Rain Ride

Once again I had plans to put in big miles today, but I just couldn't motivate myself to do it. I simply wasn't in the mood for a long ride on the road bike.

The sky looked threatening, but the clowns on the local news assured me that the rain wouldn't come until 3 p.m. I lubed up the mountain bike, threw it in the truck and headed out for a ride around Granite Bay.

At 10:00 it started raining. Yeah, they missed the forecast by five hours. Thanks Channel Three!

It was a light rain for the first hour, so it didn't bother me much, especially when under the trees.


After a while the moisture content of the soil was perfect. I was railing around the corners. I'm slowly learning how to ride a bike with a more laid-back head angle.


My cushy new fork gives me enough confidence to do stupid stuff like taking one-handed pictures going down hill:


When the water is low in the summer, Folsom Lake can be kind of ugly. Now it has some character.


On the way back it started raining harder to the point of making it muddy.

I took a short break under a bridge to dry off and eat a granola bar. A woman jogger approached me and stopped, unsure of whether she should enter the darkness with the creepy guy. I assured her I wasn't a troll and she reluctantly ran past me.


I finished up my ride a little cold and wet. I had just enough time for a bite to eat before picking up my son at school. Fun little ride, and way better than grinding out mindless miles on the road bike.

Later.

Best Laid Plans

I had every intention of doing 60 or 70 miles today since I am way, way behind on my May mileage. As I was preparing to leave my son said, "I want to go." He hasn't wanted to ride with me since last summer, so I couldn't turn him down.

Well, there was no way he could handle being in the saddle for the four hours I had planned to ride. Also, there was no way I could pull an extra 80 pounds around for that long either. I switched out the road bike for the Fargo and off we went.

We started in Folsom and rode across the new bike trail by the dam. A couple weeks ago there were three gates open, so obviously the runoff has slowed a bit.

Still, the lake is high. I like all the cool little inlets created by the high water. I saw lots of fishermen exploring the shoreline.

The Fargo is a big bike even when I'm standing next to it.

Spencer enjoyed himself despite slamming a pedal into his shin earlier in the ride. I know how much that hurts, so I was impressed with his toughness.

We rode bike trail, dirt roads and singletrack.

We turned around out by Beeks Bight, which was at about the 10-mile mark. We ended up with 20 miles for the trip—far short of my goal, but we enjoyed ourselves. My legs are completely blown, much more so than they would have been after a long road ride.

Later.

Bike Month 2011

Once again it's May and that means Bike Month for us in Sacramento. Like an idiot I pledged more miles than I am really capable of, and I'm already behind.

Today I got out for a 60 miler and felt pretty good despite the wind. My legs had more miles in them, but I had limited time between dropping my son off at school and picking him up.

I snapped this picture to text to my friend Bill during my ride. I like it for many reasons that anyone who knows Bill understands.

One interesting thing of note: check out the curved shadow of the spokes. Why is this?

There are a lot of things happening here. The spokes are casting a shadow on the ground, but the ends of the spokes (near the tire) are traveling much faster than near the center of the wheel. The sunlight, casting a shadow of these objects moving at different speeds along their length, then reflects off a surface moving at 20 miles per hour under me.

My guess is, being a camera phone, the shutter speed is probably pretty slow. I assume between the time the shutter opens to let the light in and when it closes there is enough time for the faster part of the shadow to move relative to the slower part, causing the curved effect. Just a guess.

In other news I saw the first rattler of the year, a big boy. An attractive young lady, running in an outfit better suited to a strip club than a bike trail, stopped and asked me to please not hurt the snake because "she just loves big ol' snakes."

This kind of thing only happens when you get old.

Later.

Beepers

My hot tub time machine took me back to 1998 today.

The Man (Jerry Brown) took away my cell phone today. All these years I was told my job was so important that I needed to carry my phone 24/7. This was a condition of employment. Well, apparently it wasn't all that important.

Uncle Jerry told us this was coming, and management's expectation was that everyone would simply use their personal cell phones instead. Everyone has one, right? I don't. Even if I did have one, or if I get one, I am in no hurry to let the State use it.

Most of my coworkers shrugged it off because they have unlimited minutes and unlimited text. They say it's no big deal. Really?

It's no big deal that the employer we work for—the one who has constantly threatened layoffs and pay cuts; the one who has furloughed us and cut our holidays; the one who has increased our contributions to health care and retirement; the one who is threatening to raise our retirement age from 55 to 62—wants to use our personal phones? No big deal. Oh, and we have to post our personal cell number on the web site and in e-mail signatures? Um, no.

Because I refused to do this, my phone was replaced by a pager. A PAGER.

Now, this will save the State approximately $31 per month. I completely agree with the cost savings. The State absolutely needs to cut costs, but these cuts should come with reduced expectations. If you want 24/7 coverage, that costs money. Don't expect it on my dime.

In the end, having a pager really shouldn't hinder me much because, as you know, vast banks of pay phones are everywhere. Server down? No problem! Just page me and I'll get right back to you.

Salmon Falls

I managed to get out for a quick loop out at Salmon Falls this morning before little league. It was a bit cool, but not so bad once I got warmed up.

Trail conditions were just about perfect on 90% of the loop—slightly damp and grippy. The stream crossings were still running high, and there was a bit of mud here and there. Unfortunately, the poison oak was everywhere.


I worked hard on the climb up Flagstaff hill. By the top I was soaking wet. The descent after that was freaking cold.  Here's a view from the top:


Everything is very green from all the rain. This is what we mountain bikers like—smooth ribbons of singletrack snaking though nice scenery.

Oh yeah.


For all my fishing friends:


I'm really liking the new bike. The 130mm of travel and the stiff 20mm thru-axle really gave me a lot of confidence bombing down hills. Pretty fun.

The one downside of the front axle system is having to go old school with the tie downs. Back in the mid-80s, when all we had were bolt-on axles, this is how we transported our bikes until quick releases made their way onto mountain bikes. I'll have to see what my options are for a more sophisticated transport system.


That's about it for now. Later.

Batting Practice

I made this little video of Spencer hitting to get him psyched up for his first game. Enjoy.

PFB: Done

I was able to get the bike finished over the weekend. Here's the fished product:

I ended up installing a more comfortable seat. I also went with a wider, higher rise handlebar. The riding position is very comfortable.

I went for a short shakedown ride yesterday, and the bike performed well. I think this bike is going to be a blast.

There's a reason the big boys use 20mm thru axles on their downhill bikes. I never knew how much a regular quick release axle flexed until I felt the rock-solid stiffness of this 20mm system. On the first rocky downhill the front wheel went right where I pointed it.

After riding with rigid forks much of the last 10 years, and never more than 80mm of travel when I did use a suspension fork, having 130mm felt awesome. I'll probably get used to it, but right now the fork feels bottomless and unbelievably plush.

The downside of the comfortable, upright position and big travel fork is losing some climbing ability. This bike isn't exactly light, and when the climbing gets steep the front end wants to come up. This requires you to weight the nose of the saddle to keep the front end down. I am OK with some climbing deficiencies, though, because this bike is going to be ripping fast everywhere else.

That's it for now. Later.