Breaking Trail to Close 2013

It's the final day of the year, and I really want to go for one last 2013 ride.  The weather is not cooperating.  It's 20 degrees, 20mph wind, snowy, and a "feels like" of 6.

I pile on my warmest layers, adding an extra upper layer and a balaclava.  Wow, I haven't busted out the full face coverage in a while.  At the least I'm going to Mohican for a short loop.

Loaded up.

It's cold in the parking lot as I pull down my bike and put on overboats.  I really should have gotten fully dressed at home instead of in the parking lot.  I'm cold as I jump on the bike and start to pedal.  The first mile should warm me up.

There were no other cars in the parking lot and I'm making the only set of tracks on the snow covered trail.  By mile 1 my core is warm and by mile 2 my hands and feet are too.  Hey, this is fun!  The snow is providing some excellent traction.

Making tracks.

The wind is not as cutting in the woods.  I enjoy the sound of snow crunching under my tires.  Several miles in I look up and swear I see a rider pass.  Weird, how is someone ahead of me?  Maybe he's off trail?  There's no other tracks out here.  Snow mirage?

No problems staying warm.  My glasses are fogging from time to time and I pull the face mask under my chin.  The air is cold to breathe.  It feels better with the mask over my mouth.

I stop to take a picture and hear a rider coming behind me.  I figure out he was the mirage and was behind me on a twisty section of trail when I saw him earlier.  He complains of cold feet as I invite him to ride ahead as I take a picture.

Rare sun on this ride.

About six miles in I turn 180 to back track.  The trail is new on the way back.  I enjoy seeing our tracks in the snow and monitor how often the other guy took a different line than me, not often.  I'm also amused by how often I take a different line in the reverse direction, sometimes.

I pass another rider on the way back.  He is in better spirits and having fun.  Maybe it's the Stairway to Heaven blasting from his Camelbak.  I do not understand why someone wants to ride in the woods and blare music.  I like the sounds of the outside.  I can listen to music anywhere but only the outside... outside.

Almost back to the car.

A truck is pulling into the parking lot as I ride in.  It's some Soupcan guys.  We chat for a bit as they get dressed, in the warm truck, and I get cold standing.  I rack my bike and hop in the front seat to drink some hot coffee I packed in the Coleman thermos.  Oh how good it tastes.  Two steamy cups chase a Pro bar that Santa put in my stocking.  

I'm glad I came down for a ride despite the weather. It's a nice end to 2013!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas 2014!

The skies are sunny the day after Christmas and a 20mph wind from the west is persistent as I head out on a ride.  The plan was to ride into the wind for an hour turn south and ride back.

The wind is relentless and blurs my senses.  My head is cold, presumably from persipiration evaporating away and taking heat with it.  I'm glad to turn south and really glad to put my back to the wind and ride east.  It's nearly silent as I pedal along matching my speed to the wind.  Tired.  It was a fairly short ride but felt longer, particularly on the way out.

No snow for now.

Last of November

The turkey and stuffing are well digested and this afternoon was time to get out for a ride.  On my last, and first ride, with the Black Mountain Cycles bike I thought the handlebars were a touch high.  Today I lowered the handlebars 15mm before heading out.  I also strapped a super blinky to the seatpost.

Not a crash, just testing the ice. 

It was nearly 40 degrees when I left the house.  The sun was quickly dropping in the sky and I had a feeling the temperature was about to follow.  It's been below freezing the past couple days and when I got down to the swamps I found an icy landscape.

A setting sun. 

There were several hunters parked down in the wildlife area.  I passed by a father and son headed for the woods.  "Have a good hunt!" I yelled.  "We're gonna' try!" the father yelled back.  Before dusk I left the swamps, climbing Clark Road to the east.  As the sun began to set I heard end of day gunshots from the woods.

After climbing south on James Road I reached Harrison and turned west.  A couple rollers kept me warm.  The air temperature was dropping and the sun was about gone for the day.  I stopped alongside the road for what I thought would be one last picture.

Sunset from the county line.

