Singletrack School

I have been on the commuter bike more than the mountain bike this year.  That is to say, my 15 - 30 minutes of daily commuting adds up to much more than my trail riding, by far.  Not that this is a bad thing.  I like commuting, but there is something wrong when I live 15 miles from what I consider the best network of 3D singletrack in the province, yet I hadn't been there more than a small handful of times in a couple of years.

So when school ended I made a point of getting to Tinker Creek for Tuesday Night Ride.  Well in one sense, it was a Tuesday night ride (lower case), since only three riders showed up, but to me the ride was all caps.  

Gord and Alf also happen to be two of the trail builders from the area, and they were eager to show me the newer lines that had been cut and groomed since my last visit to the trail system.  And to make it into a quick learning experience, Gord assumed the role of singletrack coach.  

I've seen this done before, and it's quite an amazing skill.  He led out, keeping pace with me behind him, calling out all the trail features as we were about to meet them.  For example, while I huffed and puffed like the big bad wolf, he was riding and calling "hard left... right then left, short grunt uphill... v-ditch... flow, gradual right, keep up your speed..." and on like this through the new section.  Singletrack school!

All the while, Alf was following on his singlespeed, balancing and waiting for me to clear the climbs so he could attack them.  

So which bike provides the most fun? 

Alf - 26" full rigid, single, steel

Gord - 26" full suspension, 3x9, aluminum

Me - 29" hardtail, 2x10, carbon

There could hardly be a better collection of different styles of bikes for trail riding.  And we all had the most fun.

Happy fathers day!!

Happy dads day! I love you sooooo much! Heres something for you:






Dads can be wierd:

Go tighten your chain

If you ride a fixed gear or single speed bike, you should go out to your bike cave, wherever that may be, and check your chain tension. 

Years of derailleur use has gotten me pretty lax about chain tension.  But with no derailleur taking up the slack and accounting for the bit of chain wear over the season, your chain may be slyly preparing to play a game with you.  You know that game older kids play with younger ones, where they play tug of war, more and more pulling, fun and excitement till the older one suddenly releases the rope, causing a catastrophic loss of balance and control on the part of the victim.  Well, the victim usually comes back for more, but that's a bit of the unexplainable human condition there.  Now picture that game in reverse, with pushing.  Like, I mean really really pushing hard.  And it's an adult male playing the pushing game with a machine, namely his bike.  There are a few potential fail points in the pushing system, such as a broken chain/crank/pedal/frame/bars, but I'm not much of a heavyweight so I'm definitely not expecting a breakage of any kind.  But when I'm standing and accelerating in my big gear (ok, it's only a 52/21 but it's mashing for me),  and a trail bump throws the increasingly loose bottom side of the chain from side to side, enough to miss even one tooth on the beautiful stainless steel track cog, this is a fail point just as potent as any of the others listed. 

The rider mashes into thin air, left side of rider's body leading the way earthward as the bars turn the other way, afraid to watch.  The dive feels like Superman, arms out, flying free for a glorious 20 hundredths of a second.   Leading with the left elbow, Superman augers in and rolls over, in, and around, maybe even under his bike.  Asphalt, grass, dirt are inspected from close up.  Later, skin inspection.  There's also some jacket inspection needed, along with steering alignment, brake levers, bar tape, seat, and vegetation removal. 

Speaking of the human condition, I couldn't bear to turn back after 8 minutes of riding, so I grabbed the slightly disheveled bars of my machine with renewed respect and  and enjoyed a wonderful, more mechanically attentive ride.  I think my muscles were happy to spin out a bit too.

Now, back to your chain.  Your bar tape will thank you.

Got out the unicycle today...

Not me, my son got it out.

Top Pick: Recommended Manitoba Vehicles list

Here is an excerpt from a highly awaited press release from an little known Canadian research outfit, on the topic of vehicles suitable for the prairie winters we know and love.

The winner of the search for the most suitable vehicle in our climate is ideal for nearly all conditions experienced here in the geographic region of the Canadian prairies.  

Highlights:

• Always starts, no plugging in needed.
• Fuel economy is extremely high in all weather.
• Climate control systems are completely consistent with current conditions.
• Never needs a tow rope, user is able to extricate vehicle from snowdrifts unaided.
• All terrain capability.
• Low cost, user may own several of these specialized vehicles, each customized to different seasons, if desired.
• Luggage space roughly equivalent to high performance luxury cars such as Porsche Boxster.

Deciding on the winning vehicle was difficult, but it's not exactly brain surgery, now is it.

Ghetto Tubeless - Take 1

I set up Tristan's front wheel with a new tire and a home tubeless conversion.  I used a 20" BMX tube stretched into the rim, sliced and spread open, tire seated into it, 2 cups Stan's brew, blow up, and trim.  Net loss 140g from previous setup, mind you I used a much lighter tire.  But over a quarter pound loss on a kid's wheel will feel good.

Spoiler alert:  this is not me in the video.

 I had issues with my pump and my new old compressor and compatibility with presta and ... so the job took a lot longer than expected.  Still, I got to spend some quality time with my apron on and the evocative smell of name-brand tire sealant.  Kids weren't too interested, so kudos to Ramona for doing a bit more than usual for a Sunday afternoon.

Snow tonight - maybe storm day tomorrow?  

What comes down must come up.

Who wants to go flying?

 

 

Wouldn't it be fun to take a ride in a plane like that?  Fatbikers, wipe your chins.
What do you think, Tristan?  It might be hard to find one with the big tires, but...