More Swamp Pics

A few more pictures from last night's ride...

First pic of the ride on the way out.

Light at the ready, prepared for sunset.

Watching the sunset.

 Sun down view from Hoy Road.

Gravel Swamp Ride

The forecast for the week changed and suddenly today, Monday, was the only day calling for sun.  In the middle of the afternoon I thought about getting out for an afternoon ride and realized I had not made the most of the cross tires much this winter.  Gravel... I need to find some gravel...

Heading down Valley Rd.

I mapped out a ride through the Shreve swamps on the gravel roads.  It was not a long route but was entertaining.  It was 38 degrees as I drove home.  I dressed for post-sunset freezing temperatures and headed out in the sunshine.

It looks like it's been there a while, but I do not

remember seeing this oil pump in previous swamp rides.

The air was crisp and the light was soft as I pedaled over gravel and dirt.  It was quiet in the swamps, with the exception of some kids in a jacked up truck.  The sun was setting when I found a "pond" I didn't know existed.  The setting sun and reflections on the stagnant water was a picture waiting to happen.

Darkness coming.

I climbed up Clarke and got my lungs and legs burning before looping back through Moreland to once again cross the gravel on Valley Road.  It was a bumpier ride through the dirt potholes on Valley coming back than going out.  The dips and bumps were more difficult to see in the dark, even with the headlight powered on.  My tinted sunglass lenses were not helping.

Passing by Moreland Fruit Farm on the way home.

It was another nice ride past sunset.  The temperature sure drops fast when the sun goes down.  I look forward to the next one.

Back on Campus

Ten years later I made it back to campus.  Noah and I went to represent the company at a career fair.  We arrived the night before and had some time to walk around campus in the dark.  After the career fair the next day, where we met some solid students, we had another walk including a visit to the ol' engineering building.

Found some bikes in the dark.

 

 The meeting and proposing place for KT and I.

It was nice to see the campus and meetup with some of the faculty again.  I realized how much I under-appreciated the courtesy, cleanliness, and professionalism of Northern when I was a student.  The efforts of the faculty and staff really showed in the students we met, plus the students are a notch above your typical college student.

I remember an engineering professor who rode to work

everyday.  I'm 99% certain this is his new ride.  Nice!

At some point in our visit we drove down Main Street to find the houses me and the guys lived in our last two years.  Well, we must have been hard on them...

The former location of 911 & 915 S. Main.  Lots of fun

was had where these empty lots now stand.

Black Ops Library Roll

Pump it up.

"I feel like we are getting ready for a mission" Ryan said as we layered on clothes, prepped our gear, and buckled helmets.  I aired up the front tire on my cross bike and we switched our headlights on.  It was probably 7pm when we pedaled away from our cars in the dark.

Gettin' ready to roll.

Knowing our weekend schedules would not allow a ride together we made plans to meetup for a Friday night ride.  I wanted to experience some different terrain than I've been riding around my place, so I proposed riding from Ryan's house.  As we discussed our plan we stumbled upon the idea of riding a portion of the Fredericksburg Library Roll, an annual benefit ride co-sponsored by our cycling club.

The map was printed on green paper which was pretty

easy to see in the dark when held near our head lights.

The Library Roll is known for some good hills.  They were not any easier in the dark and it was ambitious for this time of year.  We made it down to Charm and stopped for some food and drink.  It was about 40 degrees when we began the ride and we were staying pretty comfortable.  After the stop I was feeling a bit cold but the climb out of Charm fixed that problem.

Ryan jousting.  (Slow sync flash mode.)

From Charm to Millersburg was a collection of climbs that one after another put a beat down on my legs.  At one point Ryan and I were nearly laughing at the faintly lit sight in the distance of more hills.  We enjoyed a long, fast downhill that left me smiling but chilled.  Ryan said it felt like a mountain descent and it did.

