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Massive Fallout 2013: Single Speed Edition

Published October 5, 2013

When I woke up this morning for the highly-anticipated Massive Fallout ride it was raining, the ground was wet, and there was a threat of continued precipitation throughout the day. With the forecast calling for the dripping to cease at 9am I decided to ride the Salsa El Mariachi Single Speed instead. It was already a bit dirty, and I really prefer to ride a single speed when there’s the chance to ride sloppy trails and roads, as the simplified drivetrain really cuts down on wear and the potential for things to go wrong. A clip-on fender was added to keep spray off of my rear end, which is quite nice during longer days.

While I’d never really considered a single speed an appropriate bike for me to do long endurance-ish rides, I figured it was worth a go. Having been fitted with a suspension fork in anticipation of PSSWC this seemed like as good of time as any, and it worked out quite well. I missed the gears in a few places (slow climbs, dirt roads, the PCT), but it was comfortable and removed concern about grinding parts down with wet grit.

The group I was with ended up finishing the whole route, save for skipping the upper ridge and switchbacks in Bloomer as not everyone in our group was comfortable on those segments. We finished by riding over to the Stony Creek main entrance and visiting the Trolly and Fitness Trails before riding the paved path back to the main parking lot. My computer logged a total of ~60.47 miles with an ride time of 5:38:16 (out of 6:59:52 total). Unfortunately the wheel magnet was bumped early on so this is mostly GPS/GLONASS data and thus less accurate (as deatailed here for the GPS-only Edge 500) and full of false pauses, so the actual value may be a little higher. The data in Strava can be found here.

Massive Fallout is my favorite group ride. During my first year of riding (2008) I rode with Rob Ritzenhein and Jeff Wood, having an incredibly great time. It was hard, but I finished, and I enjoyed it. I strongly suspect that the friendly folks on that ride and the comfortable atmosphere are a big reason why I kept enjoying the social aspects of the local MTB community. For this year’s event I ended up meeting Wendi and Jered in Stony Creek and riding with them, adding Ian to our group for the final half. This was really fun, and exactly what I wanted out of today: a long, beautiful autumn ride on some of Southeast Michigan’s best mountain bike trails with friends.

Oh, and the rain that was threatening all day? It didn’t arrive until almost 10pm at night, long after we’d finished.

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Time To Leave HSBC…

Published September 30, 2013

With this past weekend’s site outage and update, HSBC has removed the ability to perform Quicken and/or Microsoft Money format downloads of transaction data. This is confirmed in this thread on the Quicken Community. Just for certainty I’ve emailed HSBC to ask if there is a way to obtain my register data in the format I want, but I strongly suspect the answer will be no. And thus I will have to close this account and find another primary credit card. I can’t wait to try and go through the retention process.

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Thoughts on Interbike by Invitation

Published September 21, 2013

Having vacation time to use up I decided that heading out to Interbike would be pretty nifty. I didn’t have time to set things up for attending as a proper attendee (one day I would like to go representing CRAMBA-IMBA to get us more sponsors/donors), but Mike Flack at Trails-Edge was able to get me on the Interbike by Invitation program.

This new program allows invited consumers to attend the last day of Interbike as a VIP and receive a gift bag on registration, for a $50 fee. This seemed reasonable to me, so I booked a trip to Las Vegas.

On my first night in town, Wednesday, I planned to attend CrossVegas, which was recommended by both the Interbike site and CX-fan friends. This is where I hit the first wrinkle: Interbike passes were required to board the shuttle to the race site, but by Invitation people couldn’t pick up their passes until the following morning. I ended up taking a $40 cab ride out to the venue and was able to just board a shuttle back without showing a badge, so everything worked out. But, it was a bit frustrating to not be able to use the outbound shuttle.

The CrossVegas race itself was great. A full writeup on the race can be found here at Cyclocross Magazine, and the venue is a great bowl-shaped grassy area with great visibility. There was also plenty of reasonably priced beer and burritos (from Qdoba, but still decent) available. I’d love to attend races like this more often.

