Moab on a Single-Speed

Moab: Day-1

Against advice from numerous other "experts" I took my single-speed (SS) Gary Fisher Ferrous to Moab.

The experts said it would be futile to ride a SS in lumpy, bumpy Moab and that I would need to either take or rent a super-duper-boingy-full-squish-bike with lots of granny gears for climbing those leg-burning steep hills.

After riding in Moab I have 3 things to say:

1) Gears are over-rated and truly shifting gears is a waste of time and effort.

2) Full suspension bikes are over-rated...such a waste of effort to have to push all that extra junk up a hill.

3) 29-inch wheels rule! I have been "thinking" about getting a standard 26" wheeled bike again, but I must say that Moab truly renewed my faith in the advantage 29ers have in riding over obstacles and on rough terrain.

One more thing...I used some Ergon grips for the first time down in Moab and must say I am way beyond sold on the comfort they provide. After a few hundred miles of riding the roughest desert trails my hands felt fresh and ready for more. The Ergon grips on a Bontrager 12-degree Big-Sweep handlebar was heavenly everyday.

The weather was spectacular as was the scenery...every day on every ride I was awed by the views...I truly could not get enough...

The Way to Moab...

This is the way to Moab...

Simply put it was full of breath-taking views...

(click on the pics for a larger image)

Restless

Every spring I get extremely restless...which makes me aggitated...which makes me rather untolerable to be around. I seem to have some ancestoral migration gene that pushes me to move to a new landscape in the spring....in the past I did just that, but moving has become a bit more complicated these days (moving is becoming way to expensive and it seems to be harder to dig out the roots). But this year I seem worse than ever so I've tried to subdue these feeling with some longer back-road rides around home...










Resistance is futile....

Over the last several weeks of riding I have come to realize that I must view some new distant lands in order to settle my stir-crazy feelings. During all my rides the winds seem to be carrying a very faint whisper that sound like knobby tires rolling on slick-rock, dirt, and sand. After several hundred miles of listening to this whisper I finally realized it was one musical word played over and over again....

....Moab...Moab...Moab...Moab...Moab...Moab...Moab...Moab...Moab......

35 Miles Up-hill?

OK what kind of joker rides uphill for 35-miles (on gravel & dirt roads)? Myself comes to mind and so does the SeanMan. We seem to like adventurous, torturous backroad rides - roadbikes are for wimps seems to be my most recent moto. Anyway I invited the SeanMan but he had some sort of undisputable family obligation today in some Idaho town renown for its redneck, hickness. Let me say that you missed out SeanMan!



It was a nice long 35-miles uphill. Well not all of it was hard - only about 13 continuous miles of pure steep uphill caused leg-burning pain and about 20-miles of it were done at super-sonic speeds just so the legs would understand that the burn is normal (climbing or not). There were times during that continuous 13-mile stretch that my legs felt numb, but they kept on turning the pedals. Maybe next time a mountain bike with slightly easier gears would be a wiser choice over the cross bike with its bigger gears.

My real intent today was to do a loop, but my spring ambition is far ahead of the snow melt at the >5000 foot elevation level so half-way into my ride (that was 35-miles after I started) I ran into impassable snow fields. I had already waded through several knee deep runs of snow, but at the top it was endless knee deep snow on my chosen route. I was not very happy about going back along the same route, but the smoking fast downhill got me smiling again. By the time I got home my legs were fairly toasted. I'm sure that riding for the last 6-days did not help - I need to start working again so my legs can get some rest...dang being a nurse working 3-days a week is tough.

Rednecks Welcome in Hell

Today was just another great day to ride here on the brink of Hell. On the way to some singletrack I noticed some newer signs an had to snicker a bit...
Whew...I can rest easy now that I know Rednecks are lining up at the Gates of Hell . They are such simpltons...

I mean lured in with 5-cent beer (the Devil's Koolaide)...when the word gets out (which won't be long) this place will be full o' Redneck drunks aimin' to make me a hood-ornament on their Bubba trucks. Hmmm...I may have to start carrying my self-protective, hair-triggered, large-bore handgun again.

I just hate lugging that thing up those hills...

...but every Bubba-Redneck has an in-bred automated-default-stopping-mechanism that only works when a locked-n-loaded large bore weapon is pointing at them. They look like statues when that happens...you know like those deer in your headlights.

The day was otherwise an uneventful beauty that gave me some spectacular views between the snow sqalls. I departed the Redneck Hell after a good work-out on the Fisher Ferrous. I finished the day with some back-road riding on the Washington side of the Snake - the views continued until the end. This is the good-life...

