Strava Year Story...

http://2014story.strava.com/video/1174925

There's the link, not much else to say.

I did a ride in Duluth, will update more later.

Not riding has been driving me nuts

I officially haven't ridden now for a week and it SUCKS.

Whole family got sick with this stomach bug, I luckily didn't get the puke/pooh part but I did get an ear infection out of the deal, complete with what they say could be a perforated eardrum and some really annoying ringing in my ear all the time.  I'm on antibiotics now and while I'm starting to feel better it's not quite there.  I wanted to ride last night but by the time came I didn't feel up to it, just exhausted.

My ear is also real sensitive to cold at the moment, I'm hoping that goes away pretty soon as I want to get back on the fatbike ASAP.  I'm feeling like I'm off-center with the lack of bike time.

Hopefully either tonight or tomorrow at least I'll get on the trainer for a spin, get the legs working again.  I would like to push myself pretty hard now between the holidays while I've got some time off.  I signed up for a power class in January and I know the harder I can push my legs now the better I'll be in the class and the more I'll get out of it.

Reforestation Camp Snow Loop - Ready to Rock

Did a half day vacation yesterday, skipped out of the afternoon of work in favor of heading to the fatbike loop at Reforestation Camp.  It was fantastic. 

I ended up with a partial loop which I pulled out of to go put more air in my rear tire, then two full loops after that.  The bike was super fun on the singletrack and I think it'll be a real blast later in the season as the snow piles up and smooths out the trail a bit.  At least that's what I assume will happen - I guess I'll find out.  Snow riding is still new to me and I'm learning a lot.  Where I have grip the bike is just like summer, but it's like if I get 6" off course I'm off the packed snow and then it's near falls.  I did not have any actual crashes, just dabs where I had to put my foot down.  I definitely could see how I could go much much faster than I did as I get more used to it. 

I also really appreciate just getting out there, music on, riding away.  The world can melt away and I can just be "there" in the zone.  This is where I get my balance in life and I feel so much better when I have something like this to even me out.  I find myself enjoying group rides but if I ever end up doing >50% of my rides with other people I'd be surprised.

As for speed, fitness plays a part as well, I don't have my legs like I did early in the season, and even that I'm off from where I'd like to be power wise.  I signed up for a power class in January - computrainer style down in DePere on Monday nights.  I think I'll learn a lot from it and more importantly get stronger!

I broke my goggles so I've had to wear Kris'.  They are pretty nice actually, I'm not in a big rush to replace mine.  Helmet wise I'm good - this one is nice and warm, if not hot.  I will not need anything warmer.  I think when I'm riding singletrack like this I will want to have a helmet on, I can see why people don't wear helmets when just straight cruising on snowmobile trails as it is hard to regulate heat with a helmet.  I will think about this helmet though - I may need to drill some new holes in the front to get some airflow, there are a bunch in the back but I'm definitely not venting enough.  I could wear my normal mtb helmet with a beanie but to be honest that gets hot too.

Maybe pink is my color:

Global Fatbike Day Ride @ Point Beach SP

Fun day Saturday out on the trails with about 80? riders.  Just gonna dump pics:

Tubeless Redo - Clown Shoe Rim Strip on Marge Lite Rim

So I continued to have some issue with my rear tire losing air while riding on the tubeless setup with the gorilla tape.  Friday night last week I decided to take it apart and redo it, this time using the clown shoe rim strip I'd bought just for this reason.

Looks like this in the bead:

I pushed the strip down under the lip, then mounted the tire w/tube, then followed the normal process for going tubeless.  Sealed up way better than the gorilla tape from the get go and has held pressure much much better.

Front is still gorilla tape but I'll swap it out if I have issues.  I'd say weight wise this is very close and no sticky mess to deal with.

Frame bag!

I got cracking last night and worked on the frame bag.  Took about 3 hours last night to do this stuff.  Starting the evening I only had the drive side panel finished:

First thing I did last night was get the non-drive side made.  I've decided to do a zipper on that side as well with a map style pocket for thinner things, ya know, like maps, cue sheets, etc.

Next step I got to work on the internal divider from the non-drive side map pocket and the drive side compartment, as well as the horizontal divider that will go above the bottom zipper.  That seems like it will work ok.  I also added a mesh panel to the drive side panel to go just below the zipper, it is not very tight so it may just end up being a pain, but we will see.