When collecting my ticket for CrossVegas I received an interesting coupon: offering my admission to Interbike on Friday, the same day I was already limited to via by Invitation, for $25. This is half the price of the way by which I’d registered, and didn’t involve receiving a bag of goodies, but upon receiving mine the following day I found it to not be worth the $25 up charge. My bag included a poster, long-form uber-stylish cycling magazine, cooling band, size small T-shirt, and some sample self-adhesive reflectors. I feel bad and wasteful saying this, but it is mostly stuff that I’ll toss out because it is completely not useful to me.

The following evening was the USA CRITS final in a parking lot of Mandalay Bay, the venue for Interbike. This was a pretty fun and exciting race as well, but due to the onsite food being handled by the resort it was a good deal more expensive ($6.50 for what seemed like a 12oz cup vs $5 for 16-20oz at CrossVegas), and I suspect this contributed to the more mellow crowd. I’d never seen a crit before, so it was pretty exciting to see pros holding ~27MPH for 1.5 hours around a twisty, metal-edged 1km course.

After getting a good night sleep I woke this morning, excited to attend Interview and see what the show was like. Overall this was a really good time, but I was actually a bit let down as many of the brands that I hoped to check out weren’t present. Of QBP‘s family only Surly was there, which disappointed me as I really wanted to see All-City who, per this blog post, chose to skip the show citing strong sales. Salsa also wasn’t there; maybe they are doing so well that they don’t need to be touting their wares at a B2B show.

There also seemed to be a strong standoffish feeling from many vendors, which I can’t help but think from our notably different …by Invitation badges. While I can’t really fault internal sales folks for being apprehensive about talking to the general public, it seemed as if some of the brand reps didn’t want to say much. Then again, it was nearing the end of the last day of what’s probably their most hectic week of the year.

It was also pretty clear that the brands people were dancing around their normal show sales, with tape covering (or changing to MSRP) prices for show specials and others just saying that the product (even those which aren’t shipping yet or were special Interbike versions) are available at your local bike shop. This is good for the shops in general, but always came after some awkward checking of ID tags. A couple vendors offered me their products on a deal anyway, and while I’d love to have tried the two, I didn’t really need them and they would have been awkward to carry. I probably could have snagged some cheap carbon rims or a frame from one of the Chinese vendors as well, but again… no need.

I did get to see some pretty interesting folks as well. For some reason I kept crossing paths with Jeff Jones, and saw Kirk Pacenti,
Ron from King Cage, and a very business-looking guy with the last name off Thomson in the Thomson booth. I also got to meet and shake hands with Stan of Stan’s NoTubes while talking to him about his prototype fatbike tubeless rim. (He kept having to stop and ask people — including me — not to look inside because it is the very first prototype and still has some very secret details. He seemed quite proud of it, though, and holding it with a deflated tire soundly seated I’m apt to believe his claims.)

So all said, I think it was a good trip thus far, and if the Emerald Expositions folks can sort out the … by Invitation quirks I think they’ll have a good option for the general public. I think for me I won’t want to come back unless it is as a full attendee, hopefully with a bit of business to do as well.

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Jamis Nova + CrateWorks Pro XL-C

Published September 15, 2013

I’d previously had plans to ship a bicycle out to California for a trip visiting friends, but ended up cancelling this part after beginning to pack my bike. A buddy of mine, Tom Lining, was nice enough to let me borrow the CrateWorks Pro XL-C box which he used on a recent trip to Germany for Bike 4 Peaks. This would have worked out rather well, but mid-packing I came to the realization that my trip will likely be much less stressful if I don’t bring a bike.

While it’d be nice to have a bike out in San Francisco and people to ride with, these downsides felt overwhelming and kept me from wanting to bring it.

  • Packing the bike: If I do this wrong, it’ll get damaged, either outbound or inbound.
  • Unpacking the bike: I’d really prefer to have my full suite of tools for bike assembly. Without this I’ll have to make do with a multitool and whatever I pack.
  • Clothes: I’ll also have to fit in bike clothes, shoes, helmet, gloves, glasses, bottles, etc.
  • The City: I’m not at all familiar with road riding, much less in an urban area. If I wasn’t certain to have someone to ride with I’d be very apprehensive about going out myself.
  • Routes: I don’t know any good cycling routes in the area, and it’d be very complicated to find some if I can’t find people to ride with. Thus, my desire for lengthier (2-4 hour) rides each day would likely not be met.
  • Insurance: Should something go wrong, do I really want to have to deal with insurance and prove that I didn’t screw up? And what if I did?

