Thoughts While Riding in the Rain

1) This is fun!
2) I should have bought a waterproof helmet cover (shower cap).
3) Keep your mouth closed.
4) The road spray has a motor oil head followed by an antifreeze finish.
5) I should have bought waterproof gloves.
6) I'm cold, but this is still fun.
7) Wool socks don't actually stay warm when wet.
8) Gears suck.
9) I can't feel my hands or feet and my jaw hurts from shivering. This is fun.
10) I hope there is whiskey at the Finishline.

Cabin Fever

The gang had cabin fever so I let them get a little sun today.

They are all jealous of the black one in back. It got to play today. 

Redline Revival Update

Old Doodoo-Brown has taken another step towards modernity. After a string of rear pinch flats ODB finally got upgraded to tubeless. After basking in the glow for a few days the honeymoon quickly ended in a gunshot like tire failure.

One new tire and another bottle of Stan's later, ODB is back. Next step forward for my fixie flyer...getting back to my roots, and by that I mean going back to rigid.  When I left Flag ODB was rigid so it only makes sense for it to be rigid for its homecoming. That and the bushings in my Bomber are cooked.

Another Silver Lining

So I'm riding my bike up this mountain in the dark and cold and every so often I get a nice blast of warm air and it hits me: It's the radiant heat from the engines of passing cars. Nice little spirit-lifter on a cold fall night.

Social Network

My social network is called "bicycle".

Neglect

This poor blog is getting the same treatment as my bikes and my legs. I glanced at the Redline, AKA Doo-Doo Brown and I swear it gave me puppy dog eyes.  G's bottom bracket sounds like an angry donkey and my road bike still has frog guts on it from two months ago.  As for my legs, well, my tights aren't just figuratively tights anymore.

Dialogue

This is not a real conversation, except for when it is.

"Is riding bikes all you do?" No, I work on them and often day-dream about them too.
"Does everything have to be about bikes with you?" Yes
"You should get a life." I have a life. It revolves around bikes.
"You have a real problem." Yes, I have a crank problem.  Its creaking...

Boom!

Fixie Fallacies

In one of my first posts, I described the singlespeeder's excuse. I caught myself this weekend applying that to my fixie.  I skipped tech feature one, the guy behind me rode it. I skipped tech feature two, the guy behind me rode it.  Three, four, probably more and then it hit me. What is the point of doing something hard if you don't do it the hard way? So I hit the log crossings, "Byrd would do it" I thought.  I hit the skinnies, "Dukes would do it" I thought. I wheelie dropped some stuff, "Alex would do it" I thought.

My fixie is not an excuse, it's an adventure.

P.S. I'm not a hipster. Maybe I'll get some royal blue hoops for the fixie. I'm not a hipster.

Fixie in Flagstaff

My favorite bike + fantastic trails = fat-tire fun.

Midnight Rant (Beer fueled)

Bikes are dope. Dirt, road, day, or night. Rain or sun, I love to ride. I like, watching, dreaming, fixing, talking, reading bikes.  I told Gina the other day, when my time comes, I want a few things.

1) Keg of Happy Camper IPA at my funeral (drink it, like it or not, it's my day).
2) Ride your bike to my funeral, no excuses not to, I mean really, it's a last request.
3) Hopefully, everyone there will be old as cold shit (excuse my language) because I want to live a long time.

I admire people who are guru's of bike riding, repair, and creation. I admire women, like my wife, who shred the living daylight out of trails and get crazy stoked about it. I love scary features, hero dirt, gnarly wrecks that push the reset button, ridiculous trail-side repairs, armchair experts, people who size me up and have no idea that I ride crazy long, hard, and scary trails because I have a full-on problem. I love ridiculous challenges and trying off the wall ways of riding (fixie mountain biking, BYRDO!).

I want to change the world with two grips, a frame, two wheels, a chain, and a ferociously dedicated bicycle powered brain.  I want to make and eat my bread with my bike. I want to get my mom on a trike, recumbent, tandem, any kind of bike.  I want to fuel my son's passion for bikes so when he turns twelve, he, his mom, and I can drop the grid, ride across this amazing country and take in every ounce of pedal powered goodness.  I want to live in a town with pedal up drive throughs, pedal powered cops and pedal triggered lights at every stop.