Next up, I cut the strip that goes around the outside, then I sewed it around the drive side first, including velcro at the spots where velcro goes.

Next up was sew the non-drive side on with the divider, then turn it inside out!

Then I fit it on the bike - moment of truth!

So...

How is it, right?

It's good, it will function just fine.  I'm not especially happy as I was hoping for perfection, but for model #1 it will do fine.  I can see that I did not get the panels to match up exactly evenly across from each other, so my velcro isn't exactly lined up, and there is some bunching/twist in the bag.  I think this came from the corners where it was really hard to do them to be honest with the amount of fabric, the thickness/non-flexibility of the fabric, and the slipperiness of it all.

I think going back what I would do is not get quite so sharp in the corners and pay even more attention on when I'm lining things up to ensure I don't have mis-alignment.  I don't think I'll take it apart and re-do it because I'm sure this will get the job done for this season or until I try more.

I'll be evaluating the internal mesh pocket, the internal divider, the 3-zipper and other stuff.  I'm honestly not sure all these features are needed but I'm glad I tried them.  Model #1 will be good to really figure out what I like and don't like.

All-in, I'd say roughly 5-6 hours and $50 of material or less.

Here are links to my other posts w/material lists and first steps:
First panel post
Starting and making zippers
Planning/Materials List

Finally some riding in the snow!

Rode last night with a group from the broken spoke team.  We did an urban ride in downtown GB, headed on the east river trail down towards (and to) De Pere.  It was rad rad rad.

Here's a pic George shot of the group of us (minus him):

And one we all took but my version of the bikes sitting at the pumps in De Pere to prove we were there.

Riding on the fattie was awesome and it was a beautiful snowy night.  Just about 30 degrees so not cold at all, felt awesome really.

Busy work week, tubeless Dillinger 5's

I have had a busy work week this week with travel.  I always put good plans in place to bring workout stuff but then struggle to actually do it.  By the time there are dinners, meetings, and nights in the hotel where I can sleep kid-free it doesn't happen.  Bummed I didn't take the opportunity to work out when I have less external items.

I got home yesterday and finished up mounting the Dillinger 5's tubeless.  They are going to be fantastic.  I'd done the front one on Sunday and it was still holding pressure from Sunday (left it at 9, it was 6).  I am not sure it's 100% yet but we'll see if it holds.  Losing only 3psi in a week with no riding is probably fine.  I'm hoping that over time the sealant takes care of the rest.

What I did was gorilla tape like the youtube video here:




I did 4oz of sealant in the front, but after having a bit of issue there I did 6oz in the rear.  I'd rather over-do it than under.  Thinking about running 2oz in a normal 29er tire, doing 6oz in these giant tires seems like not that much. If the front doesn't get steady at a pressure I may pull the valve and add a bit more.

Mounted up the Dillinger 5's

These things are gonna be sweet!!!

Friday's half day ride

I took a half day Friday to go ride one last time at the camp before it closes. It was fun to get out there even though weather wasn't awesome.  I guess it wasn't bad either, could've been wetter!

I got another damn flat, thank goodness I was within about 25 yards of the truck so I made it back.  I'm really happy I didn't get it out further on the trail, I hadn't brought any spares with me so I guess I lucked out. 

I'm not going to remount the Knard, I'm going to put the Dillinger 5's on and getting them set up tubeless.  I can say for sure once I put the knards back on next summer I'll be setting them up tubeless as well.  So over flat tires - I have ridden 1500+mi on my Scalpel tubeless and only one or two times I've burped, but in 115mi on the Yampa now I've had 3 flats.  Suck.

This is my favorite section of the trails out there at the camp:

An artsy fartsy shot:

And a shot down the trail from that bridge.  I got the flat right after stopping here.

More Frame Bag work

So, in keeping up with updating I'm done with one side panel of the frame bag.  I did this the other night.  I'm trying to roughly keep track of how long this takes me to see what I think about time invested for future projects.  I've had several friends ask me to make them one when I'm done and I want to see how much time this really takes.  When I make the project for myself it's because I want to try to do it and make something that's exactly what I want, how I want, and have the learning.  Anyhow, so far I'd say 1-2hrs getting materials figured out and planning, then after doing this probably 1.5hrs of actual "work" on the bag so far.  Lots of figuring out with this first one though so I think next time could go a lot faster.  For example, I spent 20min just laying out zippers where I thought I'd want them, measuring, etc.

