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)