I love my life through the lens of my bike. My beer is empty, good night.

Singlewhat???

Just when riding a singlespeed couldn't get radder, boom! I built myself a singlespeed road bike.  Blasphemy you Coloradans say? Correct, but I don't live in that mountainous mountain of a state anymore so in the words of Drew, I say to singlespeed road biking, WORD!

Beetle-Juice, Beetle-Juice, Beetle-Juice!

The Redline has been free since its revival a few months back.  Recently, one of my co-workers has been talking about fixie mountain bikes.  Like Beetle Juice back in the day, he said "fixie" three times and I was compelled to bring mine back.  I rode it today and remembered how much fun it is to clip rocks with my cranks and spin as fast as humanly possible while descending. It may stay this way for a while.

The Coolest Place You Have Never Ridden

Built in natural "rest area" on Newham Trail

I am convinced that, when it comes to quality trails, Flagstaff, Arizona wants to be a sleeper town.  That is the only way a place with trails as rad as Flag stays relatively unknown.

Nice rest area on Sunset Trail

That Itch Again...

I'm jonesing for a safety scissor blue Karate Monkey frame set real bad. It's like when I was thinking about proposing to my wife and I thought, "That's crazy thinking" but I kept thinking about it. Yeah, it's like that. Perhaps a better analogy is, I feel the same way about the Karate Monkey as Homer feels about donuts.

No Dirt

My plan for the forest closure:

Daydream about riding restricted trails.
Daydream about riding a bike I don't own on restricted trails.
Drive to a place where trails aren't restricted and ride.
Ride on the roads next to restricted trails and daydream about riding them.
Drink beer in my back yard and stare at the mountain with the closed trails.
Ride the few trails that are open along with all the other mountain bikers in the Albuquerque area.

Life Lessons

I learn important life lessons on my mountain bike. For instance, any time a hill I've never ridden before gets too steep and I get off, the end is always right around the bend. Any time I'm not having fun on the bike, its because I have lost sight of why I'm riding in the first place.


I always tell people that I am not a racer and they give me a puzzled look. I finally figured out why I say it. Life is too short to race through. Go slow, ride long and enjoy it.

What bike do you build in your dreams?

Last night I built a hardtail 29er.

Frame: Niner EMD
Fork: Sid
Hubs: Hadley Rear / Hope Front
Rims: Stans Arch EX
Drivetrain: XT
Brakes: Avid Elixer 5's
Tires: Maxxis Ikons
Carbon Bits: Bars, Post

It was a nice dream.  I woke up late.

Sticker Shock

Mountain Biking is booming right now and that's awesome, but something else is happening too.  Everything is becoming crazy expensive.  Yes, the fact that I am broke factors in, but I have always been broke, what with the beer habit, teaching, the kid and ya-de-ya-ya.  Seriously though, there is a strange disconnect developing.  Entry level stuff for entry level riding is reasonable, but good stuff for us middle of the road riders seems to be, sell my car and starve my kid, expensive.

I did the math in my head while riding my beat-up singlespeed Redline with bike swap wheels, and an antiquated fork and even if I gave up beer for an entire year, I would still only have about $780. That is the price of A solid wheel set or A solid Fork.  Despite the fact that this made me feel much better, knowing that I could keep my beer, it still leaves a lot of folks with a dilemma.

I had an expensive bike once and I am past the better bike, better rider stage.  I have all the bikes I need, but for the sake of writing something on this blog, I thought this was a worthy topic.

Is it my imagination? Should tires be $80 each, bikes $5K, chain lube $20, Cassette $150-$300, decent shorts $100? My former teacher self would argue market forces dictate prices and the easy answer to my own question is, "Yes they should or they wouldn't be."  Or am I experiencing the "Community Bike Shop versus Boutique Bike Shop" culture clash?

Whatever the case, if you read this post, you are likely thinking about its content or more likely thinking you just wasted five minutes of your life.  I am thinking its time to go have a beer and cannibalize some stuff in my garage so I can have the "new and different" feeling on my old bikes without spending beer money.

Oh and for the record, yes I am having a beer on a Monday night.  Its the end of my weekend. As my friend G Scott once said, "Don't judge me bro".

