bikes was the first and longest lasting of them. Think about that for a minute.

Now it is the "Gary Fisher Collection", and will be branded with Trek's head tube badge and logo on the bikes.  How long before even that token marketing ruse is over is anyone's guess, but I would submit to you that it is already pretty much a completely assimilated brand. Even Gary Fisher himself is calling the 2011 29"ers, "Trek 29"ers".

Sure, there will be a "Fisher influence" for years to come, but let's face facts: It makes more sense in the long run for Trek to focus its resources on one brand instead of splitting them amongst two. Dealers were said to have been clamoring for Trek to give them Trek 29"ers and Dual Sport models and now they have them without Trek having to split more resources and duplicate product with another brand. Makes sense from a business standpoint for sure.

<===The awesome Sawyer 29"er from......(gulp!) Trek? (!!)

But even though it makes sense from a business standpoint, you have got to wonder how Trek will carry out things from this point. I liked how Fisher seemed to fly in the face of Trek's conservative, Mid-Western pragmatism. It was a great foil to what Trek had on offer on the other side of the aisle.

I am just afraid that will all disappear now that Fisher Bikes as a stand alone brand is gone, and I lament this possibility. Hopefully I am very wrong about that, and in fact, Gary Fisher himself assured me that it would not happen in a telephone conversation I had with him yesterday. Time will tell, of course, but if the huge marketing and consumer perception issue can be overcome, I would bet that Gary Fisher would find some sort of way to get that message across. Say what you will about the man, but he has made a lot of inroads along the years in cycling, and continues to be an influence. How many other cycling personas can you say that about? Not many.

So, this weekend I will raise a toast to the brand that is gone, and then another to the man that carries on with his passion for cycling of all stripes, Gary Fisher.

It'll be an interesting ride from this point onward, that's for sure!

A Requiem For Gary Fisher Bikes

Unless you were under a rock somewhere yesterday you probably heard about the end of the Gary Fisher Bike brand. It is dead.

In a press release issued on Wednesday, Trek Bicycle Corporation announced that "effective immediately" the Gary Fisher Bikes brand no longer exists. Wow! I don't think anyone saw that one coming. (Unless they worked for Trek, of course!)

So what? Many would ask this question and would point out that Trek has owned Gary Fisher Bikes since 1994. It hasn't been the same company since then. Maybe. (and of course!) But Gary Fisher Bikes did have some autonomous creations from Trek, some engineering ideas separate from Trek, and marketing and branding, of course. Of all of Trek's acquisitions during the 90's, Gary Fisher Bikes was the first and longest lasting of them. Think about that for a minute.

Now it is the "Gary Fisher Collection", and will be branded with Trek's head tube badge and logo on the bikes.  How long before even that token marketing ruse is over is anyone's guess, but I would submit to you that it is already pretty much a completely assimilated brand. Even Gary Fisher himself is calling the 2011 29"ers, "Trek 29"ers".

Sure, there will be a "Fisher influence" for years to come, but let's face facts: It makes more sense in the long run for Trek to focus its resources on one brand instead of splitting them amongst two. Dealers were said to have been clamoring for Trek to give them Trek 29"ers and Dual Sport models and now they have them without Trek having to split more resources and duplicate product with another brand. Makes sense from a business standpoint for sure.

<===The awesome Sawyer 29"er from......(gulp!) Trek? (!!)

But even though it makes sense from a business standpoint, you have got to wonder how Trek will carry out things from this point. I liked how Fisher seemed to fly in the face of Trek's conservative, Mid-Western pragmatism. It was a great foil to what Trek had on offer on the other side of the aisle.

I am just afraid that will all disappear now that Fisher Bikes as a stand alone brand is gone, and I lament this possibility. Hopefully I am very wrong about that, and in fact, Gary Fisher himself assured me that it would not happen in a telephone conversation I had with him yesterday. Time will tell, of course, but if the huge marketing and consumer perception issue can be overcome, I would bet that Gary Fisher would find some sort of way to get that message across. Say what you will about the man, but he has made a lot of inroads along the years in cycling, and continues to be an influence. How many other cycling personas can you say that about? Not many.

So, this weekend I will raise a toast to the brand that is gone, and then another to the man that carries on with his passion for cycling of all stripes, Gary Fisher.

It'll be an interesting ride from this point onward, that's for sure!

Salsa Cycles Fargo Changes

<==Current State Of Affairs

I mentioned earlier that I had to get the Fargo back together after robbing parts from it for the Dos Niner. Here is photographic proof of said retro-grades!

In training for the Dirty Kanza 200, I found out that the 2 X 9 gearing was really appealing to me for gravel grinding. I liked being able to stay in one ring up front and just shift the rear, with an occasional bail out to the small ring up front for steep stuff, or when I blow up, (often), or when there is a head wind and I blow up, (more often than not). Actually, to be quite honest, I think of it as a 1 X 9 with a bail out gear. Works for me, and it is closer to my single speed nature than a triple.

