Mini Vacation

I have spent the last week out on Bainbridge Island.  My friend Paul owns Classic Cycle and needed a little fill in help for a few days.  Of course I am going to travel a few thousand miles to work at another store.  Was there ever really a choice? 

I was a little weirded out by traveling/vacationing alone.  My wife could not take the time off work and I wasn't exactly sure how much I would be working so I went alone.  There were times when I had the realization that I could do whatever I wanted.  It was really strange. 

I was able to ride some, a little off road, a tiny bit road.  I explored a lot of the south part of the island and rode some trails up north.  The trails were exceptional.  There isn't a lot of elevation but with all the timber offering additional obstacles, there was plenty to keep it interesting.

I did come to understand that 15 years of city life has affected me.  The pace of life on the island is slightly different than the city.  I awoke and walked to breakfast a couple of days before 8  AM.  The restaurants were just beginning to stir.  Breakfast didn't seem to hit until 9 or 9:30 AM.  While waiting in line for coffee, I was beginning to be annoyed with how long people were taking.  I was on vacation!  I guess that is why people get away.  Gain a new/better/old perspective to make sure you are who you want to be.

The weather in the northwest is not the best this time of year.  Fortunately one of the mornings I was up early, mother nature played nice.  This is about the best shot I was able to capture the entire week.  This would be considered excellent visibility, especially for this time of year.

rainier at sunrise

Mecca of the Midwest

A few weeks ago a crew of friends went up to the mountain bike trails at Cuyuna State Recreation Area.  This lies just outside Crosby, Minnesota.  Up on the iron range, the first recommendation I can give people is to make sure to bring water (or be prepared to purchase).  Iron range equals iron water.  Not tasty.  We filled a cooler with visually clear tap water and by the next morning it had turned quite red.  Gatorade red.  Like I said, tasty.

The Heartland Staff

Second recommendation is to eat at the Heartland Kitchen & Cafe.  I really cannot explain how marvelous this business is.  The food is solidly delicious.  Not "I will call everyone I know and tell them about this meal" delicious, but really, really good.  What sets this place apart is how wonderful the staff is.  Immediately upon entering the restaurant they were making space for us.  Even with our dirty, sweaty group, they welcomed us like we were family.  I have never experienced that level of service when dining out.  We made sure to make it back for Sunday brunch.  Again, beyond worth it.  

Third recommendation is if you enjoy riding off road, make a trip to Cuyuna.  Every local we spoke with made comments about how much they enjoy having mountain bikers come to town.  Every rider I have talked to has raved about the trails.  This isn't the mecca destination of Moab, but for the midwest, it doesn't get much better.  It would be great to keep the hype going for as long as possible.  There are plans to continue to develop trails in the area, and the more people that ride responsibly, the better the chances to enhance our midwest mecca.

Cuyuna Weekend

Obby trying an obstacle

This weekend a group of friends of mine headed up to the trails in the Cuyuna State Recreational Area.  This trail system opened earlier this year and I have heard really great things, from a number of different sources.  Everything surpassed my expectations.

The riding:  I cannot say enough good things about this system of trails.  We drove up late on Friday night, camping at Portsmouth Campground.  This worked out great for our crew (8 people) as they have a group campsite that is off from the rest of the campground so we could be louder later and not feel too bad about it.  It also is feet from the trail.  From our camp we climbed a tiny little riser and it didn't feel like I had to pedal for the next mile.  There are a boat load of pump sections that carry your momentum like mad.  

We started off on the northern-most section (Yawkey Unit) and were a little disoriented with the maps and trail markers, but everything consists of various loops that bring you back to intersections and more maps so you can't get lost.  It's just becoming comfortable with distances and where markers are set.  Once familiar, navigation of the trails is super easy.  Besides a few, and I mean just a few, of the corners being sandy loose dirt, the dirt is hard packed and smooooooth.  We rode a couple of trails and then ran into some more friends who drove up for the day of riding.  After shooting a couple of fast runs and taking our turn at some SERIOUS obstacles, we broke for lunch.  Yet another great thing about this system is that it is quite close to Crosby which has a number of nice eateries.

After lunch we went further south to the Mahnomen Unit.  This section has longer sections of trail and there is a little more elevation change.  There are some fantastic downhills and I was really digging on the longer climbs.  We did a number of loops, trying to make sure that we didn't ride the same trail more than once, and I think we did a good job of it.  There are also some killer overlooks that show what reclamation can do to an area.  I can't think of a better use of land.