Happy Trails.

For The Ladies.

This chica is hardcore.  Ride hard, play hard.  She does it all.

Mommy and Racer.

12 hours of intense.

The beauty of finishing a 12 hour race strong.

Prize for completing her first 12 hour race.

Slick Rock relaxing in Moab.

Making it look easy in Moab.

Captain Ahab. Her face says it all.

Top of the climb before descending Porcupine Rim.  The photographer obviously sucks.

Post Whiskey Off-Road recovery drink (Baileys).

A Biblical Style Bicycle Tale

Let me preface this tale with some history.  Years ago, when I first began riding a singlespeed, I opted for a 34x18 gear ratio.  I was young, dumb, and reasonable strong.  I hung with it for a while, but when a rear wheel with a 20 tooth freewheel stuck on it (literally) fell into my lap (thanks Hines), I succumbed to the more reasonable gear ratio.

Fast forward about seven years to the present.  Doo-Doo's new rear wheel has an aluminum freehub body.  I found a good deal on a cog with a wide profile base, but its an 18.  Clearly, I'm still dumb.

A Biblical Bicycle Tale

On the first day thy legs were displeased and protested violently.

On the second day thy legs unwillingly succumbed to the abuse and with some protest, climbed.

On the third day there was rejoicing from the quadrahamstricalf crew, for they accepted the pain as part of progress.

On the fourth day there will be new found strength and crushing will commence.

Redline Doo-Doo Brown Revival Part 2

Upgrade Rear Wheel

 Doo-Doo scrapped the old joytech, 360 degrees between engagement, bearing binding, hub laced to a cardboard WTB Speed Disc hoop from circa 1999, and called this old Bontrager Scandium wheel back up to the Big League.  Its tubeless, has decent engagement, and, aside from the gargantuan rear tire, its pretty light.

Rejuvenated

So far Doo-Doo has received the following treatments:
1) Suspension fork w/ lockout
2) Matching headset
3) Isis equipped crankset (its a step up from square taper?)
4) Upgraded rear wheel w/ quick release

Up next for Doo-Doo is a front wheel conversion to a tubeless system and new brakes (the Hayes HFX 9's were obsolete about a year before they came out, although mine work well, minus the sticky rear piston).

Stay tuned.

Let the Good Times Roll...

Redline Doo-Doo Brown Revival Part 1

My Redline has see  it all.  Its been a junk bike, a race bike, a travel/backup bike.  Its had suspension, and been rigid.  Its had good wheels and junk wheels, flat pedals and clips.  Its been a fixie, a dirt jumper, a wanna be trials ride.  In short it has earned itself a revival.  It will be called the Redline Doo-Doo Brown Revival (my homies from college may recognize the name).

"New to me" fork with fresh seals and travel reduction from 120mm to 100mm.

Part one of the revival is the upgrade back to a suspension fork.  I like to have my cake and eat it too, meaning it has a lockout.  The folks at Marzocchi were also kind enough to confirm the forum dietary chatter (never trust a forum blindly, the internet does lie!) regarding removal of the damper spring so it dropped a few grams during its workup.

Next on the agenda are wheels.  The front wheel is bomber so it stays.  A bomber wheel seems fitting for a bomber fork.  It has a date scheduled with Stan in the near future.  The rear wheel is getting donated to the shop.  In its place will be the tubeless ready, scandium Bontrager Rhythm Pro wheel I've been sitting on for a few years.  That also means a Surly cog and Surly Tug are in the near future as well.

Stay tuned (Funny, because I'm basically telling myself to read the junk that I write).

Its About Time

NBC Sports is finally going to show the Tour of Oman, about a month after it happened.  I guess, since the assumption is Americans don't watch cycling, its okay to delay it for a month.  Paris-Nice also starts airing this week.  Awesome!

Fresh Ground

What's brewing? Fresh Fox and Marzocchi. Smooth.

Highs and Lows

Highs: There are "lunch loop" trails within minutes of my shop! I had visions of fun Crits, group rides with kids from the shop, and pre and post work spins.

Lows: The local unsavories run the place at night. Based on my detective work, their dinner of choice is Mickey's and for dessert, they like to break the empty Mickey's bottles. Entertainment consists of watching geeks like me blow Stan's all over the place and walk back to the park entrance.