Coming around an uphill bend on County Line Road I looked up to see a flock of birds flying over in formation.  "That would make a good picture" I thought as I ripped my glove off my hand with my teeth to retrieve the camera from my pocket.  I got my picture and returned the camera to my pocket.  The hill didn't allow me to put my glove back on as I needed to tend to stand up pedaling.  My hand was frozen by the time I did get my glove back on and it took a mile to warm up again.

Formation flying. 

About this time I realized it was smart to have put the blinky light on the back, but I was about to need a headlight up front.  The shortest route home was back through the gravel in the swamps, no need to twist my arm for this option.  I had to drop my lightly tinted glasses to my nose and look over top the lenses to see where I was going.  A pothole caught me by surprise and I nearly lost the handlebars from my grip but kept hold.  Then, a couple miles of road and I was home, ready to stand in front of the wood stove.

Dark came fast.

Up Armored Black Mountain Cycles Bike

"Fenderrrrs!  Where's your fenderrrrrrrs!?"  I still remember an Amish guy yelling this to a group of us out on a ride in wet road conditions about five years ago.  We were all on road bikes and I dismissed the Amish yeller's advice as being uninformed.  Road bikes don't wear fenders.

Well, a few years later I put together my former cross bike for foul weather riding and thought of that Amish guy as I bought a pair of fenders.  He was right.  They provide a huge benefit by deflecting road spray away from yourself, away from those riding with you, and away from your bike.  It's nice to get back home and not have a spray of dirty wet tailing up your back.  Usually a quick wipe down of the frame is all that's needed to clean things up.

Aft protection.

My first ride on the new Black Mountain Cycles cross bike build did not include fenders.  I ran out of time and wanted to ride it, not spend another hour affixing fenders.  I came back from that first ride with a smile, a mud crusted downtube, and a skunk stripe up my back.  Now, where did I put all the bits and pieces to attach the fenders?

 Fore protection.

Mounting fenders can be one of those contrary tasks.  I like the fenders to be the right height above the wheel, a consistent height above the wheel, and aligned side to side.  It takes some fiddling to make it right, but the good thing is they usually remain that way without needing follow-up adjustment.

I learned of the Sheldon Nut, which is pretty slick,

but I just slipped the mounting tab in on the front. 

Fender are on and ready to due their duty.  I hoped for a Thanksgiving morning ride tomorrow, but a forecasted 19 degrees and snow is not looking good for a ride, even with fenders.

Fendered... is apparently not a word.

Black Mountain Cycles first ride!

33 degrees and 19 mph wind... perfect day for a first ride on my new Black Mountain Cycles Monster Cross bike!  Well, maybe not the most perfect day.  It would've been better if Ryan were along but he had a change of plans and couldn't ride.

KT and the kids headed off to a birthday party, and I set out for some mixed surface riding.  I aimed for the swamps to hit some gravel.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.  That sign is always there.

The chip and seal roads on the way out felt good on the new frame and tires.  I was rolling the Clement X'Plor USH tires with 44 psi front and rear.  The cracks, bumps, and occasional chuck hole, yes I swerved into them for a change, were soaked up by the bike.  Dampened and smooth is how I would describe the road feel.  It wasn't masked, just smoothed out and enjoyable.  The bike was also very stable, holding a line was easy.

I guess yesterday's rain had an effect on the lowlands.

I lined up for an enthusiastic transition to gravel and was immediately impressed.  My former aluminum cross frame reared its harsh self at times like this as I would hang on for the ride.  This BMC bike, by stark contrast, had me pushing on the pedals and grinning.  It felt great on the gravel.  I swerved around puddles and intentionally aimed for piles of loose gravel.  But then I ran out of road as I realized the flood warning sign was warranted today.

I rode it for as long as I could.

No worries, I back tracked and enacted plan B.  Some extra miles on the road delivered me to the rest of the gravel I was seeking.  The fun part was getting to launch from pavement to gravel again 20 minutes later.

My first impressions continued and I enjoyed more dirt and gravel in the cold.  The trees and terrain were keeping the wind away, and I was feeling toasty warm.  At some point I realized I hadn't really tested the new brake setup and jammed on the stoppers.  All good, no shudder!  And, the feel of the brakes was much improved thanks to the new pads.

