Friday News And Views

Braces!

These Things Rule:

Once in a while you get a hold of something and use it, then you decide it is awesome. It may be a small thing, but it is so good that you decide it "rules". There are a few things I have come up with of late that I feel this way about, and I figured I would share here.

First of all, if you have an issue with shorts or winter tights rolling down, not staying up, or if you have to cinch down the tie or use a belt on your knickers, well, here is something I am using that you should as well. This is old, old, old school. They are suspenders, or as they are called in some parts of the world, "braces". They turn anything that isn't a bib style cycling garment into virtual bib type garments. No more belts, no tight rope strung around your gut. No more tugging at your waistline to get your tights in place.

I think suspenders rule. They are comfortable and cheap to buy. Mine came from a surplus store and cost ten measly bucks. You can wear your outer shell over them and no one will know you have them on. (If you even care about that sort of thing.) Found in a multitude of colors and patterns to suit your taste. Get some!

Bontrager Lithos jacket

Another item I have just purchased is this Bontrager Lithos jacket. It is a hard shell jacket that is wind and water proof and is.......here it comes.......breathable. Yeah, everyone says that about rain gear, and then you wear it and, yep! You may as well be in a garbage bag you are so soaked in sweat. Well, this jacket actually does have a modicum of breathability. I know, because I have been wearing it on these upper 40 to lower 50 degree days. Cycling back and forth to work, I have noticed little of the "garbage bag" effect. The Lithos has two enormous vents running diagonally from the chest down to the lower sides. What is more, the huge slash pockets have mesh liners to the inside.   So, they are, in effect, two more vents. There are no pit zips, but if you don't cinch down the wrists, you get some air flow through the arms. This is, actually, my only nit with the jacket so far. Had they put pit zips in this it would be really breathable. But as it sits, I think it is really good.

Besides the breathability, The Lithos has a helmet sized hood, an inner chest pocket, well sized for the largest phones, and that has a zippered closure. That pocket also has a media port. There is this little pocket on the upper left arm as well. Not really sure what you'd put in there, but it is there! The main zipper is a two way zip, so you can zip it up from the bottom for more venting options. Finally, it features a treatment dubbed 37.5 which is why the  Lithos works when you are exercising.

I haven't been in a rain with the thing yet, but if it passes that test, (and for a $300.00 jacket, it darn well better!), I'll say it rules as well. The main thing is that it fits true to size, breathes okay, and vents pretty well. It is a mountain biking piece, so it is meant for hydration pack wear, thus no rear pocket/venting. And about the price- in rain wear, you get what you pay for, generally speaking. I've had a lot of rain jackets that cost less, and all of them were deficient. We'll see how this plays out, but so far........

The much maligned Fasterkatt

Finally, I want to nominate the 45NRTH Fasterkatt as a boot that rules. I know, I know.........lots of folks hated on these. And to be sure, they have their deficiencies. You had to learn how to dance with them, the zippers in particular are fussy, but the alternative is what?

The alternative, which lots of folks forget about, is cycling shoes and booties, or"shoe covers" if you prefer. Whatever you want to call them, Fasterkatt boots beat the heck out of the old way. Yeah, go ahead and slag the boot, call me stupid for liking them, but I am not going back to those booties. No how, no way. That sucked, and in the worst way possible. These boots protect from wind, rain, snow, mud, and keep my feet warm. They fit me great, and I have zero discomforts when cycling with them.

45NRTH now has a Japanther model which has supplanted the Fasterkatt boots and is supposedly a better deal. Get those then. Whatever you do, get something like the Japanther, or the Garneau boot which is similar. Just get a boot for cycling that rules.

My boot? The Fasterkatt, and I have learned just exactly how to make the zippers live and I get along with them just fine. So for my uses, this rules, and it is waaaaay better than booties!

Okay, how long can this totally awesome weather hold out in December? (Maybe not long with the coming storm, but.....) Anyway, get outside and enjoy what you can of what is left of it. Thanks for reading, as always, and have a great weekend!

Roads: Two Kinds

Rough, (foreground), or smooth, (back ground), I like these sorts of roads best.

In the world of "road cycling" there is a perception that there is only one kind of "road". That would be a paved, smooth, hard surface. Unforgiving, home to copious amounts of automobile and truck traffic, and in many cases, unfit for cycling. Sure, there are quiet nooks and corners in the paved world, but for the most part, you are encroaching upon the playground of heavy, high velocity chunks of rubber, plastic, and steel piloted by distracted drivers and many who deem those on two wheels as some sort of insect to be crushed. Many think this is the only kind of road cycling there is.

They couldn't be more wrong.

There are other roads. Roads that are not paved smooth, but have crushed rock, or even dirt as their passageway. These roads are shunned by automobiles, and are solely the province of the rural resident, who typically sees a two wheeled, pedaling humanoid as someone to wave at and give a wide berth to. These roads are not only the realm of the courteous, but take you back, closer to nature. There is the cleansing of the mind and renewing of the soul. This is where one can disconnect from the connected and get some much needed re-connection with nature.

These are my kind of roads.

Roads: Two Kinds

Rough, (foreground), or smooth, (back ground), I like these sorts of roads best.

In the world of "road cycling" there is a perception that there is only one kind of "road". That would be a paved, smooth, hard surface. Unforgiving, home to copious amounts of automobile and truck traffic, and in many cases, unfit for cycling. Sure, there are quiet nooks and corners in the paved world, but for the most part, you are encroaching upon the playground of heavy, high velocity chunks of rubber, plastic, and steel piloted by distracted drivers and many who deem those on two wheels as some sort of insect to be crushed. Many think this is the only kind of road cycling there is.

They couldn't be more wrong.