Shipping via BikeFlights.com was quoted at a very reasonable $170-ish (round trip) with $3000 insurance, but that’s still $170 I don’t have to spend. I’d consider this same setup (a CrateWorks box + BikeFlights.com) again in the future should I need to ship a bike. It seems like a good setup, but for this trip… I think I’ll stick to walking / hiking, and maybe renting a bike for a short poke around the city.

Just simply coming to the decision that not bring a bike was for the best made me feel more relaxed. And that’s what vacations are about, right?

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Pre-SF Shakedown Ride

Published September 13, 2013

When riding the Macomb Orchard Trail, I’m finding that I prefer starting out at the 25 Mile and Shelby intersection, not the traditional Dequinder trailhead and Onyx parking lot. Particularly with riding after work, this eliminates the need to cross two busy roads during peak traffic and makes the drive from home quite a bit easier.

Needing to do a bit of a shakedown ride on the Jamis Nova before shipping it off to San Francisco I decided to ride pavement to keep it clean, and this ended up being a really nice time. Rode out to Richmond first, trying to keep my heart rate in Zone 2 and cadence between 90 and 100 RPM. This worked fairly well, and after returning to the 25 Mile and Shelby intersection I carried on to the trail head at Dequinder and back, using this as a cool-down so my legs wouldn’t get immediately sore after stopping.

Here is the Strava data for this ride. There was no stopping save for traffic and a brief break to urinate. Even the Richmond end was a gentle loop around the paved circle at the end before heading back. This felt good, and once I got to the car I could have continued on quite a bit further, but with the sun being down and serious cold for this time of the year (mid-40s) setting in I was ready to be done.

The bike behaved almost fine, but I’ve got a little bit of drivetrain adjusting to do (and another test ride) before it gets packed up. Things were mostly fine, but somewhere around the middle of the cassette the chain wouldn’t shift smoothly, so I need to check the derailleur hanger and give things a final tweak.

This evening’s weather was almost perfect for riding. By wearing knickers I was quite comfortable, although I could have used slightly heavier gloves as post-ride I was having difficulty using my phone and signing the receipt for dinner.

This was a good ride.

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King Cage / Tallac Design Kargo Cage

Published August 30, 2013

I’ve been having difficulties carrying everything I want on my Jamis Nova without putting it in jersey pockets. An under-saddle bag is working okay, but fully filled it occasionally brushes my thighs, which is rather uncomfortable. I also don’t really care for putting things in my jersey pockets, so I decided to try out a King Cage Kargo Cage (same product on Tallac Design’s site), mounting it on the down tube (alternate view).

This device is a combination stainless steel bottle cage and tool pouch holder, with the pouch being large enough to hold a tube and other bits. I chose the larger 9″ size designed to hold a 29er tube, as I figured I could use the extra 2″ of pouch length for things besides a tube. In the photo above I have it carrying a road tube (inside an old sock), Novara patch kit (with chain links inside), and two Park Tool TL-1 tire levers, zipped shut with the zipper pull tucked inside. I’ll probably add some nitrile gloves later, and maybe a small bottle of chain lube.

The pouch itself, manufactured by Tallac Design, snaps nicely to nylon straps which are mounted to the screws between the frame and cage itself. This holds it firmly in place and with a nice, sleep look. Unsnapping the bag is not the fastest operation so it will be a bit difficult to remove, but I intentionally chose for it to hold the supplies that I rarely need (but really don’t want to be without on longer rides), so this shouldn’t be a problem.

The model of Kargo Cage seen here is a newer design than the one pictured on both the King Cage and Tallac Design sites, as it has snaps instead of plastic buckles. I have slight concerns over the snaps rusting, but a light coating of grease on them will hopefully mitigate this. The snap setup seems simpler than the plastic buckles, and it seems like the bag could sag with the previous design whereas this one seems a bit more solid. Because the snaps sit next to the frame and brush it as the bike is jostled I put a piece of UHMW polyethylene tape on the frame behind the snap to eliminate scratching and cut down on potential noise.

