Post Category → Cycling

The Falling of Fall

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Apparently today is the day that Fall falls. I’m OK with that, especially since the temps are nice, there’s plenty of green left on the trees and very few leaves are covering the trail. However it seems that the acorns don’t give a shit about what the leaves do and decided to go ahead and rain down upon the trails. This made for some interesting handling in a few hard pack corners. It was sort of funny to be riding along and hear things bouncing off my helmet.

Welcome autumn, feel free to stick around as long as you want.

Finally Back At It

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After six days off the bike due to illness and a quick weekend get-a-way to Chicago with my family unit, I was FINALLY back on the bike today. If you’re reading this blog you most likely ride bikes, OR you got here Googling photos to satisfy some bizarre, crap covered chamois fetish you have. You disgust me! Welcome to the blog.

No matter how you got here, bike ridin’ type folk know that time off the bike sucks, and that it sucks even more when you’re off the bike due to coughing up snot and sludge for five days. Most will also know that the first ride back from such a break simultaneously rocks and sucks.

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A Lack of Crush

This week has really lived up to the anti-hype. I’ve been sick since Monday and got out for just ONE short ride on Tuesday before things really went south. As of this morning (Friday) I am slightly better (from shitty to crappy, nudging my way slowly towards poopy) but with no ride planned. Oh well, it’s a head/chest cold, it will pass… or I will, either way it’s a win.

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More Bad Ideas

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Earlier this month I thought it would be a good idea to take a 30+ pound borrowed fat bike out for a ride on dirt roads. That wasn’t a bad idea, but it wasn’t a great one either. Since I am not one to avoid doing stupid things (in fact stupidity is sort of my thing), I one upped myself today and took my 40+ pound Surly Pugsley out on energy sapping muddy dirt roads… while sick. How bad could it be?

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The Rebound Ride

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After last week’s brilliant (for me) return to the saddle and near daily riding, this week has be quite the opposite. As of mid morning today (Saturday) I’ve ridden twice this week. Tuesday’s 42 mile road/gravel ride and Friday’s quick “better than the trainer” 23 mile gravel ride. Sigh.

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Resting The Gut

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Monday’s for me are usually pretty stacked with real life duties, so riding takes a back burner. As (bad) luck would have it, today was also the day that I got hit with a bit of a stomach bug.

This is the second time in two weeks that I’ve been hit in the gut with multiple bouts of stinky leakage and I am starting to think it might be coming from my bottles; the Camelbak ones to be specific. The insides are easy enough to clean but the nozzles are sort of a bitch and I am starting to think that despite my best efforts to clean and soak them, the multiple layers of plastic and rubber that make up the nozzle are harboring the ushers of the my bowl hovering, intestinal distress. Then again, it could be from a skank batch of my White Trash Mexican food. Either way, I think I’m gonna star fresh with a new batch of bottles.

I’m hopeful that my gut will be back in running order tomorrow and I’ll be able to get a ride in. I might pack a bit of t.p. in the saddle bag, JUST in case.

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Photo: by me. Taken post-ride last week when I was trying out my buddy’s Farley. Well soiled tires inside the xB, and a soiled chamois on the outside. Trying to remember if I had pants on or not when I took the photo…

Adequate

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I mentioned in an earlier post today that I was off to ride, try out the WTB Nano 700 x 40c tires I picked up and try to make peace with my Kona Jake The Snake. Well, you may or many not have seen my afternoon edit on the post, but if not I will mention again: the tires were most excellent and well worth it, but I think my time with the Jake is done. I just don’t feel good on it… it’s almost painful. I doubt I’ll sell it (unless you want it?), but it may become a townie or a two-wheeled paperweight.

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New Meats

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For some reason, earlier this summer, I fell out of love with my four-year old Jake The Snake cross bike (which has never been used for cross, only gravel riding). I’m not 100% sure why, but after putting literally thousands of miles on it, I’ve been opting for my Ti El Mariachi mountain bike whenever riding gravel and dirt roads. Not wanting to see the bike sit idle, and knowing that if I tried to sell it I would get very little for it, I had the cassette, chain, cables and pulleys replaced (something that should have happened about a year ago). Now I am making a last-ditch attempt to save the Jake from becoming a two-wheeled clothes hanger and my El Marichi from becoming nothing more than a flat bar Fargo. I also picked up some new meats from WTB: the Nano 700 x 40 Comp.

It appears the Nano’s more aggressive than most cross tires tread, girth and added volume will get the job done on our shit Michiganderburgh dirt, gravel and paved roads and maybe add some comfort. From a short spin around the block yesterday they seem to roll pretty good on pavement and look meaty and delicious on the Jake.

In about twenty minutes they tires are going to get initiated into gravel and wet cement-like Michigan dirt roads, I suppose after that I will have a better idea of what the future holds for the J.T.S.

POST RIDE UPDATE: Sometimes it is about the bike. The tires were great, but I think my relationship with the Jake The Snake is over. Wanna buy a cross bike?