Hello Stranger!

It's been awhile since my last post, family and working has become more of a priority than blogging or even cycling. Cycling was a way for me to release my stress and writing about my experiences had become another hidden outlet for me.

I have been riding more than last summer and more so on the mountain bike than the road bike. I hate to say it but riding on the road scares me. I have been reading a lot, lately of cyclist dying from car accidents locally and nationally. There are so many distractions while driving, whether it's eating, drinking, changing the radio channels, looking at the GPS for directions and even texting. I'm no saint when I drive but I can see how easily it is to be distracted.

So I have been taking my trusty and creaky 10 year old mountain bike, the Turner 5 Spot on some adventures this past summer. At first, I said it's was the Turner's Farewell Tour, meaning that I going to replace my favorite bike but economically, that won't happen unless I can land a new job. Have you noticed the cost of these mountain bikes have skyrocketed over the past few years. $1,800 used to get you a bang for your buck kind of bike but now, a frame will easily cost you $2,500 to $3,500, which is insane! This next bike will probably be my "last" bike but I know it will easily cost me over 5k for the next bike. 5 THOUSAND DOLLARS, you say but just think about it, if you are into golf, you wouldn't even think twice and spend $300 for one new golf club or spend $100 each week to play golf. To me, it's all relative in what you like. So I want to hear your comment, on what you spend your money on and don't think twice about it?

So that's it for now. Be kind to one another and if you are riding... Happy Trails!

Making Strides

    Well a lot of time has past since the last time I wrote something. My twin boy's aren't so little anymore, they are 6 years old and are in kindergarten. I bought them both a red Strider Balance bike for Christmas. I of course, I was more excited to get it, for them and of course they weren't as excited to receive it. It figures. Since it was the winter, we let them ride, the balance bike, inside the house. NP quickly got the hang of it and zipped all thru the rooms, chasing his brother. JJ had more fun running along side his brother or being the one chased down. I made sure, I taught them the proper safety of wearing a helmet. I won a Specialized helmet in a raffle, a size small, so I gave it to NP to use. What other 3 year old, do you know, rides around on a balance bike, wearing a $200 helmet... inside the house?

    The bike riding inside the house, had to stop because NP was marking up the walls with the tires. So when, the winter and snow, finally disappeared, I took NP outside to ride and he did really well and was even more, fast as hell, on the sidewalk. If someone was mechanically inclined, they could probably install a rear brake lever on the bike, so the lil people, can easily adjust to this sort of braking style, than to Fred Flintstone, their stops. NP quickly outgrew his balance bike and JJ still showed no interest in the balance bike but enjoyed running alongside his brother instead. I of course, lost the battle of taking NP to the bike shop to buy him "real" big boy bike and settled (or lost the battle) and got him a Huffy Disney Planes Dusty bike. He zipped along using that bike but had a hard time adjusting to the coaster brake because, he would still put his feet down to stop himself, which didn't work well, when the pedals mashed into his little calfs. Here's where the idea, of installing a rear brake lever, on this type of bike would probably benefit the most.

    So hopefully this summer, I'll be able to buy him a "real" big boy bike from my bike shop. I'm eyeing, the Cannondale Trail 20 Single-speed bike and I'm loving the green and blue combo, I just hope he likes it too!

    I'm still riding the Turner 5 Spot and still in love with it. I can, finally see the difference with the 29er bikes but still can't let go, of my 26er. The big wheel moving over everything and being much quicker, but I'm still reading, you still can't get that "flick-ability" of a 26er. I could be wrong, and I'm sure, there is some 29er brand out there, that would prove me wrong but what price, as in, how much money, will you have to pay out, to get that "flick-ability" back?

    Single-speed is not my thing. Nothing against those, who can do it, I just like gears and breathing normal. I have tried it and found out, real quick, how out-of-shape, I was on the trails. I want to hear the birds chirping and wind whooshing thru the trees and not hear my heart pounding or feel like i'm going to puke up, all that water, I just drank.

    Fat bikes... really? I can't stand them. To me, it looks ridiculous and I feel like that person is flaunting, that they have, that much more $$$ to burn. I can see if you live in Alaska or Boston and get a tremendous amount of snow and need to ride in 4 to 8 inches of snow but to see them riding around on flat, rocky, or rooty trails... come on!!