Ken flying

We had a couple of our group that were heading back to the cities Saturday night so we headed back to camp, cleaned up a little, and rode into town for dinner.  It's beginning to darken early around here so after we were back in camp, a few of us broke out our lighting systems and did some night riding.  We went back north as we were a little more familiar with what the trails did.  That didn't keep us from riding a couple sections we hadn't in the daylight. No big whoop.


Sunday morning brought another round of morning riding.  We hit the trails fairly early as we wanted to get some runs in before breakfast.  A couple runs down the Bobsled, Tugger and the Man Cage before back into Crosby.  More on eating later.  Some of our crew had ridden (and eaten) a little more than normal so it was just Ken and I that went back out for the afternoon run.  We didn't have a lot of time before we had to head back home so we chose some of the easier trails of the Mahnomen Unit.  Easier does not mean easy.  There are still some good climbs and it's nice that they have thrown in some optional obstacles for people of differing skill levels.  We made a loop all the way around the outside of the section and with time working against us we made our way out.

*** Eating and whatnot coverage to come ***

Out of Sight

Destroyed pads after 1 ride!

I keep debating about disc brakes. Obviously there is not much of a question when talking mountain bikes as it is and ever-shrinking pool of quality product for rim brakes. No, what I debate, is if new randoneurring or commuters should have discs.

I have a grand goal of building a lightweight randoneur that triples as a gravel grinder and commuter. I have a few of these bikes now, but each of them is not quite right. I know geometry, single/geared options, even most of the components. But I get stuck on the brakes. The photo shown is a customer's pads after 1 ride. 1 RIDE! One side of the pad set is completely gone.  The other nearly worn to the metal at the top.  The spring between the pads is worn through on one side completely.  Mud and gunk can destroy pads so fast, how is this a good idea to put on a bike? I ride cantilevers on most of my bikes and replace pads every few years (the bonus of spreading the riding over many bikes and only weighing 135#). I do have to replace pads on my winter commuter every year, but that is the exception. I love the idea of being able to run a bunch of tyre widths with no adjustment, but does it offset the wear issue?

I have been using disc brakes on my single speed mountain bike for a couple years now, but I don't ride that very often.  And as I don't race, I don't ride that bike in very adverse conditions.  Using discs on a bike I would ride in all sorts of nasty conditions certainly would change the pad wear.  Now with the UCI allowing discs in cyclocross, I am expecting higher quality road brake setups.  Hopefully my custom bike will take long enough that there will be better options for road discs.  Or it will just make my choice that much harder.

Racing Weekend

Well, I didn't actually do any racing, but this past weekend was the Dakota 50 in Spearfish, SD.  I grew up in the area and started my adult riding career getting lost in the Black Hills on my 1991 Schwinn Impact.  It was tons of fun to wander around the area and do some riding again.  I think the last time I rode a bike out there was 1999.  Crazy different, and crazy fun.

My friend Matt and I left Friday afternoon and cruised all the way out to Spearfish.  Camp for me was super easy to set up as I decided since it was so nice of weather to sleep sans tent.  This would continue for the next 2 nights, as well.  Our friends Dan and Jessica and their friends Nate and Annie were already there.  We had a couple of beers and turned in quite early.  There was riding to do.

Monk, our great riding companion

Saturday morning we leisurely awoke and headed out to do some pre-riding of some sections of the course.  I had chosen to ride my Surly 1X1 as I am not the biggest fan of the multi-speed mountain bikes I own.  We left the parking lot and coasted downhill for the first 10 minutes.  As we rolled into what would be the 4th rest stop on Sunday, the trail went almost straight up.  I was actually very surprised how much of the trail I could ride.  There were only a couple of times when I decided to walk.  Most of the time was absolutely incredible.  It has been a very long time since I have ridden point to point trails like that.  The views were gorgeous and riding such a variety of terrain rejuvenated my interest in mountain biking.  

We ended up the morning ride with a super fast fire road downhill and small gravel road ride back to the car.  It was definitely time for lunch.  We cruised back to Spearfish to eat at a small BBQ place that ended up being closed.  So instead went around the corner and had a couple beers, some great food, and charged my phone at the Chophouse.  I would recommend this place to anyone in the Spearfish area.  