There are other roads. Roads that are not paved smooth, but have crushed rock, or even dirt as their passageway. These roads are shunned by automobiles, and are solely the province of the rural resident, who typically sees a two wheeled, pedaling humanoid as someone to wave at and give a wide berth to. These roads are not only the realm of the courteous, but take you back, closer to nature. There is the cleansing of the mind and renewing of the soul. This is where one can disconnect from the connected and get some much needed re-connection with nature.

These are my kind of roads.

Guitar Ted Lube Off: Wet Season

Rock & Roll Gold: Too sticky!

Okay, with the Summer season well behind us, and the DuMonde Tech and Rock & Roll lubes having been great during that time of the year, it is now time to check out my "wet" weather results and what I have planned so far up to this point in the season.

First, an update on Rock & Roll Gold lube. It is not a good wet weather lube here. What worked in the dry times seems to not be so good when mud and moisture come into the picture. I'm not picking up a lot of gunk on my chain, but I am getting much more than I did when it was drier. What I am getting is a sticky chain and it caused chain suck on a 36T ring the other day. This was right after applying a fresh coating of the lube only hours before. That's not going to cut it for me. So, that's it for this lube. I would recommend it heartily for anything dry, as far as conditions, but not when things get nasty.

Of course, DuMonde Tech is going to be used going forward, but I also have some "off the wall" solutions in the mix. I won't say what they are just yet, but I have gotten some surprising results. More on all of that soon......

Stay tuned. This is going to get real interesting.

Guitar Ted Lube Off: Wet Season

Rock & Roll Gold: Too sticky!

Okay, with the Summer season well behind us, and the DuMonde Tech and Rock & Roll lubes having been great during that time of the year, it is now time to check out my "wet" weather results and what I have planned so far up to this point in the season.

First, an update on Rock & Roll Gold lube. It is not a good wet weather lube here. What worked in the dry times seems to not be so good when mud and moisture come into the picture. I'm not picking up a lot of gunk on my chain, but I am getting much more than I did when it was drier. What I am getting is a sticky chain and it caused chain suck on a 36T ring the other day. This was right after applying a fresh coating of the lube only hours before. That's not going to cut it for me. So, that's it for this lube. I would recommend it heartily for anything dry, as far as conditions, but not when things get nasty.

Of course, DuMonde Tech is going to be used going forward, but I also have some "off the wall" solutions in the mix. I won't say what they are just yet, but I have gotten some surprising results. More on all of that soon......

Stay tuned. This is going to get real interesting.

Extended Play

The "long way" home from work.

Thanks El Nino. Or whatever/whomever you want to thank here. The bottom line is that the weather has been outstanding so far into Winter here. Yes......we did have that little dalliance with "real Winter" a while back, but you'd never know it now. Upper 40's have been the norm and cycling outdoors continues on an "extended play" basis. Call it "bonus time". Whatever you want to call it, it is one less day of real Winter weather and one more day closer to Spring.

This is so unusual that I have a hard time remembering the last time it happened. Oh yeah......we've had zero snow before, but it has been a long time since we've had no snow, and that coupled with this string of warm weather this late into December. I think '08 was similar, but the end of that deal came right after Election Day when it got really cold. Sometimes we go until Thanksgiving with warmer temperatures. I think it was '07 when it was 50° or so on that day, but again, it got really cold right afterward. Correct me if I am wrong here, you weather-heads out there, but I have to go back to maybe the last time we had a big El Nino year, back in '97/'98, and I recall cycling in a jersey and bibs right up into mid-December before it fell back into the 30's-40's and I had to wear a jacket again!

I'm making the best of it, and it couldn't have come at a better time, since I have a bunch of review stuff I can continue to check out now. Usually that part of what I do is shut down by now and I am riding fat bikes and having fun. Not that this isn't fun, because it really is fun, but it is weird. You know........weird as in "not right", and waiting for the hammer to come down any day now. There is definitely a tension that way. Folks know we're playing with house money, and pretty soon, (likely), it is going to come to a screeching halt.

Until then, I ride........

Extended Play

The "long way" home from work.

Thanks El Nino. Or whatever/whomever you want to thank here. The bottom line is that the weather has been outstanding so far into Winter here. Yes......we did have that little dalliance with "real Winter" a while back, but you'd never know it now. Upper 40's have been the norm and cycling outdoors continues on an "extended play" basis. Call it "bonus time". Whatever you want to call it, it is one less day of real Winter weather and one more day closer to Spring.

This is so unusual that I have a hard time remembering the last time it happened. Oh yeah......we've had zero snow before, but it has been a long time since we've had no snow, and that coupled with this string of warm weather this late into December. I think '08 was similar, but the end of that deal came right after Election Day when it got really cold. Sometimes we go until Thanksgiving with warmer temperatures. I think it was '07 when it was 50° or so on that day, but again, it got really cold right afterward. Correct me if I am wrong here, you weather-heads out there, but I have to go back to maybe the last time we had a big El Nino year, back in '97/'98, and I recall cycling in a jersey and bibs right up into mid-December before it fell back into the 30's-40's and I had to wear a jacket again!

I'm making the best of it, and it couldn't have come at a better time, since I have a bunch of review stuff I can continue to check out now. Usually that part of what I do is shut down by now and I am riding fat bikes and having fun. Not that this isn't fun, because it really is fun, but it is weird. You know........weird as in "not right", and waiting for the hammer to come down any day now. There is definitely a tension that way. Folks know we're playing with house money, and pretty soon, (likely), it is going to come to a screeching halt.

Until then, I ride........

A Day Late

Things were mushy and wet back in the Green Belt

Saturday was the "Global Fat Bike Day", an unofficial, social date for owners of fat bikes to have an excuse to ride. Like we actually need an excuse to ride, or something. Yeah..........right......

Well, anyway, I ended up going to get a hair cut, then head over to help a friend install a huge picture window in his house. Afterward I had a few odds and ends to work on at my own house. So much for the big holiday for fat bikes. I figured I would go do a fat bike ride a day late, just because. 

