A few more pieces of gear

Just finished off a few more peices of gear. Starting with a Mountain Hardwear Phantom 45 sleeping bag, I put together a 2lb, 9oz sleeping kit. The bag is a nice light down summer bag. The pad is a Therm-a-rest 2/3 ultralight from a long time ago. Its sub 400g which is very light for a pad, but its thin so I may yet change that piece out. Then rounding out the kit is a Granite Gear silnylon stuff sack and a Tyvek groundsheet.

While the weight is very good, I am most pleased with the size that this set compresses to. It will be really easy to add a silnylon or cuben tarp to this kit, and still keep it very small on my handlebars.

New Bike is done

My bike for this trip is done being built and ready to go through a few hundred miles of shakedown. I can't show pictures till April though, so hold tight.

It was fun getting it set up, and its a pretty simple, durable setup of XT and X9 parts, King wheels, Reba fork, Cane Creek headset and Thudbuster, and Salsa bar/stem. All good stuff designed to last a long time.

With the days getting longer, I am really getting cabin fever. Now with the bike done, I am ready to ride more than ever!

Day 4

After a night in Moab, it will be back out for three more days, this time the White Rim in Canyonlands National Park. Even though this is a relatively easy ride, almost entirely of dirt road, I feel special to be able to ride it as it is one of the few places in a National Park that a bicycle is allowed off-road, and I believe the only that combines this with the ability to camp in the backcountry. Some people criticize National Parks as too touristy, and they avoid them for other places. I like them, even though they can be chock full of idiots piloting RVs and are mired with restrictions, I find them interesting and a good testament that America can actually do a few good things with its' land.

I will head out from Moab on the road, turning onto Potash road and following it out to the Potash plant. Right near the plant, I will leave the pavement and begin a long slow climb up into the mesas. It will get a bit steeper, as I found out one of the Canyonlands regulations is that for the camping permit to be valid, I MUST check in at the ranger station, even though it is several miles and 2000 vertical feet out of the way. Oh well, a detour up the Schafer trail cannot be that bad, if even for the view and to chastise the ranger at the top.

After complying with all government regulation, I will descend back down and continue out onto the White Rim, camping at the "Airport" location, even though there is no actual airport anywhere nearby.

This day should be relatively uneventful, with no technical sections to speak of, mostly roads, a bit of climbing and around 60 miles total. However, this should be the beginning of the very scenic section of the trip, which is just as exciting to me as riding the bike.

The Route

Riding in the National Park brings me to one of the best Abbey quotes of all time, for this one I completely agree with and believe it should be the basis by which rules and legislation in our parks are decided upon. The funny thing is, you talk to rangers today and they think the same. The only people that want to pave and port-a-potty our National Parks are the brainless lawmakers in Washington. Ugh.

"No more cars in national parks. Let the people walk. Or ride horses, bicycles, mules, wild pigs -- anything -- but keep the automobiles and the motorcycles and all their motorized relatives out. We have agreed not to drive our automobiles into cathedrals, concert halls, art museums, legislative assemblies, private bedrooms and the other sanctums of our culture; we should treat our national parks with the same deference, for they, too, are holy places. An increasingly pagan and hedonistic people (thank God!), we are learning finally that the forests and mountains and desert canyons are holier than our churches. Therefore let us behave accordingly." - Edward Abbey

We are very pleased to announce, another great addition to the assemblage of midwestern endurance events, the Chequamagon 100. One Hundred miles of sweet northern Wisconsin dirt, the great majority of it on singletrack, and the first endurance event to be held on the great CAMBA system trails.

Based on the self-supported ethos that has gained popularity with other events, the Chequamegon 100 will continue the tradition of self-reliance, riders that finish through determination, and best of all, NO ENTRY FEE! Limited to the first 100 people, all you have to do to sign up is send in an email

www.Chequamegon100.com has been set up to provide all the race details and create a central place for riders to communicate. As we draw closer to the event, organizers TK and JM will be providing details on camping, meet up locales, and the final route selection.

Check it out at www.chequamegon100.com

 

When a picture is worth more than a thousand words

Toys

Everyone knows, half the reason we are into cycling is playing with the big boy toys. Its fun to buy gucci stuff, dream about riding it, talk about it and generally geek out about titanium, anodizing, carbon fiber, weld beads and fatigue life.

I fully admit, I am in this camp. I love bike parts. Art and function together, plus I get to ride the parts to some really cool places.

So part of the fun with this trip is getting the bike ready. Buying all the toys. Assembling the steed that will take me to these wonderful experiences.

The moving parts. These are what excite me the most. Its probably because there is such detail in the high end bike industry. We get parts of such precision that they should be on an F1 car or a rocketship. Think about it, if a car was built with all its parts being as precise as a King hub, that car would cost a million bucks. Because bicycles are relatively cheaper than cars, we can afford to invest more into high-end stuff.

King hubs. I have owned various sets of King hubs over the past 12 years, and I have never had a problem. They are a natural choice for this bike due to their durability, and of course, bling. Now they are offering them in all kinds of axle choices, so I can match them to my fork and use a stiffer QR in the rear.

Because of their reputation, I am also choosing the King BB. Never had one before, but it should work. And its blue. Gotta match.

Finally, for moving parts, there is the headset. The Cane Creek 110 is my choice. Why choose the CC over the full bike of King? The CC is clearly better with a compression ring to hold the fork in place without squeaks, and who can balk at a 110 year warranty? WOW.

All products I mentioned were purchased by me with no influence from the manufacturers.

Up next? Drivetrain!

Day 3

On the third day, after camping near Onion Creek, I will wake up and begin the long gradual climb up into the La Sal mountains.  I had to move my trip up a bit to the beginning of April, so there may be snow up there.  Just part of the adventure I guess.