This is the drive side of the bike's panel, finished.  I'll be doing the non-drive in a similar way with a single zipper along the top.  I plan to do just a map pocket on the non-drive side.  Internal there will be dividers inside the bag to keep things organized and some mesh pocketing on the inside as well.  I'll be sure to snap pictures as I go.

On the ride side, this week has been trainer rides Mon then again Wednesday.  It is nice having the caadx to ride on the trainer vs. the mountain bike I used to use (with hometrainer tire).  I haven't put the trainer tire onto the caadx yet as I'm still hopeful to get some road time in.  I don't love it but it did give me a chance to watch some more Sons of Anarchy.  I'm kind of over it but invested to all but 2-3 episodes left that are on netflix then I'll watch what I've DVR'ed.  I liked the early seasons a lot but will have to see how the end goes.

Trainer Ride Netflix Movie Review - Strength in Numbers

Did a ride on the trainer yesterday evening and watched a movie on netflix.  I figure I'll talk about it.

It was called "Strength in Numbers", was a movie about all the different types of mountain biking, that is if you consider downhill racing, freeride, and dirt jump "all the types" of mountain biking.

Honestly, no real overwhelming theme to the movie, just good riding footage.  52min long so that was good for 15mi for me.  I liked the section on Nepal, reminded me of my trip there in '13.

Overall, watchable once for a ride but not something I'd put in again for another trainer ride - I'd rather rewatch Reveal the Path or something.

Miles

Saturday I did some miles on the cx bike.  I decided I'm going to try to finish out 500mi on the caadx for the year.  I'm at about 460 now after Saturday's ride so not too far off.  I find myself wanting to ride the Yampa though so we'll see how the weather holds up and how important miles on a bike are vs. riding what I want.

Exploring town

Wednesday I went out for a quick ride after work, just to get out and do something.  I took the Yampa, rode the mountain bay trail, then when that hit the end I just stayed on the tracks.  Kind of fun to just see where I ended up for an hour of riding.

Ended up near a fishing spot on Duck Creek, guys were catching some perch, then I also went around and rode back up the sidewalk on Velp.  No sense on riding on the street without lights at dusk.

Duck Creek should be good for riding this winter, we will see but I think there is enough snowmobile traffic to groom it and it should be fun to see where I can get to.

Progress on the frame bag

Started actually putting some needle/thread to the fabric last night.  Got the side panels cut to size, then got the two zipper strips prepped for the drive side of the bag.

I need to work out my little zipper covers and how I'll do those, I think I need to rethink how I have these set up and may have to redo some of the sewing I did last night.  The biggest thing I did was get these worked out and got thread tension set properly for my heavier "outdoor" thread on Kris' new machine.  I am more used to my Mom's old machine so there is a lot I have to figure out.

Saturday's Ride - Kewaunee Cluster Huck

Just catching up on posts - I rode a big 30+ person group ride in Kewaunee, WI to learn the trails over there.  They called it the Cluster Huck.  It was a great time.

We started off on the trails at Ryan Park, they were the ones I did the fatbike race on and were in great shape.  I like those trails more and more, and they are more challenging than what is around Green Bay.  Short loop though, only 3-4mi I think.

The second loop was maybe called riverview? park?  It was trails around some moto trails, they were good but very tight and did not flow well.  I'm told if I ride there more I'll like it more but I didn't leave feeling like I was excited to head back there again.

Third was the trails at the ski hill - these were real fun with lots of uphill and then also lots of fun downhill sections.  Flow was very good to me on these trails and lots of fun.  Not so much crazy tight stuff.

We rode from trail to trail for something around 16mi total.  I rode them all on the Yampa, it was great as usual.  I really like the bike a lot and it's nice and fast.  I however am NOT nice and fast, I was pretty slow and tired for a lot of the day compared to where I'd like to be.  Not so much on any technical skills this time but my gas tank is very small currently and my legs get tired fast.  I'm a long way off from the endurance I had back in June when I did the Lutsen 99er.

Baird after work

Got a chance to ride tonight at Baird after work, went well.  I brought the Scalpel.  It felt weird after riding the yampa so much lately.  Squishy, comfortable, and light.  It's the same weight basically as the yampa believe it or not but it rides so different. 