Sunday was dreary, with showers, and it was about 40-ish degrees, which was the best thing about the whole day. Well, that and I actually had time to ride my bicycle. I didn't need any other excuse. So, I grabbed the Blackborow DS with the drive train in the "high" range and I headed out to the Green Belt. I slapped some lights on just in case I stayed out late enough to get in the dark. It was about 3:00pm before I left, so that was a very real possibility.

The Green Belt was wet, but not super greasy. It had rained a light amount earlier in the day, so everything was still sopping wet, even the grass. The tires made that tell-tale sound when the dirt is saturated with water. The good thing was that the base of the single track was firm, so I was barely pressing in the tread blocks and I wasn't compacting the mud in most places at all.

I stopped for a pic by this pond on Marky-Mark.

I found this pond still iced over despite all the warm weather of late. 

Next time I'm out, this tree will have fallen into Black Hawk Creek

There were some big puddles to cross in the usual spots. Deeper than is typical too. The biggest one I didn't clear the second time through and I had to dab. Wet foot! That's why you wear wool socks. My foot stayed warm even though it was soaked.

Besides that, I didn't see a hardly a soul out on the trail yesterday. Maybe one pedestrian. I only saw one set of human tracks and one set of fresher mtb tracks. Maybe a cyclo cross bike near the lake. Hmm......not sure.

I did see a tree root ball pulling up out of the ground. I went by it the first time and did not notice the big fissures in the ground like I did the second time. I would not be surprised that the tree was just beginning to pull up, but I could be wrong. I find it hard to believe that I missed this the first time. Of course, I've seen the results of the process hundreds of times out there, but this might be the first time I've caught this in process. Oh yeah, and this will force a reroute to avoid going into the river once this does fall over.

At any rate, it was a good late afternoon spin to get out of the house for a bit.

A Day Late

Things were mushy and wet back in the Green Belt

Saturday was the "Global Fat Bike Day", an unofficial, social date for owners of fat bikes to have an excuse to ride. Like we actually need an excuse to ride, or something. Yeah..........right......

Well, anyway, I ended up going to get a hair cut, then head over to help a friend install a huge picture window in his house. Afterward I had a few odds and ends to work on at my own house. So much for the big holiday for fat bikes. I figured I would go do a fat bike ride a day late, just because. 

Sunday was dreary, with showers, and it was about 40-ish degrees, which was the best thing about the whole day. Well, that and I actually had time to ride my bicycle. I didn't need any other excuse. So, I grabbed the Blackborow DS with the drive train in the "high" range and I headed out to the Green Belt. I slapped some lights on just in case I stayed out late enough to get in the dark. It was about 3:00pm before I left, so that was a very real possibility.

The Green Belt was wet, but not super greasy. It had rained a light amount earlier in the day, so everything was still sopping wet, even the grass. The tires made that tell-tale sound when the dirt is saturated with water. The good thing was that the base of the single track was firm, so I was barely pressing in the tread blocks and I wasn't compacting the mud in most places at all.

I stopped for a pic by this pond on Marky-Mark.

I found this pond still iced over despite all the warm weather of late. 

Next time I'm out, this tree will have fallen into Black Hawk Creek

There were some big puddles to cross in the usual spots. Deeper than is typical too. The biggest one I didn't clear the second time through and I had to dab. Wet foot! That's why you wear wool socks. My foot stayed warm even though it was soaked.

Besides that, I didn't see a hardly a soul out on the trail yesterday. Maybe one pedestrian. I only saw one set of human tracks and one set of fresher mtb tracks. Maybe a cyclo cross bike near the lake. Hmm......not sure.

I did see a tree root ball pulling up out of the ground. I went by it the first time and did not notice the big fissures in the ground like I did the second time. I would not be surprised that the tree was just beginning to pull up, but I could be wrong. I find it hard to believe that I missed this the first time. Of course, I've seen the results of the process hundreds of times out there, but this might be the first time I've caught this in process. Oh yeah, and this will force a reroute to avoid going into the river once this does fall over.

At any rate, it was a good late afternoon spin to get out of the house for a bit.

The Dark Art Of Solid Tyre Mounting- Part 2

The late 19th Century jig used to wire tires on with.

Earlier in the week I mentioned that the shop where I work at had a job to do that required some really old knowledge. The job involved two old wheel chair wheels that needed new rubber wired on to their rims. These rims were simple "U" shaped hoops of sheet steel that had no mechanical connection to the tire, like our current day "clincher" wheels do. These also weren't "tubular" tire rims either, where a pneumatic tire is glued to a rim.

The way these treads were held on the rims was by a wire which runs through the center of the rubber tread. The "tires" are really "hoses" with really thick walls, or you can also say that they are solid rubber "ropes" with a hole molded in the center running the length of the "rope" which a wire is strung through. Either way you want to describe this, it is not a circular tire. Nope. These are coiled rubber lengths of a certain diameter that are cut to a specific length, then strung with wire. The wire holds the section of rubber to the specified rim.

The length that you need for a specific rim is done by a formula which requires a certain amount of rubber "rope" be added to the overall rim circumference. (It's not too complicated to figure out, by the way.) If this is done correctly, the tread, or "rope" of rubber actually will overlap itself by about three inches or so when you string it around the rim. The wire extends out from the ends of the tread a significant amount more. Now, I will attempt to give you all an overview of how this is done.

There is a lot going on here! Read below! 

Okay, I have this image which shows a lot of things. I want to break it down and walk you- the reader- through all of what is going on here. I'll start out with the objects shown in the upper, center part of this image. Let's dive in!

