last day of the year commute

So, I managed to ride to work today on the Voodoo for what was virtually the only ride I've done in the month of December aside from the S24O I did on the 1st with my friend Joe. I did get out last night for an urban assault on Essex Junction to try out the new winter boots. I have to say that I am glad that I finally got them. It is nice to know that you can walk through a section of snow without your booties pulling up and letting snow all over your shoes that will melt and get you feet wet. Not to mention that they are very comfortable.

In other news, I just ordered and Surly Necromancer frame that I will build up in short order (hopefully) so that I can finally get in some fatbiking. I am looking forward to it. I have a couple of friends that have been at it a couple years and I have just been dreaming about it. +Mike Beganyi is my local authority on the subject and I look forward to finally sharing in the bounty.

Stay tuned for writeups on that build. I will be starting with a wheel build as soon as I gather the rest of the parts.

December (nearly winter) S24O

There was a lot of anticipation leading up to this trip. It wasn't terribly certain that it was going to happen until a couple days before and then the day of seemed to have some events that compromised the departure. In the end my friend Joe and I left his house at about 3pm for the ~30 mile trip to Little River State Park for an overnight at a leanto.

out for another bout

Joe had recently purchased and put together a Taut Terrain Amber Road. It is one fine rig I might add. Dyno light, Alfine IGH, belt drive, integrated rear rack, kickstand! That's right, I am finally old enough that a kickstand is cool again.

the rigs

We rode into the evening on some really nice dirt that I have never been on. That helped make the trip more mystic. The route was off the beaten path but for some reason, the night we were out there, the traffic was pretty dense. We ended up riding out into a valley with some nice expansive views. It was actually bouncing around between cold/windy to warm/breezy. It was on Nashville Rd. in Jericho/Bolton that I was thinking how nice it would be to be on a fatbike. Later on the ride I thought the same thing again when we got to the park. After an incredible and sometimes sketchy downhill on Stage Rd. we ended up at Route 2 in Jonesville, a community of Richmond. We proceeded to follow Duxbury Rd. along the river into Waterbury. Blustery gusts of wind and long stretches of road bring you to realize that you are out there because you love it. Why else would you leave the comfort of your warm home and Netflix to spend a potentially dreadful night in the woods.

After a quick stop at the store for a warm up and a few supplies, including a flask of Captain Morgan's Spiced Rum and apple cider, we continued on to Little River Rd. It eventually kicks up and takes you around the edge of the dam and into the park. We embarked on some unplowed roads, snagged a couple chunks of firewood and rode on to our camp. We setup before too long, changed out of our riding clothes and worked on warming up. I was pretty determined to have a fire this time after missing out on one last trip. With a bit of luck and help from Joe, we got something going and it was, if nothing else, spirit lifting to prepare for the cold night's sleep. Oh, and let's not forget the enjoyment of some spiked cider.

I wasn't properly prepared for what was to come so I had a rough night. I ended up leaving the interior of my tent and jumping up in the leanto with one last attempt to get some solid rest. I have learned quite a bit on this trip and will know better next time I attempt a winter S24O. And yes, there will be more! I still had a blast.

We finally saw morning light, got up and prepared some breakfast. Sitting there enjoying our meal, we got some morning sun coming up and life, at least for me, sprung back. We packed up camp and hit the road. It was decided that we would just hit Route 2 back into Richmond and then Cochran Rd. for a bit. The temps creeped up enough to stop and strip off some layers. We continued to ride in towards home and we split off from each other on River Rd. where Joe turned up to his house and I continue on to mine.

Very nice trip, all things considered. I look forward to doing more of these winter trips in the future and definitely a ton of them next Spring.

my body imprint - not all that insulated

packing up for the ride home

Joe's Taut Terrain

top of the Waterbury Dam

bike route from November S24O

Recent happenings

There are a few events that have happened on the bike and I never got around to writing about them. One of them was an alley cat race called the Great Turkey Chase. I did it with my friend Joe, who turned me on to it. It was our third time in a row. It is a benefit for the VT Foodbank. The just of it is you race around Burlington from store to store following a map and buying items that they request. It's somewhere in the neighborhood of 15-20 miles worth of riding all the while the bag on your back is getting heavier with the food you collect for the finish. There is time bonuses for bagging a turkey before the finish. We don't ride fast enough to be in contention for a win so you just do it for the sport of it.

