Fathers Day @ Banner Lakes & Buddahs Rebuild Trucker

For Fathers day I decided to treat myself to a long mountain bike ride...typically my favorite local spot is close enough to home that I can ride over to the trail head, so after years of hauling the bike and usually a buddy or two an hour plus to hit the dirt, the last three years I am happy to report that until a couple of weeks ago i hadn't had the mountain bike in the car (ditched the roof rack about the 5yrs ago after ripping a bike off the top going into a parking garage....arrgh). But, seeing how it was Daddy Day and wifey had given me the free pass to "ride until i didn't want to ride anymore" .....I tossed the Monocog into the back of the Honda and was off. It seems that after years of riding anything and everything that even resembles a dirt trail I've come to realize that I like riding familiar trails. Its become fun to focus on subtle trail features that might go unnoticed on a first run....a tree root that I can loft over to set up a turn, or a new chainring scar on a fallen log crossing the trail. The beauty of riding the same trail year round is that it gives us the opportunity to watch nature creep through its life cycle.

Anyhoo, back to Banner Lakes.....it had rained the week before, but referencing my normal ride, in my mind the trail should have been plenty dry and just moist enough to provide the perfect riding surface for my over sized small knob treads......WR0NG!!! to say it was a soupy mess would be an understatement boarding on the obscene. here's a picture of what my bike looked like after the ride.....

This was a good 'ol fashion mud fest....but not really inna good way. It reminded me of the enthusiasm I had for mountain biking in my twenties, then it was about conquering the trail.....now its about coexisting with it. It was a fun ride...more because riding is like pizza and sex, it might not always be great, but if we're really honest with ourselves its very rarely bad......the plan is to provide a more formal trail review in the future with useful bits of info like mileage, a trail map, skill level, and some nifty photos of trail markers. However,  with the trails conditions being what they were, I opted to start that process another day.


As it says in the title line....my good friend Buddha scored a Surly Long Haul Trucker from a friend (thanks Billy).....and we built it up this week. The bike will ultimately be used as a commuter, but its maiden voyage will be on RAGBRAI (this is a tour across Iowa for the outta towners tuning in).......thought I'd post a picture of it in case anyone is looking for inspiration for their own build:

We built it up as a 1x9 with mavic aksyium wheels, truvativ cranks, Avid cantis and levers, a recycled brooks saddle, and a smattering of other parts poached from the shop. well, that's all I got for the day.....RIDE FREE!

PS----here's a random shot I found of an all wood bike i found on line....kinda weird, but cool...I'd link the website, but its all over the bike  :0)

PSS----I'm starting a new feature: everytime I get a bike mag, I'm going to post the average price of the bikes reviewed. this weeks mag: BIKE ; average price of reviewed bikes:  $ 4952.50 !!!  R U F*#king Kidding ME??!!!!

Des Moines by Bike

As the title line suggests today i rode a mini tour of des moines......in a time when all the bike mags (mountain bike mags in particular) are singing the praises of  $7000 bikes and sweet riding in outer mongolia....i think we often neglect what is right outside our front door and what's sitting right in our garage. simple bikes ridden in places that you don't need to get on a plane to enjoy, what a concept. here is a little photo journal of destinations that are within 20miles of my house (would love to see some of yours):
 
Drake Campus: if your spinning on university ave, zip through drake....the side walks are smooth as glass and if your feeling randy, there's a few interesting concrete structures to throw yourself off of.

like i said....simple bikes and places right out the door. i rode my single speed road bike all day and even hit a couple miles of denmans (or is it dedmans? who knows) trail in water works/ashworth park. in dry weather the singletrack is like concrete. hint: just because its called a road bike, its doesn't mean it always has to be on the road. a touring bike with semi meaty tires can easily handle light trail riding. not to mention its a nice way to add some variation to your ride and hone bike handling skills. you can find detailed trail info @:
http://www.centraliowatrails.org

Neal Smith Trail: this trail system connects grays lake to west des moines locally....it has a couple of mini tressels (like the one pictured here) and its relatively flat. the des moines bike collective has an online, downloadable trail map of  the paved trails in central iowa. for you adventurous types there are tons of little side trails along the route.