•  Coiled Rubber: In the upper center part of the image you see the coiled rubber "tread" and by looking carefully you will note the silver colored steel wire sticking out of each end of the tread. This wire runs the length of the tread. 
• Bundle Of Wire: Next to the tread, in the upper right hand side on a white piece of paper, you can see a bundle of wire. That is actually silver soldering wire which I used to braze the wire in the tread together. The jar is the special flux I used for brazing. You'll see what I mean later........
•  No. 500 Tire Setter: Here you can see in the center of the image the jig shown up above. I affixed it directly to the work bench with two dry wall screws and a "C" clamp. 
• Wheel and Tread: In the lower part of the image you see the gold colored wheel chair rim, spokes, hand rail, and hub. The tread is laced around the rim, and the central wire can be seen here as it was affixed to the jig and drawn tightly up by the hand crank and worm gear arrangement. The tread is held apart here by a cast metal jig, which the wires are running over the top of here. The tension on the wires will be held when I cut the excess ends off by two needle nosed "Vice Grip" adjustable jaw pliers. All will be explained below. 

Remember I said that the tread overlapped the circumference of rim by a specified amount? Well, when the wires are threaded into the jig, those blocks on the worm gear are close together at the center of the jig. The hand crank is turned clockwise which then starts the blocks on their outward journey on the worm gear. This pulls the wire which in turn begins to draw up the rubber to the rim. Once the tread settles into the "U" shaped channel of the rim, enough tension is applied that the ends of the tread are butting right up against the jig which the wires are running over. When do you know when to stop cranking? Well, that was a guess on my part, but it seemed reasonable to stop at the point where the tread was deforming against the jig block.

A close up look at the jig block, wires, and how my pliers were positioned to hold the tension of the wires once cut. 

A look with wires cut, aligned alongside each other, and fluxed in preparation for brazing. 

Again, I will walk you through what you see in the image above which was taken just before I brazed the wire ends together.

• Jig Block: This was my first attempt at this ever, and I wasn't 100% pleased with how the jig shifted after I cut the wires which exposed a bit of the tire in the center. I made a slight change when I did the second wheel which worked perfectly. 
• Wire Prep: The exposed length of wire was clipped, which then allowed me to move the wheel away from the tire setter jig. The tension cranked into the wire was being maintained at this point by the two carefully positioned Vice Grip pliers. Then I had to get into that tight space the block jig created between the tread ends and maneuver those wire ends alongside each other close enough that the silver solder would adhere and bind them together. Once that was done, a paste of flux was applied with a small bush. A piece of tin bent over the rim to protect it from heat is also seen above. 
• Brazing: I used to be a bench jeweler for 10 years and I have done a lot of soldering and brazing work. It had been some years since I had handled a torch, but I managed and this was done using a frame brazing torch fueled by oxygen and acetylene. 

Like I said, it had been awhile since I had operated a torch and I went straight into this with zero practice, so I was taking a risk, but relying on my years of experience. The torch was a bigger one than I was used to and it hadn't been in regular use either. All in all, looking back on the first attempt, I was so lucky it worked out. The flame was too hot, for starters, and how I didn't atomize the whole deal into a gaseous cloud, I don't know. I was a bit taken back by the heat the flame I had generated. The thing was, due to the tip being contaminated/dirty/underused, I couldn't dial it down at first. Well, anyway, it brazed up like a champ, amazingly, and that one was done. The second wheel was much smoother due to the torch having been cleared out and I was able to set it much cooler on that pass so everything went with much more control and a lot less luck!

Finished product.

Once the thing had been cooled down by spraying down the block jig and brazing area with water, I could remove the tin heat shield, jig, and Vice Grip pliers. This takes the tension off the tread, and since the tread wants to creep in toward the center to release that energy that was put into it by the setting jig, the tread butts up against its ends and that's that. You have a rideable wheel.

The process itself isn't too complex, but there are, as in anything you do, nuances and tricks which you don't see, or have described in an article or from a YouTube video. Like I said above, I changed a couple of things on the second wheel attempt and it went a lot smoother than the first one did. I wasn't 100% stoked on how it was afterward, but for a first attempt at a 120 year old process, I was pretty pleased overall. It worked! We got the job done.

Besides the little tricks and processes, there are two major things here without which I would never have been able to accomplish this job. The first and foremost was having the setting jig. The other was having the skill of brazing that I have learned from my years as a jeweler. I was reminded how things like torches kind of freak some people out when my coworker was acting skittish around the torch and jumped when I popped the torch a couple of times at first because I was having an issue with the touchy acetylene valve. I know I get freaked out sometimes by things folks do with regularity and I am not familiar with how what they are doing works. So, I suppose it shouldn't surprise me that a few of the guys hanging around the shop were awed by what I had done. That said, I couldn't have done it without that decade of experience around a torch and without that jig. Then there were the internet videos and articles I found explaining the process. Those were the missing links I needed to understand it all.

Well, I am glad we got that job done. Am I going to be doing this again? Who knows? But if so, I will have some invaluable experience to draw upon. I was glad to have had the chance to set my hand to this task.

The Dark Art Of Solid Tyre Mounting- Part 2

The late 19th Century jig used to wire tires on with.

Earlier in the week I mentioned that the shop where I work at had a job to do that required some really old knowledge. The job involved two old wheel chair wheels that needed new rubber wired on to their rims. These rims were simple "U" shaped hoops of sheet steel that had no mechanical connection to the tire, like our current day "clincher" wheels do. These also weren't "tubular" tire rims either, where a pneumatic tire is glued to a rim.

The way these treads were held on the rims was by a wire which runs through the center of the rubber tread. The "tires" are really "hoses" with really thick walls, or you can also say that they are solid rubber "ropes" with a hole molded in the center running the length of the "rope" which a wire is strung through. Either way you want to describe this, it is not a circular tire. Nope. These are coiled rubber lengths of a certain diameter that are cut to a specific length, then strung with wire. The wire holds the section of rubber to the specified rim.

The length that you need for a specific rim is done by a formula which requires a certain amount of rubber "rope" be added to the overall rim circumference. (It's not too complicated to figure out, by the way.) If this is done correctly, the tread, or "rope" of rubber actually will overlap itself by about three inches or so when you string it around the rim. The wire extends out from the ends of the tread a significant amount more. Now, I will attempt to give you all an overview of how this is done.