    Well that's all, I got for now. Be safe out there and happy trails.

Make It a Double

    Whew, so much has gone on since the last time i posted. let's see if i can make the long bad story short and the good stuff fun.

    first up, i took a bad fall on may 31st, that landed me in the hospital for a week and home on disability for 6 weeks in a back brace 24/7. i fracture all 5 lower vertebrates in my back. i'm much better, but i'm still ache. 2hrs is the longest ride i have taken and i was in agony from it, so right now an hour is what i can do.

    now the good news. my wife is pregnant!! very exciting news, our firsts, the twin boys are due to arrive in the beginning of december. yes, i did write, twins and yes they are boys. i'm pretty excited about that and i can't wait to buy them bikes, i already got my eye on something at the bike shop.

    life has been good lately, i know it can sneak up on you and make it bad but the wifey is feeling good, as expected and there is more food in the house now. while sitting at home for 6 weeks, i have looked around and saw all the things i neglected over the summer, in order to go riding instead of doing the things i should have done. well now, i'm making other jobs a priority. all the things i neglected are getting done and that includes some biking issues.

    i finally convert my 1991 Klein Rascal into a single speed. i will take pics this weekend to show you. it's pretty light, i kept the xt levers and SE scott peterson brakes on their for a bit but are removing them soon. i guess i'm a weight weenie, i want the bike lighter, like my 5.5 pound turner frame (why did i think i could make a 5spot light). anyway, i'm replacing the brakes with avid single digit 7's and brake levers and i need to find a 5 bolt bash guard. anyone know of any?

ride for me!
happy trails
~dirty bert

Upgradin'!

    i'm look to do a lil upgrades on my bike. when i first set out to build my bike up, i selected all the parts that i wanted and knew that were good. so i basically got my dream bike and parts to boot. after riding it for 2 years, i finally figured out that i need a new stem. it's not like i broke my old stem but it's to short for me to climb with. the front end of the bike pops up on steep climbs. it has nothing to do wit weight distribution but for the fact that it's a 90mm and i want 110 like i have used in the past.

    i saw this stem, called Rotor S1 stem. It's being sold by Speedgoat. the 110mm weighs 108 grams and cost 160 bucks!! i mean i'd like a light stem. i'm no huckster, nor smooth on my bike but the price of the stem out weights the actual cost of the stem.




    i'm sure i will need to replace the cassette soon, as well as the chain and the rear tire has seen better days. i will try to get the XTR cassette, i got the chain already and new tires, i'll ask around and see what everyone else is using and liking or dislikin'.

    i went to local bike store and bought 3 tubes for $19.50!! jeeze! u got to be kiddin' i just saw online at Price Point, 10 tubes for $19.98! yes i know, i'd have to pay for shipping and then have to wait for it to come, but the mark up at the shop is insane! support yer local shop, yea yea yea, i know but come on!

happy trails
~dirty bert

MUD SLINGING AT 6 MILE!

there's v-brakes under there somewhere

    WOW, what a ride! I thought last weekend ride was muddy but this was insane!

    For the first time, I rode with Mike, Pat, Andy and Lee at 6 Mile. The weather was nice, a sunny 40 degree day with no wind. I was sportin' my fenders again and the same outfit as last weekend because that seemed to work for me.

a major mud dam begins

    As we hit the first section of trail, it became a preview of how the ride was going to be. The mud was as slick as ice and sticky like GU. I thought my fenders would give me an advantage but it only protected my eyes from the flying mud clumps as i rode down any hills.

I know everything seems to blend together, but you understand what's going on here

    I fell twice. I leaned into the slope and when I leaned to far, the front tire would just slide out and down i'd go. The tires got completely clogged to the point where my tire's mud extended a good inch past the tire and the big brown tire looked at least 4" wide.

here's the bike after the ride on the rack

    As you can see from the pictures, it clogged everywhere. I think my bike gained at least 5 pounds of mud. Would I do it again? Sure. Why? Because, I was out riding, first and foremost. Secondly, the mud made me somewhat a better rider, with all the braking and steering that I had to do. And third, I got to ride with new people and share one of favorite NJ riding spots.

happy muddy trails
~dirty bert

My Mud Buddy & Me!