Grays Lake Park/Water Works Park:
there is a small arboretum at the far east entrance to water works park....just across from grays lake. its a great place to people watch at catch your breath in the shade

4th & Court...if your thing is vintage architecture, coffee and good beer (love'um all) then this is your spot. home to the "original" des moines coffee house and roaster Java Joes is the spot for java downtown. conveniently, the royal mile next door has a wide selection great beers and a lunch menu that's a carb loaders delight


 Downtown Sculpture Garden....... from downtown i road west on walnut, through the cobbled bus depot (side note: bus drivers DO NOT  like it when you split bus traffic on the center line) and cut across 12th St to check out des moines' most expensive public space, i'm very vocal about what i consider a gross misuse of  what is a prime piece of downtown green space...yet i'm strangely attracted to the ever growing sea of over priced art work that lives there.        

  Woodland Cemetery: from downtown i was up to ingersoll to MLK for a quick stop off  a couple laps of  the cemetery....its a brick road roller coaster, lined with old growth trees and grave sites dating back to the 1700s....found this headstone and thought it ironically poetic. after expending what little juice i had left on the

 ups and downs of woodland it was time to head home....as previously mentioned i don't have an odometer on my bike (nor do i want one)...but all in all i think i rode about 30miles....and had an amazing afternoon...................RIDE FREE!








 

i really need to update more often

well since last i wrote.....i was laid off and then recalled to work, built a couple of bikes (with a couple more in the works), got the crosscheck finished and got to riding on a more consistent basis........first pictures of bikes:

built this for a good friend who has since moved to iowa city.....its an old Raleigh turned into a single speed road bike, note: i said single speed and NOT fixed gear.

for those of you who are looking to do a 27 1/4 to 700c conversion, a word of advise: measure and then remeasure the brake reach you need to make the smaller 700c (yes, a 700c is smaller than a 27.25") wheel work.....i'd love to say that the reason the brake is mounted to the interior of the frame is that is looks cool, but its also the only way i could get the brake i had on hand to hit the rim right.

specialized makes this really cool vintage looking bar wrap that looks like perforated leather, but is in fact synthetic cork. also, i was able to use an old set of schwinn drop bars that had a 22.2mm grip diameter...this means mountain levers will fit.









i've finally got some miles on the cross check and started the long and slow process of changing up some of the parts....here's a photo update:

 i just added a few upgrades... brooks saddle, changed the bars to surly open bar (the update on the overall length....cut .75in. off each end and reduced the total with from 26.2in. to a smidgen under 25in.), oury grips, avid levers, paul thumbie bar end converter, and a paul chain tensioner. the plan is to have a bike that will

sorta do it all...light off road, self supported touring, and the occasional road ride....ill update as this change on the bike..as far as installing all the parts, the paul components went on with out a hitch and have been operating flawlessly. i will mention however, take your patient pills prior to putting on the chain tensioner as it takes a little time to get it lined up just right. another note is that if you want to run just one thumbie you have to order it from paul, but pairs are available through your local QBP dealer.


TRAIL UPDATE:
all trails in Ashworth/Greenwood Park are on the semi-dry/mostly ride-able side....i rode there a couple times last week and had a blast.










finally ill leave you with a shot of my son as spider-man....happy trails :0)

Sycamore Trail

today brought to an end another week of toiling away in the mines.....being on the night shift i've developed two rituals of note:

1) the beer bath---this is a steaming hot bath (of the bubbly variety) accompanied by a six pack of my favorite overpriced, thick as mud microbrew

2) the friday morning exhaustion ride---working nights means monday starts on sunday night, thus friday ends on friday morning. so being the idiot that i am i have a developed a "unique system", whereby, i get off work in the morning, go home and get some much needed family time, see wifey and son of to work/school and after being awake for 20hrs, go for a ride.......

which brings me to the title line of todays entry.

after a quick visit with my friends  at ironheart tattoo i zipped east on urbandale ave, picking up the trestle to trestle trail for a mile or so, then crossed douglas ave at MLK and dropped onto the sycamore trail. once on sycamore there is a paved trail that parallels the des moines river that stretches from MLK to morningstar dr.....there is also a double track trail the runs between the paved trail and the river.feeling a little adventurous i opted for the double track. i cruised along the slightly damp dirt path for a bit, noting that with each pedal stroke more and more of the world famous iowa clay was collecting at the pitch points on the crosscheck. after a half mile or so i happened along what appeared to be minor stream crossing. it was NOT a minor stream crossing. so after fording the knee deep frozen steam i pressed on only to be reward with an awe inspiring display of wildlife (none of which i was able to capture a picture of ) , i was shadowed by a pair of bald eagles, badgered by a group of canadian geese, buzzed by suicidal squirrels, and spooked by a pair of white tail rocketing across the trail. The animal show inspired me to press on  though the soup and three other stream crossings till i reached a clear cut makeshift trail the followed some power lines running from east

