Gunnar Steel MTB (Anticarbonism Continues)

I am never sure how these things happen, but a nicely equipped (decked-out) steel Gunnar 29er mountain bike showed up in box on my back door-step a few days ago...the price was incredibly right I must say and I am weak when a good offer is "sent" to me. I have been chomping at the bit to get on it, but I of course had to work some this week (got to pay for these things somehow).

It went out for it's maiden voyage with me today and as usual my first "test" ride on a mtn bike is nothing short or easy. The Gunnar took me on an 87-mile backcountry tour with 9K of climbing over some serious pain inducing grades. The day was spectacular, the bike was flawless, and I found that this steel frame provided serious forgiving flex (as most steel does) which made todays torture test tolerable.

I'm sure there will be things I will change as I tinker with it over the next few weeks. First up I'm pretty sure the Avid Juicy-7 brakes will have to go...they are nice stoppers, but have a tendency to not retract the calipers consistently, which means brakes drag, which means they slow me down, which makes me angry, which makes me want to pull them off mid-ride and throw them in the ditch, which could later lead to a crash because I was going too fast down a hill and missed a corner, because earlier I ripped that brakes off my bike and threw them in the ditch, because I was in a raging mood, because the stupid things were just slowing me down for no reason....

Here are some pics I took with a red-orange landscape backgound courtesy of an arial slurry bomber that dropped fire retardant...

The reason for the fire retardant drop...the place was a blazin recently...








Nap time after snack time...

Anti-Carbonism - The Revolution is in Me

Introducing my latest "project" that I've named the Super-Bee for obvious reasons.

It is an early 1970s vintage steel Motobecane (that's Moto-bee-con) and it is by far the least expensive bike I've owned plus it's a blast to ride. The bike came with gears (ho-hum, yawn) that I found annoying to even look at so I stripped it down to the single-speed (SS) level. The large ring had a wobble which made it useless to sell so I shaved it down into an outer ring guard (hacksaw, file, a beer and some time does wonders on custom projects).

Someone recently stated to me that the reason I ride SS is because I am not smart enough to shift...well maybe, but more likely the reason is that I just enjoy SS with its simplicity and challenges...

I'm still trying to decide what to do with the narrow, funky handle bars...love that yellow bar foam though... I had a saddle sitting around that is perfect for the Super-Bee scheme the bike has going for it...

And in case you didn't notice, this bike is 100% anti-carbon...






Anti-Carbonism...
In the last year or so I've been struggling with carbon and steel frames...carbon is super light, has some give on rough roads, and makes me drool plenty. Several weeks ago at B&L Bicycles I put my hands on a new 2008 Trek Madone super-bling, made-me-drool-all-over, ultra-light carbon road bike. I was instantly wanting this thing and still do to some extent. But, after a few weeks of pondering my bike situation (i.e. I've only ridden my carbon road bike (Trek Pilot) 280-miles since the 1st of the year) I realized that I have unknowingly developed a preference for steel framed bikes.

I have been much more apt to get on my LeMond Poprad cross bike and ride the road than on my Trek carbon bike. And then there was the other night when I was riding the ancient Super-Bee SS with some friends... somehow I was leading and I took one of my usual routes on roads close to the river...one of the group on a carbon roadbike came up to me and stated that they never ride this road since it is so rough...I honestly never noticed it, but then again I was riding a yellow & black steel tank. I pointed out to him that he was on a carbon bike and shouldn't it ride smooth on this chip-seal??? He grumbled something. Hmmm...I started thinking again that maybe steel is really that much better.

As far as my single-speed mountain bikes I have not once ridden my Fisher Rig (an aluminum frame) since getting the Fisher Ferrous 29er (a steel frame).

Why has this happened??? I can only say that the steel frames provide such a nice ride that I have developed a blind preference for them. I've always heard that with time steel becomes the frame material of choice for rigid frames for most riders due to it's comfort (it flexes), value, and longevity. Titanium probably would be a top choice if it was not so blasted expensive (the typical Ti frame runs $2800-3500+). The Poprad and Ferrous steel frames have changed my outlook on bike materials and have lead me to my current anti-carbonism. I can not stop the anti-carbon revolution within me...more to come on this I'm sure...

Beyond my anticarbon antics I still get out now and then for a ride in the local inferno...here's the profile of a short little dirt/pave road ride I did the other day on my Poprad up Couse Creek Road to Edeburn Gulch then down Weissenfels road. Edeburn Gulch should be renamed Thorn Gulch because there were thorns everywhere on that steep so called (goat-path) road. Once again for the locals' reference, Critchfield Grade are the little bumps on either side of the profile...another easy riden on a 100-degree day...

Some HOT numbers

Just another day's numbers...

89 miles

7 hrs 20 minutes of ride time

10,400 feet of climbing

8.5 liters of fluid intake (4 liters more at home after ride)

104 degrees F with a blast furnace like wind...

The burnt climb up George Creek...

It looked like the whole country side had burned up recently...a lone tree survived here...

Aahhhh...pure clean water...the essence of life on a day like this...This is Seven Sisters Spring - It's the first time I've been to this well hidden spring. The water is cold and tastes great!