We conquered the last hills of the ride on the way into Millersburg and stopped at the rail-trail depot.  I gave KT a call to let her know we were still alive.  "Do you realize it's 9:30?  Are you even having fun?"  Oh yes, time flies when you're riding in the dark, trying to stay warm, and having fun.

 I stopped at a gas station for a coffee and walked

out with peppered beef jerky too.  Frosty roof.

The flat ride on the trail-trail back to our cars was cold.  The temperature was certainly lower here than it had been anywhere else on the ride.  We promptly started our cars to get the heat going and the thermometer in the car showed 33.  There was frost on the roofs of our vehicles.  We agreed on the epic quality of the ride and parted ways.  It was a good one.

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...

Daniel's Toolbox Project

Daniel went down the shop to work on a toolbox with Grampy.  Good thing he received a new "construction set" complete with suspenders for Christmas.

Ready to work.

 Daniel drove about two dozen nails, never hitting

his fingers or Grampy's.  He also painted his toolbox.

The completed project!  A better tool box for

his new tools than the plastic bag

previously in use.

Merry Christmas 2012!

Merry Christmas from the North Pole!

Christmas Wheel Truing

Here's a project in the works, a wheel truing stand for Chris.  I found and purchased Roger Musson's wheelbuilding ebook (http://www.wheelpro.co.uk/) a while back for the build it yourself wheel truing stand plans as well as wheel building info.  It's a worthwhile book and the plans for the stand are good, but I had to add my own tweaks to the stand.

The lateral truing gage is shown in this picture.

I added a solid wood edge band to the base plate, curly maple on this one, and used a single knob in a slot for width adjustment.  A pin on the underside of each upright engages the slot to keep the uprights in alignment as they are slid side to side.  I also routed a pocket for the "jaws" to better attach and locate them.

The radial truing gage is shown in this picture.

Hopefully Chris gets some use out of this stand.  I will building a couple more in the near future.

Santa Claus is coming...

Went out for a short, around the block ride.  39 when I left the house but the sun was going down and so was the temperature as I rode.  First ride of the year on crusty, salt covered roads so the cross bike came out to play.

 Santa is coming on a cross bike?

Or a reindeer powered sleigh?

I've been working on a couple small Christmas projects.  No pictures to be posted until after they are given away.  Not as much time anymore to make gifts, but I found time to make a couple items.

Sun going down.

First Frozen Mohican Ride this Year

Went down to Mohican for a little ride.  It was 37 in the car as I was driving, out in the woods the temperature varied depending on which side of the hills you were on.  There was still a dusting of snow on the north side of the hills.

 One of two stops today for a self-timer picture.

It was wetter than I thought it would be.  My back tire filled with mud quickly and left me with reduced traction.  I'm really think a different back tire could make the upcoming winter rides more fun.

A dirty bike and dirty car.

I did the short loop twice, seeing several guys on each lap.  The parking lot had more cars in it than I expected.  It was a nice, sunny day that brought out the mountain bikers.

 

Second picture stop.

After a stop at mom and dad's for dinner and some work in the shop I pulled up the driveway.  I thought it was kind of neat seeing a bike on the rack behind the car lit up by the brake light.  After a picture, I unloaded my muddy bike to be washed tomorrow.

Grainy but I like it.

Slight Miscalculation

Finally made it out for a ride.  It was 53 and sunny when I left the house, not bad for December.  I didn't pay too much attention to the wind direction and just started riding.  SR539 is a seldom traveled state route with nice pavement and, as I road north, I kept thinking my effort and speed were not matching up.  Yeah, a tail wind was pushing me along.

 Someone planned ahead with silage for the winter.

After riding west and then turning back south my effort and speed were not matching up again.  This time the wind was hurting and not helping.  Somewhere about this time the sun started to get low in the sky and was obscured by clouds.  It felt like the temperature dropped ten degrees.

My intention of 1.5 to 2 hour ride turned into 2.5 hours and I was pretty chilled when I made it home.  Still, as always, it was good to be out.