There is a lot going on here! Read below! 

Okay, I have this image which shows a lot of things. I want to break it down and walk you- the reader- through all of what is going on here. I'll start out with the objects shown in the upper, center part of this image. Let's dive in!

•  Coiled Rubber: In the upper center part of the image you see the coiled rubber "tread" and by looking carefully you will note the silver colored steel wire sticking out of each end of the tread. This wire runs the length of the tread. 
• Bundle Of Wire: Next to the tread, in the upper right hand side on a white piece of paper, you can see a bundle of wire. That is actually silver soldering wire which I used to braze the wire in the tread together. The jar is the special flux I used for brazing. You'll see what I mean later........
•  No. 500 Tire Setter: Here you can see in the center of the image the jig shown up above. I affixed it directly to the work bench with two dry wall screws and a "C" clamp. 
• Wheel and Tread: In the lower part of the image you see the gold colored wheel chair rim, spokes, hand rail, and hub. The tread is laced around the rim, and the central wire can be seen here as it was affixed to the jig and drawn tightly up by the hand crank and worm gear arrangement. The tread is held apart here by a cast metal jig, which the wires are running over the top of here. The tension on the wires will be held when I cut the excess ends off by two needle nosed "Vice Grip" adjustable jaw pliers. All will be explained below. 

Remember I said that the tread overlapped the circumference of rim by a specified amount? Well, when the wires are threaded into the jig, those blocks on the worm gear are close together at the center of the jig. The hand crank is turned clockwise which then starts the blocks on their outward journey on the worm gear. This pulls the wire which in turn begins to draw up the rubber to the rim. Once the tread settles into the "U" shaped channel of the rim, enough tension is applied that the ends of the tread are butting right up against the jig which the wires are running over. When do you know when to stop cranking? Well, that was a guess on my part, but it seemed reasonable to stop at the point where the tread was deforming against the jig block.

A close up look at the jig block, wires, and how my pliers were positioned to hold the tension of the wires once cut. 

A look with wires cut, aligned alongside each other, and fluxed in preparation for brazing. 

Again, I will walk you through what you see in the image above which was taken just before I brazed the wire ends together.

• Jig Block: This was my first attempt at this ever, and I wasn't 100% pleased with how the jig shifted after I cut the wires which exposed a bit of the tire in the center. I made a slight change when I did the second wheel which worked perfectly. 
• Wire Prep: The exposed length of wire was clipped, which then allowed me to move the wheel away from the tire setter jig. The tension cranked into the wire was being maintained at this point by the two carefully positioned Vice Grip pliers. Then I had to get into that tight space the block jig created between the tread ends and maneuver those wire ends alongside each other close enough that the silver solder would adhere and bind them together. Once that was done, a paste of flux was applied with a small bush. A piece of tin bent over the rim to protect it from heat is also seen above. 
• Brazing: I used to be a bench jeweler for 10 years and I have done a lot of soldering and brazing work. It had been some years since I had handled a torch, but I managed and this was done using a frame brazing torch fueled by oxygen and acetylene. 

Like I said, it had been awhile since I had operated a torch and I went straight into this with zero practice, so I was taking a risk, but relying on my years of experience. The torch was a bigger one than I was used to and it hadn't been in regular use either. All in all, looking back on the first attempt, I was so lucky it worked out. The flame was too hot, for starters, and how I didn't atomize the whole deal into a gaseous cloud, I don't know. I was a bit taken back by the heat the flame I had generated. The thing was, due to the tip being contaminated/dirty/underused, I couldn't dial it down at first. Well, anyway, it brazed up like a champ, amazingly, and that one was done. The second wheel was much smoother due to the torch having been cleared out and I was able to set it much cooler on that pass so everything went with much more control and a lot less luck!

Finished product.

Once the thing had been cooled down by spraying down the block jig and brazing area with water, I could remove the tin heat shield, jig, and Vice Grip pliers. This takes the tension off the tread, and since the tread wants to creep in toward the center to release that energy that was put into it by the setting jig, the tread butts up against its ends and that's that. You have a rideable wheel.

The process itself isn't too complex, but there are, as in anything you do, nuances and tricks which you don't see, or have described in an article or from a YouTube video. Like I said above, I changed a couple of things on the second wheel attempt and it went a lot smoother than the first one did. I wasn't 100% stoked on how it was afterward, but for a first attempt at a 120 year old process, I was pretty pleased overall. It worked! We got the job done.

Besides the little tricks and processes, there are two major things here without which I would never have been able to accomplish this job. The first and foremost was having the setting jig. The other was having the skill of brazing that I have learned from my years as a jeweler. I was reminded how things like torches kind of freak some people out when my coworker was acting skittish around the torch and jumped when I popped the torch a couple of times at first because I was having an issue with the touchy acetylene valve. I know I get freaked out sometimes by things folks do with regularity and I am not familiar with how what they are doing works. So, I suppose it shouldn't surprise me that a few of the guys hanging around the shop were awed by what I had done. That said, I couldn't have done it without that decade of experience around a torch and without that jig. Then there were the internet videos and articles I found explaining the process. Those were the missing links I needed to understand it all.

Well, I am glad we got that job done. Am I going to be doing this again? Who knows? But if so, I will have some invaluable experience to draw upon. I was glad to have had the chance to set my hand to this task.

Friday News And Views

Sam Auen, Steve Fuller, David Cornielson, (L-R)

The Renegade Gent's Race 6.0: In 2011 I received an e-mail from my Trans Iowa friend, Steve Fuller, asking me if I would like to join him and three other fellows I did not know for a "gent's style race" in the Des Moines area. I said I would. But to be quite honest, I was very flabbergasted that I had been invited to join with these other Des Moines area cyclists. I was certain that there were other worthy candidates to flesh out the five man team for this seemingly local event. But, I was also motivated to be part of what I knew was a vibrant cycling community, even for just a day.

