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.

They Tell Me It's April

They tell me it's April, but you could have fooled me.

Spring Time in Alaska.  No offense to Johnny Horton, but June's voice makes this my preferred version of his song:

 

Had a modified version of this stuck in my head riding around last night:
"When it's springtime in Alaska there's four feet of snow."

We've had two storms move through in the past 5 days, each dropping 6-14inches of snow depending on where you're at in town.
While lot's of folks are grumbling and understandably ready for spring I've been more than happy to watch the snow come down.  And what great snow it's been.
Not the heavy wet concrete snow you'd expect in the spring, but fine, light powder. One of the finer things in life if you ask a ski bum in recovery like me.

I haven't managed to ski much lately for a variety of reasons, but I have managed to get out and ride around in the fresh stuff.

Sunset Sunday.  

In between storms. 

Over 14hours between sunrise and sunset these days.

Fat tracks in fresh snow.

 

The front deck on our house has a ramp instead of steps.

The previous owner built it so a wheelchair bound friend 

could drive his 4wheeler right up onto the deck and hang out.

The bike friendliness was a definite bonus when we bought the house.

Hard to tell by the photo, but it was still 

coming down hard when I was out riding last night.

Spring will appear sooner or later, but for now I'm going to keep doing my best to enjoy the amazing combination long days and great snow.

The Freaks Come Out At Night

Tonight I manged to get out and join the LBS ride that was in the neighborhood.

I have been fortunate enough to have yet another Fatback come my way.  That's 3 in 3 weeks.

This pink steed was offered to me for an extended test ride with the option to buy at a very fair price.

Gypsy Nicholas told me what I should have know already, that I ought to thin out my stable in order to add a fatbike.  If you are looking for a quality used bike give me a shout, I've got a few that I'm looking to part with.

The ride tonight was great.  A dozen fine folks came together to roll through the woods on fatbikes.  Conversations were pleasant and effortless and a few eye catching bike bits came out of the woodwork.

First was a pair of powder coated Surly Rabbit Hole/Knard wheels.   These bits were not on a Krampus, but rather on a Pugsley (NeckRomancer if I'm not mistaken). Looked like a fun set of wheels to have for a fat bike, might have to do something like this some time  if I should choose to acquire the pink Fatback.

The other thing I spotted on the ride was these wheels on a Salsa Mukluk:

 

I  didn't get a chance to chat with the owner, but I did do some serious gawking.

Good gosh, look at the size of those cutouts!

100mm rims with Bud and Lou mounted up. 

This ride was ready for business

There was a pair of spokes, parallel to each other between each set of cut outs.

I love the creative thinking and the willingness to just go ahead and do it, the wheels seemed to be working just fine this evening.

 Trails were in great shape and it was really nice to get out and cruise around in the woods with a bunch of other bike appreciating folks.

Fatbacking

I have had the pleasure of having the opportunity to spend some time aboard a couple different Fatbacks recently.
Cousin Rye N was out of state for a while for work, so Biermag, Little and I made the most of his absence.
The icing on the fat cake is that March is one of the finest months to be in Alaska:  snow, bluebird days, warmer temperatures, no bugs, no bears, no brush.  Take it from me, this is the good life.

I had to bribe that little face in the trailer with some tortilla chips to get him in there.  After that he was good to go for a two hour ride.

The Pistenbully rolled through heading the other direction during our ride, smoothing out the 5+ inches of heavy wet snow that fell the night before.

Experimented with my sunglasses as a filter in the bright sunshine, no instagram action here.

GSC took off for a little spring break and was kind enough to invite me to take his new steed out for a ride.

That steel fork looks (and rides) awesome if you ask me.

 I dashed up to a permit only winter trail and spent about an hour climbing in a t-shirt.

Trail was in great shape, I had a huge grin on my face the whole ride down.

Both bikes were a treat to ride.  I most definitely concur with Gypsy Nicholas and Sheldon Brown that the fatbike revolution we are seeing is the biggest thing to hit the cycling world since the early days of mountain bikes.

Dummy, Donkey Day

I had some science to get done this weekend.
I thought I had help lined up, but it fell through at the last minute.
Allman had plans to go fishing, but those fell apart so I invited him and his Dummy to come help with my field work.

He was game, and a pleasant day of off-road cargo biking ensued.

Donkey and Dummy

Fat fronted Donkey

A few puddles, but mostly dry trails

You never know what might happen in the mountains so it's good to be prepared.  Allman chose to bring a spare helmet and an extra set of wheels.

A few snowy sections, but not as bad as I had anticipated

We had day of variable weather: Wind and snow, followed by sun and blue skies

Springtime in Alaska

Flavor

Same trail, slightly different flavor.

 

Went to visit GSC and SHeck for some banana bread today.

Longer Than Expected

Because when doesn't a tire change turn into a wheel truing, hub adjustment session?


All that to say studs are off 2/3 of my bikes.

Rubber Boots and 12inch Wheels

Little got out for his first outdoor ride of spring.

He preferred puddles with icebergs to dry sections of pavement.

A Couple From Today

Spring ride with aLi, Fee, and GSC

aLi, GSC and I have all been diligently pursuing higher education at the expense of recreation. Now that the semester is over we all got out with Fee and Little wRider for an afternoon cruising on two wheels.

Mid ride breaks look a little different these days

There was nothing else overflowing the trail, so the sign must be right.

Little wRider took his trike out for a spin after we got home.

Worth a thousand words

Spring has Sproing.

Signs of Spring from today's commute

It's Chaco season again!
Photos of my feet aren't gross if they're in black and white, right?

I have to share space on the racks again.

The only moose I saw today

I'm now considering the moniker 'The Freighter' for the Big Dummy.
Hauling some science stuff.

Streams are finally breaking up.

Snow free side streets.

Mountains and bike lane signs.

Bluebird afternoon.

Smiling on the inside.

The welcoming committee when I got home.