I felt pretty awful - not sure if I'm getting sick or what, but I felt super flat.  I didn't make it up a lot of the hills I normally get up fine.  Actually I can't remember the last time I didn't make it up a hill there.  I think there were 2-3 I walked on tonight.  Blasting the downhills is way more fun on the scalpel though.  It's so fun and fast.  Part of my issue could be the 1x10 setup with the 32x36, it was just a hair high for the amount of work I've been doing lately on the bike, I felt like I was just a hair low on cadence for smooth climbing.  Time to work my legs out more, that is probably a better solution than changing gearing or switching back to 2x.

I'm 36.

Yesterday I turned 36.  Normal day for the most part, went to work then decided on a half day.  I would've really loved to just head home and do "nothing" for the rest of the day but with a 0,2, and 4 year old at home that does not really happen ever.  Second best was to head out on the fatty for a ride even though the weather was not so good.

It was in the low 50's and wet, not actively raining but it's been a wet week.  Due to that I decided on Reforestation Camp as those trails dry out the best.  Overall really they weren't awful, just a lot of puddles here and there.  Not so muddy as much as just dirty.  In other words, the bike ran fine, did not accumulate mud as much as just got wet with a fine layer of sand.  When I'd stop riding there would be a puddle under it from water dripping off.  Lots of leaves down as well which mean lots of slippery situations with leaves + slick + acorns.  The acorns were interesting, I could hear them popping under my tires the whole ride pretty much.

I'm real excited to get the bike out in snow.  Having not ridden in snow on a fatbike before it should be a lot of fun, I am curious what to expect from available traction, handling, etc.  I know when the trails are packed it should be a super fun, smooth, fast ride.  When they're not, it may just be a lot of work.  I'm hoping the 5" tires I've got will help a ton with ability to float and run low pressures as needed.  I'm still learning what works well on the singletrack and I can say somewhere between 8-10 seems ideal for the knards and my style.  Lower seems too floppy? and higher seems too bouncy.

It was fun to get out in the afternoon even if the ride wasn't great from a speed or fun standpoint.  The leaves are still pretty even when it's wet and the truth is biking is a great chance for me to get some time on my own to clear my head.

After the ride, went home, had my birthday meal of pizza and a great ice cream cake that Kris made.  She is awesome, I can't say that enough.

Fat Bike Birkie here I come

I signed up for the fat bike birkie today.  It's March 7th and 47k.  Starts at Telemark I think, goes to OO, then turns around and goes back.

I'm excited to hit the birkie trail on the fattie.  Having done the birkie a couple times a long time ago I think it'll be fun to be around the area in the winter.  Bike people are rad and it should be a great time. 

Great weekend in Duluth

So with little man being about 10 weeks old now the two older kids have had a long time with not much besides being around the house.  Kris hasn't gotten much of a break either.  I figured I'd solve that by taking the two older kids up to Duluth to visit my parents for the weekend.  That meant driving about 6hrs to/from Duluth with them for a quick weekend trip.

I did that Friday night, got in about 10pm.  It was a long, tiring drive with two little ones asking if we're there yet and needing snacks every 2 minutes.  Saturday was fun.  The kids woke up very early, woke Grandpa and Grandma up, got some quick breakfast, and checked out the tree fort.  It's looking pretty good, Grandpa has been hard at work.  He was working at Bentleyville both Sat and Sun from 8-4 so he took off in the morning.  Grandma was around, then she had a haircut.  That left the kids and I for a morning of playing at the lake, playing outside, going to the tree fort again.  Very busy morning for them and they were tired for sure by the time Grandma came back for lunch.

After lunch, I got to leave the kids with Grandma and do a bit of mountain biking.  Finally in all my trips to Duluth I had great weather for a ride.  I decided on going to Brewer Hill and Piedmont, neither I'd ridden before.  I think I've tried to ride there at least 10x but have gotten rained out every single time.

I loved the trails, they were super fun and nice and challenging.  I had brought the fatbike so while it's fun I quickly wished I'd have brought the scalpel instead.  Brewer Hill was cool but there were a lot of spots where suspension would've been very appreciated.  Piedmont was actually better for me, maybe the trails are just more ridden in, but there were a lot more places I could get flow on the bike and roll through/over stuff easily.  Very fun crushing along the trails a bit and really beautiful views and leaves.