Matt and I were not quite done riding for the day, so we headed back up to the Big Hill trail system.  It turns out we rode another small section of the race course and then veered off for some of the fastest riding of the day.  The uphills were not nearly as steep, and it was a nice way to finish off the day.  Being from the area, I biked over to a friend's house for dinner.  Home cooking is very nice when camping.  I was expecting people to go to bed early that night, but was very surprised that there was absolutely no motion when I returned to camp at 10 PM.

Matt, hanging loose

Sunday morning came very early with a 7:15 start.  Jessica and I traveled around to the different rest stops throughout the day.  Nobody had the times they were hoping for, but it seemed that everyone had a good time.  It was definitely a great event and the racing thing is certainly infectious.  I don't know that I will actually ever sign up for it, but it would be top on the list if I do any sort of ATB race.  We hung out for a long time after, but only one of our group won anything.  Sunday night was a great time of hanging out and recounting riding.  People were a little tired for some reason and we did have a long day of travel in store for Monday, so bedtime was around 9 PM.  Earlier than I can remember in a long time.

Dan finishing amongst fans

Monday was mostly uneventful.  Matt and I had breakfast with my parents and took the back roads home.  It added a little time to the drive, but certainly was more interesting than interstate.  The trouble with driving that distance with a couple bike junkies in the car is that various plans were made and dreamed about involving mountain biking, touring and all sorts of travel with bikes. 

It appears I need a little more vacation time...and a pay raise.

Century's

I have been lucky to have had a couple of great rides over the past couple weeks. After a full week of work on the road for the MS TRAM, I snuck down to Iowa to take part in the Guitar Ted Death Ride Invitational. This is a 100 mile gravel ride leaving from south of Waterloo and making a BAL out of some of the best roads I have ridden. There was a little heat, but nothing too unmanageable. My biggest mistake was missing a small patch of shoulder with the sunscreen. I felt really good all day, managed my food intake, kept my water at an appropriate level and had an absolute blast. This was definitely one of the best century rides I have done.



Then this past weekend was the 8th annual Tour de Loren, an urban century around the twin cities here in MN. One of my customers hosts this ride and we had a good crew that started out at 21 riders. I alternate how I ride this one and this happened to be a racing year. I went all out, brandishing our team jersey and even shaving my legs. I bribed another rider with bacon at the start so I didn't have to ride the entire day without some help. Again, I felt good the entire day with the exception of our 3rd stage after lunch. And even though I wasn't the strongest rider in the group, I had a great ride. I pushed myself hard and enjoyed my road bike. Something I don't do often enough.



This weekend I am opting out of riding. I still have some house to paint, so that will occupy my weekend. Hopefully I can finish it up and be back in the saddle next weekend.

Pleasant afternoon

I really enjoy having a weekday off from work. It is a great time to run errands and do those things that are virtually impossible working 10 hour days. I sent off my dad's day gift this morning, a little late, but the card will get there in time. I stopped at the big red circle to pick up a few essentials and decided that I have no idea what I am going to make for dinner. It is a great day here in the twin cities. Just warm enough to perspire when you stop riding. Not hot enough to boil your blood whilst riding.

After lunch, I decided to spend some quality time in the garden. We have let a few of the flower beds grow out of hand so I reigned in the weeds and laid down the rest of the mulch we had on hand. With our rose bush starting to bloom, the back yard shaped up quite nicely. There is still a bunch of work to do in the vegetable garden, but I don't trust my eyes to pull the right plants. That can wait till tomorrow.

Now it is wait for the rain to come in. The Nature Valley bike race is in town this weekend and I was thinking of heading down to the Minneapolis criterium, but with the threat of rain, I think I may skip it and work on bikes instead. After coming home from the MS 150 last weekend, I just threw everything into the basement and it is still a fright. Time to clean and clear out some inventory. We need some more space in the garage. I hauled a bunch of waste from it earlier this year and there is promise of being able to use it more effectively. Just like in the garden, I have to think of it in small steps or it is way too overwhelming.

Overdue Bike Work

I am pretty easy on my bikes and am fortunate to not have to do that much work on them. I also try to do a little at a time to keep the big projects at a minimum. That is tricky when riding through winter in Minnesota, or attempting something like Trans Iowa. One, not so big. The other, quite large.

I developed a Rice Krispies effect when I switched my winter/spring commuter to a fixed cog after the ice pack melted. It has quieted some, but has been very persistent. I decided to make use of our fancy parts washer at work and clean up some parts and replace some others. At least make sure most of the salt was off the most important of parts.