The profile...the first rather steep pitch is the George Creek grade (a real grunt). The ride tops out at just over 6100 feet. Lots of steep ups and downs along the way which overall adds about 4000 more feet.

Back to 100 in Hell

I just got back from a longish visit with the many friends and family we have in Montana and North Dakota...I had a great time but was kind of a whirlwind tour. Spent some time on the Sperry Horse Ranch (wife's cousins) who have over one-hundred horses. The Sperrys are 100% pure country...they are true and some of the best people I have ever known. It was amazing that so many of the people out there were coming up with places for me to ride a bike, but I didn't bring a bike on this trip. Instead I rode many horses...that's not a typo - I have a horse-crazed wife who owns 6-horses and my past is loaded with a fair amount of horse riding and training...yep I have a soft-spot for horses too.

I came home disappointed that nothing has changed...the Idaho redneck Hickabillies still think it's fun to run me down with their monster trucks (2 times on this ride these Idaho butt-winks forced me to the very edge of the road - an this was in Washington)...beyond that, the L-C Valley still smells like Hell, looks like Hell, and is hot as Hell. With the 100+ temps I am convinced this demonic place is truly the Gateway to Hell (just like they proudly advertise here).

With the sub-inferno temps further parching the already ultracrispy-ready-for-a-massive-friggin-fire-sun-bleached landscape I ventured out to higher cooler ground.

I drove to the Asotin Creek Trailhead in the Subi...yeah I shamefully drove the 20ish miles of treeless-hot-convection-oven-canyon that I normally ride...believe me it was worth the gas for the ride through the cool forest that waited.

The scenery is almost fall-like up near the trailhead...I typically don't see this kind of color until the latter part of August (early fall)...just another indicator of how crispy-dry it is out there.

I rode up another new route around Cape Horn that I have been wanting to explore.

Hmmm...looks like I found the Dead-Horse Trail ....

A few bighorns keeping watch on a very hot slope (can you say "stooopid")

At the 5100-feet elevation only a few flowers are left to provide some happy color to the dry bleakness...

Up 10K

On a recent manic day at play I ventured out with no plan...just a bike, some hydration, a water filter, a bit of food (never enough it seems) and a smile. I ended up carelessly wandering around the Umatilla National Forest with no destination in mind. I found a new and very rewarding route around Cape Horn. Up on top ventured down to Charley Creek, Donaldson Creek, then onto the headwaters of the Tucannon River and beyond. The entire trip was full of scenic awe and questions of "Where to now?" at every junction. Only a few others (cough, cough...SeanMan) I know would ever appreciate a sub-epic mountain bike venture like this. Just a few pics of the trip...

The way down to meet Charley....Charley Creek that is...one of my watering holes along the way...

Every week it seems there are a different set of flowers to see...these pics are nothing compared to seeing them in person...


That's a super cool Trek Fuel EX-9 - my butt-lovin, super squish, endurance ride...

...more flowers ...

...a view towards Oregon of the canyons guarding the Grand Ronde River several thousand feet down from this view point at 6000 feet...

...the headwaters of Asotin Creek...

...behind NerdBoy here is the valley that holds the golden headwaters of the Tucannon River...

...Dang this is the good life!!!

Below is an elevation profile...all total it was good ride with 10,000+ feet of total climbing over 96.3 miles in 7-hrs 25-minutes.

Just for the locals...for your perspective the little bumps on either end of the profile above is the Critchfield grade.

Cape Horn Epic

Well it wasn't an epic by my "normal" standards (it was only 70 miles of riding), but it became one since I decided to explore a new route to the top (I usually take a rather steep gravel/dirt forest road up) and it only became epic because I had to friggin bush-whack through several areas of small trees growing in my trail (I guess I was in a forest). In the end, after bush-whacking my ass off, I think I found a potential second passage that will need exploring some more.

This trip was in real Cape Horn tradition - The real Cape Horn, at the tip of South America, was and still is an epic maritime adventure and the "original" passage of Cape Horn was part of an exploration for a new route to some highly sought after goods (at least that's what I recall). I wasn't after goods though - I actually don't know why I wanted to go there other than to find out why it was named Cape Horn.

After slogging through countless little pine groves and kicking out several elk and bears (really...I saw quite a few up there) I made it to an old burn that provided a huge open expanse...and a rather grassy old road (it was like an interstate highway to me). From there it was a rather easy ride to Cape Horn Ridge. The final climb up was very a steep rocky wall (rather fun to ride)...After I got there I still couldn't figure out why it was named Cape Horn...I was expecting some hellish ride to get there but it was stoopidly easy (if you took the forest road that is). There were some cool views and I lounged up there for a bit, enjoying the sun and snacking.

After that I was off to try and find and explore another trail I have outlined on an old map...after finding the trail and loosing it several times I decided I just did not have enough time to complete that task so I bailed off and raced down the mountain home.
Truly amazing what you see when you're looking. I see so many cool things out-and-about but I rarely take the time to dig out my camera...today I seemed to be in less of a hurry I guess...click in the image to see the real beauty...