After the mtb trails I went down to canal park and rode the fatty a bit on the beach of Park Point.  I had fun doing that, my first real time riding on anything except singletrack on the fatty.  A bit of a taste of what to expect for winter I suppose.  It was fun riding but after already running the trails up the hill I didn't go too long, I think I did just under 9 miles all said and done.  Riding the beach is pretty calming, beautiful, etc.  I have to say though going back I should've done more at Brewer or Piedmont rather than done the beach, it was more fun on the trails.

After I went to Fitgers and filled a growler and that was about it.  Sunday we visited great grandma and then grabbed lunch, then headed home.  Fun weekend but I was pretty spent when I got home.

All of these pics are from my new iphone and uploaded via instagram, pretty impressed with the phone/camera so far.

Another flat on the fatty

Got out for what I called a "therapy" ride yesterday, rode from downtown GB to Baird Creek, did a loop and back.  I ended up as I was on the east side flatting my rear tire again on the Yampa.  Sucked.

I'm not sure what the issue is yet, whether it's the hole I got in the WEMS race just resurfacing again, or if it's a new hole.  Either way, flats suck and I may be a bit spoiled from not having to deal with tubes on the scalpel for a long time.  I got my spare tube in after not being able to tell where the hole was, pumped up and rolled the rest of the trail and back.  The trails are in great shape, really fun except for the weeds and stuff that rip your arms up.

I did a couple segments faster than I ever have, even on the scalpel.  I think I'm learning to adapt to the yampa and use all the grip, that is nice.

After the ride, I headed home, did dinner and went to bed.  It felt good to have gotten out.  A great chance to simply tune out everything else and get some time to destress myself.

Frame Bag Planning

I've decide after doing some reasearch on different frame bag options to just build my own.  Should be an interesting process.  I looked all over, got some costs together, and truth be told, I don't think the price of $175-250 for a good custom frame bag is really reasonable to me.  It just seems to be a lot to spend that much.  I've spent plenty of money on bikes and bike related stuff but figure this is a good shot for me to try something on my own.

I've sewed a bit here and there, mostly back in middle school maybe when I took Home Ec class.  I have helped Kris sew things here and there and I guess what I've got going for me is a bit of a technical mind, being able to visualize where things will be if I sew different angles/cuts/etc and picture all of that. 

So, to start I have done some learning about materials.  I can say for sure what I'm going to use is X-Pac ripstop nylon, it's waterproof and rugged.  I'll do waterproof zippers, I'm thinking 2 on one side into the main compartment and one on the other for a map/thin stuff pocket.  I'm going to do some internal dividers to separate out parts so I can get a bit of organization going, and I'm thinking about some mesh pockets inside the big part as well so I can make some small items easily accessible.  I saw some bags use a lighter colored liner fabric to keep things easier to see - if I can find lime green I think I'll do that but may have to settle for yellow or white even. I think under the velcro that will attach to the frame I'll put some soft fleece to hopefully avoid scratching my beautiful Yampa.

I decided to find somebody with a bag I could look at for ideas - George lent me his Revelate/Salsa bag.  It's got a lot of room but with my XL Yampa I have a lot more room to work with.  The bag is nice with a lot of the touches I want to include on my finished bag.

Next step is to make a template to start thinking about measurements and what amount of materials I'll need, along with design ideas.  I don't think anybody is reading, but if you are and you want to give input, please do.

I'll get a more close up picture of my design ideas soon.

Rough material list so far:

• x-pac material - enough for 2 x side panels + top, bottom, rear wrap piece about 120mm wide, I think 1 linear yard should be enough
• liner material - same amount as the outer material, about 1 linear yard
• waterproof zipper material - one side will have a 22"ish zip and a 14"ish zip, and the other TBD, up to 22"ish.  I'll buy 2 yards of #8 zipper I think and a few zipper pull things.
• velcro - some 2" wide, some 3" wide, some 1.5" wide.  I'll have to decide here but I'll probably get a few different rolls. These will be for the connection to the bike, the internal dividers, and I'm not sure what else
• fleece to go under velcro on connections to the bike
• mesh material for internal pockets - not much
• elastic material for the mesh internal pocket tops - not much
•  Some nylon webbing for pulls to hold the bag when opening the zipper (George's bag has these and they are very nice)
• Some other nylon webbing for reinforcement
• Seam tape stuff to run around the seams on the inside of the bag, probably not necessary but will make it all look much more finished and nice.
• Thread - some sort of nylon, gotta figure that out. I think i'll do a contrasting color to the main bag fabric.  I'm thinking red thread on black bag to match the bike.
• Anything else?

