Thanksgiving Traditions: mountain biking with kids

Growing up we had large family gatherings at my grandparent's house.  As memory serves they were always enjoyable times with cousins gathered and people having fun.  Reality probably tells a different story, one of a stressed out grandmother and grandfather.  Parents that were pinging and kids that were 100% commotion.  But that is all gone now; a fond memory of an enjoyable time.

Last year I took Diga to a cyclocross race in Kansas and we had a great time.  Of course it reality was that it was a pain, from getting up early, getting him ready, to locking my keys in the car and calling my wife for help.  But like the thanksgiving at my grandparent's house, all Diga will remember is the great time we had and the trophy he won, the beef jerky, and root beer!  I am great with that.

This year, I took he and the Chick to explore the Wild Azalea Trail, a 31 mile stretch of single track multi-use trail.  The ironic part is that I will remember this as a fond and enjoyable memory and they will probably remember it as "the time dad got mad because we wouldn't use our gears again and we whined because it was hard."

They are smiling now, give it about 20 minutes!!!

The great thing about life is that at a certain point you can create your own traditions.  We don't watch football (you have to have cable or a satellite for that) so bicycling has become ours.  So we got up much earlier than my daughter wanted and loaded up and drove off.  It was about 50 degrees and beautiful.  I love riding in the fall and the sound of leaves crunching under my fat tires.

Crushing leaves under fat tires is a wonderful sound!

We did about 2.5 miles out before we turned around.  Notice the smile?  Neither do I.

Diga on the other hand is quick to show a smile.

 This trail is nice but a little overgrown in spots.  Diga cleaned up on this stretch.  Strangely it took us significantly less time returning to the car.  

I would consider this event to have been a success.  It turned out to be a quiet ride on the way home.

The best part was that dinner was ready by the time we got home!

Off Road Ride with the Tsunami

The other day I took the Chick and Digga to Sunderbruch Park for a little off road action.  As stated before, I would like to do at least three times the mileage however it is essential that they enjoy life.    The kids were playing with their friends so I figured my suggestion would meet a little resistance.  Digga was in from the get go.  He got a new bike and he loves it.  As soon as the Chick found out it was going to be on dirt she quickly agreed.  

The weather was perfect and the trail conditions were great for this time of year.  I think that overall the trails at Sunderbruch are better for a beginner.  There are less bizarre hazards like random bricks and rebar protruding from the ground. 

  The only thing I don’t like is that there is a little more to the climbs, including big roots on steep ascents.  This is a big challenge for little legs.  Not much more climbing (on the green trails) but more than Sylvan Island.

Vance is a motor.....he took off and just kept cranking.

 The Chick struggled a little, though most of it was mechanical.

Her chain was rubbing and skipping which caused her a lot of frustration.  This is completely understandable.  Also, I purposely purchased a bike that was a little big for her, knowing she would grow into it so her ability to throw it around is limited.  I am toying with the idea of putting on lower profile tires and switching her bike to a 1x9.

Getting them to understand gears and shifting is an ongoing process.  I always talk to them in advance and emphasize that this is supposed to be a fun activity and to work as hard as possible.  I reiterate that even the best have to get off and push sometimes.  I also have to remind them that they need to give the person in front some space.  This is important for two reasons, one is that if the other person falls down you don’t crash into them.  Two is that if the other person struggles up a hill or obstacle you don’t lose momentum and do the same.  These all pretty much fall upon deaf ears.  They will learn…..or crash into each other. 

The Surly Ogre: On the Trail

I finally got around to putting disc brakes on my Surly Ogre so I can run 29er mountain bike wheels/tires in addition to my 700c wheels.  The original set up was geared for commuting and I ran 700x45c tires which fit great and had plenty of clearance with the front derailleur.  This would also be true for single speed setup if you are into that kind of thing (I have decided I am not). 

I have been wanting to take the Olive Drab Roller for a spin in the woods so I borrowed the Avid BB7 disk brakes and Salsa Semi 29er wheels from the El Mar.  Adding these wheels with the larger tires required me to install Surly Monkey Nuts (included with the the frame) to get the additional spacing required for the tire to clear the front derailleur.  This meant that I had to get a new chain; I should have set it up with the Monkey Nuts in the first place as it would have made no real difference in performance and saved me $25 last week.  I am also considering dumping the 48 tooth chain ring if it gets in the way.

Live and learn I suppose.


Winston and I took it for ride and I was extremely pleased.  Again, it is based on the Karate Monkey and it is a tried and true frame design which I had considered buying when I was ultimately seduced by the beautiful El Mariachi.  I am not a professional bike review guy so I am not going to use fancy words "spry" or "nimble" or "fast" to describe how it handled, mainly because I am not so therefore the bike will never be.   I will say that I love the feel of a rigid steel bike and with the Jeff Jones Loop Bar, it made short order of climbs and technical spots on the trail.

I have some Maxxis 2.10 CrossMark tires on it now, but I am going to test the Surly "Fatties Fit Fine" with some out of production WTB Weirwolf tires that measure in at 2.55 (I don't know if that is actual or exaggerated as tires often are).  I love those tires, the came on the El Mar but there wasn't a lot of clearance in muddy situations.  I can run them with tubes at 20 psi and not flat.

I am pleased with the purchase, it served me well riding 500 miles across the state of Iowa with 700x32c Continental GatorSkins and it will serve me well on the trails.  As for reducing my bike fleet by one, I think I have a new plan for the El Mariachi to keep it fresh and relevant.  More on that later.