 Here is a close up. How I got here is a round about story. I had an old Specialized touring bike that was a cast off. The frame was waaaay too big for most folks, but the bike was hung with some cool, vintage bits and I saved it from going to the dumpster for those bits. The bike hung in the corner of the Lab for years until recently when this project came up. I thought I could use the original Sugino AT cranks which had that glowing, pearl-like ano finish. (A beautiful look that is way under rated, in my opinion.) The AT cranks were set up with "half step" gearing, which meant that the big ring and middle ring were close ratio and the granny was waaaay smaller. I figured on using the middle and granny rings which were 44T and 28T respectively. That almost matches the 44T/29T on the Dos Niner. If the bottom bracket and crank would clear the Fargo, I would be in business.

<

<=== Need some bottle cages for the fork blade mounts? Get these Velocity Bottle Traps. You will not lose a bottle from these!

Okay, so I pulled apart the Specialized to find out the bottom bracket had some strange-to-me interface for the tool to remove it. I improvised with a Park pin spanner tool and it came right out. Huh! Whattya know! A SunTour sealed bearing bottom bracket. Well, I got it into the Fargo, but when I got the AT crank and test fit it I was dismayed to see that it wasn't going to work. Back to the drawing board!

The SunTour BB had a ginormously long spindle and still, the chain rings were hitting the chain stays. So, a "Plan B" had to be formulated. I found a 110/74BCD crank, (an old Shimano Altus), and pulled the rings I wanted off the AT crank. Then I rummaged through my collection of salvaged Shimano cartridge bottom brackets and found a 122mm spindle UN 54 that did the trick nicely. Everything went together well, and with a slight re-adjustment to the height of the front derailluer, (anybody wonder why they don't make derailleurs horizontally adjustable?), I was up and running again.

The shifting was great. The chain doesn't drop off to the inside, but I probably should put that Third Eye chain watcher on the Specialized had, just in case. Interestingly, the Specialized was a six speed rear geared bike, so these chain rings shouldn't work with a 9 speed chain, right? Well, they do just fine, actually, and I don't see any issue with the set up in that manner. 

The big test will be the Fargo Adventure Ride on Friday. We'll see then, but for now, I can't see why things won't go smoothly. A last, night time, gravel road test ride will be done hopefully tomorrow, and then it is on to Minnesota with this rig.

Salsa Cycles Fargo Changes

<==Current State Of Affairs

I mentioned earlier that I had to get the Fargo back together after robbing parts from it for the Dos Niner. Here is photographic proof of said retro-grades!

In training for the Dirty Kanza 200, I found out that the 2 X 9 gearing was really appealing to me for gravel grinding. I liked being able to stay in one ring up front and just shift the rear, with an occasional bail out to the small ring up front for steep stuff, or when I blow up, (often), or when there is a head wind and I blow up, (more often than not). Actually, to be quite honest, I think of it as a 1 X 9 with a bail out gear. Works for me, and it is closer to my single speed nature than a triple.

 Here is a close up. How I got here is a round about story. I had an old Specialized touring bike that was a cast off. The frame was waaaay too big for most folks, but the bike was hung with some cool, vintage bits and I saved it from going to the dumpster for those bits. The bike hung in the corner of the Lab for years until recently when this project came up. I thought I could use the original Sugino AT cranks which had that glowing, pearl-like ano finish. (A beautiful look that is way under rated, in my opinion.) The AT cranks were set up with "half step" gearing, which meant that the big ring and middle ring were close ratio and the granny was waaaay smaller. I figured on using the middle and granny rings which were 44T and 28T respectively. That almost matches the 44T/29T on the Dos Niner. If the bottom bracket and crank would clear the Fargo, I would be in business.

<

<=== Need some bottle cages for the fork blade mounts? Get these Velocity Bottle Traps. You will not lose a bottle from these!

Okay, so I pulled apart the Specialized to find out the bottom bracket had some strange-to-me interface for the tool to remove it. I improvised with a Park pin spanner tool and it came right out. Huh! Whattya know! A SunTour sealed bearing bottom bracket. Well, I got it into the Fargo, but when I got the AT crank and test fit it I was dismayed to see that it wasn't going to work. Back to the drawing board!

The SunTour BB had a ginormously long spindle and still, the chain rings were hitting the chain stays. So, a "Plan B" had to be formulated. I found a 110/74BCD crank, (an old Shimano Altus), and pulled the rings I wanted off the AT crank. Then I rummaged through my collection of salvaged Shimano cartridge bottom brackets and found a 122mm spindle UN 54 that did the trick nicely. Everything went together well, and with a slight re-adjustment to the height of the front derailluer, (anybody wonder why they don't make derailleurs horizontally adjustable?), I was up and running again.

The shifting was great. The chain doesn't drop off to the inside, but I probably should put that Third Eye chain watcher on the Specialized had, just in case. Interestingly, the Specialized was a six speed rear geared bike, so these chain rings shouldn't work with a 9 speed chain, right? Well, they do just fine, actually, and I don't see any issue with the set up in that manner. 