WEMS Race @ Kewaunee, Fatbike Duo 6hr

So, this weekend was a rain date for the Marquette trip, which again didn't pan out due to rain up there.  It reminds me of Duluth where if you head up expecting good weather you're going to have issues.  Anyway, the backup plan was to head to the southern kettles, I wanted to do it but with the timing of when we'd get there I was going to end up needing to be on a conference call for the first 1.5hrs of riding time.  That didn't work out and the day ended up being really busy Friday anyway so it's probably better I didn't slow the guys down.

In exchange/trade for the days riding, I decided to do the fatbike race at the WEMS Buckthorn Buster.  I've not been training much but figured heading out and riding the fatbike was a good way to use a day either way.  I planned on the 6hr but threw a post up on FB asking for a duo partner.  Cole ended up pairing up with me, that was great in two ways - one is I would've suffered really badly with a solo 6hr, and 2nd Cole is was fast so he carried me a lot.

The race was fun, the course was slippery from the rain we've had.  It didn't rain on the day of the race, at least during ours but the turnout was low so the course was sloppy.  I ran the first lap, I was able pretty quickly to see that I was not going to keep up with the fastest guys - a combination of overall fitness and then my handling skills and learning the fatbike were bit.  I did my first lap then passed off to Cole.  On the 2nd lap I pushed harder but came in after and felt pretty awful.  I got a chance to relax and catch my breath, then get ready to roll again.  The 3rd lap felt good, but I ended up flatting about 3/4 of the way through.  Flat enough I couldn't just run to the end, so I fixed it on course.  That took us out of any contention for 1st or 2nd, but 3rd was ours (there were only 3 teams).  The 4th lap I did better, put together what felt like a much better lap and turned out to be pretty solid.  I felt much better on the bike as the time went on, focusing more on carrying momentum through corners than braking in and hammering out of them.  I was disappointed to be so far off the pace but I know I'm not too fast yet and I know I haven't trained much lately.

Commuting and rainouts

So, I finally rode my bike to work this week for the first time of the year.  Wow, embarrasing.  My issue is I need to be semi-presentable for work and there isn't a good shower at the plant so I'm somewhat holding out for weather to cooperate and let me ride in at a "normal" pace without getting too dirty/sweaty.

I like riding to work, it's fun.  Need to do that more, it helps me get some precious bike time in which I have not had much of lately since Evan was born.  3 kids is crazy compared to 2, but I know it'll get easier.  I've been trying to sneak rides in in the morning here and there but I'll be damned if every time I've got my gear all set isn't a trigger of some sort for the kids to all sleep horribly, giving me 3-4 hours of sleep.  At that point it's pretty tough to get up at 5am to ride singletrack in the dark.  Riding to work helps that out as I can still sleep a bit later but get some time in.  I'm only about 7.5mi from work and it takes <30min.  The caadx is a perfect commute bike, comfortable but fast and efficient.  I've got road tires on it for now so it's pretty noticeably faster than it was on the semi-slicks.

This weekend was supposed to be a Marquette trip with some buds, like head up Friday, camp, then ride Sat and come home.  THis was the rain date from last weekend, but now it's rained out as well.  That means we're stuck coming up with plan B which is way less appealing and isn't jiving with the work conference call I have to be on Friday morning (this was going to be during the drive up to Marquette).  I think I'm going to have to miss it.  I think I'll try to squeeze in some riding though one way or another - either a 1/2 day Friday or do the WEMS race Saturday.  The Fatbike state champs is 6hrs, I don't think I've been training enough to be anything but DFL but I may do the race anyway just to be around the scene and get time on the bike.  The yampa is fantastic and I want to ride it more than my scalpel lately.

No more front derailleur!

So, I've now finally installed the narrow wide chainring up front on the scalpel, switching it to a 1x10.  It's a 32t, I've got 11-36 in the back.  Got a chance to ride it this weekend and it was good, just like I'd expected.  I never really shifted out of my big ring on my local trails anyway so while I'm now at 32t vs 38t before it should be pretty workable most places.

