Clearing Out

We left the smoky crapfest of the Sacramento Valley for some clean coastal air in Monterey. A view from my window when we left:

The sky from downtown Monterey when we arrived. A little better. I guess.

On our first evening we typically head to a brewery. This time it was Fieldwork. It never disappoints.

The next day we rode south along the coast.

Temps were in the mid 70s, which is warmer than we typically experience.

The next day we rode north on the coastal trail, knocking out 28 miles. Selfie fail:

Much success!

Afterwards we ate at Peter B's, an establishment that might brew beer.

The next day I rode alone while Jenn went on one of her MegaUltraWalkabouts ™ around Monterey.

I picked out a place called Jack's Peak and mapped a route up there. The peak is at almost 1100 feet, so it was quite a bit of climbing not far from town. The view of Monterey Bay was nice.

I don't love riding in traffic these days, but some of the roads have insanely wide bike lanes. I am slowly learning the best routes.

On Friday we did another ride south along the water, and headed home.

I shot a little video on this trip. Posting pictures and video might be a little redundant. I don't know.

Later.

Tweaking

As I mentioned before, the new Jones needed a little TLC before hitting the trail. The headset felt like absolute crap, and upon further inspection, I found it wasn't quite pressed in all the way. After re-pressing the cups, it spun smoothly.

I wasn't terribly happy with the shifting quality out of the box. Really, a bike this expensive should have something better than Eagle SX parts. I upgraded the Eagle SX cassette to NX, and the derailleur, chain and shifter to Eagle GX. Now it runs and shifts so much better.

Next, we can't ride around here in goathead hell running inner tubes. I was pretty unhappy when I learned the rims were drilled for Schrader valves. I have been using Presta since 1986 or so, and never saw a reason to change. However, after doing a little research, I found that people actually like Schrader tubeless valves. I decided to give it a go.

After removing the tubes I saw a pretty decent tubeless tape job on the rims, so I just left it as is. I installed the valves, poured in a little sealant, and seated the tires easily with a floor pump.

The larger diameter of the Schrader valve allows you to push much more air through, making seating the tire a breeze.

So far I think we have a winner. Jenn seems to like it:

     

About the only thing left is the steerer, which is still uncut. We're messing with the handlebar height. Once that is dialed in, the bike will officially be done.

Later.

Jenny Jones

 As it turns out, the Jones wasn't for me. It is a size small Plus SWB that belongs to Jennifer. Here it is right out of the box after initial assembly.

There are a few things I want to fix or change before it hits the trail, but for the most part this is what it will look like.

Later.

More Jonesing

Almost 18 months to the day, another Jones box showed up. 

If it's the only bike you'll ever need, it's weird that now I have two, right?

Later.

Drop It

I finally moved into this century and bought a dropper. I put it on the Mason only because the routing was easier than any of the other bikes.

I didn't use it all that much but I can see how it would come in handy in rowdier terrain.

Later.

Making Music

We're getting the band back together!

Well, not really. But we did manage to get all four people in town at the same time for a ride. Here we are in 1986 at the Rockhopper:

And today:

We haven't aged a bit.

It was great to get out with the guys again. Hopefully next time it doesn't take 35 years.

Later.

Breakout

We escaped from the house for a little time in Monterey. Like our last visit, things are pretty strict but slowly loosening. Masks are still required everywhere in town.

Sometimes you just have to laugh about it.

The aquarium is still closed. It's been over a year now. Word is it will open again on May 1 to members, so we just missed it. Perhaps next time.

I recently saw a news article saying that the local JC, Monterey Peninsula College, has a brand new baseball field. We walked over to the campus to have a look. The field is beautiful.

As luck would have it, we ran into the head coach, Daniel Phillips. Cool guy. Spencer is struggling to adjust to his new varsity coach, and is a little frustrated and confused by his lack of playing time. Dan's words of wisdom came at a great time. I think it was huge for my son to see a great college field and talk to a real coach who was encouraging but realistic about the realities of playing college ball in the Covid era. It won't be easy, but I could see the renewed passion in Spencer's eyes after the visit.

We rode bikes, of course. Rules were adhered to for the most part, at least until we cleared city limits.

Where the city limits are is open to interpretation.

Sometime during the trip Spencer and I traded helmets.

He's been using the orange one for years, but he keeps growing. Mine fits him better and I like orange just fine anyway.

We went to Santa Cruz for a day.

It was nice.

On getaway day we typically get up early and do a shorter ride before checkout, but today we managed to knock out a solid 21 miles. The kid, being a kid, chose to sleep instead.

I mean, somebody has to take pictures of me.

Another good trip, and a much needed one.

Later.

Willy the Welder

The new retaining wall screwed up our pool fence. It used to angle down from the stairs, but now it needs to go straight across over the wall. However, the post where the panel needs to attach is now too low and needs to be extended.

I had a spare post from when the pool fence was originally installed. It was rusty and dirty, but I cleaned it up as best I could.

I cut it to length and secured it in place.

After welding, a little grinding and paint, you can hardly tell.

The finished product.

There is a small gap that will have to be addressed at some point for safety compliance, but otherwise I am happy with the results.

Later.

Biker Bucks 2020

 I found $4.21 this year and a couple guitar picks. Less money than last year even though I rode more miles.