CHUMBA - Ice Biking the Year End

 On December 1st I was riding in shorts over paths growing green grass (the deer and elk were happy) and my flowers were still blooming at home.

But around here one thing is predictable: Snow will come...It did and has not stopped.

So the logical solution is snow tires, studs are even better considering the ice under the snow. I don't own a fat bike this year (only because the whole supply system is a little messed up and politicized on to top it all off) so there is no option other than my CHUMBA Stella. I've found it works quite well on the ice roads.

Today's temps are 60 degrees cooler than at the beginning of the month. Gone are the December flowers, green grass, budding trees...winter has arrived as expected. I hope that the new year will bring a little more "normal" back to this world, but I'm not counting on it considering the political situations worldwide. 

Single Speed - I can't get away from it

Single speed (SS) has been part of my biking life since I was a kid when by dad fixed up this old fat tire Schwinn. At first I was disappointed that I didn't get a smaller wheeled bike popular in the late 60's. Then I discovered that once I got that thing wound up that it was a rocket ship. No one could touch me on the famous salmon pink super cruiser. 

Fast forward to the early 2000's when on a whim I bought a Gary Fisher Rig SS 29er. That bike changed everything (again) and I've not been able to break away from single speed bikes since (even though I attempted to several times, I just keep going back). 

I successfully raced SS against geared bikes for quite a few years making many people whimper as I passed them with on a one geared wonder. I've had a lot of single speeds...I get rid of one thinking "I'll be faster on gears," or "Ooh Ahh, I need that (geared) bike..." only to go back again and again to SS. Well now I'm convinced that geared bikes can be fun and have a great place, nothing is better for me than a SS.

This last summer I build up a Chumba Stella Ti as a geared bike, but after a few months it morphed into a SS, then a rigid SS and I can say I've never been happier. 

How does this happen I ask and why does SS make me a happier rider? Why are my average speeds in hilly terrain faster on the SS? I don't know, I've pondered this many times and I still don't have any good answers. The simple truth of the matter is that I love riding one geared bikes and I have no intention to stop any time soon.

Just when I’m sure…

Just when I’m sure it’ll never be “better than this” it does get better…or so it seems. I’m always in awe of the beautiful country that surrounds me, even a burned out forest. 

When I first saw the entire forest gone for miles I was initially sad that one of my old favorite riding areas was forever gone…gone as I had always known it until this day. I have ridden this area hundreds of times when I lived nearby and it was always green as far as the eye could see....this is the same area 11-years ago...

But after sitting there for a while and riding forward some more miles I found some strangely unique, incredible beauty in the disappointingly charred landscape. 

Several times I found myself sitting still scanning every detail, every charred tree, animal bones, and heat cracked rock….the intensity of this fire must have been something. Fire is truly amazing. 

I’ll return in the future to further explore my old riding areas and for now I’m thankful that my local, close to home riding areas are still a live forest. 

The Unpredictables of Life

 It's been a while since I've posted anything here for several reasons which none are really worthy. But all said and done I'm lucky to be here (as we all are) and I appreciate things a little differently now than last year. I'm not talking about the goofiness of this politicized pandemic, but rather a life altering event that I had no way of preventing, predicting, or controlling. 

Last year I spent some time visiting a Neuro-ICU for a spontaneous hemorrhagic stroke (aka Subarachnoid Hemorrhage or more specifically a perimesencephalic subarachnoid hemorrhage). Well anyway I had a very large amount of blood invade my brainstem which is a person's command and control center essentially. To say the least I am lucky to be alive and able to walk, talk and have only minor deficits now. As an ER nurse I've sent out dozens of these cases and I've never seen one come back alive or without being severely disabled. Oddly, I had a calmness about me when it was happening and I knew exactly what was happening the moment it started...I was strangely ready for the worst outcome. 

I couldn't drive for several months due to visual distortional impairments, but I could ride a bike (slowly). My first ride was only 2-miles and it felt like a hundred. I was tippy and felt very drunk feeling on that 1st ride, but it lead to more over time...

Soon 14 miles felt like a century ride, then 20, then...well you get the idea. Just over a year later and I still get crazy fatigue and require naps on a daily basis. I wake up every day feeling severely hungover and I don't drink alcohol anymore for obvious reasons. I'm up to working 2-days a week which is sometimes like running a marathon. But it's all good...I'm alive and functioning. 

Winter came and went...

Then...A few weeks ago...

I rode in the Butte-50 that I signed up for a few year ago but was postponed like everything was in 2020. My victory would be only to finish. Which I did...this was no easy task at 56-miles with 8600-ft of elevation change. With a lot of suffering and determination I did finish, not last but a long way down in the lineup. My secondary goal was to ride it in less than 8-hrs. I finished with just over 8-hrs of ride time, but I did spend a few hours resting along the way due to my fatigue issues and some moderate dehydration problems (it was hot). Still I won, total victory, I finished.  I vowed to never do that race again since it was so hard...

But a day later I started getting terrible urges to do it on a single speed bike (I have such a weird passion for single speed bikes - feel so comfortable on them). My broken brain is convincing me that with all the hill climbing it would be a lot easier with the right gear ratio. Well for now I have some months to really think those crazy thoughts over a bit more. 

In the meantime I'm totally having fun just riding and enjoying my life, my wife, and my goofy dog.