Early Bird

I had to get up early today to get a ride in before heading to the ballpark. I was out the door by 7:00 and it was a bit cold, too darn cold for May. I was able to witness a nice sunrise, which made the early hour a bit more bearable.

I was able to mix in a bit of gravel . . .

. . . some trail . . .

. . . some more gravel . . .

. . . and a bit of singletrack.

I went hard for 90 minutes and reluctantly headed home. After a quick shower it was off to our Little League game.

We lost, again, but the boy turned in a fine pitching performance: 3 innings pitched, no runs, no hits, 3 walks, 8 strikeouts.

Later.

It Lives

It's been almost three years since I first laid eyes on the monster that is the Surly Krampus, and I finally have mine.

All the parts have been collected over the past few months, and I have now started the build. Here's the little I have assembled so far.

I am setting it up as a 1x10. Except for the King headset, nothing terribly exotic: Shimano Zee rear derailleur and shifter, XT hubs and cassette, SLX cranks. I went with Velocity rims and Maxxis tires over the Surly Rabbit Hole/Knard combo. It was a money saving move on the rims, and I wanted a more aggressive tire. I'm not a huge fan of the obnoxious tire graphics, though.

Hopefully I will get some time here and there to finish it up soon.

Later.

Get Some Dirt

I have not been posting much lately because my rides haven't been too exciting. Coaching Little League is taking up a tremendous amount of time, which is coming directly out of my riding time. I'm getting out for short rides, sure, but nobody wants to hear about my local loop over and over again.

Yesterday during our game, we had a number of grounders get past us. We tell the kids to "get the glove down" or "get some dirt." After enduring a tough loss, I realized I myself needed to get some dirt.

I woke up at 5 a.m. this morning, had breakfast, prepped the gear and headed out a little after seven. I didn't have enough time to drive anywhere, so I decided to ride the El Dorado Trail south.

It always surprises me how wide open the land is just a couple miles south of Highway 50. You see the occasional house or ranch, but most of the time just rolling hills. And every time I ride out there I wonder why I don't do it more.

This shot was an accident, but I kind of like it.

The terrain is surprisingly hilly even though the trail never ventures far from the tracks.

I turned around after a little over an hour of riding.

I rolled up the driveway with 24.5 miles and just enough time to shower, eat and head to baseball practice.

Tonight I am tired and definitely not ready for the weekend to be over, but it was really nice to hit some trails this morning, even if it was just out by the tracks. Whether it's baseball or bikes, "get some dirt" is always good advice.

Later.

Weekend

I am winding down after taking a long weekend at the coast. We played a little baseball and Frisbee by the water, rode our bikes, visited the aquarium and ate some good food.

The boy rode his new bike and liked it.

Jenn rode her old bike and liked it.

The weather was a bit cool, but not bad.

We managed to dodge the predicted rain yet again. Our luck on trips is incredible. Of course, it hasn't rained much in California the last few years.

It was a nice getaway and a much-needed break.

Later.

New Bike

Not for me, though.

After only two years, the boy has outgrown his Felt 24-inch mountain bike. With an upcoming trip on the horizon, it was time for him to step up to some 26" wheels.

I had him ride Jenn's travel bike, which is a small On One Inbred. It fit well, so I bought the same frame except the geared model.

I had most of the parts on hand except for the wheels, which I had to build up. He wanted a little bling so I bought him a gold Origin 8 headset and Salsa seat clamp.

We teamed up on the build, which was fun. Everything went together smoothly. Most of the components are older Deore XT, but they have plenty of life left.

Now he knows that building a bike really isn't that difficult.

Even when building a bike, the boy is never far from a basketball.

Today we took the completed product out for a shakedown ride. It ran well and he really seemed to like it.

In a couple days we'll be hitting the road for a little spring break trip. Should be fun.

Later.

Another One Gone

The Fargo is gone.

It was a really cool bike, but I have a number of bikes that serve a similar purpose. In the end this bike just didn't offer anything a regular 29er doesn't—it wasn't any faster, it wasn't any more comfortable, and the drops could be a handful in rough terrain. I'm not going to tour the world anytime soon, so out it went.

I sold all the dropbar-specific components along with it. The funds went towards a new set of wheels for the latest project.

Later.

Twilight

I went out for a nice single speed ride yesterday after work. It's a huge pain to load everything up in the morning, store my bike in a locker at work, put it back on the car after work, drive to my destination, change clothes, gear up and ride. I always dread it, at least until I am actually out riding.

I started at Folsom Bike and rode up the bike trail towards Beal's Point where I hit the dirt.

I rode out to Granite Bay and did two loops around the area. I was surprised how damp and grippy the soil was considering we haven't had any rain in a month.

On the way back I had to hit the lights.

I rode for about a half hour in the dark. Normally I ride with two lights, but I was being lazy, so I just used one on the bars. I couldn't see a thing in turns. Next time I will also put a light on my helmet.

Last time I rode single speed I was on my orange Waltworks. After not riding the bike for a while, and getting used to the Canfield's upright position, I really didn't like the low handlebar height. I am 47 years old and I have been in a hunched over "racing position" for 30 years. I don't want to do it anymore. Enter the blue Waltworks.

The frame originally started life as a geared bike in 2006. In 2009 I hade a local guy convert it to a single speed by installing an eccentric bottom bracket. I always meant to get it repainted and built up, but never did. It hung in the garage for over five years.

The fork is 40mm longer than the orange bike's. The increased fork height combined with the riser bars made for a much more comfortable position.

I had a Bushnell EBB once, which is an expanding wedge unit, and it was horrible. It creaked, clicked and slipped. You had to grease the hell out of it, and re-grease it frequently.

I went with a pinch bolt unit this time, and it works great. This is the quietest bike I have ever ridden. It was almost too quiet in the dark woods; I could hear lots of creatures scurrying about as I passed though the darkness.

One thing I never considered was how the EBB would affect my rear tire clearance. The original frame's bottom bracket, which was cut out and discarded, was 73mm. While the aluminum EBB insert is a standard 68mm, the actual steel part of the frame is only 60mm, so I lost 13mm in width. That's a lot of tire clearance to lose. Added to that, the increased diameter of the bottom bracket requires the chainstays to be shortened and squeezed together even more.

When I moved the wheels from the orange bike to the blue one, the nubs on the rear tire were hitting the chainstays, and the knobs were far too close for comfort.

A few weeks ago I bought a WTB Nine Line tire for another bike. After mounting it up, I immediately took it back off. It was ridiculously narrow for a 2.25 inch tire.

It measures a whopping 2.044 inches. Stupid. It should be labeled as a 2.0 for sure.

However, its narrow profile made it the perfect candidate for the rear end of this bike.

Being narrow and having low, closely spaced knobs, it wasn't the greatest tire for climbing out of the saddle. It slipped a lot. If I keep this bike, I will have to find something better.

This is an old bike with old geometry, and it rides like it. Nobody uses a 72 degree head angle anymore. It was a handful on high speed descents, especially in the dark. I can't help but wonder if selling both Waltworks single speeds and getting something newer would be the way to go.

Later.