Picture stop in the swamps.

"Maybe I'll ride down to the birthday party and see the kids" I thought.  At this point I left the gravel of the swamps and popped out on a back road.  I turned into the wind and was given a beat-down.  It was a steady, cold head wind that resisted my forward progress.  A road later I turned away from the wind for a break, adding some more miles to the ride.  After doing a back road zig-zag for about five miles I made it to the party.  The festivities were on, the kids were having fun, I ate a hot dog, and then back on the bike.

Looking good and riding very fine.

Leaving the birthday party I could have taken the direct way home, but I opted for an "out and around" route.  Somewhere along the way my rig was feeling heavy.  It could have been the wind, it certainly could have been my legs, but I felt like I was pushing along some extra weight.  I know this build is heavier than my former cross bike but I'm not sure how much.  Come to think of it, it could have been that hot dog at the turn.

Let there be snow!

And then the conditions became even more interesting.  Apparently all that wind was bringing in some snow squalls.  About eight miles from home it hit me in the face, quite literally.  Icy snow was stinging my face as it blew in side ways.  Wow, I didn't expect snow to accompany pavement, dirt, and gravel today.

My best strategy: be happy in the cold snow.

Less than two miles from home the snow stopped and a spot of sunny, blue skies flew over.  Weird, wasn't it just snowing?  The landscape proved I had not been dreaming; powdered snow lined the edges of the road and spread across the fields.

To make the final connection home I road through the high school and around our neighbor's field.  I was making the most of the cross bike.  The Clement USH tires were not providing much pedaling traction on the wet grass, but I don't think these conditions were part of the design goals for this tire.

A shortcut home.

It was a very good first ride on the new setup.  The roads and weather were entertaining and the bike performed great.  The front shifting worked okay and there were no mechanical issues.  The only change I will make before the next ride is to lower the handlebars a bit and see how that feels.  Oh, and the fenders need mounted, they would have been helpful today.  There are many more miles and smiles to be covered on this bike!

Black Mountain Cycles build-up continued

Since the last work session I made another visit to the bike shop.  I picked up a new front derailleur, tires, bar tape, and some cables/housing.  My previous build had a triple front derailleur and triple STI lever.  But, I ran it as a double with my compact crankset.  It worked... sort of okay.  Shifting to the larger chain ring was slow and took some extra lever effort.  Shifting down to the small chain ring was abrupt, sometimes resulting in a dropped chain.  I decided to go with the right tool for the job and buy a double front derailleur for the Black Mountain Cycles build.  The STI lever, on the other hand... well the left hand to be exact, would remain for now.  Which is an admission of not using the right tool for the job.

Gotta love the new parts smell.

Before mounting tires I serviced both front and rear hubs on my wheels.  The unthinkable happened on the second hub when I fumbled the cup of loose bearings.  Fortunately KT is skilled and persistent in the art of finding spilled ball bearings. We found all the balls, above, below, and around the workbench.

Not a good time for buter fingers.

Speaking of tires, I had quite an exhaustive if not exhausting hunt for the right tires for this ride.  I began with the Clement X'Plor MSO tires on my wish list, moved on to consider Continental Cyclocross Speed tires, and settled on the Clement X'Plor USH tires.  But, not before studying a dozen other tires.  I'm convinced there is no right or wrong choice, only the next choice when it comes to bicycle tires.  Does that make sense?  I'm not sure.  Confusing, like reading specs and reviews while trying to chose a tire.

Ellen works the pump.

This tire choice came down to my intended usage of this bike, which is easy to predict as it will very likely be the same as my previous cross bike:  lots of winter riding on roads strewn with cinders and grime, some gravel and dirt roads (hopefully more in the future), and the occasional ride on snowy back roads.  Knowing I have the option to throw on the Ritchey Speedmax tires I previously rode, they still have some life left in them which is part of the reason to buy new tires now and still have a backup pair, I chose the Clement X'Plor USH tires.  These are a 35mm wide tire, which should fit nicely with fenders.

The "firm center ridge" was the attractive feature.

There are many positive reviews to be found for this tire.

