Things and Stuff

April has been amazing, and I've been getting some riding in.

Rode to the post office with Little to mail a birthday present to my brother in-law.

I had to hit up 3 different LBSs to find an AK shop t-shirt for a birthday present, but I was really pleased with what I eventually found.

Noticed this sign while I was locking up to the bike rack.

I'm pretty sure it's entrapment to install a bike rack where bicycling is forbidden.

Vic inspired me to experiment with some hose clamp, stem mounted water bottle.  Little saw what I was doing and requested on for his trike.  He and I were both pleased with the results.

LoL came by this weekend with a sweet new fork for his Moonlander.  It's amazing how light this hunk of plastic is.  

 

Fortunately I have an irrational fear of crabon that keeps me from investing large sums of money in shiny plastic bits.

Ocean Air Cycles had their t-shirts on sale for cheap.  Nice looking shirts, funky, small US bike company, how could I resist.  I was even happier when the package arrived with more than just a t-shirt.  A few stickers and some beautiful postcards were just above and beyond.

Like I said the April riding has been amazing. Blue sky, warm (above freezing) day time temps and smooth snowy trails are hard to beat.

Neither this guy, nor myself were in too much of a hurry this afternoon, so we spent a while checking each other out and sharing the trail before we both went peacefully on our respective ways.

The trails were holding up pretty well, even as the temps approached 50deg F.  Nice to be out riding in a short sleeved jersey and shants.

 

Things were a little punchy and deep if you had to dab off the packed trail, but there are worse problems to have.

 

Stumbled across this old run down cabin in the woods.  Less than two miles from our house, but on a little used trail that I had never explored before.  Would have been a pretty sweet place to live back in its day.

  

I persuaded Little to help me slap the Big Apples back on the Dummy and ride to the park with me.  He did an awesome job hanging on to the back of the Big Donkey.  I still plan to build a proper seat for him or something, so that he and I can both relax a little bit while he's back there.  As it was I was rolling slowly and constantly seeking conservation that he was still hanging on with both hands (most of the time he was).

 It's really fun to have him out of the trailer and to be able to maintain a conversation while we roll along.  4 fun miles together this evening.  His only complaint was that he hurt his bottom when we practiced riding off a curb at low speed.  I'll set him up with a magic carpet or something similar soon.
I'm really excited for this next chapter of family riding.

Where Have I Been?

Where have I been?

I'm not entirely sure, but it has been fun.

Biermag offered to watch Little wRider this evening, so LoL and I connected and caught up with a Thursday night shop right.  Good to see LoL, it had been a while and I've had a blog warming gift sitting on my workbench for him for the past couple of weeks.
He started up a fine little blog a while back, and this seemed like an appropriate gift:

He's got some good stuff over there do yourself a favor and check it out.

More than once in recent weeks Little wRider has protested when I begin to prepare for a cross country ski outing, requesting instead that we "go ride bikes in the woods."  Who am I to argue with a request like that from a two year old?  

So of course we go ride bikes in the woods.

It should also be obvious that I use the term 'ride' loosely.  Regardless, it's tough to beat an afternoon of bike related goofiness in the woods.

The Little One is learning at a young age that there is plenty of hike-a-bike involved in winter riding.  So far he seems to be okay with it.

Cousin Rye N disappeared to Jamaica for a few weeks on what he claims is a work related trip, so Biermag and I wasted no time commandeering his Fatback and riding it plenty.  When the riding as good as it's been a bike like this should not sit idle.

Little has also developed an affection for rides on the back of the Big Donkey, or the "Backwards Bike" as he calls it.  His logic, as he explained it to me was that having handlebars behind the seat is backwards, therefor it is "The Backwards Bike."  I added a bit of titanium to the Donkey to give Little a more stable platform.  Rides have mostly been super slow and mellow, back and forth to the playground, but he and I both couldn't be happier.

Of all the people I know I can't think of anyone who might enjoy a fatbike more than GSC, but up until recently he did not own one, and had only ridden them very briefly.  Well it warms my heart to know that he took the plunge, and I had the pleasure of riding with both him and SHeck on a recent weekend. 

GSC said something mid-ride along the lines of "I had no idea . . ." which I took to mean that he was very much enjoying his new, fat set of wheels.