The thing was, you just never know how you will hit it off- or not- with new folks. Lucky for me, I hit it off just fine with these gents, and so for every year since, we've made the time on the first wekend in April to be part of a team called the "Careless Whispers", so named for our various states of facial hair which, in some cases, is/was somewhat like George Michaels' famous three day shadow beard. He of the "Careless Whispers" song fame. Well......with that out of the way then.....

I am hopeful that for the sixth year running we all can pull together for another day of cycling on April 2nd, 2016. That's when the sixth Renegade Gent's Race will take place. Yep- we've been to every edition so far, the only five person team to have done so intact. The first year there were 15 teams. Last year there were.....I don't know- three times as many folks? Something like that. Anyway- I'd like to keep the streak alive, of course, but more than that, the guys I met that Sun dappled day in April 2011 have become good buddies of mine, even though I see them only once a year, for the most part.

If you are interested in possibly getting a team together, check out BikeIowa.com and keep an eye out there.

I should take a few more pictures of this. Oh well- here's an "old one".

 Project 1X1 Update:

From time to time I am going to post up my recent thoughts on the Project 1x1 and what I've been up to with it. So, here's another tidbit on this old Surly.

My main thought here is that if you have a Surly Troll, Big Dummy, 1X1, or another fat tire friendly 26"er bike, you need to check out these Extraterrestrial tires. Tubeless on the Velocity Cliffhanger rims, these wheels are amazingly smooth, and fun. The tires are so smooth and roll so well that the bike became a favorite to ride in my stable immediately.

I've been doing some commutes and an errand or two so far on this bike running the wheels through snow, mud, rain, and in dry conditions on choppy pavement and a bit of gravel. These wheels are just very fun, smooth, and comfy. The tires are not mtb tires, so you get into situations where you find out that, hey! My back tire isn't gripping! Or you find the bike sliding laterally on mud. It is because the capable, stable feel you get, and the traction that the Extraterrestrials have on more dry, normal stuff, leads you to believe you are invincible. Well, you almost are. Almost. With the tires, that is.......

Anyway, I've been running about 15-20psi in the tires, and I don't see why I should go higher than that. Over 20psi, they get harsh, bouncy, and although they roll fast, they roll just as fast only with a damped, smooth feel at 20 or slightly less. The Cliffhanger rims fit with these is tremendously good. I do not fear any burping or that any issues that would give me pause will ever arise. The tires and rims on this bike are really good.

The incredible weather continues into December

Weather Affecting Cycling Action:

They predicted an El Nino Winter, and so far, that has played out here. Just like I stated in my post yesterday, the weather has been so good we're still cycling out on the gravel roads, although the freeze/thaw cycles have kicked in enough now that single track is getting iffy if you get out when it has been above freezing. Which it has been for most of every day lately.

So, this is good and it is bad. Bad in that this weekend is "Global Fat Bike Day". Saturday's forecast here is for temperatures in the upper 40's and it is supposed to be sunny. That means mud, and great gravel road conditions. If I am riding tomorrow, I am riding gravel roads. Because I can. In December. That usually doesn't happen. I'm taking every opportunity I can get to do that until Winter shows up, if it shows up this year. So, that's the good part about the weather.

This weekend is also Jingle Cross weekend. That's great and all, but I typically don't get really excited about being in big crowds. I did see Cross Vegas one time, and it was spectacular, fun, and I saw some amazing performances. I bet that will happen again this weekend at Jingle Cross. I am just not all that motivated to go watch that. Not my bag, really. But for those of you that get off on cross racing, you should go see this event. It is a rare deal in Iowa to have such an internationally known cycling event. At least the weather will be great for spectators.

That's a wrap for this week. Have fun if you go to Jingle Cross, otherwise, get out and ride!

Friday News And Views

Sam Auen, Steve Fuller, David Cornielson, (L-R)

The Renegade Gent's Race 6.0: In 2011 I received an e-mail from my Trans Iowa friend, Steve Fuller, asking me if I would like to join him and three other fellows I did not know for a "gent's style race" in the Des Moines area. I said I would. But to be quite honest, I was very flabbergasted that I had been invited to join with these other Des Moines area cyclists. I was certain that there were other worthy candidates to flesh out the five man team for this seemingly local event. But, I was also motivated to be part of what I knew was a vibrant cycling community, even for just a day.

The thing was, you just never know how you will hit it off- or not- with new folks. Lucky for me, I hit it off just fine with these gents, and so for every year since, we've made the time on the first wekend in April to be part of a team called the "Careless Whispers", so named for our various states of facial hair which, in some cases, is/was somewhat like George Michaels' famous three day shadow beard. He of the "Careless Whispers" song fame. Well......with that out of the way then.....

I am hopeful that for the sixth year running we all can pull together for another day of cycling on April 2nd, 2016. That's when the sixth Renegade Gent's Race will take place. Yep- we've been to every edition so far, the only five person team to have done so intact. The first year there were 15 teams. Last year there were.....I don't know- three times as many folks? Something like that. Anyway- I'd like to keep the streak alive, of course, but more than that, the guys I met that Sun dappled day in April 2011 have become good buddies of mine, even though I see them only once a year, for the most part.

If you are interested in possibly getting a team together, check out BikeIowa.com and keep an eye out there.

I should take a few more pictures of this. Oh well- here's an "old one".

 Project 1X1 Update:

From time to time I am going to post up my recent thoughts on the Project 1x1 and what I've been up to with it. So, here's another tidbit on this old Surly.

My main thought here is that if you have a Surly Troll, Big Dummy, 1X1, or another fat tire friendly 26"er bike, you need to check out these Extraterrestrial tires. Tubeless on the Velocity Cliffhanger rims, these wheels are amazingly smooth, and fun. The tires are so smooth and roll so well that the bike became a favorite to ride in my stable immediately.

