Two Wheel Blogs

Confused? You wouldn't be if you had to ride around the parts I frequent. It's would be a toss up on what I'd rather do; go to a monster truck jam waving a black panthers flag, or ride some of the roads around honky tonk Sedalia. Well it may not be that bad, but today was quite interesting.

I'll skip the details of the ride but here are the highlights...

Great weather is awesome, but the bugs it brings out isn't. Cotton mouth and bugs don't mix, I got my fair share of protein from the little buggers tonight.

I'm trying to figure out what to do with this snow we're getting here. So far we have about 2" on the ground with more coming all the time.

There is a possibility of a snowy trail ride this afternoon. Could be fun. The woods are always a few degrees warmer. My only concern is whether the temperatures have been warm enough to melt the trails.

Another possibility is another ordinary trainer session. Yeah, that's got me stoked. It's got me thinking about rollers though. I think I go through this every year about this time. The trainer gets boring and rollers start sounding interesting. So far I've managed to get through it without actually going out and buying rollers though. Resist the urge.

I was dog-tired last night, so rather than pour myself a stiff drink and go to bed, I went out to ride.

I hit the trails for a short, but high intensity lap in attempt to make myself sleep better last night. When I arrived at the lot, I saw Jason preparing to ride. I had originally planned on doing the CX practice race with the group, but I was early, and Jason was leaving for the trails....That was what I needed.

Season starts this Sunday. I am ready. I've had a great week. Been riding the cross bike exclusively and running a bit too. I had a little chat with Ryan P. last night, one of the elite local guys. I asked him about running and cycling and he was very positive about it. Of course, he is more accomplished as a cross country and cyclocross racer, not as much on the road. So this will be the interesting thing for me to observe. I've been running a lot through the season and riding less (up until recently). How will I perform on race day?

Finally, all the parts are in. Now where did I leave that repair stand... I can finally move ahead and make some changes to my Surly Karate Monkey.

Maybe you remember my post about putting my cyclocross plans into action where I snagged a pair of sweet wheels built up on Chris King hubs. Those Chris Kings came off a full-suspended and geared 29er. From now on they will be serving a much higher purpose. These babies will be motivating my fully rigid single speed Karate Monkey. Talk about moving up in the world.

Yesterday my brand spankin' new Surly cog arrived. Last week I scored a rear caliper, cable, housing, and a geek-tastic Fibonacci spacer kit from Endless Bike. Yep, all present and accounted for. Time to get out the tool box and start wrenching.

Sorry to say, however, that a super sweet White Industries ENO DOS freewheel goes on the bench for a while. I'll use it later on for my CX bike. Who needs more than one gear to have fun riding around in the park on Sundays in the fall?

This snow... It's better than Christmas. I just got back from a nice long ride on my Karate Monkey, my fully rigid, single speed 29er. I think I could have ridden all day long.

The sun was shining and the temperature was holding right about 30°. No wind to speak of except for the little bit I was creating for myself. The best part, 2-4 inches of powder on top of 2-4 inches of frozen rain, sleet and ice.

And I thought wet roots and rocks were slick.

I was having a hard time imagining what trying to ride in this stuff on thin wheels and drop bars would be like. In the process of cutting out a course in my CX practice field I found out just how easy it is to go down in a level, wide open space. Actually making a turn, one that's a little off camber? Wow, now there's a challenge. And to think you guys in the cyclocross crowd actually likes snowy conditions. Do you CX'ers like snow because it's slick? It's hard to see how anyone would enjoy racing on stuff this slick. Or is it the snow and mud that brings a smile to your faces?

Whichever it is I can really see the appeal of riding in the snow. It's just plain screaming fun whether you're racing or just riding around your own made-up course in a nearby field.