    Wow, what a muddy day. Well I met Jen for a nice, bitter, windy cold ride this past weekend at 6m (aka 6 Mile Run). I arrived late and not only do I do that but lost my disc brake pad in the gravel parking lot. Yea, it was like finding a needle in the haystack. The pad was black and gray and the gravel parking lot was black and gray and to add insult to injury, I think the dam pad floated away in the wind.

    Not to be discouraged from no front brake, I decided to ride anyways and not be denied of this ride wit Jen. Off we go, Me sportin' front and rear fenders, wool socks, over my thermal thighs and a long sleeve coml. shirt tucked into the tights and another warm jersey over that and my heavyweight jersey/jacket over that and under my helmet i was wearing balaclava.

    The trails were muddy, the logs looked wet but you never know if they were actually wet or just iced, either way, my rear tire slid along them. All the mud ruts were frozen, which is always interesting to try to ride in or over them. You always fall a victim of riding in them, hoping the other person before you, picked a good line.

    We got to ride over the new bridge, thank god it was much wider with a nice approach, I walked my bike over it because the snow/ice that formed on it made me second guess myself. On the way home, I did ride it but was so paranoid thinking that I would ride off of it.

    The mud we did find, was thick and heavy, nothing like the soupy kind you find in the summer. This crap stuck like crazy glue to the bike and loved to clog every hole on the bike, I think my bike gained 3 pounds of mud over the 2.5 hrs. we rode. I forgot to spray the underside of my fenders with Pam, you know that "non-stick" cooking spray, the crap wipes off so much easier, try it next time.

Very lil traction in da mud.

Look at the mud nest.

    Well the ride was a lot of fun and we got back to the parking lot in time to see the bow hunter head into the woods. I didn't wipe my bike down in the parking lot, I probably should have, so instead I placed the bike on the roof and the wind, froze the mud onto the bike but not before some mud splattered and froze to car. I got a frozen mud splatter on my roof, back window and on the trunk.

My brown & silver Turner.

    It took me 3 days to clean the bike, along with me doing the dumb thing of washing it outside. The sudsy bubbles on the frame, actually froze, good job, dummy! Anyway it's clean, well kinda of, but I'm dropping it off at the shop tonight for sum repairs. Real quick, one time i didn't clean my bike off, well not that labor intensive as I did this time and the bike shop charged me additionally for cleaning the bike so they could work on it. It sounds crazy but it's true. I don't care about the cold weather, nor the wind or the sno, all I care about is getting back to 6m for more mud madness.

happy trails
~dirty "muddy" bert

Last Ride of 2006

    So I tried to make plans to ride with a few people today, but that fell thru today, no biggie. So instead, I rode at Mercer by myself knowing that I won't be the only person out there, trying to squeeze one last ride in for 2006.

    It was brisk out today, partly sunny because I had gone out so late in the day. I wore shorts with my De Feet wool Kneekers on and 2 long sleeve shirts, one which was my new Hoss freeride shirt and a bike jacket over that. On my feet, i had my regular bike socks on and over that was my WoolEator bike socks, on my hands, were my full finger Fox gloves and under my helmet was my skull cap.

    I met someone doing some trail maintenance to the area where the bmx jumps were. That guy told me a bunch people had actually put together some CAD drawings and wanted to build skinnies in that area. I told him good luck with that idea, because I doubt the park rangers would allow something like that and that they should first get in touch with SMART first. Imagine all the hard work and effort put into something like that and is ripped down quicker than it was put up?

    I also saw the new mini bridges put up along the back-end of Quaker Bridge Rd. Nice stuff but you can tell they weren't built by SMART. SMART builds there bridges solid and big, unlike the some of the few skinny bridges that were in there. It's a great effort by whoever took the time to do them but it would have been a greater team effort if it was done thru SMART and more recognizable thru the parks. Anyway, nice work, whoever did them.

    So I rode for a short 2 hours and had a great time. I was sad that it was getting dark, pretty quickly but that was my fault for being so lazy and not going earlier. I'm glad I got to ride and was planning to go tomorrow, but I see on the TV, it's suppose to rain tomorrow. Hopefully it will stop at some point and I'll be able to squeeze in another 2 hr short ride.

    See you next year!

~dirty bert