This year we did quite well, getting in way better than half the field. We rode strong and ride pretty well paced to each other. The start is downtown at Maglianero cafe. From there you work your way downtown with a few stops before heading out to North Ave to the Hannaford and then back. This time the route went into Winooski which was very nicely laid out.

It is an exiting time and I will continue to do it each year. It's for a good cause as well. This year the weather was very nice. The most interesting thing that happened to me this year was leaving my bike in a bad spot while I went in a store to come out and find that it was backed over by a SUV. The bike was not hurt but the saddle took a good beating. It bent the seat rails which I worked back the best I could. Only thing that hurts from that is the $170 price tag if I care to replace it. I don't!

Another, and even more exciting, event I did was a fall (read: early winter) S24O similar to the one I did 13 months ago. I spent the night at a leanto but I got to sleep in my new Tarptent Moment. I will do a review on that in the near future. I have only camped in it twice so I would like to get a few more trips in it first. I also got to try out my bikepacking setup which includes my new bags from Scott Felter of the Porcelain Rocket. I have to say that these bags are fracking awesome and are premium quality. I knew that they would be great even before I got to use them. I will also do a write up on them soon as well.

On this trip I went solo. I had plans to get out with Mike but he feel sick a few days before the trip. It was not good weather but the foulness was a good personal test so I took the challenge. I set up an impromptu route that maximized dirt roads. This is the map:

I went through Westford, Essex, Jericho, Richmond, Waterbury. I worked my way up through Cottonbrook into Little River State Park just in time for dinner. After night fell I had a bit of rain that turned into a snow squal that lasted about 45 minutes. I was afraid that this was going to last all night but it actually tapered off before I hit camp. When I got there I tried to get a fire going and was successful at first but I couldn't find a way to keep it going with nothing but wet wood all around me. I decided to eat dinner and setup my tent. After I ate, I changed and hit the bag. It turns out that I got a lot of sleep. I did get up one time for the bathroom and I woke up a few times during the night either slightly uncomfortable or cold. I think the overnight low was around 28 degrees. I was using a 20 degree bag but I think that it has lost a bit of its insulating value to age.

When I woke in the morning, I was cold enough to want nothing more than to pack camp and hit the road. I did just that and came down the front of the park to route 2 and headed for Richmond. It was there I stopped at a cafe to warm up and get a bite to eat and some much needed coffee. After hanging out for a bit, I hit the road and finished the ride to my house. I made it back 23 hours after I left for the trip. The ride out was ~60 miles and the return trip was ~30 miles. Good time and I felt pretty good in the process. The bike was flawless.

Will I make it out again before the snow flies!?

Here is a photo dump from my S24O: (phone pics)

Lost Nation Rd.

old Vermont charm

more

new Vermont charm

nothing beats Vermont dirt

lunch break

VT art

the rig

there's snow up there

hey wait, i'm going up there

flat in Waterbury

Cottonbrook just at dark

morning after a cold night

Lazy on the posts, lots happening!

I'm am working through some thoughts and will be posting here soon. I have thoughts on a recent illness, the VT50, an overnight bikepacking trip and more. I have plans for the winter and into early spring. Please stand by while I sort it all out.

Sweet mother of the FAT Gods!

This is a very good thing. I like where fat is going. Now to get it off me and get it on the bike!

http://fat-bike.com/2012/08/new-45-nrths-dillinger-escalator-tires/

SingleSpeed USA 2012

Quite a different experience for me than most:

Saturday morning I got up and gathered all of my things, loaded the truck and was ready to roll. I then realized that I was a bit early to make the journey to Stowe. I ate breakfast and hung out at home for a little while. I rolled out feeling like I was forgetting something even though I had been over it a dozen times insuring myself that I was all set. The trip over gave me plenty of time to think of things and I realized that I had a tube in case I lost a tubeless setup. I also had a patch kit in case I lost said tube. As far as inflation, I only had a big air cartridge which would probably only cover one, maybe two flats. I got nervous and when I got to Stowe I promptly looked for a bike shop. I found one that opened at 8am and found a pump that I bought to have on hand just in case. Of course, as it goes, I didn't need it and I didn't have any mechanicals.

