WOW, it is not beginning to look like Christmas!!!

It is the day before Christmas and all through the house.....forget the house, there is still no snow and the high will be around forty degrees; I am going outside.  I did some much needed maintenance on the El Mariachi this morning thanks to the the last time I rode it at Sylvan Island Park and rammed the bash guard into some foundation (the same thing that ruined my $100 XT chain ring) which caused my eccentric bottom bracket to shift a little causing the chain slack.

It looks like the weather will hold for the rest of the week.  I wish there were some more options for mountain biking, but in the spirit of the season I will be happy with receive.

Long Shadows

Fall is my favorite season to ride!

Winter is closing in quickly.  This week we got a lot of rain, a pretty decent snow storm, and virtually non-stop wind.  I thought that was going to be the end of mountain biking.  It is a courtesy not to ride when the trails are really muddy.  It tears up the trails and who wants to wash all of that Mississippi mud (I am convinced it could marketed as a really good adhesive) out of all of the nooks and crannies of a dual suspension mountain bike.  Today was a special treat, BOB (big orange ball) was out and it was a balmy 60 degrees even though the wind was whipping.  I am not so concerned about the wind with mountain biking because I rarely have to fight a head wind for long.

I normally try not to do anything that takes effort on Sunday (physically or mentally) but I could not resist.  I added some air to the tires of my Anthem X 29er, loaded it into my Trooper and moved out.

When I arrived at Sunderbruch Park the sun was starting to dip a little and the shadows were long.  BOB is already riding a little low and I noticed as I rode along a ridge that my shadow was tracing my path on the other side of the draw.

 Not so long shadow near the middle

    It was nice to have company on a ride for a change

Speaking of company, when I got home I had plenty.

 I am not sure how that is comfortable, but he didn't want to get down?

I am not sure if Thomson Stems or Salsa designed the 2008 El Mariachi or for this.  Of course I am parent of the year based on the fact no one has a helmet on!

Why Do I Like to Ride? A Great Question!

There I was lying in a heap, my XL bike frame tangle in my legs, my shoulder throbbing.  My shin was bleeding after being grated across the shifter and brake lever of my handlebars.  Fortunately the steep embankment from the stream bed I was riding through/across prevented me from flying too far.  As I got up and brushed myself off, I asked myself "why do I do this?"  Bicycling causes the following conditions:

1.  Sweat
2.  Sore muscles:  During and after rides.  Mainly during the ride.
3.  Fatigue:  Mainly after riding
4.  Sore body:  During and after, especially if there is a crash.
5.  $$$:  I just bent some teeth on what has turned out to be a $100 Shimano XT chain ring trying to clear an old building foundation on Sylvan Island.  I think I will just stay with the middle ring for now.
6.  Sweat

Considering these six conditions, I am not sure why I spend so much time riding or dreaming about riding.  Maybe some day I will figure it out.  In the mean time, I will take some ibuprofen to get rid of the pain from today's outing.    

Single Speed: Why not?

When people walk into my house they see a family room full of bikes. The latest one doesn't really have a place on the wall. It sits on the floor below one on the wall. The Newbie has pulled it over on himself a couple of times, but I feel the house is mine and he needs to learn not to touch my stuff. I usually get a few questions regarding my bikes. Below are the top three.

1. Why?

2 Why?

and C. Why?

Each question is valid and I will explain them in detail.

1. Becuase.

2. Yes.

and C. Why Not?

That being said, it is something I enjoy, it is reasonably healthy (a matter of much debate based on some people who have been injured or died in the process of biking), and it gives me something to do instead of drinking, smoking, and kicking my dogs.

A few years ago, I bought a Salsa El Mariachi. I took a bonus from the "gubment" and figured it may land me in an exotic location with people that hate me, I might as well. It is steel, rigid, 1x9 gears, a pretty nice paint job, and really big tires. I really like fat tires. I have spent many quality hours on the bike and I have enjoyed it.

So when I bought a new Giant Anthem X 29er (I really love fat tires and Fox Suspension) I decided that I would transform the El Mariachi into a single speed. This answers one of the above questions, they are not all the same.

Salsa designed it with a Bushnell Eccentric Bottom Bracket so it could easily be run as a geared bike or fixed/single geared bike. Notice it says that when functioning properly it goes unnoticed. Well I can say I have noticed it before.

I also purchased a Surly singel speed spacer kit and a cog.

I ordered some Crank Brothers Cobalt grips of which I don't like the appearance, but they feel great.

Sadly, when I returned from Pakistan, I found that the face plate for Thomson Stem had cracked. Though it was an expensive stem, I got it as part of a recall for a defective stem made by Salsa. Thomson is a great company and they replaced it for me free of charge (even though it was probably my fault since my arm is not calibrated properly for specific torque specs).

I took some stuff apart. I found that the EBB lets a lot of sand and crap in through those little holes. I put some stuff together. Ignoring torque specs, I defaulted to 240 B/Lbs (Brent Pounds) of torque on everything.

I now have a very different bike. It has a clean cockpit with no shifters and extra cables. No deraillure or cables, and a very clean look.

I finally got the nerve to ride it (my work can be somewhat unreliable since I usually ignore instructions). I will write about that in the next post.