Spring is here. I have pictures to prove it.

I'm back after a long hiatus.  Here are some recent pictures.  More words to come.

New Hotness

I've been lusting after a frame bag for some time now.  I tend to carry more stuff than I really need on bike rides, just to be prepared ya know.  And I get tired of always having to wear my camelbak with all that stuff in it.  One day while perusing different biking websites I stumbled up a nice looking frame bag.  It thought that would be quite handy.  I got to thinking about it and decided that it would be even sweeter if it was leather.  So I set out to make my own.  I went to the leather store and picked up a nice big piece of green suede.  I made a mock up of the bag in paper then cut the leather into the correct shapes.  My wonderful wife did all of the sewing work.  Admittedly the hardest and longest (and most frustrating) part of this was the sewing.  She did a great job and the bag looks great!  I'll be putting it through it's paces soon.

Turkey Day riding

I had a great time at the Turkey Day ride this year.  As always.  Almost 30 riders showed up on what was supposed to be a cold wet day.  The morning arrived and it was dry and warmer than expected.  We set out on the bike paths around town for a few hours before going home to stuff ourselves with Thanksgiving dinner.

Group Shot

 Track standoff

 

Water?

Black Friday turned out to be a good day as well.  I came upon a steal of a deal on new steel cross frame with disc tabs.  I had to bite.  It should be arriving shortly.

New bike and Gnomes

If you've read my previous posts you know that I was hoping to get the replacement Gary Fisher Ferrous frame built in time for Gnome Fest.  I was waiting on the eccentric bottom bracket to arrive.  The good new is that it did indeed arrive last Thursday.  The day before Gnome Fest.  The bad news is I had to finish the build in a hurry.  However I was successful (thanks largely to the Rassussen crew being very helpful, patient and generally awesome) in getting it built and ready.  And here it is:

It turned out pretty well.  I was excited to get it to Gnome Fest and get some trail time with it.

Gnome Fest is a bunch of mountain bike riders, mostly single speeders, that get together once a year to celebrate Gnomes and mountain biking.  The crew from Des Moines was Cory Fallor, Brian Sheesley, Matt McCutchen and Melissa Crook.  We rolled out from Des Moines at about 7:30 on Friday morning.  The goal was to get camp set up and a ride in before dark.  The morning started off very foggy.  You can see Duggan the Gnome is having a hard time seeing.

The driving arrangements put everyone in the minivan in front of me.  While Duggan and my chocolate lab rode in my car.  Cooper is relaxing on the road.

It wasn't until we got into Wisconsin that the fog really lifted.  We were treated to good driving conditions and scenery.

We arrived early as planned and headed out for a ride.  I was excited to give the Ferrous it's first workout and the bike did not disappoint.  The steal of the Ferrous is quite different from the aluminum frame of the XCal.  It is much more forgiving to ride and really deaden's the trail vibration that cause fatigue.  I am very happy with the ride.  The night ended with the tapping of two New Belgium kegs.  Everyone was happy by the time the second keg ran out and we continued the happiness at our campsite.  Also worth noting is the campsite fire was started by Melissa.  Not one of the pyromaniac men.  She is very proud of her fire:

Saturday morning arrived and so did the blahs.  After breakfast the group split and Melissa headed out for a ride with the girls while the rest of us left for a ride of our own.  We didn't last long though(and by we I mean me) and before long we were back at the campsite hydrating and snacking trying to repair the damage from the night before.  We went out again in the afternoon with much better results.

We rode some really cool trails.  This section is referred to as Toad Road.

I don't remember which section this is, but the rock wall on one side and the downhill slope on the other was fun to ride.  There were lots of little sections like this.

We wrapped up Saturday by heading over to a near by campground which had showers.  After two days of riding a shower was very necessary.  Others wrapped up Saturday by renewing their wedding vows.

Gomez, I mean Gary, one of the patriarchs of Gnome Fest turned 50 and was in for a fat tire surprise.  He got a Pugsley for a gift.  Complete with custom color and stickers.

Saturday night ended in style with mini bike races.

With Saturday in the bag we woke up early on Sunday to get a ride in before heading home.  Melissa again went off and joined the ladies to ride.  She was enjoying the conversations with the girls while out riding.  It was quite different for the humor us guys have.  Which I'm sure she had enough of.  Riding with the girls though she missed out on the group photo.  Here are the guys on the lookout point.

I'm working on adding her to the picture, but with the dark shading on us it's really tough.  Not too metion the strange pose she chose.

The rest of the Sunday morning ride was covering what we liked from the previous days.  We road Toad Road again where Brian thought it would be a fun place to crash. He went down right here.

Luckily though he was ok, nothing broken, and we continued on.  We wrapped up the riding and headed home.  We all had a great time and are hoping to make a return trip next year.  The trails at Levis Trow mounds are very fun.  There is plenty of climbing and downhill.  The trails are a bit spider web like so you can make a loop as long or short as you want with as much or little climbing and descending as well.  Overall a very fun place to ride.  I know I'm leaving a ton out, but for the sake of an already long post and to protect the innocent I will leave it at that.

Work in Progress

The Ferrous frame is in.  Unfortunately not all the pieces for it are.  Still waiting on an EBB insert.

I built the bike up on Tuesday evening as far as I could.  Which is surprising little without having a crank installed.  With any luck the insert will be here today and I can finish the build in the nick of time for Gnome Fest.  Otherwise it will be a singlespeed weekend.  Singlespeeding an IMBA Epic sound like fun?  I think I'll pack some ibuprofen.  Although the suspension fork on the Ferrous will be missed more than the gears.  Either way it looks like a fun weekend ahead.  Camping and biking with my best friend.  It doesn't get much better.

Cracked!

Goodbye X Caliber.

Hello Ferrous.

Summer meltdown or not

August riding is usually hot and lonely. Only the really motivated usually ride in the heat of August. This August however has been anything but too hot. With evening lows in the 50's and highs in the 70's it has been great riding weather. It feels more like fall than summer. With such great weather it's been very easy to get out and ride.

Saturday it was too muddy to ride off-road. Brian and I decided to hit the High Trestle Trail(A2W trail). He had never been on it and I had never ridden the whole thing. We started off in Ankeny at the sports complex. We rode out to where the bridge will soon be, to see the supports awaiting their new duty. It's a great valley view from the trail. It will complete a very attractive and probably very used trail. On the way back we took a detour in Slater to check out the trailhead for the Heart of Iowa Nature Trail. This is a crushed limestone trail that goes from Slater to Melbourne. It was in great shape and was just begging to be ridden. We decided we had time to ride to Cambridge and back. The trail was very much worth the ride. Without all the clearing needed for paving the trail seemed much more like you were riding through nature. Somewhat more mountain bike trailesqe than the usual paved bike path we have so much of. It was a very nice trail and a nice excursion. We ended the day back in Ankeny with almost 63 miles and a few extra hours of riding than we had planned.

Last night I made a point to get out and ride my mountain bike. Squirrel mowed almost the entire(Center) trail during the day. This is very exciting as it really cuts down on the itchy scratchy legs you get from hitting weeds at speed on the bike. Thanks for mowing buddy. I met up with Courtney and we rode a couple of laps. Finishing the last half lap in the dark. The trail was in tremendous shape. Too bad the rain is going to ruin it.