WOW! I have done it before, but I failed to remember just how nice a new drive-train can feel. Replacing the chain that was stretched off the chart and fancy new cog was just what that bike needed. If I hadn't had to replace a busted shut off valve in my basement, I would have just kept riding. One project checked off the list.

That brings me to my Cross Check which has been sitting untouched since my failure in Iowa. I have been a bit busy at work and every day off has been filled with personal situations that have left me no time to take care of it. Well today finally allowed me a window for cleaning. Mother Nature decided to help out by raining while I was washing. Just that much less water I had to purchase to clean away the mud and debris. I think I have some pictures here from last year as well, and I bet in a few years I won't be able to tell the difference. I have the same setup and my bike came back looking almost the same. A little less cornstalk jammed in the brakes this year.

The first part of the cleaning process is finished. Knocking all the mud off is the easy part. Now I have to set aside some serious time to overhaul her. Or maybe I should just start using her for commuting without doing all that work. A little lube here and there should keep the noises down, and anything else that may be wrong should be righted by riding. Ride more is a hard philosophy to argue with.


<---------- Before...............After--------->

Finished

My Trans Iowa was the most disappointing one yet. Everything, besides the lack of training, leading up to the ride was going just right. I had the right amount of nerves, I ate like crazy leading up to Saturday, and I even snagged a fair amount of sleep Friday night.

Saturday morning I was still trying to decide exactly the clothing I wanted to wear and I ended up being very comfortable with two layers of wool and my vest. The fog was super thick as I made the short trek to Broad St to wait for the start. I chatted with some other riders, trying to keep warm and not think about what lay ahead. My nerves really ramped up when we lined up, so much so that I was shaking (maybe that was the chilly morning air). With the blast of the handlebar, we were off.

There was a looong line of riders weaving through the streets, I think we started 74. I was riding single speed so I knew I wanted to be toward the back of the pack. I did indeed end up with only one rider behind me. We pedaled maybe 1/4 mile through Grinnell and seeing the riders around me, I began to wonder if I should jockey for position a bit. Knowing that there were 72 riders in front of me, I decided it would be ok to sit back for a while. A final right turn and we hit the gravel. Mark and Dave took off (as far as I know) and we were all on our own.

The roads were in really good condition. I was thinking that it was going to be super muddy, but it turned out to be soupy in spots, but actually very good riding. I stayed in back for maybe 30 minutes and then my legs were ready to spin my regular rpms. I started to pass a few people to try to find a gap in the group. I was feeling ambitious and I wanted to keep my feet moving so I just let them go. I was also trying to start out strong to make sure I made the first checkpoint. Somewhere around mile 12, we all were strung out and hit the first b road.

B roads can be great fun but in my TI experiences, they suck. With all the moisture, the dirt turns into this amazing sticky goo that clogs your bike instantly if you let the tyres touch it. With 50+ riders through already, I was following the trail with everyone else. We hiked the mile or so and ended up on a blacktop road on the other side. After some quick cleaning to make sure my wheels turned and I had somewhat functional brakes, we crossed the highway and continued up the little riser and stopped. 50 some lights were coming back toward us. I wish I could have taken a picture, but my mind was racing, trying to figure out what we were going to do.

The leaders decided to take the highway, so everyone followed. Mob mentality. We raced (I actually felt like I was racing at this point) down the road and took a left that took us back to being on course. On we rode and the field spread out again and I was soon riding by myself. There was something very liberating about riding completely by myself. I didn't have to adjust my riding to match anyone else. But around mile 24, things started to go wrong. I had been riding for a couple hours, hiked the b road, made it back to where I knew my computer was 3 miles extra, and I started to tire. The sun was coming up and with it, the wind started to howl.

My first TI was insane. I have never experienced wind that fierce before or after. But what it taught me, is that there is no hiding from the wind in Iowa. This year was no different. With the sun, came the wind right into my face. And the temperature dropped. I can't prove it, but I swear it was colder with the sun up. The wind and my lack of eating properly, took their toll. I didn't feel like I was bonking, but climbing those hills, and there were some monsters, I was becoming weaker and weaker each time. There was even one point I stopped and walked a hill. I just couldn't keep turning the pedals. Somewhere down the road, maybe mile 32 or so, I stopped again and pulled out a bagel and a Gu packet. I wolfed down half the bagel and pushed on. Amazingly I started to feel a little better, but the wind was still killing me. I was desperate, so I ate the Gu (my first ever!). Mile 40 something we made a turn and were actually riding WITH the wind!

