Trail-er

Thanks to a recent commenter (Mark) – I am considering purchasing a Trailer – for the Qball. Similar to the one below. This may be a better option than an Xtracycle.

Now I’m no newbie to trailers, having dragged the boyz in a burley. Towing one boy was no problem but when the twinz came along – those were tough rides around the ridge. The most recent memory of towing the twinz was back in 2006 when we all traveled down to Tucson for Spring Break. It was HOT, duh, and the boyz were roasting like lil chili peppers in that burley as I taxied them through Saguaro National Park. FYI – the roads within Saguaro NP are not that flat.

So a trailer may be in my future – but hopefully not one that we’ll have to live in, not that there’s anything wrong with that.

The Bagel Getter

The Bagel Getter, that’s what the Qball has been reduced too. What’s next for thou ex-endurance junkie shuttling off to the store for milk and eggs.

Maybe I should forgo the FS purchase and get me one of them Xtracycle attachments – when they have one compatible for 29er tires. At least then I’d be able to transport eggs, milk, and beers without smashing the eggs.

Moose Drool -n- Moots

Not exactly Ben and Jerry or Nick and Willy but it’ll do for this entry.

So how do you stop a seat from tilting when the seat clamps are worn out.
A) buy new seat clamps
B) flip the old seat clamps over
C) add a couple shims
D) drink a beer

If you selected C & D then you know what comes next. Click the pic below for a quick pictorial How-To.

BTW: if/when this fix fails I’ll prolly need to step up the thickness of the shims – hormel chili can should do the trick.

i-c-y single track,

small sections of frozen dirt, black ice, and subfreezing temps made for quite the white-knuckle ride this morn. Thankfully Juth and I managed to come out unscathed.

*** I’ve been slacking on the picture taking – I’ll try harder in the future to actually stop and snap a few pix ***

Knowing when to hang-em up

For the past few years I have been struggling with the age old question – 2 Race or Not 2 Race?

Every day pressures and responsibilities have made training to race a daunting task. With all three boyz signed up for Spring lacrosse and maybe just as many playing football in the Fall – time to ride and race will be minimal. Then throw in the wife wanting to go back to work, and I find myself with only one answer. It’s time to hang up the race wheels and begin to enjoy being a full time father and husband.

But even in retirement I’ll prolly wake earlier than the Dough-nut guy and forge the steed around a sleepy Front Range but there will be no training plan to stick or a power level to maintain. But more importantly I hope to be able to ride more with actual human beings during daylight hours. I even look forward to having my hat handed to me by them. For I am no longer a racer, I’m just one of those guyz that rides a bike for the FUN of it.

Thanks JJ, EdE, and Juth for rolling big wheels around EverChill yesterday morn. I look forward to more rides like that with all y’all.

road report

Most of the lower roads around EverChill are snow free. This morning I wondered how the higher roads fair.

Going Up Squaw Pass Rd

Still going up, but gettin colder.

Keep Truckin, up

Witter Gulch & Squaw Pass Rd

The Promise Land

the day after

OMG. This fixie riding is comparable to doing squats. When I awoke this morning the quads were TIGHT! And they are still sore tonight. It’s a bit odd how riding 12.5 miles with 1505 ft ascent and 1517 ft descent can result is such pain – I must be gettin old.

Maybe I need one of them there electrostatic muscle thingy’s to aid in the recovery.

fixed, the sequel

Well, the Qball is fixed, again. And I like it, especially these dayz when coaSSting is sooooo friggin cold. The Dingle gearing is 36:17 & 33:20 one gear for the road and the other for the trails.

It’s prolly a bit too early to be thinking of attempting vt125 fixed this year, but I can dream, right?

2 dam literal

The last blog entry “2 B Like Matt” has me a bit concerned. For the next day I awoke with a scratchy throat and a mild cough. As the dayz past the mild illness has turned into a head cold with a Horrible Sinus headache. For the past four dayz the head has throbbed while the boyz have been, well, boyz. Their Christmas break is way too long.

I did manage to hop on the verminator and take a not so quick spin around soda creek. However, the legs were junk and the lungs are full of gunk; and now I’m writing about my folly.

“Oh how I wish 2 NOT B like Matt, Oh how I wish 2 NOT B like Matt, Oh how I wish 2 NOT B like Matt”, as I click the heels of the Lakes together.

2 B Like Matt

While Juth is EverChill’s Night Stalker, I am hoping to regain my form as the pre-dawn ranger; the I do more before 7AM than most people do all day form. Lately my self-diagnosed ADHD and SAD conditions have me in the annual winter funk, thus the morning rides have been few and far between.

But the dawn of 2010 is approaching quickly and while the goals are a bit fuzzy the aim remains the same; ride far and have fun. And today I took the first step toward 2010 by taking a page from Juth’s training manual, by mounting some skinny – but not so skinny tires on the Verminator. The 1.8 Bontys replaced the Stanz dried maxxis rubber. Anxious to see how the rubber handles the crispy flakes in the morning.