But the most important part of Day 3 for me will be near the end.  Rather than take the boring finish of Kokopellis by coasting down Sand Flats Road, I am going to turn off on LPS and take Porcupine Rim all the way down to the road, and then ride into town.

Sure, cliche, tacky and maybe overdone.  But I really like Moab.  It has a good feel.  I plan to stay in town this night for a shower and a beer before heading back out for 3 more days.  I like good ales, and who would have thought you could find them in Utah?

A few of those should help after a few of these:

The route: (the bumpy part is Monument Valley for those that don't know)

This could be one of the more challenging days I have with the greatest amount of climbing, but then it could also be the best as it has my favorite piece of Porcupine singletrack integrated in.

Just hope for no snow.

Day 2

So I talk about Ed Abbey alot.  I studied him and read every book in college.  It used to be an escape for me to bring my mind back to the beautiful canyon country.

This blog has done the same.  Everytime I write a post, my mind goes to canyon country, envisioning every mile of this trail, what it will be like to have coffee at sunrise, when you can feel the desert in the spring.  The drastic shift from frigid cold to sunlit warmth as the sun rises is a wonderful feeling, especially with coffee.  In fact, there is a certain flavor of coffee that everytime I taste, it brings me right to that experience.  I don't drink it often to make sure that the experience is not worn.

Speaking of trail coffee, Meiser did a great write up and video of how its done.  I used to do it a bit different and go cowboy.  I might be getting soft as I get older, now I use one of these:

Yep, I went out and bought one a while back for $17 or some such crazy number, only to find recently that high-end tea shops sell the exact same thing, sans MSR logo for about $9.

For Day 2, I am looking forward to this feeling once again, awakening to the desert twilight, making my coffee and feeling the tremendous warmth as the sun rises and shines down.

This day we will be riding from the campsite on the Colorado to a campsite up past Onion Creek in Fisher Valley.  This day has the hardest climb of the trip, in my opinion.  Sure, its not as long as some, and doesn't reach as high of an altitude as others.  But its steep.  Really steep.  Like walk my bike for the last mile kinda steep.  It killed me last year.  With a lower gear on my bike, I hope to kill it this year.  Take that Rose Garden hill.

Profiles and TopoFusion outputs:

I dream of being the desert solitaire with every post that I write.  Without all the destruction stuff.  If the FBI is reading this, take no worry, I don't advocate or envy that side of Abbey.

"Society is like a stew.  If you don't stir it up every once in a while, then a layer of scum floats to the top." - Ed Abbey

Day 1

I decided that to truly know what I what getting into, I should plan this out day by day to make sure there are water stops and if there are not, be able to plan for the specified amount of time without water.  Carrying enough calories is not really an issue, my main concern is water.

Day 1.  I have ridden this entire section before, and then an additional 20 more miles in one day before (last year), so I am not concerned about the distance.  This will be 58 miles in total, from the Kokopelli's trailhead in Fruita to the Fish Ford campground on the Colorado River.  Some guidebooks state there is water there, some say no.  Either way, there is the river and I have the filter.  Sounds good to me, and its not a "normal" campsite so it shouldn't be busy.

I haven't yet figured out exactly what I am doing in regards to getting the bike to Colorado, or how to get it put together and get to the trailhead.  So an early start may be out of the question.  This is why I chose to take a slightly lighter mileage the first day since I am not sure I will be able to start with the sun.  Also, this is a fun trip, not the failed attempt of last year trying to ride 10,000ft of climbing in one day.

From Desert Solitaire by Ed Abbey, specifically the chapter "water":

There are rumors that when dying of thirst you can save your soul and body by extracting water from the barrel cactus.  This is a dubious proposition and I don't know anyone who has made the experiment.  It might be possible in the Sonoran desert where the barrel cactus grows tall as a man and fat as a keg of beer.  In Utah however, its nearest relative stands no more than a foot high and bristles with needles curved like fishhooks.  To get even close to this devilish vegetable you need leather gloves and a machete.  Slice off the top and you find inside not water but only the green pulpy core of the living plant.  Carving the core into manageable chunks you might be able to wring a few drops of bitter liquid into your cup.  The labor and exasperation will make you sweat, will cost you dearly.

When you reach this point you are doomed.  Far better to have stayed at home with the TV and a case of beer. If the happy thought arrives too late, crawl into the shade and contemplate the lonely sky.  See those big black scrawny wings far above, waiting?  Comfort yourself with the reflection that within a few hours, if all goes as planned, your human flesh will be working its way through the gizzard of a buzzard, your essence transfigured into the fierce greedy eyes and unimaginable consciousness of a turkey vulture.  Whereupon you, too, will soar on motionless wings high over the ruck and rack of human suffering.  For most of us a promotion in grade, for some of us the realization of an ideal.  

The data below.

Long time, no post

Its been about three weeks since I have posted.  I need to get in the habit of this blogging thing a little better.  I typically ride for solace and to think.  For this, I typically ride alone.  I prefer it.

I am a sucker for books and words, and spent a good part of college reading and studying the writings of poets and novelists and other such hippies.  When I ride, I typically think of the imagery around me as it could be conveyed.  When I read poetry, I think of these places and how I could get there for the experience.

So today I will leave a poem from Gary Snyder.  I need to get on the bike.

For the Children

The riding hills, the slopes,
of statistics
lie before us.
the steep climb
of everything, going up,
up, as we all
go down.

In the next century
or the one beyond that,
they say,
are valleys, pastures,
we can meet there in peace
if we make it

To climb these coming crests
one word to you, to
you and your children:

stay together
learn the flowers
go light