58 and the wind was my friend

It was 58 degrees when I promptly left work to get home and jump on my cross bike.  Not too bad for the final January day of 2012.  For the first time in several rides I paid attention to the wind direction and ended up doing it right; I ate the gusts on the way out  but enjoyed a tail wind on the way back.

 I tried racing my shadow on the way out.

We won.

 Setting sun, headlight at the ready.

 A favorite gravel road of mine, only

ridden once the cross tires come out.

Sunset over the Funk bottoms.

Photo Intervals?

Headed out for a ride on snow free but wet and dirty roads, perfect for those cross tires I installed yesterday.  It was 42 degrees when I left the house under sunny skies.  I rode out to one of my favorite areas, west of Shreve.

Sunny skies on the way out.

The deer also like one of my favorite areas.

I rode for almost two hours and enjoyed every minute.  Well, I was getting some headwind towards the end and my legs were getting buttery but it was all part of the fun.  I made a handful of stops for pictures.  Maybe it's a new kind of interval technique, ride hard until the next photo stop?

There's a tree on the roof, let's move out.

The sun was getting sparse on the way back.

Tire Change

I guess it's that time of year, time to change from road tires to cross tires on the cross bike.  I've had good luck the last couple years running cross tires in the winter.  They have been tolerant of of the cinders and salt on the road, with no flats yet.  It's definitely later than normal to make the switch, but the roads have not been cinder strewn until now.

My winter riding recipe: cross bike, fenders, & cross tires.

 

 Meanwhile Daniel was asking,

"Do you have winter tires for my bike?"

2012 Karate Monkey Build

In September last year two thoughts came together.  First, I read a MTB Action article about singlspeed mountain biking and began to think it might be fun to have a second mountain bike.  Second, I realized the corporate health and wellness reward from my employer would be credited to me in the coming weeks.  About this time I began shopping for bike parts.

Three months later my Surly Karate Monkey is complete!

I've only had it out on one shakedown ride so far.  My first observation was the quick handling of the bike.  This is likely due to the 2.5" shorter wheelbase compared to my Paragon.  The Monkey turns on a dime.

It's going to be interesting to see how the single speed and rigid front end work for me on the trail.  The 2.4" Maxxis Ardent up front will hopefully add enough squish to keep me from cracking.  I look forward to spending some time on this bike!

Snow Tires Activate

When we bought the Mazda3 back in June I also bought a set of snow tires mounted on steelies.  As fall passed by and the calendar said winter was here, I was not sure when to put the snow tires on.  I decided to wait until the first real snow so I could see how the car handled with the regular tires and then how it would handle with the snow tires.

 Salty car, snow tires stacked and ready to go.

Our first real snow was Friday.  The car did okay but I definitely had to be cautious while accelerating not to break the tires free, same with braking.  So today, Daniel helped me put on the snow tires.

Daniel really did help, spinning the

lug nuts off after I broke them free. 

Daniel was very interested in this job.  He helped move the four way and jack from wheel to wheel, helped me roll the tires around, and kept calling the lug nuts "walnuts".  Oh well, I knew what he meant.

Job done.  I kind of like the looks

of the blacked out wheels.

Riding Indoors

I have yet to hop on the indoor trainer.  The day is probably coming but I've avoided it so far.  Today we went for a hike at Wooster Memorial Park with the Falks.

Rylen got in an indoor ride.

Friday Night Riding

It's been too long since getting out on a ride.  Today I promptly left work and headed home to get out on the road.  It was strangely warm for December, in the mid 40's during the day, but I dressed for lower temperatures knowing I'd ride past sunset.

Still sunny on my first pass through the swamps.

The roads were dry but crunchy with all the salt left behind thanks to weather forecasts including the threat of ice and snow.  No accumulated snow yet this year and it has not been consistently cold.  I'm sure the mountain bike trails could benefit from some sub-freezing temperatures to prevent getting muddy.

I typically reject the urge to take pictures of road kill,

but I couldn't pass this one up.  A big snapping

turtle along the road in the swamps.

As the sun sank in the sky I fired up the head light and enjoyed watching the sunset from aboard a bike.  It was dark when I rolled up the driveway, satisfied from having been out on the back roads.

Sunset on my second pass through the swamps.

New Steel Steed

Let's call this a teaser... a new machine is in the works... all parts are here... more to come...