People Change, Bikes Change

My buddy and I converted his old hardtail to a singlespeed last weekend and he sent me this awesome pic from Sedona.

It got me thinking, bikes are like people.  They change.  Bikes can grow in the sense that things get added to them.  Dropper posts, upgraded wheels, forks, GPS, stickers, carbon stuff.  Bikes can go minimalist anti-stuff, like when they get converted to singlespeeds and get rigid forks.  They can become mini-vans with panniers and trailers to haul work stuff to work, kids to the park, or beer to parties.  One bike can go through all of these phases, be all of these things and still basically be the same bike.

Riding Vicariously

My time on dirt these days has been quite limited.  So instead of sharing my own, generally lame, trail stories, I'll share what my friends, who do mountain bike, send me for a while.

My buddies in Sedona. Rad.

Sucks Being a Soccer Fan...

I can relate to soccer fans now.  I naively thought that NBC or ESPN or someone might air the Cyclocross World Championships today.  That was a stupid thought.  I did, however find some soccer games being broadcasted.  Maybe in another decade or so cycling will make it to the big leagues on American TV.

Clarification

Are "Weekend Warriors" people who exclusively ride on the weekend or can it be people who commute during the week and ride trails on the weekend?  What about people who only mountain bike twice a week, but one day is during the weekend and the other is a week day?  What if a person only rides (dirt or road) twice a week, but one of those rides is always over four hours?

Admissions

I wasn't sure if I was going to fess up, but since I've already admitted to being off the bike for a while I might as well admit a few other things.

1) I've been eating bacon and I like it.
2) I went on a road ride and got a Justin Bieber song stuck in my head.
3) I've ridden a geared bike this year more than a singlespeed.
4) Stating the obvious, I've gained a few pounds.
5) I'm probably not soloing anything longer than 50 miles this year.
6) I went on a four hour mountain bike ride last week that consisted of 50 minutes of riding and 3 hours, 10 minutes of shooting the breeze about bikes, history and religion over a cup of foo-foo coffee and pie.
7) I woke up this morning, saw the temperature was 9 degrees with a windchill of -4 and decided not to run or ride until later.
8) I have not commuted anywhere by bike a single time this year.

It looks so much worse when its all listed together.  I'm getting delicate.  In the words of my buddy Gavin, "Don't judge me."

I haven't

ridden my bike in three days! No indoor training, no crank spinning whatsoever.  There are far worse ills in the world, but for me in my lucky little life, three days off the bike sucks.  I think I'll squeeze in a freeze-fest today.

Trust Issues: Relations With Gears

Recently, I've been thinking about adding some bikes to the fleet even though I have no money or space to do so.  Specifically, a hardtail, geared, 29er and a Yuba for commuting have been at the top of the list.  Since neither of those bikes are in my bike shop bum budget, I've gone with a cheaper alternative.  The Voodoo has gears again and my commuter has a borrowed B.O.B Trailer to haul behind it.  This is where my revelation began.

My commuter's drivetrain is shot.  How I didn't notice this before, I don't know.  It shifts like ___________ (you fill in the blank).  Easy fix, but it adds to my unfair contempt for gears.  The drivetrain on the Voodoo is golden.  It shifts great although the XTR rear derailleur was finicky initially.  Despite perfect functionality, I've come to realized that I do not trust gears. Specifically in technical climbs or negotiating technical features, I expect them to let me down.  Dare I say, I even fear gears.

My thought process on my ride yesterday went something like this:

On approach to a rock ledge climb, "Don't slip-don't slip-don't slip-phew".
On approach to a steeper rock ledge climb with a steep drop at the end, "If it slips I'm going to back-don't think about it-don't think about-if it slips I'm going to-back flop."

It went on like this for some time.  I kept thinking.  I don't think very much on my single speed.  As Dukes puts it, "If its there, I take it." Its this lack of thinking that makes riding a single speed so much fun.  I am going to stick with gears because they have benefits like being able to cover more ground in the flats faster on long rides.  Learning to ride tech on gears is going to be a bit of a mental challenge though.  I'll keep trying, but  when my confidence starts to wane, I'll look to my oner for reaffirmation.