Pink

Spring is most definitely in the air (you can smell 6 months worth of dog waste melting out of the snowbanks) and we have been blessed with a good long stretch of beautiful cloudless days.  The trails have remained in fantastic condition, freezing firmly on the cold clear nights and staying firm almost all day long, and I have been fortunate enough to get some excellent riding in on a new (to me) bike.

That pink fatbike you see is now legally mine.  The previous owner was kind enough to allow me a good long window to test ride and think about the purchase.  Mrs. was in love with it the minute she saw it and has no qualms about being married to a man who rides around on an XL pink bike.  Getting her stamp of approval was not insignificant.

The bike fit me amazingly well as soon as I threw a leg over it.  It's not often I hop on another person's bike and don't feel the urge to fiddle with one thing or another.
The story is that the bike was originally built up by a local shop/fatbike company employee.  He put in the special request for a XL frame in pink and then decked it out in the parts you might expect from guy who gets a shop discount:  XTR rear derailleur, SLX front, Mr. Whirly crank, cut out Speedway 70mm rims,  Thomson stem, etc.
Apparently he moved out of state not too long after finishing the build and a casual friend of mine scooped it up for a steal.  However, it seems that for my friend the lure of 800cc snowmachines trumped pedal power and the bike saw almost no action for the past two winters.

Long story short, he was happy to let the bike go to someone who would ride it, the bike fit me and Mrs. approved.  I initially hesitated, but encouragement and sound advice from a couple of fellow bike junkies pushed me over the edge.

It may be pink, but it rides like the darkest black of a moonless night.

I'm secure enough to enjoy the obvious jokes that will ensue. My favorite so far was the woman on horseback asking if I had borrowed my wife's bike.
I've actually had a thing for pink frames ever since I first saw Pat Irwin's pink 1x1 eight or nine years ago.
I figure with one kid and another on the way my manhood is adequately accounted for and I shouldn't let a good deal pass me by.

Changes thus far:
The bike came with a horribly narrow carbon bar, so I swapped it for an On-One Mary bar before I rode it for the first time.  The Mary bar is nice, but I think I'll ultimately change it out for something with a little less back sweep.  I was thinking a Salsa Whammy bar would be nice, but it seems no one is selling them these days.  On-One Fleegle perhaps.  To be determined.

It also had Endomorph tires front and rear, which had amazingly awkward handling characteristics.  I've since swapped those for (27tpi) Larrys.  I picked one Larry up cheap at the local bike swap and acquired the other from a guy on craigslist who wanted to trade a Larry for an Endomorph, don't ask me why.  Handling was noticeably improved by the tire swap.





Down the road I'll likely get the MWOD rings for the Mr. Whirly crank.  I have absolutely no need for the big ring, and wouldn't mind moving the chain out from the rear tire a bit.

The little ski hill in town has closed for the season so I snuck over there one evening this week after a quick singletrack ride and goofed around on the groomed slopes.
Good times.

I'm In

All I had to do was say I was in.

We stopped for lunch at the lake.

Mrs. got home from work late Tuesday evening and mentioned that she and the Guv'nor were talking about riding up Powerline Pass the next day.  If I wanted I could join them and ride up and over the top with the Guv'nor and she would ride back down with the Little wRider.

Little and his lei rocking in the tundra

I was unable to line up some of the equipment I needed for field work so it seemed like a good excuse to blow off doing anything responsible and just go ride bikes.
 

Mrs. eyeballing the pass

Turns out cRaven was on board for the ride too, and he had a shuttle driver all lined up to pick us up on the other end.  A shuttled ride, with 3000ft of descending and all I had to do was load my bike onto the car, all the other details were taken care of.

Where we came from. Nowhere to go but down.

The only snow we had to deal with after a record snowfall this winter.

To say the trail was grown in in spots would be an understatement.

cRaven smoking rotors on the backside.

The ride tops out a little over 3,000 feet and ends just a stone's throw away from Cook Inlet (aka sea level).

Hard to find a better spot to meet your shuttle driver.  A huge pan of nachos hit the spot.

How Much Excitement Can You Pack Into One Evening?

So Little wRider and I were rolling like this

So we could drop the Donkey off here for a while

Along the way we saw this

plus about a dozen more officers with guns drawn,  just across the street from GSC and SHeck.  (I was about 5 feet away from the first officer in the photo as he got out of his squad car and chambered a shell in that shotgun he's holding.)



Then we were on our way to deliver some pizza to Mrs. and we had to wait on this guy

Then  just before we tried to lock up here, the sprinklers turned on. I'm so glad we didn't get there 5 minutes earlier.

But then we heard this, so we dashed around back

and got blasted by some rotor wash.

Then on our way home this guy crept up on us  . . .

 He should really get a bell or learn to say "Bike on your left."


Anyway, at 10pm the view looked like this.

 
Then Mrs. got off work early so I rode to meet here and saw this sunset @11:25pm

Then we cruised home together, her riding the bike my Grandfather received as a retirement gift in 1984.

I've got to say it was an excellent summer evening.

Rotors and Records

I finished up the semester on friday.
Provided I pass quantitative methods it will officially be the end of coursework for my master's degree, and quite possibly for good. (Not feeling the need for a PhD at the moment).

I've still have research and thesis work to complete, so LOTS of work ahead, but it still felt like a significant milestone.

So how do I indulge myself and celebrate?

With a large dose of bikes, that's how.

Spent friday evening in the garage swapping rotors around, and throwing this new Ashima rotor in the mix.  I figure with 160mm rotors all the way around I end up with the ability to readily swap front wheels between five different bikes if need be.

To add to the celebration I watched Graeme Obree's story of tackling the hour record in the Flying Scotsman.
I remember him breaking the record, then losing it, then . . . . .  well you'll just have to watch it yourself.

I've been meaning to see the movie for a few years, just haven't slowed down enough to indulge in movie watching in a long time.
Favorite part: When Francesco Moser pulls the stick out so to speak and starts cheering for Obree.

Rotors and Records

Saturday night went from moose burgers on the grill to some wrenching and riding with old friends.

Allman, GSC and I met Mrs. for her commute home.

Been too long since we've had a late night rally around town with friends.
Honestly doesn't get much more fun than that for me.