just before crossing the stream in the background

to west...by this time my feet were quazi-frostbitten and my bike was completely covered in muck. with a strict 3:15pm retrieval time for my son, i decided to follow the power lines to some blacktop. a half a mile later the trail intersected the Neal Smith which after a short ride, delivered me to the intersection at nw beaver ave. i grabbed a quick drink snapped a picture at the trail head on the west side of beaver and spun off on what i thought was the neal smith toward saylorville dam. my actual destination was urbandale via johnston by way of an as yet unidentified paved trail. upon arrival in ubandale i happened on a cookie cutter housing development ripe full of mini-vans, this served to remind me that i need to fetch the boy from school. so half frozen and super stoked about the urban adventure i'd had i sprinted back to beaver ave and then home. this was an killer ride....adventure just out of my doorstep, i'm now completely sold on the merits of owning a cyclocross bike. trails that i would normally pass by on my mountain bike are now viable options, it was a welcome lesson in line section as with a 35mm tire small ruts dramatically affect steering. i cant wait for spring!!!! GRAVEL, HERE I COME!!!

one post begets another

had to post a pic of the new bike that landed in the stable today......this is the"fresh outta the box" look, soon to be traded for the "looks like a bike dre would ride" look. for those of you who are wondering why this bike was purchased as a complete---surly and QBP have WAY more buying power than me....so, shimano cuts them a better deal on parts than i could ever hope for. Pay attention kids, this is probably the only real good piece of advice on purchasing a new bike (aside from buy the one that fits ya!!): Buying a bike complete  is alot cheaper than piecing it together bit by bit. anyway, here's the new crosscheck....i'll be updating and filling you in on the ride as i get some saddle time on the thing.

on a separate, but equally cool note the wood plugs i ordered from omerica organic body jewelry showed up at the casa today.....holy shit, they are really nice (the picture really doesn't do them justice at all) they are beautifully crafted with high quality materials....and very reasonably price, got both pairs for under 80 shmackroos....for those of you that are into this kinda thing, you know its dirt cheap......omerica is a denver based company that makes all kinda cool shit....not stretched? never fear, they make belt buckets, dog tags and post style earrings as well. check 'em out

danny macaskill......and my coffee cup

this video has been floating around  you tube for awhile....but  its still fan-tabulous. if your not inspired to ride after watching this.....check your pulse, you may be dead. check this guy out at: http://www.dannymacaskill.co.uk

after a week of 12hr days....i think the message of my coffee cup sums up my needs and feelings for the week (the message, in case your NOT a master of the obvious---"fuck you i need coffee!!").....to make it bike related i will say that this cup fits perfectly into a standard water bottle cage

have to share this little tidbit about my son sage, who being the coolest five-year-old of all time (and i swear i'm not saying that because he's mine) requested that i play "robot music" for him as i'm writing this post.....sure you're wondering "what in the hell is robot music" click below to hear my sons favorite song

merry weekend y'all

Brr in the books, Ragbrai overnights announced

Brr was a blast...the weather was nice as it can be for a february ride in iowa, and aside from a few drunken country bumpkins the ride had little to offer in the way of drama.....which is a good thing. our small, but stalwart crew set out for the glorious hamlet of Ripey about 10:30a (a half hour after the official cannon shot start), arrived at noon-ish had a few of the local libations and then headed back to perry (albeit, two shy of our of our crew...but never fear we picked up two sets of fresh legs for the return trip). One of the best things about this ride is the fact that for a few hours cyclist rule the road. The roads aren't closed to motorized traffic.....they are just at our mercy...which here in des moines probably isn't so odd, but out in the country? not so much. Thanks to the Perry Chamber of Commerce and bikeiowa.com (who by the way answer emails in minutes, amazing)....ps--the surly open bar handlebar i was gonna put on my salsa for this ride never made it on the bike, i instead started breaking in a new brooks saddle...which ill also review at some point.

pictured here(from Left to Right): J Dis, Apollo Creed a.k.a Stars and Stripes, Grandma Fixed, Dre, Dr. Sandy & Jamie BMX

Oh yeah...ragbrai overnight cities are as follows : Glenwood, Atlantic, Carroll, Boone, Altoona, Grinnell, Coralville & Davenport....i may or may not do a little write up on each one at some point...but i have linked all the local chambers of commerce if you wanna check them out.