I did some cross training stuff, a sparticus workout I got online Saturday morning.  That pretty much shredded my legs, then rode on Monday morning.  I underestimated how sore I was from the workout and am paying for it now.  The good news is that I'll get stronger, the bad news is that it hurts.

I've been getting some pretty solid pedal strikes lately, found some wood in the pedal after the last ride and snapped a pic.

Selling things is hard, part 2.

This week Monday, I sold the ktm.  Wow, I did it.  Didn't even cry. 

I've been riding it less and less, somewhat of a difference in the move from Medford to Green Bay, but I don't really enjoy city riding and I haven't had time with the kids and the job and mountain biking to take days and just go ride like I used to.  Also, my commute is not so fun.

I decided to sell the bike rather than let it sit in the garage.  Ken came and picked it up, he flew in from PA Monday morning early, then rode back Mon/Tues.  He's a champ, that seat is not too comfy, I'm sure he was sore when he got there.

Bike storage in the basement

It's been a slow riding week, not much to talk about.  Evan is 4 weeks old now and doing fine, but he's sure switched our schedules on their heads.

I've been working a bit on my bike shop, thought I'd snap a picture of how far I got the bike storage over the weekend.  It took a trip to Home Depot with Noah and some putzing, but I've got something usable.  What I did was buy some cheap bullhorn bars from ebay, about $13/ea, and some really cheap stems, $3/ea.  Put them together and I had something that can hold the bikes by the frames.  Sure, I could've gone with a pre-made stand but not as fun and not as cool.

My only mistake so far is using pvc for the vertical - I need to replace that with some better pipe/tube that is more sturdy.  That will be easy though and will make the whole stand pretty legit.  Here's my man Noah with his measuring tape.

Friday half day Yampa ride

So this turned out to be a fairly busy weekend.  Friday I ended up planning to take a 1/2 day of work.  It started as planning to ride in the morning, then planning on riding in the afternoon, then leaving work early, then finally just decided to take a 1/2 day.  This meant the morning was spent looking out the window making sure my bike was still there.  It turns out it actually WAS still there and was waiting for me to take a ride.

 

So, I headed home, took Aly to a quick doctor appointment, then went out riding.  I headed to the reforestation camp to run those trails.  The WORS series is in town this weekend so I wanted to pre-ride and decide if I'd end up doing the race.  I didn't end up doing the race, waffled back and forth quite a bit, but decided on family time and taking Noah (4) and Aly (2) to the kids race instead.  They had a blast, it was really short but they got WORS number plates and medals so they were happy enough.

My ride Friday was good, the Yampa is excellent.  I'm playing around with tire pressures.  I'd done one ride at 9psi so I thought I should try higher.  I did a bit at 14 and a bit at 12.  I prefered 12, less of a beating.  I think I'll end up liking somewhere closer to 9-10 for singletrack.  The knards self-steer a bit when they're that low but it's grippier and smoother, just maybe give up a bit of speed on the faster rolling parts.  We'll see.  

 I took a lot of breaks, it was hot and I wasn't really worried about speed.  I rode 12.5mi or so in about an hour and a half I'd say.  Also took some time to reflect on how old my shoes are.  I think they're about 14 years old and just don't seem to want to die... yet.

Aly's riding a bike

So, this isn't about me riding but I'm proud.  My daughter Aly who is 2yrs 8mos is now riding a pedal bike.  She started on the strider, now is pretty much able to bike on her own, at least for 3-4 houses down the street.

It's been fun to watch her learn compared to Noah.  Noah started a bit later and was on 100% gravel on the strider.  Much tougher.  I remember his first bike ride and it was actually on an atv trail.  He has been biking all over now since then.

Aly started on gravel (very roughly) early last year basically just walking with the strider inbetween her legs at a year and a half, but then now as we've moved to Green Bay she's on pavement.  She's become great on the strider and as Noah moved to his 16" bike Aly got some pink grips and streamers for his old bike and has been trying since.  She didn't quite take off on it right away like Noah did but i'd say after about a month now we're rockin on the bike.  Enough so that I can almost ride along with her and Noah.  I can ride along if she's on the strider, but not on the pedal bike yet.

Fun stuff.

Back on the Scalpel

Good ride this morning before work, did the same loop as Wednesday.  Here's a shot from near the finish.

