Bragging Rights and Dead Horses

Greetings fellow fat tire cyclists.  Just over one week until race day - still plenty of time to get your registration in and get an orientation ride to secure home field advantage for yourself.  I have been asked if there is any shame in registering for the beginner class.  I will share my response for what it is worth (edited to protect the identify of the rider):

"Anybody who tapes on a number and rides in the race earns bragging rights, regardless of class.  One lap on the new course is still 50% longer than last year's course, and last year was no picnic.  I think the 2nd lap will bury some in the sport class - I predict quite a few bonks, crashes, and mechanicals.  Also everyone knows you've been off the bike for a while. I'm sure you would get some friendly encouragement like "c'mon you should go for it [sport class]" but no abuse, at least not from me, and I don't think anyone else either. "

Have I beat this horse enough yet?  Not to worry, only one more week of dead horse beatings left...

Happy hour ride today @ 4:00pm (early due to trick or treating activities).  Sunny and very mild today, great conditions for biking and trick or treating!  We'll call this our Friday double-header.

Some conflicts so we'll have to move the Sunday ride to 4:00pm.  Hopefully that doesn't throw a wrench into the monkey works for anyone.  

Chris

"Ride it like you stole it"

How Low Can You Go?

This picture of an Alaskan eco-friendly bike rack reminded me that it's almost that time of year...that time when our caloric intake increases (think lasagna, turkey gravy), our caloric output declines (think couch, NFL football), we deposit another layer of fat around out internal organs, turn all pasty-white, and shave another 4 months off our life expectancy.  This is known to many as winter.

But it doesn't have to be that way.  Bicycling IN the cold and wet does NOT mean BEING cold or wet.  Your natural inclination when starting off on a cold winter bike ride is to bundle up with too many layers (because logically, you expect to be cold).  Then after 10 minutes of exertion you start to sweat, your layers (maybe cotton) get soaked, and on the first downhill your wet clothes start to freeze and so do you.  So you are miserable and frustrated and longing for the couch.  We have learned the hard way (through experience) the secrets to staying comfortable when winter cycling.  Here they are, in no particular order:

Dress for Success

Clothing should be synthetic (NOT cotton) and breathable with two possible exceptions:  Underwear or jock or whatever you wear down there (wear whatever you want, enough on that) and socks can be wool if you are old school but not cotton.  So starting at the top and working our way down:

• Skullcap or a balaclava (a.k.a. chickenhead) if it is really really really cold. $10.
  
• Clear glasses to keep your eyes from watering up.  Clear because you'll be riding at night.  You probably already have some of these.
  
• Breathable windproof top layer.  Not insulated, it's just to cut the wind.  Definitely breathable becuase you will be sweating. 
  
• A long sleeve synthetic shirt or two.  Zipper is nice - believe it or not you will find yourself occasionally unzipping the jacket/shirt while riding in order to shed excess heat.
  
• Gloves - windproof and you guessed it, breathable.  Full finger for obvious reasons.  $20
  
• Pants.  You would be surprised how late we ride with shorts.  Sebastian has been known to stay with shorts well into the 30s.  But at some point you will want long pants - insulated, breathable, and windproof tights or baggy long pants.  Either of these with a pair of synthetic long johns will get your through basically anything.  I prefer the tights because they don't snag on bushes etc, but if you are homophobic or just don't see yourself in tights then baggies are great.  $50.  What DOESN"T work great is a fleshtone leotard.  I am not going to mention any names (107 Gottier Drive, 484 228-8349), but most of you already know what I am talking about here...
  
• Neoprene shoe cover.  This is critical because your feet are very exposed and cleated to frigid metal pedals, and if your toes get cold you will be miserable.  $20.  Old school alternative is duct tape around the front of the shoe.  $0.05
  

You should actually be a little chilly (feel under dressed) when you first climb on the bike.  If you start off comfortably warm, then you are likely overdressed and will soon be sweating and shedding layers.

The Bike

Most lower end forks use an oil-elastomer suspension versus an air or coil spring.  This is fine when it is warm out, but when the temperature drops to the low 30s and below, that oil and elastomer thickens up and by the time you hit the low 20s, it is pretty much a rigid fork.  That’s fine, people ride all rigid bikes all the time, but good to know.

Glare ice is a really nasty problem when you are on a bike.  With no friction between the wheels and the ground, the bike will shoot out from underneath you faster than you can say “broken collarbone” and then gravity does the rest.  This happened to me at the beginning of a ride last year, and I just put my tail between my legs and went straight back home.  If it is glare ice conditions, then best not to ride.  Now I have not done this yet but it seems like a great idea – studded bike tires.

If you are using a camelback for water you will probably be ok (you might put it underneath your jacket to keep from freezing) but if you are using a water bottle, you will want to (a) fill it with warm water and (b) put it upside down in the bottle cage.  Water freezes from the top down, and if the spout is at the top it will be clogged with ice when it is time to drink.  Or just use vodka instead.  

The Ride

Remember the ground is frozen solid and doesn’t give when you bury your shoulder into it. Also if you are riding through a mud-pit that has recently frozen, then all those knobby tire tracks and grooves are like hardened cement and if you go down hard on that it is going to tear you up something awful.  If your tire gets into one of those grooves your bike may get a little bit squirrelly.  Forewarned is forearmed.