I've been doing some commutes and an errand or two so far on this bike running the wheels through snow, mud, rain, and in dry conditions on choppy pavement and a bit of gravel. These wheels are just very fun, smooth, and comfy. The tires are not mtb tires, so you get into situations where you find out that, hey! My back tire isn't gripping! Or you find the bike sliding laterally on mud. It is because the capable, stable feel you get, and the traction that the Extraterrestrials have on more dry, normal stuff, leads you to believe you are invincible. Well, you almost are. Almost. With the tires, that is.......

Anyway, I've been running about 15-20psi in the tires, and I don't see why I should go higher than that. Over 20psi, they get harsh, bouncy, and although they roll fast, they roll just as fast only with a damped, smooth feel at 20 or slightly less. The Cliffhanger rims fit with these is tremendously good. I do not fear any burping or that any issues that would give me pause will ever arise. The tires and rims on this bike are really good.

The incredible weather continues into December

Weather Affecting Cycling Action:

They predicted an El Nino Winter, and so far, that has played out here. Just like I stated in my post yesterday, the weather has been so good we're still cycling out on the gravel roads, although the freeze/thaw cycles have kicked in enough now that single track is getting iffy if you get out when it has been above freezing. Which it has been for most of every day lately.

So, this is good and it is bad. Bad in that this weekend is "Global Fat Bike Day". Saturday's forecast here is for temperatures in the upper 40's and it is supposed to be sunny. That means mud, and great gravel road conditions. If I am riding tomorrow, I am riding gravel roads. Because I can. In December. That usually doesn't happen. I'm taking every opportunity I can get to do that until Winter shows up, if it shows up this year. So, that's the good part about the weather.

This weekend is also Jingle Cross weekend. That's great and all, but I typically don't get really excited about being in big crowds. I did see Cross Vegas one time, and it was spectacular, fun, and I saw some amazing performances. I bet that will happen again this weekend at Jingle Cross. I am just not all that motivated to go watch that. Not my bag, really. But for those of you that get off on cross racing, you should go see this event. It is a rare deal in Iowa to have such an internationally known cycling event. At least the weather will be great for spectators.

That's a wrap for this week. Have fun if you go to Jingle Cross, otherwise, get out and ride!

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!

The Dark Art Of Solid Tyre Mounting

Medieval torture device or .......?

Yesterday I had the unique experience of learning how to do something bicycle mechanics like Wilbur and Orville Wright were doing in their sleep in the late 1800's- that being how to mount a solid tyre to a steel rim that uses a wired on method to affix the rubber to the rim. 

I did a search on the internet and came up with about five resources which all pretty much agreed upon the "how" to do the job, but varied greatly in the "what to use" department to get there.

Oh........yes, you may be wondering why in the world I am undertaking the search for this archaic knowledge. Fair enough- The odd job came in which requires the mounting of a solid core tire, (I have been spelling it "tyre", for the reason to indicate this method's antiquity), which is held on to the rim with a wired on core. Let me explain more clearly: This "tyre" is really nothing more than a hard rubber tube which has ends. One then threads a heavy gauge wire through the center of this rubber tube and then by using a special formula, the rubber is cut so that it overlaps a certain, precise distance. Then the wire, which should extend further out of the ends of the rubber, is tensioned by a special jig or machine, (depending upon the tool used), which drws the wire tight around a rim with the rubber seating into the rims "U" shaped well. Then by a special process, the wire is cut and brazed together resulting in a continuous loop of wire, which the rubber surrounds.

Well, typically this would have been for the "ordinary" type of bicycle, (or "penny farthing"), but not this time. No, this is a really odd set of wheels for an ancient wheel chair.

So not one, but two! I get to try to do this feat of ancient, dark bicycle knowledge, and I don't have much margin for error since, ya know......I can't just walk into the back room and pull out some more solid rubber tire material. There is only so much of this stuff at my disposal, and quite frankly, I wonder if there is even enough to do both wheels! I actually found a place on-line that sells the solid rubber and wire for this sort of deal and it isn't cheap. I wasn't surprised, since this sort of thing is rare. That you can still get any of it at all in 2015 is amazing to my mind.

Well, at least there is one good thing about this job, and that is that we aren't going into RAGBRAI, when we would be crazy busy. I have plenty of time to sit down and take my time to get this right the first time. Oh, and did I mention that I get to use fire in the process? It's pretty much a guarantee that if your local bike shop mechanic gets to use either (a) a hammer, or (b) fire, in repair of a bicycle, it is considered to be a red letter type of a day. I don't think I'll have to use a hammer, but one YouTube video I found regarding the mounting of a solid rubber, wired on tire, showed a guy beating on the tire with a hammer. So, there is still hope! 

Stay tuned to see if I was successful or not.......

The Dark Art Of Solid Tyre Mounting

Medieval torture device or .......?

Yesterday I had the unique experience of learning how to do something bicycle mechanics like Wilbur and Orville Wright were doing in their sleep in the late 1800's- that being how to mount a solid tyre to a steel rim that uses a wired on method to affix the rubber to the rim. 

I did a search on the internet and came up with about five resources which all pretty much agreed upon the "how" to do the job, but varied greatly in the "what to use" department to get there.

Oh........yes, you may be wondering why in the world I am undertaking the search for this archaic knowledge. Fair enough- The odd job came in which requires the mounting of a solid core tire, (I have been spelling it "tyre", for the reason to indicate this method's antiquity), which is held on to the rim with a wired on core. Let me explain more clearly: This "tyre" is really nothing more than a hard rubber tube which has ends. One then threads a heavy gauge wire through the center of this rubber tube and then by using a special formula, the rubber is cut so that it overlaps a certain, precise distance. Then the wire, which should extend further out of the ends of the rubber, is tensioned by a special jig or machine, (depending upon the tool used), which drws the wire tight around a rim with the rubber seating into the rims "U" shaped well. Then by a special process, the wire is cut and brazed together resulting in a continuous loop of wire, which the rubber surrounds.