Unfortunately, the wrong turn, the lack of nutrition and the wind combined to make my time too long. About 4 miles from the checkpoint I ran into a rider heading the opposite direction. I had just nearly missed a turn and with the markers I knew I was going the right direction. Turns out, I knew him and he turned around and we rode into Baxter together. My computer said I was about 6 minutes shy of the cutoff time. Not the way I wanted this ride to go. But it is what it is.

I decided that I am finished riding single speed for this event. Yep, that should make everything better.

Come On!!

This is what we had to deal with this morning:


What do we have to do to get a break around here?

Time to Change

Trans Iowa is what, 4 days away? Plenty of time to keep changing things around. I have been running some Bontrager Dry X 29X1.75 tyres for the last few weeks, thinking that the smaller size would fit my full fenders. After some riding with Ken, off the fenders came. This past weekend, I went out for some riding and scared myself silly with how slow I was going. That really made the gears in my head, think about the gears on my bike.

So I decided to switch back to what I rode last year. I moved the XR-1 29X2.1 tyres back onto the hoops and switched to my trusted 42X22 setup. I decided that if the wet does happen (if?), my bike was solid last year. I am hoping that the weather will cooperate just a bit more and allow me to ride this stupid event.


With all that done, I am also doing some last minute change to my custom basket bag. My bag man (also my neighbor), agreed to move my cue sheet clasps to make them (hopefully) more useable. I am glad I used the months of lead time to do so much work and research.

Gettin on Spring

The promise of spring is in the air. I was fortunate enough to be able to ride down to Cars-r-Coffins bike/coffee shop this morning. We have had a somewhat tradition(?) of having Friday morning breakfast. We have a number of places we like to go, and one of them is Cars-r-Coffins. Sadly, they are closing shop next Friday so we thought it was important we go down there one last time. Weekday mornings can be difficult, but it was nice of my friends Sean and Alex to go with me. I wish Hurl the best in his next adventures.

As some things end, others begin. I was made aware of a new bike shop in St Paul, Green Tire Bike Shop. I decided to stop in today and they have only been open 4 days. It is a used bike/service shop and the manager Jacob seems to be a nice enough fellow. But what really excites me is that my good friend Dan has started a snazzy business, Omnium Bike Shop. This is a very cool place in the Cathedral Hill neighborhood of St Paul. This is his third day open. Hopefully the twin cities biking world can keep all these places open. Good luck, Dan!

The best thing about the day was that I spent about 4 hours riding around town. Being outside, normal shoes, flat pedals, sunshine, is a great reminder of how awesome summer is going to be. This time of year, every year, I think more and more about how wonderful it is to be able to hop on a bike with no preparation. When shorts and a t-shirt are all the clothing you need to make you comfortable; even at 1 AM. Those days are coming soon.

Oh Crap

Trans Iowa is 6 weeks out. What have I done?

Let the second guessing begin.

Birthday Weekend

My wife and my birthdays are separated by only a few days. We decided a long time ago that we wouldn't buy each other gifts, but would do something a little out of the ordinary. We like the idea of doing stuff, not collecting stuff. This year, we purchased tickets to the WCHA Final Face off tournament. We are big fans of Gophers women's hockey, but we do not see games often enough.

Friday, my wife had to work a little late which meant we not only missed the first game (WI vs. ND), but didn't have time to eat dinner before the second game. It wasn't a big deal, eating at the arena, but the food isn't the greatest and we knew we had to make time to eat before the championship game on Saturday. Fortunately, the Gophers won Friday night to set up an even more fun Saturday game.

Saturday we slept in some and then worked our way around our neighborhood, taking care of little things we had been meaning to do for quite a while. We made up a list of things to do and actually checked them all off (true it was a fairly short list). This was great, giving us a much needed sense of accomplishment. But then it was time to truly enjoy ourselves some more.

We were going to grab a bite at the Blue Door, one of our favorite local eateries. It wasn't even 4:30 and we figured we wouldn't have much trouble finding a table. NOPE!! There must have been 6 people waiting outside the door, and more making their way up the sidewalks toward the bar. I don't know what was going on, but it makes me want to case the place to find out when they aren't busy. We didn't feel like waiting as long as it would take for food there, so we cruised down to the Groveland Tap, another favorite of ours. The beer list is great, and I am now a super fan of the Cajun Lucy, just the right combo of spicy and flavor. Couple that with a Summit Oatmeal Stout, pure bliss.