Right about now you may be asking yourself "how low can you go?"  Well, last year we had gotten pretty good at this sort of thing and we set a record (for us) for low-temperature riding - 7 degrees fahrenheit.  And the ride was a blast – church quiet in the woods, trails wicked fast, and not a lot of congestion on the trails as you can imagine. 

That's about all the advice I have about winter riding.  If you made it this far then hopefully you are considering giving it a try.  Bottom line - there is really no good reason to put the bike in storage over the winter.  Some of our best riding (in fact one of THE BEST riding memories for many of us) has been in the deep of winter.  

It's too good to give it up for half the year.  You need to give it a try.

Gin Something Up

Two more weeks to race day.  We have a respectable contingent who intend to race but there is always room for more.  You will be glad to know that the trails weathered the weekend rain and equestrian event pretty well - yesterday the trails were well fertilized but overall still in great shape.

Everyone survived the big-wheel race down Kaiser drive yesterday.  We did have some attrition due to mid-race "mechanicals" - to be expected when you load a $35 plastic trike with 180 pounds of rider and shove it down a steep paved incline with a 90 degree turn at the bottom.  I understand video will be forthcoming.  We are already looking forward to lowering the bar, yet again, next year.  Can't wait.

Aside from Tuesday, the weather looks pretty good for this week.  Be sure to get out there while there is still some color in the trees, life is too short to miss opportunities like this.  As usual if you want to "gin up" a ride this week just say so.  I am doubtful for tonight as I still have to clean up some carnage from yesterday.  

Chris

More Intoxicating AND Less Filling

If the sheer number of grinning bikers in the woods these days is any indication, then fall riding is so definitely ON baby! The sights, smells, sounds, moderate temps, and general sensory overload make it a special time - you just gotta jump on it if you haven't already!

Todd has tweaked the Nov 9 race course and marked some of it with very pretty pink ribbons. Today and Sunday will be great opportunities to check it out as he continues to dial in the course. This is called home field advantage and at our advanced age, we need to leverage it to the hilt.

Sunday ride will assume 9am departure as usual. I would like to push it back a few hours so things can dry out after the Saturday monsoon, but our neighborhood block party may be moved to Sunday in which case we'll need to finish before noon (so Dads can prep for the big-wheel-trike-race down Kaiser - as Sebastian so aptly said we have "lowered the bar yet again"). So most likely we'll stick with 9am but if it changes I will put out an email by 5pm on Saturday.

Finally I guarantee that today's happy hour ride will more intoxicating and less filling than whatever else you may have planned. We have a few already confirmed and will likely roll sometime between 4:00 and 5:00. Let me know if you can jump on and if so, any time constraints.

Chris

"Old age and trickery beats youth and speed"

Relive our (mis)adventures at mo7s.blogspot.com

What if the Candidates Were Bikes?

Found this on the web.  Clever and topical but no mountain bike, maybe next time.

Spring City Recon

It's been a great run with 5 rides in as many days.  On Sunday a couple of us went to Spring City to check out the trails along French Creek.  Not a lot of miles, but great trails, lots of twisty single track, and some spectacular scenery along French Creek.  

On our way to Spring City we  stumbled upon a cyclocross race at Ludwig's corner.  Quite a spectacle with a few hundred vehicles including large RVs, food and beer concessions, about a mile long serpentine track with lots of short steep climbs and descents, some tight technical turns, obstacles that force the rider to dismount and carry their bike, and varied surfaces including lots of grass, loose sand, pavement, and a live announcer calling out the race.  Mostly people were riding cyclocross bikes which resemble road bikes but seem to have fatter knobbier tires (at least that's my assessment).  I would also say there was more brightly colored spandex than necessary but hey, it's their gig not mine...

The weather looks dry for as far as Accuweather can see, so we should be able to get in plenty of riding this week which is a good thing because it's like, the best time of the year to ride.  For this week we'll stick with our opportunistic protocol - chime in with time preference and we'll sort it out via email by 5:00pm or earlier if appropriate...  

Chris

Keep it SImple, Stupid

By the way I wanted to say thanks to Rob for reminding of Henry David Thoreau's timeless words "As you simplify your life, the laws of the universe will be simpler." I had eagerly taken on a bike wrenching project for a friend (we'll call him Mike Young) who had mangled his drivetrain in that insane stretch of bridges, logs, rickety causeways, 4x6 handlebar grabbing posts, mud and brambles that is the price of admission to the new Lakeside Trail.

The job was not complicated - straightening of a couple of chainrings. I had begun working on disassembly of the crank and discovered that this bike did not use slotted nuts on the inside (as I had seen on every other bike I have tinkered with over the last 47 years). I was now imagining this quickie 20 minute job morphing into a 2hr PITA when Rob happened by. Being one who could never pass an unfamiliar bike without a cursory inspection, he quickly assessed the situation and suggested I employ the crude but effective prybar approach. Which I did. About 6 minutes later the job was complete, the bike fully functional, and I had gained 14 minutes and hopefully the enduring admiration of my friend with the once-mangled drivetrain.

Now this is not to suggest that all bike problems can be solved with a prybar (some call for a hammer) or that I am completely devoid of any imagination or mechanical ability. But it does serve to remind that with bikes simpler is better and that having a neighbor who knows a thing or two about bikes and who walks his dog in the morning is invaluable.

KISS