The big test will be the Fargo Adventure Ride on Friday. We'll see then, but for now, I can't see why things won't go smoothly. A last, night time, gravel road test ride will be done hopefully tomorrow, and then it is on to Minnesota with this rig.

The Green Light

<===Heading north bound with this on Friday......

Green lights.  The signal for "going".

I've been waiting for a "green light" for months now. When you are married, and have a family, it isn't all about what you want to do. So, when the Fargo Adventure Ride was announced, I penciled it into the calendar and  conferred with Mrs. Guitar Ted about it. She figured that it might work out to see a friend that she has up there and that our kids may go to see their grandparents at that time.

Then there were wrenches. You know......the things that can change your plans. 

First off, my wife's friend moves away from the Twin Cities. Then her boss at work starts meddling in her plans, telling her she won't tell my wife whether or not she can get the time off until the week of. (!!) Yeah........nice!

Well, we got around that major hurdle, and now my good friend that watches our kids and my wife are taking the kids to the Twin Cities for an overnight-er themselves. Everything worked out after all. 

So, the "green light" is on. I'm going to The Fargo Adventure Ride on Thursday/Friday, and then onward to the Sol Sessions in Wisconsin Friday till Sunday morning. Big riding , big miles in the car, and big fun with friends. I am excited.

Maybe we'll even run into some Trans Wisconsin riders, eh? That'd be cool!

In other news, The Renegade Sportsman author, Zach Dundas, does a bit of an article for Good magazine online here. Zach is exploring the rising popularity of these events, which to the average citizen may seem bizarre, twisted, and insane. He quotes Tim Ek, posts the T.I.V2 video made by Jeff Kerkove, and has a bit of a Q&A with me as well. Check it out for a perspective that comes from outside the little niche of gravel grinder freaks.

The Green Light

<===Heading north bound with this on Friday......

Green lights.  The signal for "going".

I've been waiting for a "green light" for months now. When you are married, and have a family, it isn't all about what you want to do. So, when the Fargo Adventure Ride was announced, I penciled it into the calendar and  conferred with Mrs. Guitar Ted about it. She figured that it might work out to see a friend that she has up there and that our kids may go to see their grandparents at that time.

Then there were wrenches. You know......the things that can change your plans. 

First off, my wife's friend moves away from the Twin Cities. Then her boss at work starts meddling in her plans, telling her she won't tell my wife whether or not she can get the time off until the week of. (!!) Yeah........nice!

Well, we got around that major hurdle, and now my good friend that watches our kids and my wife are taking the kids to the Twin Cities for an overnight-er themselves. Everything worked out after all. 

So, the "green light" is on. I'm going to The Fargo Adventure Ride on Thursday/Friday, and then onward to the Sol Sessions in Wisconsin Friday till Sunday morning. Big riding , big miles in the car, and big fun with friends. I am excited.

Maybe we'll even run into some Trans Wisconsin riders, eh? That'd be cool!

In other news, The Renegade Sportsman author, Zach Dundas, does a bit of an article for Good magazine online here. Zach is exploring the rising popularity of these events, which to the average citizen may seem bizarre, twisted, and insane. He quotes Tim Ek, posts the T.I.V2 video made by Jeff Kerkove, and has a bit of a Q&A with me as well. Check it out for a perspective that comes from outside the little niche of gravel grinder freaks.

Maintaining Part II

More rain, more maintenance! I got to looking at the frozen titanium pinch bolts for the eccentric bottom bracket and broke two 5mm wrenches before saying 'no mas!

Dang! I guess all that snow riding froze the little buggers into place......forever! Galvanic corrosion is like that. I suppose I could try the "hot wrench", but that doesn't appeal to me on several levels.

34 X 20T gearing is what I am stuck with for single speeding now. Not the end of the world, mind you, but it does go against "T-6 Brent's Rule Of Single Speeding". I'm supposed to be on to an 18 tooth cog out back now, (actually, a seventeen tooth cog!), and this gear I originally set the Dillinger up with was with snow riding in mind. Well, what can ya do? I guess I'll have to make up for it by taking the Dillinger to somewhere with steeper, or longer climbs.

Actually, that sounds quite fun. 

More maintenance to be done yet, so back down to The Lab!

Maintaining Part II

More rain, more maintenance! I got to looking at the frozen titanium pinch bolts for the eccentric bottom bracket and broke two 5mm wrenches before saying 'no mas!

Dang! I guess all that snow riding froze the little buggers into place......forever! Galvanic corrosion is like that. I suppose I could try the "hot wrench", but that doesn't appeal to me on several levels.

34 X 20T gearing is what I am stuck with for single speeding now. Not the end of the world, mind you, but it does go against "T-6 Brent's Rule Of Single Speeding". I'm supposed to be on to an 18 tooth cog out back now, (actually, a seventeen tooth cog!), and this gear I originally set the Dillinger up with was with snow riding in mind. Well, what can ya do? I guess I'll have to make up for it by taking the Dillinger to somewhere with steeper, or longer climbs.

Actually, that sounds quite fun. 

More maintenance to be done yet, so back down to The Lab!