Stupid Bowl Sunday

Yep I called it for what it is - STUPID. It's such a waste of a nice day to watch a bunch of fat-assed millionaires wallow around chasing a goofy little pigskin that looks like a giant suppository. One more dig - why do they call it football when there is only one guy on each team (the kicker) that uses his feet? Maybe they should call it bubba ball or beer ball or waste-of-time....Enough negative poo-poo...

This last week I discovered numerous early (and nutritious) signs of Spring. Squadrons of big bugs kept my protein levels up by flying into my mouth...yumm!





I also discovered a some river otters goofing around - come to think of it I've never seen a river otter not goofing around...hmmm...what a nice life to have.









Today was another great day out on my newish Gary Fisher Ferrous that I have set up as a single speed. It was an awesome day for a ride...any day is an awesome day for a ride.

Ferrous Spotted in the Wild!

Hmmm...What's a Ferrous? Well I was not too sure myself until a few days ago when I stopped at B&L Bicycles for some "stuff" I "needed" and there it was...a Gary Fisher Ferrous 29er mountain bike that just so happened to be my size and received by the shop that morning (odd how they always seem to have received my size the day I show up - hmmm...conspiracy?). Well I tried to leave several times without it, but somehow it jumped into my Subaru before I left. Odd how that happens to me...

Ferrous means iron containing material and the Fisher Ferrous is a steel (iron) framed bike -
This usually means a much nicer riding frame (due to steel's ability to flex). Aluminum on the other hand is ultra stiff frame material (i.e. hard on the old soft tissure in the neither region of the body). Another cool aspect about this frame is it's versatile design - it can be run with gears or easily converted to run as a single-speed (one gear). When I saw this bike on Fisher's Website a while back I thought - It's just another bike. Well it seems I had an opinion change after seeing it and riding it briefly down the sidewalk at the shop. It's one of those bikes that just "feels" like a well fitting glove or pair of jeans - yes I could tell right away it would be going home with me sooner if not later (I am so weak).

Yesterday morning I converted it into a SS (single-speed) - who needs all those gears? Such a waste to shift so much... The conversion took about 20 minutes with a coffee break in the middle. I also put on some of my more favorite components I had convienently laying around. After that a real ride was done on snowy trails out at Hells Gate State Park. I found the ride of this bike to be like no other hardtail bike I've ever known...forgiving. The steel frame provides a super ride...so good that I was wondering why I ever rode aluminium...it also had me thinking that my aluminium bikes were now totally useless and obsolete. Let's just say that I am having serious thoughts of selling my Fisher Rig SS and my older Fisher Supercal 29er (both Aluminium butt sores). I just hope that I never have the opportunity to ride titanium bike...I've heard they ride better than steel...

Hell Freezes Over...Almost

I've been a bit lame lately posting here, but nothing exciting has been happening beyond some so-so rides and lots of work. I'm only supposed to be working 3-days (yes I'm whining) a week, but lately I've been "called in" to work extra shifts nearly every week - that means I am volunteering to make mega $$$...it also means less time to play and enjoy life.

Well today was my only day off in an eight day stretch of 12-hr shifts to have some bike time. This morning it seems Hell had frozen over though. At noon it was a whole 18-degrees (F) outside when I decided to venture out with plenty of layers on. The street in front of my house was a sheet of ice so I decided I would mount up my Kenda studded snow tires on the Fisher Rig Single Speed (I've had these for 2 years and never used them until today). I found these tires perfect for the icy roads and bike path to Hells Gate State Park. They were a bit harsh on the trails at Hells Gate - too skinny for comfort (that means my soft butt was suffering a bit more than usual). However, I must say that these tires provided nothing but traction both up and down the steepest, snow-covered trails at Hell Gate (I even went down the snow-covered Devil's Slide with no problems).





Here is the way up to the top for a view of a frigid Hell...something I had to see...









Up on top looking up towards Hells Canyon with the Snake River in view...The top of the Devil's Slide (the steep trail down) can be seen here also...





There's not much better than seeing Hell froze over...Oh yeah this is the life...

Up the Slickpoo

Riding in the last weeks or more has been hit and miss with the weather dumping snow, then melting away with coupious amounts of rain and some winds strong enough to blow out the fires of Hell. This pic is from last week when I snuck in a ride between the yuk weather stuff...








Today was an exceptionally nice day out, cool temps but overall a nice sunny day - perfect for a bike ride. So while the rest of the world was experiencing the Monday blues the SeanMan and I were out riding the local backcountry enjoying the sun...and it was perfect. As usual any ride with the SeanMan involves plenty of vertical riding. Today we kind of just winged it and eventually found ourselves climbing up Slickpoo grade just off of Mission Creek up to McCormack Ridge. We'd never been up it and the SeanMan had only been down it once.




The SeanMan looking back at the great view on Slickpoo Road....








Looking up towards McCormack Ridge from Slickpoo road...






This is the good life...