Crickett the dogg approves of GSC's new dog walking machine.

 Sheck borrowed LoL's Moonlander for the day, and rented herself a Fatback the following weekend.  Call me crazy, but I don't think it will be long before she's rolling a fatty of her own.

The Iditarod rolled through town last weekend, and it just so happens that the finish of the first day, ceremonial run ends just a few short miles from our house. 
A few years back GSC stuck an bbq grill on an old pair of skis and dubbed it Paco.  I inquired into Paco's availability for the Iditarod and a small crew was quickly assembled for some sausage grilling and mushing watching.

Biermag was kind enough to tow Paco to the trails, much to the delight of numerous spectators, leaving me free to tow Little wRider in his Chariot.

Grilling sausage on a bluebird day in Alaska just about one of the finest ways I can think of to spend an afternoon.

One driver drove right off the road and into the soft shoulder trying to capture a photo much like this one on our way home from the Iditarod start.  A grill on skis works out much better than one might initially think.

On one of my rides home recently I was pondering how few moose I have seen in the past month or two.  Well below average for up here.  Well it wasn't too much later that I heard a klunk outside and looked out to see that this guy had knocked one of my shovels over.  There was a deck railing between us, but had I been inclined it would have been very easy to give him a pat on the nose.

I think that covers most of the good times from around here in the recent past, I'll try to stay a bit more on top of this blogging thing as turn the corner from winter to spring.

Q & A

First there was a question and I had an answer:

From rootsradicals@yahoo.com cargo bike listserve,

"I'd like a tire that can handle some off-road/gravel/hard-pack/maybe some mud, but which will also be fairly low rolling resistance on the the street. Right now I think my Xtracycle will see mostly street duty, but I'd like to have tires on it that will serve for those times that I might ride on the rough stuff. Also, after seeing some blog posts by a guy who uses his Big Dummy to carry equipment out to his research sites, I've been inspired by the idea of maybe using my Xtracycle to get out to do camping, birding, carrying my boat, etc."

So replied with this,

As a guy who has written "some blog posts by a guy who uses his Big Dummy to carry equipment out to his research sites"  I'll throw my two cents out there. 

(I don't know for sure if it was my posts that you read or not, but if there is somebody else hauling research equipment with a Dummy I'd love to have the link and the chance to pick his brain.)

First off I see you bought the Kendas.  Looked like a great deal on a quality tire, I hope you enjoy them and report back when you've got some miles and an opinion on them.

As for my set up, I am a tire tinkerer.  I enjoy experimenting with different tire/rim combos just to see what happens.  On the BigDonkey I've tried a number of things including:  2.4 Maxxis Holy Rollers, 3.7 Surly Endomorph (up front only), 3.0 Nokian Gazzaloddi, 2.1 Bontrager 'generic style mountainbike tires', 29x2.35 Schwalbe Big Apples, and my favorite set up 26x2.35 Big Apples.

All of these tires were run on a widish (~44mm) Alex DM24 rim, and a couple also spent time on a modified Sun Ringle Double wide.

If you were posing this question regarding a non-longtail setup, I would hands down recommend the Holy Rollers (which I've run in the summer on couple different bikes, including my Surly 1x1), but a cargobike is a different beast.
This spring a gypsy I crossed path with traded me some Holy Rollers he had for the Big Apples I'd been running on my Dummy.  A few thousand miles later he was switching to full on fat tires and offered to mail my Big Apples back to me, to which I enthusiastically said 'yes'.  I swapped the Holy Rollers off and slapped the Big Apples back on and everything was again right with the world.  Not that the Holy Rollers were bad or lacking, but I just find the Big Apples to be a little nicer, a little quieter, a little smoother and a little more pleasant to ride.

The Big Apples plenty of traction for almost all of the trail riding I do on the Dummy.  The long, stable cargo bike isn't getting rallied through corners quite the same way a regular bike would so cornering traction isn't a huge issue.
The flat protection from the tires is fantastic and the ride quality is super plush.  I think Gypsy Nick rode something like 3,000 flat free,  loaded, touring miles on my well used Big Apples before mailing them back. 

A flat tire on a loaded cargobike could be particularly inconvenient.
Knock on wood, but in the past 3 years I've had no flats on the Big Donkey that I can recall.
I have however shifted the chain off the top of the cassette a couple of times and learned how annoying rear wheel repairs in the field can be.