With wheel hubs put back together and tires mounted, I could install the wheels and get to work on aligning brake pads.  I ran new cables to the brakes and setup the straddle cables for a 90 degree angle.

Plenty of clearance for bigger tires, 

or these tires with fenders as I intend to do.

The secret weapon to be deployed for the front brake is a Tektro crown mounted cable hanger I bought from Mike at Black Mountain Cycles with the frameset.  We discussed the poor braking performance of my previous cross bike, which had a upper headset mounted cable hanger, and Mike recommended trying this solution.  The other bike had horrible brake chatter when I was even semi-aggressively stopping.  It's an issue with brake cable stretch and rebound while the pads stick/slip on the rim.  Reducing the length of exposed brake cable should help minimize this effect.

Ready for better front brake performance.

Even with the high stradle cable on the Tektro CR720 brakes, there is enough space for the Tektro cable hanger up front.  This was slightly in question, but it's all good.  When I install fenders I will probably have to raise the straddle carrier for some more clearance.

A third hand.

Turning my attention to the drivetrain, I installed the 105 9 speed rear derailleur and chain from my former bike.  I also installed the new 105 double front derailleur. Then I got busy cutting the housings to just the right length, running cables, and dialing in the derailleur adjustments.  The rear derailleur setup pretty well.  The front continues to be touchy if not slightly demon possessed.

The trouble must be the triple Tiagra shift lever (ST-4400).  I've read of others setting these up to work with doubles and I was able to get it to work but it's borderline.  I have one click for the big chain ring.  I have 3 clicks for the small chain ring, one of which does nothing because the front derailleur has already hit the low limit screw, this is to be expected in this application.  It seems like I should be able to space the shift and trim points to better handle cross chain situations, but I have not figured it out yet.  The chain is not going to fly off but it's not as user friendly as I would like.  Maybe it's time to hunt eBay for a double shift lever.

Chained and derailleurs adjusted... mostly.

The saddle was installed and I was onto the task of bar tape wrapping.  I could make a project of this task alone. It's fun to get the wraps just right and there must be some merit to my technique as I've never had a wrap job separate or unravel.

Rewind to running cables... the following picture shows my choice in routing.  I tried it both ways but ended up liking the overlapping shift cables the best.  There is no rubbing of these cable housings on the head tube while riding straight ahead. I will probably still put some clear protective tape in this area as I usually do.

That's a wrap.

Fender installation will come later, looks like some custom brackets are going to be needed, so there's only one thing left to do... get out and ride it!

Ready to roll!

Black Mountain Cycles build-up

While planning this build I knew there were some components that would not swap between frames and some items I did not want to use on the new Black Mountain Cycles frame.  First up, the head set.  I figured I would leave the headset in my former cross bike frame and sell it with headset included.  Off to the shop for a new headset.

I splurged on a Chris King headset.  Roger let

me use his headset press.  (Yes, I straightened

that upper cup before pressing.)

The job of dismantling the old cross bike was something I looked forward to.  I wanted to clean and service all the parts as I swapped them over.  Daniel was on scene to help me get started.  We cranked up some tunes and got to work in the basement.

Wheels came off and rolled outside for a wash.

Ryan came over later in the day to join in the disassembly work.  We pulled parts, disassembled, and cleaned them.  All the components were functional, nothing broken, damaged or worn out, just in need of a thorough cleaning.

 Pieces and parts.

Road crud on my CR720's from mostly winter riding.

A Google search for something like "Tektro CR720 adjustment" is what led me to Black Mountain Cycles a couple years ago.  I've followed Mike's BMC blog ever since. He does a fine job combining good pictures and text to share bike building and bike riding stories.  I appreciate Mike's attention to detail.

Helper buddy cleaning brake parts.  Good day
to wear the Handy Manny t-shirt!

It was pretty obvious my brake pads were worn out.  Given my troubles in the past with these brakes I decided to upgrade to Kool Stop pads.  I've read plenty of reviews crediting these brake pads for much better brake feel and performance.  We'll see...

Thinline salmons.

