Bike Updates

Camping:

Took the Fargo and B.O.B. Trailer for a little camping trip earlier this summer (May 24th-25th). Decided to go to WagonTrain as this was my first solo camping trip and I wanted somewhere close enough where I could bail easy enough. The weather ended up being perfect and I also had a bit of luck when a nasty rainstorm just missed Wagontrain.

Loaded up in the morning to head back home.

Starting to get things setup.

While I could have gotten all of my camping gear on the Fargo for this one day trip, I wanted to try out the B.O.B. on the gravel roads with some camping gear. I was very impressed with this setup and think the next trip will be a gravel ride to Indian Caves for an overnight camping trip.

Garage Organization:

Katie and I finally spent a Saturday cleaning out the garage and doing some much needed organizing. I finally hung up some modular storage beams and was able to get a nice place for almost all of the bikes. I am very excited, as now I have a nice organized work area and bike storage setup.

GLGA:

Just finished the 140 mile GLGA ride yesterday. This was my favorite gravel ride to date, with an excellent route planned by the PCL and great directions. Great job to Corey and the PCL crew!

It was a bit painful when I was getting dressed for the GLGA and decided I'd try on the jersey I wore for the DK200 last year and the midsection was much more taught. I'm pretty sure the jersey hasn't shrunk.

And for those that want to see some of my coffee stuff, please visit my other non-frequently updated place holder on the web, espressoaddict.org. :)

Thanks go to JB for the gentle prodding.

Saturday morning gravel

It feels great to finally have nice weather and having some of life's stresses subside. It's allowing me to get into a nice routine of commuting to work and doing some fun weekend rides. This past Saturday a few of us (Ben, Jeff, Pat, Sarah, and myself), all of whom have committed to participating in the 2009 running of the PCL GLGA, rode the 2008 GLGA route to Cortland. We planned on leaving at 8 AM, but as you can tell from the picture below some people struggled with this 'early' start time. :)

A photo of us just as we started. It's interesting to see the different bikes and riding positions people enjoy while riding a bike. In our group we had two great candidates for most spacers on a steerer tube in Lincoln.

About half way to Cortland we decided to stop and enjoy a nice breakfast beverage in a can (Guinness and Boddingtons). We spotted a really nice area of planted trees on 110th and enjoyed a quick break. The weather was great and the gravel was even better. It rained the previous day and it kept the dust down to a minimum. I only recall a few damp areas and they were easy to avoid. I rode my Salsa Fargo and was very happy with the comfort and handling. It did feel heavy on the climbs though, compared to my Salsa La Cruz. I like the 6 water bottle capacity and the geometry on the Fargo. It is by far the most comfortable bike I have in the drops.

We arrived in Cortland and most of us ate lunch at the newly re-opened Cortland Bar&Grill. I think everyone was sufficiently impressed with the food that we'll definitely go back. The ride back to Lincoln was on the Jamaica trail into a nice headwind. It was great to have a longer weekend ride with a group. I definitely need to work on doing more of these as time permits.

Spring is here

Lots of new stuff since I haven't posted in a few months. Below is a picture of my new repair stand for the garage workshop. I'm trying a 4' x 4' 3/4" thick piece of plywood for the base and it works sufficiently well so far. I am going to clean and organize my garage and give it a permanent home in the next week. I also want to purchase or build a work bench with peg board. Suggestions, as always, are welcome.

On the stand you see my Salsa Fargo, which I'm liking a lot. I've only got around 100 miles on it so far but now that Spring is here I'm hoping to get out a lot more. The wife and kids are going to Omaha this Saturday, so if I can get over my cold, I'm going to get a 100+ mile gravel day in.

I need to get out and ride a lot in the next few months to get ready for Dirty Kanza 200. This winter has been really tough and I've lost a lot of fitness and gained ~10 lbs. I'm hoping the nice weather will help me reverse the trend and get me motivated again.

Chilly Commute

Bundled up in the morning for the ride in. The legs were a bit chilly and the exposed part of my face ached when I first started, otherwise I was nice and warm when I arrived at the office.

Spoke with Corey G. about improved winter gear for a couple of areas and as a result am planning on looking at some liner gloves and winter specific footwear.

If it's going to be this cold, I wish there was at least some snow on the ground for improved visuals.

Saturday ride

Saturday ended up being a beautiful day. I was planning on going on a 10 AM group ride but after looking at the weather outlook for Sunday I decided I better stay home and get some chores done. So I spent 4-5 hours raking leaves, cleaning the gutters, and general clean up of the backyard. We finished a little after 3 PM and I was ready to relax for the remainder of the afternoon. Thankfully Katie nudged me to go out for a ride as it very likely is the last nice weekend day for quite some time.

I ended up heading south at 27th and Hwy 2 due to the pretty strong wind out of the south. I rode to Saltillo Rd. on 14th and fought a nice headwind most of the way, which made turning around just that much better. On the way back I stopped at my mother's "grave", which I do pretty regularly during my bike rides and took a quick picture of the La Cruz in front of her final resting place.




My mother gave me a hard time when I got fat a number of years ago and she never got the chance to see me in shape again. But by the one year anniversary of her death I had lost 50 lbs. Her death, due to cancer from a lifetime of smoking, was a factor in motivating me to make some lifestyle changes to live a healthier life not only for myself, but also for my family. There are no guarantees in life, but it doesn't hurt to do what you can to give yourself and your loved ones the best chance possible.

Stop. Roller Time

I saw a Kreitler 4.5" Challenger roller setup on craigslist last weekend that came with a headwind fan but lacked a belt to attach the headwind. After a few emails and a missed appointment (Oops, I forgot to put it on my calendar) I finally managed to make it over to the very nice guy's house this evening to check them out. He had bought them used, off of eBay I assumed, and had never used them. I decided they were in good shape and made my offer, which he accepted.

I've tried a few times with the Casseroll single speed and haven't really gotten into a groove, but I'll keep practicing and will probably try it with a geared bike so I can start with a lower gearing than 48x18.

Yehuda Moon's Ride

After some research, starting with going through all of the existing Yehuda Moon and the Kickstand Cyclery comic strips and even dropping an email to the author asking if the bike is SS or geared (I saw conflicting images, but it ended up being an internally geared hub), I have found exactly what I was looking for.

I discovered an interview the author had given a while back where he discusses the exact bike he and Yehuda ride!

Interview
http://quickrelease.tv/?p=425

Bike (The 108)
http://www.dutchbikes.us/specials/special_mechanic.asp

Unfortunately it is $2000, so I will be holding off on that purchase. But an internal hub such as the SRAM i-Motion or Shimano Nexus Red Band look like they would make a useful thing to try out on a commuter. I imagine these hubs work best with horizontal dropouts which would make something like the Surly Cross Check a great candidate for the base frame. Then an i-Light hub or something similar for the front and I'd be on my way to commuter nirvana...