After the pitstop to the bikeshop, I headed over to the Stowe Polo Fields. I was still early and there wasn't any sign of a bike event to be seen. I headed back over to town and pulled in to the parking lot by the theater. I saw signs of other single speeders so I pulled in to chat a bit. I found a couple guys that were over from NY and they were chatting about trying to find a place to park. I told them if they wanted to follow me, I would show them were the closest bike path parking lot was. We got there and suited up and rode the bike path down and over to the polo fields. At this point there was a collection of bikes starting to accumulate.  

ready for the start

 After some mingling and such (I knew quite a bit of people there) we got some quick instruction from George of Bike29 and then we were off. It seemed to have come out of nowhere so most everyone wasn't sure that is was go time. We rolled out of the Polo Fields and up a long paved climb that came right at the beginning and all to soon. At the top of the climb we turned into the woods for some nice, fast single track. I will share something. I am no single speeder. It is super fun and I like working with the one gear but you have to have the skills to make it work. Hind sight would say that I should've ran 32/22 not 32/20.

I did this race because it came to Vermont. That was pretty much the single reason. I guess it was also a good excuse to ride trails in Stowe, which I had never done.

man, this shit's hard

 I was at the back of the pack (roughly 200 riders) straight out of the gate. I stayed there. I only got back into the mix throughout the race because people would hang out at the aid stations. There was water BUT there was mostly junk food, beer, and liquor. Single speeders are off road hipsters and they like to do things their way and quite different that the norm.

 Below is a picture of a stop that I made after the half way aid station where people were chugging 40oz beers and shots of whiskey and tequila. I stayed away from the festivities for two reasons. The first and one at hand was to maintain a level of survival in the race. The second is because I stopped drinking alcohol during my year long training session for Tour Divide. I digress. While I took a moment to clean some shit out of my shoe, someone that I later learned named Seth rolled back towards me and was thinking he was going the wrong. Mind you this guy was just at the mid station doing a 40. I got him steered in the right direction and I watched him trip all over the place falling and crashing. I was worried for him but they were always slow speed crashes and quite funny.

It wasn't long that Seth left me behind. Even drunk, he seemed to make light work of the trails ahead. I never saw him again. Matter of fact the only people I kept seeing were some riders from DrunkCyclist.com and the sweep that was on a full suspension geared bike. He helped two people that were riding in the vicinity of me get off the trail and back to town early. They didn't want to continue. Not much later he said to me that the section coming up is pretty technical and if I want to get out, now is a good time. I firmly told him that I wasn't stopping, he accepted and we made good of what we had.

this was a pretty nice section of the course

Before too long after one of the hardest climbs I've ever done, he turned to me and said that is it for the climbing. It was a rough gravel and stone section that climbed up somewhere onto the Trapps property and went on and on for what seemed like forever. The last section of the course was about 2 miles of downhill singletrack. I quickly dubbed that as "REWARD". It was so fast and flowy that I actually had to stop twice to shake the hands out from the pressure they were taken on from gravity. Me behind them and my rigid fork in front of them put alot of emphasis on my wrist. Nothing bad but noticeable. I believe the name of this trail is Kimmers which let out across a nice wooden bridge at a trailhead. That was the finish. I had done it and it was over! There were still about 30 people hanging around drinking and such when I pulled in seven hours after I had started. I was greeted like royalty. Last place! DFL! I stuck to it and got it done.

a note from my daughter

Things that I took away from this event:

• I am not (currently) a single speeder - it is super fun but you have to be quite fit to pull it off
• I was last in a very large field but I beat everyone that pulled out and technically all those who didn't even do it. (for whatever that is worth)
• a single speed bike is fun, quiet, and simple
• know your terrain and choose a gear that is suitable for it and your abilities
• don't worry about anyone else out there. 
• very easy to drain the tank when putting in a hard effort
• little to know rest or recovery while riding
• have comfortable shoes that allow hiking/walking (it happens)
• SS hipsters, although weird and different, are cool people and mostly judgment free

Would I do it again? Most likely not, but I would have a good time riding trails on a ss otherwise and plan on having a dedicated ss bike in the future. I think that more than anything, this race reinforced the mentality of if you are going to start something make sure you finish it. That, for me, is the greatest achievement of all.

 
here are a couple of other perspectives of the event.

• Mark
• George (Bike29)
• Mandy (the one and only)
• drunk cyclist (warning: sketchy)