Well, typically this would have been for the "ordinary" type of bicycle, (or "penny farthing"), but not this time. No, this is a really odd set of wheels for an ancient wheel chair.

So not one, but two! I get to try to do this feat of ancient, dark bicycle knowledge, and I don't have much margin for error since, ya know......I can't just walk into the back room and pull out some more solid rubber tire material. There is only so much of this stuff at my disposal, and quite frankly, I wonder if there is even enough to do both wheels! I actually found a place on-line that sells the solid rubber and wire for this sort of deal and it isn't cheap. I wasn't surprised, since this sort of thing is rare. That you can still get any of it at all in 2015 is amazing to my mind.

Well, at least there is one good thing about this job, and that is that we aren't going into RAGBRAI, when we would be crazy busy. I have plenty of time to sit down and take my time to get this right the first time. Oh, and did I mention that I get to use fire in the process? It's pretty much a guarantee that if your local bike shop mechanic gets to use either (a) a hammer, or (b) fire, in repair of a bicycle, it is considered to be a red letter type of a day. I don't think I'll have to use a hammer, but one YouTube video I found regarding the mounting of a solid rubber, wired on tire, showed a guy beating on the tire with a hammer. So, there is still hope! 

Stay tuned to see if I was successful or not.......

One Year In

A year ago today I announced a big change for me, and at the end of that month of December, I announced another. One was a new beginning, the other was an ending. I joined forces with Ben Welnak of RidingGravel.com and merged Gravel Grinder News in with it. At the end of the month I left Twenty Nine Inches.com after almost ten years of service there. I thought today, since it is the anniversary of these big changes starting to take hold, I'd look back specifically at what this has meant to myself from a personal standpoint.

I guess one of the biggest things I was looking for out of all of this change was time. More time away from the computer, editing, writing stories, riding herd on review bikes, arranging tests, and publishing stories for two sites and sometimes three different writers, besides myself. In that regard, this change was a great success. I had so much extra time I didn't know what to do with myself, and to be honest, I still am adapting to that. It has been one of the best things about the changes from last year, for sure.

The other thing was getting away from "having to ride" to riding when and where I wanted to. That has been wildly successful. I was really wanting to get back to riding on gravel roads, since that was something that I had to relegate to Saturdays only for a long time, if I did it at all, and even then I felt guilty about it. This year? I rode so much gravel, enjoying every mile of it, that I only made it to the local Ingawanis Woodlands once all year so far to ride. That's unprecedented.

While I am still having to do reviews and tests, I get to ride where I like to be.

Not that I don't like mtb anymore, because I do. It's just that all the roads and sites and sounds of gravel riding are captivating and new. I could almost ride Ingawanis in my sleep, I've been there so many times. Again- not a bad thing, but I was in desperate need of some balance. I bet I ride more mtb next year, less gravel, and reach a better balance in these things, but we'll see....

The point is, the changes have been everything I suspected they should be, and I have gotten to do some gravel events I haven't been to in a while, (Dirty Kanza 200, Gravel Worlds), and meet a lot of people I haven't seen for years at those events.

So, I'll keep working on what to do with my time, (fixing up the house was one thing I started doing again), and I'll try to keep a good balance in terms of types of cycling next year. That said, I am super pleased and happy with where my cycling life is right now but I also know there is room to make improvements. I hope to continue to grow and stay focused with a good balance in life. I think last year those changes really kicked off that direction for me and I aim to continue on that path.

Thanks to all who have been supportive and continue to read where I write.

One Year In

A year ago today I announced a big change for me, and at the end of that month of December, I announced another. One was a new beginning, the other was an ending. I joined forces with Ben Welnak of RidingGravel.com and merged Gravel Grinder News in with it. At the end of the month I left Twenty Nine Inches.com after almost ten years of service there. I thought today, since it is the anniversary of these big changes starting to take hold, I'd look back specifically at what this has meant to myself from a personal standpoint.

I guess one of the biggest things I was looking for out of all of this change was time. More time away from the computer, editing, writing stories, riding herd on review bikes, arranging tests, and publishing stories for two sites and sometimes three different writers, besides myself. In that regard, this change was a great success. I had so much extra time I didn't know what to do with myself, and to be honest, I still am adapting to that. It has been one of the best things about the changes from last year, for sure.

The other thing was getting away from "having to ride" to riding when and where I wanted to. That has been wildly successful. I was really wanting to get back to riding on gravel roads, since that was something that I had to relegate to Saturdays only for a long time, if I did it at all, and even then I felt guilty about it. This year? I rode so much gravel, enjoying every mile of it, that I only made it to the local Ingawanis Woodlands once all year so far to ride. That's unprecedented.

While I am still having to do reviews and tests, I get to ride where I like to be.

Not that I don't like mtb anymore, because I do. It's just that all the roads and sites and sounds of gravel riding are captivating and new. I could almost ride Ingawanis in my sleep, I've been there so many times. Again- not a bad thing, but I was in desperate need of some balance. I bet I ride more mtb next year, less gravel, and reach a better balance in these things, but we'll see....

The point is, the changes have been everything I suspected they should be, and I have gotten to do some gravel events I haven't been to in a while, (Dirty Kanza 200, Gravel Worlds), and meet a lot of people I haven't seen for years at those events.

So, I'll keep working on what to do with my time, (fixing up the house was one thing I started doing again), and I'll try to keep a good balance in terms of types of cycling next year. That said, I am super pleased and happy with where my cycling life is right now but I also know there is room to make improvements. I hope to continue to grow and stay focused with a good balance in life. I think last year those changes really kicked off that direction for me and I aim to continue on that path.

Thanks to all who have been supportive and continue to read where I write.