I've had more than one instance of slamming hard into an unavoidable rock and feeling my rim make contact with the rim.  Not only have I escaped without pinch flats, but I've also not had to true the rims.
It looks like the Schwalbe Fat Franks would also be a excellent option and perhaps provide a hair more traction.

Just my thoughts, no more right or wrong than anyone else's, but I'll put them out there for what they're worth.




Then I had a question I sent out to Allman and Gypsy Nick that went something like this:

Subject:  Thoughts?

6 miles through the woods to school. 

4 miles on paths home.

2 hours later, in the garage, rear tire is flat . . . tear at the valve stem (presta).

2 nights in a row.

Additional information available upon request.

I have a theory or two, but would be curious if you had any additional insight.


After all the holiday thankfulness I have to say I'm thankful to be able find answers to bike questions on the internet.  Not too long ago things were a lot different. 
Resources and answers were quite limited by today's standards, I try not to take it for granted.

Fifteen Soggy Photos

I headed out to do some science today.  My commute to the research site follows a glacier fed lake for the first eight miles.  Between record snowfall last winter and a healthy amount of precipitation this summer it's been a big water year and the lake is getting too big for its britches.

Their are (normally) two roughly parallel, occasionally intersecting,  trails along the lake.  One for ATVs and one for non-motorized users.


Today the lake was more full than I have ever seen it.

Pretty cool if you ask me.

Encountered this 100 yards down the trail.  I went back to the truck for my rubber  boots.

The view has improved since the trees that were there fell in the lake.

Tried to stick to the trail and avoid the abrupt edge that dropped into the lake.

Hub deep and then some at times.

Right before I turned around and took the high road.

Deep enough to make me double back.

As you might guess I opted for the ATV trail here.

I had to skirt around the new 'sea cliffs'.

There was also some of this to deal with after our recent windstorms.

I eventually had to step my game up a notch.

Booty I found floating in deepest water crossing.

Bow hunter fording the lake ahead of me.

Cargo bike portage. Photo courtesy of "the bow hunter."

Out bound ATVer.

I easily remained under the speed limit across this stretch.

The power of water never ceases to amaze me.

The Past Few Days

Bikes, friends, kids, fishing, family, some science and a wheel build.

We had a public use cabin reserved for a couple nights out on a lovely lake.  Allman, Poundcake and Fi rode out hang out the first night.

Trucking in a few odds and ends.

Little reeled this one in all on his own.

Friends and fires.

Bikes, boats and science.

I've had some disc specific Velocity rims laying around since last spring's bike swap. I had visions of building up a coaster brake wheel for the 1x1 or doing a fancier build with some of the new Surly Ultra Hubs, but financial realities weren't going to allow any of that to happen anytime soon.

New hubs came in the mail from my brother's LBS.

I had some birthday slowly burning a hole in my pocket the past 5 months.  I managed to swing a price match deal on some Shimano hubs that would allow me to build some wheels sooner rather than later. 

Now to do some spoke calculating.

Boxes From Bozeman, Fish Tales and Dirty Laundry

The Big Donkey hasn't quite been itself since I traded its tires to  Gypsy Nick.  I still had one Big Apple for it, but I still couldn't found a satisfactory arrangement using any of the tires I had around the house.

So when Gypsy Nick offered to mail the Big Apples back to me I could hardly say no.  He also refused to let me cover the shipping, so you can count on that sort of bike geek karma being paid forward.

Big Apples are back

His transition back to full on fatties was made in Montana and this week a box arrived from Bozeman, nothing in it but my tires with about 3,000 bonus miles on them.  I have to say they looked pretty good considering the long, loaded trip they've been on.

I wasted no time tossing one of them back on the Donkey.  Cruising around town feels right again (it hasn't hurt that it's been sunny and I've kept a spinning rod strapped on the back of the Donkey for the last little while).

Quick stop to catch a few rainbows on the ride home.

Noticed these tracks while I was locking up by another fishing spot.

Apparently after working on his trike for a bit the little one noticed how dirty my DIY footsies were getting and thought it might be worthwhile to toss them in the wash with some of my dirty clothes.

    

Glad I noticed before I started the cycle.