The first part to be threaded onto the new frame was an Octalink bottom bracket for my Ritchey Pro compact crankset.  This crankset was a bit of a question for compatibility with the frame.  Mike happened to have the same crankset on his road bike, and he was able to take some measurements on the cranks to conclude they will work on the monster cross frameset.  The concern was chainline and chainstay clearance.  After install, I can report it is all good.

 Crank clearance is there, and so is
clearance for a wide tire.

Next step was cutting the fork steerer tube to length.  Mike had provided me a pdf CAD drawing to show how both 56 and 59cm frames could be setup to fit me.  These setups were based on measurements I took on my current cross bike and sent to Mike.  The 59cm frame was pretty clearly a better fit. I cut the fork to match the CAD drawing, figuring this would be a good place to start.

Time to hack with a saw.

Headset and fork were installed and I bolted on the handlebar, stem and levers, straight off the old bike. I intended to keep the bars wrapped, but realized a new setup for the front brake cable was going to require new housing.  Both sides were unwrapped and I tweaked the position of the levers while I had the chance.

 It's turning into a bike.

Daniel was hanging in there but needed a task.  I handed him front and rear brakes, a wrench, and a quick demonstration of how they attach.  He took it from there and installed all four brake arms.

 Brake man working on the front.

As Mike once said on his blog, orange is an interesting color to photograph.  It changes hue quite a bit depending on lighting.  For example, the above and below pictures.  More pictures to come.

Brake man working on the back.

Black Mountain Cycles Monster Cross

A box arrived from Black Mountain Cycles a little while ago with my new monster cross frameset!

 My crew handles the delivery.

Mike Varley, BMC proprietor, was very helpful in the process of choosing a frame size and placing the order.  These frames are designed by Mike and built to his specs in Taiwan.  He orders fairly small batches of frames to sell in his store or via his web site.  There are a couple color choices with each batch and the current offering of orange really caught my attention.

 Monster cross!

The plan is to swap all the components from my Scattante cross bike to the BMC frame.  The cheap Scattante bike has served me pretty well but it certainly had some quirks and did not have a very good ride feel.  I expect the BMC frame will provide a notable improvement in ride.

Time to move the parts from left to right.

Leaves Down

After a slow start to the morning I made it down to Mohican about 10.  As expected the fall colors were past and the trees were mostly barren of leaves.  When I pulled into the parking lot I saw one rider hitting the trail.and three other guys were gearing up and heading out.  I got my stuff together and started the chase.

Where's the trail?

This was my first ride on the Paragon in a couple months and it definitely felt different than the Karate Monkey.  Despite having gears at my disposal I rode a single gear all the way to the covered bridge.  I did some downshifting for Mount Doom.

Low sun before noon.

The leaves were disguising the trail pretty well.  Combine this with front suspension, that I have no ridden on in a while, and I was mostly just aiming straight ahead.  I didn't really feel any faster, just less thoughtful of how I would get where I was going.

I had never seen this particular view while climbing

Mount Doom.  Looks like a mountain over there.

I guess my head was always down huffin' and puffin'.

In the first 5 miles I had caught the guys ahead of me, which probably wasn't the best warm up.  I felt good through the second trail head after a pretty moderate climb up Mount Doom.  Through the fern forest and having fun. At the mile 19 I did a time check and decided to road it back.  Still much to be done today.

An Extra Hour

Fall back an hour in the fall. The time change.  What to do with an extra hour on a sunny Sunday morning?  Go for a ride!

Down into the swamps on Valley. Loving

the fall colors on display this morning. 

On a related note, this will be the last ride on my Scattante cross frame.  It's been a mostly good frame for the past handful of years, but not without issues.  More to come on this topic later.  A new frame is in the basement awaiting the parts swap, and it's going to be a sweet setup.

 Cool reflections!  Good-bye Scattante setup.

There was beautiful sights in the swamps.  A few guys were parked and out hunting but I never saw anything but the vehicles.  I rode through, turned, around and rode back.  As I came back north I found the local Iditarod competitors out running their dog team.  I know where they live, have even stopped and talked before, but never seen them out on the road with the team hooked up.

Get along little doggies.

A couple hours later I was back home and still plenty of time to make it to church.  That was an "extra hour" well spent.