Dormancy

So I let this thing sit dormant for over a year - oops. I hope to resurrect it and keep this going, as I want to be able to show my travels and how to do them.

I just fixed a few of the components, adding a "SPOT" page that will allow you to see my location when I have my SPOT device on during trips, I changed the colors to make the blog a bit more readable without searing your eyes, and I updated the list of things I want to complete this year.

Work is picking up quite a bit for me, so several of my trips will be work related - Neng Gao Shan in December when I visit Taiwan for work, Birkebeinerrittet when I go to Europe for the Eurobike show. Adam, Justin and I will do our annual trip this year, but to the Oregon 3 Rivers trail instead.

My next travel will be April 4-8, I will fly out to Colorado/Utah to shake out the early season legs in GJ, Fruita and Moab. SPOT should be on, but it will just be day riding, no touring or bikepacking.

Until another post, I will leave you with some pictures from the last year.

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!