It remains to be seen how useful this Kargo Cage is for me long-term, but I have high hopes for it. I am slightly concerned about how it sticks out about 2cm to each side of the down tube (photo) as I suspect it’ll catch a lot of dust and mud, but being vinyl-lined it should be washable. I need to leave it on the downtube for now, as the longer 9″ bag length keeps it from fitting on the seat tube without getting very close to the front derailleur. I’ve emailed Tallac Design (who makes the bag piece of it) asking if I can buy a separate 7″ bag so I can try it on the seat tube and see how that goes. It might also be useful to have two separate bags that I can swap out depending on the kind of ride that I’m doing.

Even with this I’ll still likely keep a small seat bag on the bike, but I only intend that to hold my keys, wallet, multi-tool, and any other small incidentals. Or, I might just put these items in jersey pockets. By moving the tube and repair supplies to the frame I’m allowing the saddle bag (or what is carried in pockets) to be smaller and more useful, while allowing the tube to be sock-wrapped to cut down on wear during storage (as other parts rub against it in the bag). There wasn’t enough room for this before.

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Repurposed Carsonite and Fiberglass Splinters

Published August 24, 2013

Over the last year Bloomer Park‘s mountain bike route has become increasingly better marked, but unfortunately some of the installed signs had become vandalized. The former Trail Coordinator saved some of these, and today I finally got around to cutting them down into smaller pieces that can be screwed to posts or trees.

These should be quite useful at Bloomer, as there’s a few places which could benefit from additional marking, and it makes me happy to repurpose what had been scrap into something usable. I imagine that when River Bends undergoes its next round of marking we’ll use something similar to what Bloomer will end up with: a combination of tree/post based markers like these and the typical ground-inserted marker.

Out of three 72″ Carsonite Dual Sided Markers I was able to salvage 16 11″ markers and two 8″ markers. With the reflective decals being 3″ tall this should allow for the taller pieces to hold three decals and the smaller to hold two†. Each piece had a 1/4″ hole drilled in the top and bottom, centered, 1/2″ from each end.

While cutting these I made sure to wear a dust-filtering respirator and safety glasses, but I should have worn some nitrile or perhaps leather gloves. I seem to have ended up with a few fiberglass splinters which are small enough that I can’t see them, but whose presence is clearly known whenever I touch something. I hope they work themselves out soon.

† Sizing based on Rockart, Inc’s Tree Hugger marker recommendation that markers be chosen 2″ taller than the combined height of all decals. This is to allow room for the drilled holes and decals while keeping the marker compact.

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Flying Pain

Published August 22, 2013

While riding the Macomb Orchard Trail this out to Armada evening around dusk (Strava data) some manner of insect hit my right helmet strap and the side of my face. This has left me with a rather painful, slightly swollen, bright pink sideburn area.

I’d really like to know what it was that got me. Throughout this part of the ride — somewhere just east of the old train trestle — there were a number of large jellybean-size dark insects hovering over the trail. When I’d approach (at 18MPH) they seemed to veer towards my face, almost as if they were IR-seeking. I’d dodged a few of them, but one got my face. Riding along, looking at the scenery, I suddenly heard a sharply interrupted buzzing in front of my ear, almost as if something was caught in the helmet strap.

Right as I reached up and brushed  it away I felt a sharp pain on the side of my face, and I knew that something stung me. Having been stung before and regularly riding in deer fly areas I’m not unfamiliar with such interactions, but this one is different. Sitting here writing this I keep having waves of pain from that spot, and there’s creeping pain up to my temple and over behind my ear.

I seem to recall that Jeremy got stung by something out at River Bends a month or so back, and it was red and painful for quite a while. I wonder if this is the same insect… But what is it that’d just hover over the warm air rising off of trails, waiting to strike? A horse fly? Some sort of bizarre mutant June Bug? I really don’t know…

I thought about grabbing one out of the air to see what it was, but I didn’t want to risk my hand getting hit as well. For now Ibuprofen, diphenhydramine, and a bit of beer are doing a fine job keeping it under control. Hopefully the pain disappears by morning.

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