Unfortunately, the Gophers lost the game that night, but it was a fantastic game. They played amazing for 2 1/2 periods but WI pushed hard and brought it to OT. 9 minutes in the Gophers couldn't keep up with the pressure and let in the game winner. Again, a fantastic game even though it wasn't the outcome we wished for. Carrie and I came home quite tired and worn out from playing so hard. A very nice way to celebrate a birthday.

I Remember That

I happened across this image while organizing some pictures and it struck me how much I like riding in the fall. It is a street I ride by almost every day, and I must have been heading in early, as the sun is lower than it normally is for me on my rides to work. With all the leaves on the ground and the soft colors, it obviously made enough of an impression for me to stop and shoot it. Now it makes me feel good that it can stir up some of those same feelings that made me stop in the first place. I know that it isn't technically a great photo, but it does the trick for me.

I was out riding yesterday and we have been treated to some fabulous weather here in the twin cities. With temps in the 50's, it brings out the feeling of spring. I know it isn't going to last, but it sure is a nice break after what always feels like extremely long winters. We have one more nice day in store for us today, and it has that fall feeling to it with some fog this morning. Then it is back to reality with a few more weeks of winter riding before we can store our heavier layers of clothing, and not have to rely on memories of great rides, but create some new ones.

Lour de Toren

A few years back I started a super small bike ride to help keep people riding and socializing during the winter. One of my great customers holds a bike ride in August that is quite possibly the most well organized and evolving ride ever known to the personal riding scene. I decided it needed a counter part on the opposite end of the scale.

His ride is in August, mine is February. His is 100 miles, mine is kept to 10 miles or less. His is meticulously organized, mine comes together out of nowhere, sometimes in the nick of time, and has essentially no organizing sans the start date, time and place. His has two sag vehicles (3 last year), food, mechanical help, GPS, route launching parties, etc. Mine... well, none of that. His has 4 stages, with 3 rest stops. Mine, actually has the same. Some ideas are too good to mess with.

Tonight was the planning session to decide where the ride is to start. I already decided on a date and time, so choosing a starting point was just a matter of picking from the napkins. The first planning meeting we had was when we decided to draw from the messenger bag for a starting location. No one had paper, so we used napkins. 5 years later, minus the ones that have been drawn for the previous 4 starts, those napkins still go into the drawing.

I am looking forward to another 10 mile killer. This is really some of the hardest miles I ride during the year.

Mechanics Musings

I am not much of a fan of riding in the snow. I don't mind it, but I certainly am not going to go out of my way to ride in it, and certainly not going to RACE through it. I have to admit that I am a little intrigued by fat tyre bikes, but they are just too expensive for me to have in the stable and not ride much at all.

For this reason, I don't follow much that is happening with the fat bike scene. I received an email a while back that a racer from out of state wanted to send their bike to our shop to build up for the upcoming Arrowhead 135. We worked out the logistics and I agreed to assemble it and set it up for him to pick it up this weekend. I wasn't really thinking about what type of bike I would be and ooooh was I surprised when the box showed up.

I knew that the complete bike wasn't in the first box that showed up (arrived over two days), but it turned out that everything was there except the front wheel. This is amazingly light for the tyres it carries.

That's a ti Fatback (hard to see but wicked twisted downtube!), full carbon fork (not a fan but it IS light), Fatback hubs and crankset, UMA rims, Hope brakes, XTR gorillas, Ritchey WCS carbon seatpost and bars. Fatback claims getting bikes down to 22 pounds and I believe they can do it. I didn't put it on the scale, but I am sure my Pake C'mute weighs more than this machine. It was fun to work on something so different. I wish the rider well on his trip across the north.

Small Repair

A friend of mine saved a motorized scooter from the trash heap last week and is in the process of fixing it up for her sister. I love that there are other people out there that are willing to at least take a chance to keep things running rather than throwing them away. Especially when there are things such as batteries and at least if it can't be fixed, recycle the stuff instead of chucking it in the garbage. People are just lazy.