 

Pain

I am in pain.  My feet hurt.  My back hurts.  My knees hurt.  My legs hurt.  My SKIN hurts.  Pain.

Today is one of those days that I ask myself why I ride bikes.  I am in great shape, I should not feel like this.  Yesterday when coworkers asked the typical Friday question "what are you doing this weekend?" I responded with "lay on the couch, I have nothing planned nor do I feel like doing anything."  That included riding bikes.

Yet I found myself scheming ways to fit in a ride.  Maybe it is because I know that summer is over and I need to get in the last minute miles.  Maybe I knew that I would not be permitted to simply lay on the couch all day.  Mow the lawn or ride a bike I asked?  I don't know, but there were a ton of messages both obvious and subtle that suggested I needed to just lay on the couch, or as close to it as possible.

Instead I found myself heading to a new trail even though something told me deep down inside that I should not go.  The really crazy thing is that I even said told Household 6 my plan and that "I don't know how long it will take since I have never been there, you never know what kind of mess I can get into."  Well I did.

Here is the story.  Some friends from work participate in an annual Washers Tournament at a local camp ground, which happens to also advertise mountain bike trails.  I have hyperlinked for those who are not familiar with the Sport (?) of Washer Tossing and while this link shows bikini clad women and shirtless men, I assure you that none of the people in this particular event were wearing that attire (we will count that as a small blessing).  I didn't want to get caught up in some huge bracket and be gone all day, but I was told they had great Jumblaya.  Since I am a fan of Jumblaya, I thought it would be a good idea to go early, mountain bike at the camp ground (which advertised roughly 7 miles of trail), finish in time to eat some jumblaya, watch some rednecks throw washers at boards with holes in them, and head home for the better part of the day.  I would be out of Household 6's hair for a while but I would not leave her hanging for the whole day.  Win Win.....or not!

While I was successful at eating Jumblaya and watching fully clothed (thank you) people toss washers, I failed misserabley when it came to riding my bike 5 miles.  I guess you could say that I succedded at riding my bike about 1 mile and pushing it for four miles.  I threw my shirt away, as well as, a pair of socks (coming home sockless is becoming a trend but more on that later).

It turns out that the trail (did I say it was advertised as a mountian bike trail) is not maintained by mountain bikers (or anybody for that matter).  I should have picked up on this within the first half mile turned around and called it a day.  After all there were numerous signs!  The trail was so overgrown that I could not see obstacles until I was on top of them causing me do dismount or destroy chainrings.  There were countless trees across the trails which caused me to dismount, I should have brought my cyclocross bike.  Many of those were on steep inclines which required me to walk the rest of the way up the hill to a more level surface to pedel.  Signs that said "no horses on the bridge" led me to question where the bridges were as I crossed steep banked creek beds, again carrying my beastly Giant Anthem X 29er. 

At one point the trail was rerouted with orange paint on trees and no trail whatsoever.  I later learned that the concept here was that if enough horses traveled this route they would have a new section of trail.  Not exactly trail building for the long term.  This turned into a 1 mile hike-a-bike.  When I caught back up with the trail it was so overgrown with cockleburs it was impossible to get them out of my socks.  My shirt became hopelessly entangled, bunching up as I moved and burs tearing up my arms.  The end result was scratched up arms and legs and a shirt so clumped up and full that I simply threw it away.  I was able to get them off my shorts after an hour of picking while watching rednecks toss washers.  I still have not tried to tackle my gloves.  If they weren't a month old and $40 I would have thrown them away.

Running up hills with biking shoes and a mountain bike leads to leg and foot pain.  Cockleburs EVERYWHERE lead to skin pain.  All of this could have been prevented if I had paid attention to the following signs (not necessarily in order):

1.  The big sign at the entrance of the park that said "Mountain Bike Trails CLOSED."   Seriously!!  Who am I to question this.  Since it was due to rain a couple of days ago, I pursued the park ranger to get a second opinion.  He changed the sign to "Open."  Why didn't I just let it go, maybe it was the fact that I paid $4.99 a gallon to get there and didn't want to leave empty handed.  There is another lesson, get gas in Iowa before crossing into Illinois.

2.  Mold in my hydration pack.  I put paper towel in the bag to help keep it open so it would dry.  When the bag was "put away" it folded over and the paper towel began to grow mold!  I love this thing and I refuse to put anything in it but water.  It stays clean and taste free, best bag I have ever had (Deuter rocks).  I actually think Emily did it but since I cannot confirm if she did or not without having a discussion about taking care of my own crap.   I will accept the blame to avoid the pain.

3.  Horses:  These, as with most trails, are multi-use.  These people were ready before I was and they were ahead of me, should have left right there.  I personnally have no problem with horses.  However, horses have a problem with me and my shiney bikes.  Sometimes the riders have a problem, but they are too busy settling down their giant animal that is afraid of anything and everything.  I always stop, move to the uphill side of the trail and talk so they recognize that I am human.  I think this is the acceptable practice.  Today however I managed to catch them from behind.  The point is that they were slower than I was even with my bushwhaking.  If they can't get through it, what makes me think I would enjoy it.  I have never enjoyed riding horses, but I found myself enving the fact that the guy didn't have cockleburs all up in his pearl snapped shirt.    

In the future I should be able to recognize the signs of an impending disaster and I hope that I will listen to my body. 

By the way, after reading this Emily confessed to placing the paper towel in the hydration bag.  Ha, I knew it.  Small victories.

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!