Fun to get back on the "fast" bike and ride.  I don't feel at my best, not sure if it's because it's like 5 am and I haven't eaten/warmed up when I ride that early, or maybe it's the time off the bike since the 100.  Either way, I feel a bit rough.  I've decided to work on speed this second half of the season where I can and I'm happy to say that I did a new PR on the loop, about 2min faster than my prior PR from earlier in the season.  I haven't had a full good lap yet and I know I can do a lot of things better to get faster.

It's not just about speed, I have to remember that and just have fun.  I want to be faster, no doubt about that, but I think I'd have a more fun ride if I just relax and maybe focus on a few things per ride rather than focusing on speed over a 10mi loop.  That can be pretty deceiving, considering I could just hammer harder on the easy stuff, or maybe I'm really faster on the hard stuff.  Anyhow, I have a couple parts of the trail that I want to drop a minute or two off of my times through them, I think that will be the focus now for a bit.

Selling a bike is hard

There are two rules of bike ownership.  The number of bikes to have is "n+1", where n = the number you have.  The other rule is "s-1" where s = the number your spouse will leave you for.

I just sold a bike and I don't think I was at "s" yet.  It feels weird.

What I sold was my '08 Redline Monocog 29er.  Real solid bike, rode great, it actually was the bike I rode nearly exclusively from when I got it until '13 when I got my scalpel.  It opened my eyes to 29er bliss and also its rigid, steel frame was great.  I loved the singlespeed, riding it mainly when I lived in Milwaukee at the Alpha trail/Crystal Ridge prior to the Rock days.  Not blazingly fast, but not too slow either.  It was fun building my legs on the SS, gearing the bike up from 32:20 to 32:18 and then being able to ride up everything after a while.  I'd expected over time to have to replace things on it - never happened, it all was just fine, never broke anything, no drama, it just worked.

The other bike I'm selling is my motorcycle - I expect that to be much harder.  The plan is for the buyer to pick it up the 25th, so technically it's already sold but it's still in the garage.  I'll probably cry that day but the yampa makes up for it.

First Ride on the Yampa

Finally got out on the Yampa this morning for a ride.  Sorry about the pic, I did not realize it was so bad.

Didn't break any speed records, between lack of recent riding and learning the new bike.  It grips awesome in corners but I'm not consistent with it yet - I have to learn to use the grip.  It didn't help that on one of my first 50 corners I leaned hard into a berm which proceeded to completely blow away on me (unpacked sand), it was dark and I didn't realize it was not solid.  First crash for the yampa is out of the way, good news is my body shielded the bike from any damage.

Kind of a bummer this morning is riding this early now needs lights (started this ride at 5:45am). It was just too dark in the woods to not have them, even by when I was done it was still pretty dark in the dense spots and the lights helped. I'm glad I have a nice light.  I'll write more about it sometime but it's a Light & Motion and it's rad.

The bike is good - definitely way faster and easier to manage than the heavier fattie I tried a couple weeks ago.  It's stiff but that is completely negated by the give in the tires, kind of an interesting feel.  I kept having the front wheel further out on corners than I wanted to, need to adjust the riding style - turn-in seems to be where I'm going to have to learn.  Also, I got a lot of pedal strikes, ranging from just barely to hitting hard enough to unclip my shoe.  In the snow this won't be a problem, now on singletrack it's a minor issue I'll have to get used to.  I can say, I didn't miss it having suspension except for a couple spots, the tires suck up plenty of small stuff and keep traction really well.  I still need to play with pressures but I ran 8.5psi for this ride.

Time to ride...

So, with kid #3 here and 1 and 2 still needing a lot of attention, riding time is short.  I knew that going into the season this year, I'd get most of my time prior to the Lutsen 99er, then after that it was family time.  Now that #3 is 2 weeks old I'm feeling a big need to carve out some time on the bike.  I'm finding I really miss the time to myself to think, or time to myself to focus on biking.

Tomorrow. 5am. Fat bike on singletrack.

It'll be a great day to be alive when it starts with that.

Starting a blog again.

It's been a while since I've had a blog of any sort that's been updated.  What started as a place to log thousands of pictures of my first kid, then a few of my 2nd, now seems to be pretty defunct as of the birth of my 3rd kid.  Poor guy.

I'm starting this after thinking it'll be fun to capture some of what I'm doing, write about what I like, and share what I've got in my head.  We'll see how long I keep it up or how it goes.  Maybe I'll just write about bikes and beer.