I don't normally mess with motorized stuff, but for a friend, why not. There were a couple of broken spokes and a flat tyre, not a huge deal to fix. The biggest problem being that I don't have access to a spoke cutter, something I would like to own, but do not have the extra $3000 to throw at it. I was trying to have this completed today, which meant finding spokes on Sunday. It felt a little strange calling a local shop and them telling me that there was no mechanic there that could cut a spoke. That's something that would never happen in my business plan for a shop. But I digress. It was also a bit strange that when I did find someone who could cut spokes for me that day, it took them well over 15 minutes to do so. I know it doesn't take that long to cut and roll spokes, so I can't help but wonder if there was a little sham going on there in order to force me to look around a bit longer. Hard to say.

None the less, the wheel turned out great. I daresay it is one of the truest 12" wheels in the area. It makes me feel good to do such a small repair, that will hopefully bring some big fun for years to come.

To Pannier or not Two Pannier

I have used panniers for a number of years. I was a messenger bag person for several years and thought that panniers had their place for touring or tons of stuff transport. But do I really want to haul around those bags every day on my bike? Turns out yes, yes I do. I have taken a lot of grief when people would pick up my bicycle and complain how much it weighed (I still don't understand why they would complain about such things). I carry a lot of stuff with me. The nice thing is that I almost always have what I need (and a bunch extra) when I am... wherever. Extra shirt, socks, hat (hats?), phone charger, tools, tubes, various spare bike tid-bits, lock (at least 4' cable for locking extra bikes for those that have forgotten theirs), you get the idea.

But come winter, I sometimes lose the rear rack (panniers are bolted on for extra quietness and security) and opt for a backpack. I like the backpack vs. messenger bag so as to keep the weight more centered on my body for squirrely snowy conditions. I wasn't so sure how much difference it makes, but I just removed the rack/bag from my bike this morning and immediately noticed how much easier my bike handles when the snow deepens. The only drawback being that with the stupid bag on my back, there is no breathing back there. Not the worst thing in the winter. Well worth the extra confidence I have when cornering and it makes the ride more fun. I need all I can get to keep going in the snow and cold. So the backpack stays loaded up until most of the snow is gone. That will maybe keep the fun factor a little higher during the next couple fortnights.

More Snow

It continues to snow here in the twin cities. I am not sure how close we are going to come to a record for snowfall for this winter season, but it is definitely more than we have had for several years. So far every broomball game I have played has been with at lease 1/2" of snow on the ice.

With all the snow we have received, it has made riding a real joy. The streets are getting narrower and narrower and today riding home was the ever fun slipping and sliding with all the ice underneath the fresh snow. Of course it could have been worse if there was more moisture in the snow. Winter just isn't my favorite time for riding. I do enjoy being out in the snow and if I can be on a trail away from automobiles, where I don't have to fight the divots made by people walking, biking is great. The snow deadens all the noise of the city and it can be incredibly peaceful. But those trail conditions are very rare. I guess the way to get around that is to go for a ride at 3AM.

I am already starting to plan out my biking season. I have a little interest in trying a brevet series. We have a number of them in the area, and with Trans Iowa almost kicking off the actual biking season, I should be in pretty good shape to participate. It would mean joining TCBC which I have never done. Having worked in a bike shop here in the cities over 10 years, I should spread the love around. It's good to keep trying different things.

Sanyo Dynamo

I saw these a while ago and finally took the time to build one into a wheel. I have wanted to have a winter dynamo wheel for some time and I bit the bullet with this very inexpensive hub. Right out of the box it feels smoother than a Shimano but not as smooth as a Schmidt. I can tell you that if you use the correct spokes for a Shimano hub, the Sanyo will fit with the spokes being just a touch short. Not unreasonable at all.


A slightly annoying feature to the Sanyo is the connector for the light. The Shimano hub has a casing that protects the wires after attaching them to the connector. Sanyo builds this casing into the hub, which means that if you unplug the headlight, there is a greater chance for the wires to pull out. Not a huge thing, but I am glad I am using it for winter riding when I don't have to deal with many flat tyres.

We will see how the long term, violent conditions wear at the hub. I don't put tons of miles on during the snowiest time of the year, but my bike sure sees some awful conditions. As far as I can tell the Sanyo should be great for dealing with this. I have run a Surly sealed bearing hub for my rear wheel for 3 years now and I have yet to replace bearings (not that they couldn't use it, it just isn't totally necessary yet). I am hoping that this dynamo will be just as nice. I will purchase a replacement set of bearings this summer and put them right next to the Surly's to hang out until I need them, several years down the road.