Back In the Saddle, in 2011

Again, it's been awhile since my last post and so many things have changed.

i finally bought a road bike, i think last year or so. a cannondale synapse carbon 4(?) i don't know if it was a 4 or 3. at this point it's maybe a year old but it looks like this red/black/white bike with sram rival parts. the bike rides nice, i just need to swap the saddle out to my favorite wtb devo i have it on my mountain bike and never had problems with it, so why not put it on my road bike. i'd like to upgrade to easton carbon bars and a stem and of course the saddle. i also thought about selling the frame and fork and swapping it out for a cyclocross frame and fork. i still haven't decided on that idea.

no new upgrades to the mtn. bike. i need a tune-up, maybe, i'll bring that in soon, to beat the spring time rush. this year, i may put on new grips, buy a spare chain, really run the wheels tubeless and not just run 1 wheel. i'd like new tires, just not sure what would be a good all around tire for this area. the soil conditions are always changing and i don't have the patience or time to be swapping tires on and off, so often.

in some late night down time, i have been creating t-shirt designs and selling them on a website. my store name is Trail Hog and i think i did pretty considering, i haven't really advertised it anywhere else. it takes me more time to post up the work, then to actually create a design. if you have time, check it out.

we have had a ton of snow this season, and it's finally melting. i'm getting the itch to ride but i don't want to ruin the trails, so this is where the road bike comes in handy. maybe i can motivate my phat ass and hook the bike up to the trainer and start riding. i read it's suppose to climb to 60 by friday. i gotta say, it's a bit boring riding on the trainer and never understood why anyone needed a fan blowing at you until i did a ride in my garage. jeeze, i looked like i just stepped out of a shower with my road shoes on. dripping disgusting wet. oh yea, i did my research and bought a kurt kinetic road machine, 100% leak proof and quiet (compared to other brands). I'm completely satisfied and would highly recommend it and it's well worth the extra cash. i got mine from Performance and they matched a price for me, i got it 60 bucks less with free shipping. a sweet deal i couldn't pass up.

happy muddy frozen trails,
th

It Must Be the Shoes.

    Well i finally broke down and bought winter shoes. I bought them 1 size bigger to accommodate the thicker socks or multiple pairs that i wear. I got the new cleat attached to the shoe and tried it out last Sunday. It kept my toes nice and warm AND dry for the most part. I had a lot of trouble trying to clip into my pedal. The cleat was in a new positioned so i had trouble searching for it on the pedal. I felt like a newbie once again, minus all the falling.

    The shoes held up well until i stepped into a stream crossing. I'm sure they would have been fine if the water wasn't so high. So from then on, they became a ice block. I mean these shoes are so water tight, i could feel the water swishing around the inside as i rode.

    Fenders are also a key part of winter riding. They keep the slop to a minimal on yer back and butt. I found spraying the underside with Pam spray reduces the mud from actually sticking. I also wear a helmet cap or if it's really cold and windy a face protector or also know as Balaclava.

    So tomorrow, they are forecasting 50 degrees in January. Wow, what a way to extend my riding season. Despite the trails being a tad bit muddy and still frozen by mid morning, it's kinda nice to have global warming.

happy muddy trails
~dirty "frozen" bert

STAN TO THE RESCUE!

    I need Stan, Stan's tubeless system. I gather some people from work, 3 people and 2 more at the last minute, for a fun group ride at Mercer. Mercer seems to be the best meeting spot during the weekdays, since it is the quickest place to get to after work.
    Well within 15 minutes into our ride, someones tire started to hiss. We all stopped and helped change the tire and as usual we made fun of each other. The ride was good, there was one newbie riding with us, that was doing well and Mercer is a relatively easy place to start mtn. biking and a good place to get back into shape and start the new season.
    On the way back, my rear tire decided to finally go flat. I have been having an everlasting low/flat tire for about 5 months now. i think this has been the longest streak of not having a flat in my rear tire. I gotta say this, I HATE changing my rear tire. There is so much to deal with, aligning the disc with the caliper, then rerouting the chain around the cassette and trying to align the quick release back into the drop-outs AND all doing this with 2 hands. NO f-en way, can i do this by myself. Well anyway, I rode that tire, completely deflated on that rim to long. So long, that the rim nipped or cut into the sidewall.
    When we got back to the parking lot, I had my chance to get some help changing the rear tire. So Jeff kindly, held the bike up for me, while I cursed at the chain, disc and rear derailleur for about 15 minutes. I have learned valuable lessons in changing tires and one of them is to NEVER turn the bike upside down when you have hydraulic brakes. Why, because you will always get air in yer brake lines causing yer brakes to not work properly. AND as you can already tell from this post, that I'm mechanically challenged and can't handle bleeding my brakes, let alone changing my rear tire.
    Well, after I changed the tire, 3 people bailed to go home and ME and 2 others wanted to join me for some more riding on the other side of Mercer. We had a quick pace because at this point the sun just set and I needed to squeeze in a lil more trail time in. We hustled around the trails, stopping very lil but it became dark quickly, than I expected and once again we were out riding the trails in the dark. Thank god, I know the trails, so well and my eye sight is pretty good, well my squinting is excellent. We made it back to the cars by 8:25, with the lightning in the distance.
    I have learned, once again, I seriously need to invest in a couple of things, if I want to keep up riding like this.

1. Lights: Relatively cheap, under 100 bucks for a system. Any suggestions?
2. Stan's: I still need tubes but I heard and read this system works.
3. CO2 Inflation System: Ya still gonna need it, if you are using tubes or No Tubes and it beats killing yer arm for pumping (there's a joke in here somewhere and I'm not gonna touch it)
4. Tubes: 10 boxes of tubes for 20 bucks, not a bad deal.

I think right now, that would be a good start. I know, them lights can be expensive, especially the HID lights. I think the cheapest i saw them, were for, maybe 300 bucks. LED, here i come! On eBay, you can score Stan's for under 60 bucks.

happy trails
~dirty bert