Welcome to Cape Horn - Now go home!

Just over the immediate hill horizon it dropped off very steeply down to the ridge seen below...Fun!

Easterly view with Idaho (yawn) in the background...

Westerly view up Lick Creek (much more pleasing don't you think?)...

Can you see the trail? It runs straight through that fence...

Dang...2-blog postings in 2-days...what's wrong with me?

Trek Fuel 69er???

I made my newish Trek Fuel EX-9 into a Trek Fuel EX-69 with some "spare" parts I had laying around.

What is a 69er??? Well it's a sort of a Frankenstein bike that pieces together a 29er fork and front wheel (29" wheel) to a 26" wheeled frame and rear-end...69er! Trek has been developing just such a bike and I am anticipating that I could like it...so I made my own just to quell my own curiosity. My 69er version is missing a few of the Trek refinements such as a rear rocker arm that is tuned for a 69er, a lower front end (they used an integrated headset and a prototype Fox 29er fork with a different offset...blah, blah, blah), but I think I got some feel for the 69er idea with my setup.

There are many naysayers out there on the idea of a 69er (just like there was with the origin of 29ers)...I personally think these individuals are a bit narrow in the head.

The setup I did put the front of the bike equivalent to running the height adjustable 26" Fox fork (original equipment) at 130mm (it's tallest, longest travel setting). I have found that the 130mm setting is essentially only good for rapidly decending down bumpy hills...it is not very good for climbing or technical stuff on the flat or going up. The best all-around setting is at 110mm. That said, I was already anticipating that the 69er setup would not be my favorite since the front-end would be sketchy over technical stuff. I took it out for a test ride and put a couple of miles (...uhhmm 97-miles to be exact) on this setup before I put my original 26" Fox fork back on.

What I found was that this thing was an incredibly fast and stable downhill thrill ride. On the flats and non-technical climbs it was good too, but as I thought it really sucked on the technical, rock-infested, tight turns going up-hill...one of my more favorite "local" single track climbs (Foredyce Trail) proved to be way more difficult than usual...I struggled through sections of the trail that are typically fun.

Assuming that Trek brings the front-end into "compliance" on it's new 69er, this bike could be a seriously fun, fast enduro-machine...hmmm

165-mile Maiden Voyage???

Yep the title is right...I shamelessly thrashed ("gently broke-in") a new, just-out-of-the-box mountain bike on it's first ride over 165-miles of bone-jarring trails in a single 24-hr event. My actual intent was to ride it more like 300-miles during that event but my hydration/nutrition plan failed me (again) and eventually made me stop due to physiolgical race stoppers (i.e. bonk, puking, and dehydration).

The bike was a new Trek Fuel EX-9 (now it's a used bike) with 5-inches of butt cushioning suspension front and back purchased from the ultimate local bike shop, B & L Bicycles. Believe me, my butt was appreciative of the cushy suspension during this "test" ride. I changed a few things on the bike right out of the box including setting up the Bontrager wheels and tires tubeless (super easy with a floor pump - impressive), changing out the Avid Juicy-7 disc brakes for my much preferred Magura Marta disc brakes, swapping out the Bontrager saddle for my supreme butt-saving Koobi AU-Enduro saddle, and installing Ergon's ultra comfy grips.

But it's not a 29er!!! Yes, I know this is a 26-inch and not a 29-inch (29er) wheeled bike. Let me say that I have been very apprehensive about buying a 26-inch wheeled bike after riding 29ers for the last 4-years, but after this maiden ride on the Fuel EX-9 I have found nearly complete satisfaction. The ride is smooth and everything I wanted in a full-suspension bike - quick, nimble, squishy/plush, pedals efficiently, no frame flex, and it eats up the bumps. I did notice some disadvantages in sand and rolling over "some" rocky sections compared to 29ers - both of which I had to learn to compensate for (a minor detail overall - much less so than I thought it would be). I also noticed some advantage over my 29ers (gasp!!! Say it isn't so!!!) - most noteable was momentum up hills. My 29ers seem to go from having momentum to grunt mode (no smooth transition in between), whereas the Fuel EX-9 would smoothly transition from high momentum to easier pedaling options - never directly to the ultra grunt mode I find with the 29ers.

I took the bike to Spokane for the 24-Hrs Round the Clock race thinking I would use it for my back-up bike and ended up using it as my primary ride because it was so smooth on the butt and pedaled well over the bumpy yuk. I was on par for a 18-20 laps around the 15-mile course but on lap-8 (120-miles into the event) I was experiencing effects of dehydration, nausea, and I finally puked. So I sat out for a while and rehydrated. After a few hours I started feeling much better so I jumped on the bike with renewed energy and blew through another few laps before it happened again (puke), but this time I could not keep down fluids or foods and eventually was zapped of energy completely...at this point I decided to save my body for another day.

Someday I will figure out a race nutrition/hydration plan that actually works in both training and races. The same thing happened last year at the same race. So far my plans work well in all of my extreme training and in short races. The only exception I have found is that during long high intensity rides on super hot days I tend to be unable to hydrate enough no matter what. This year and last I trained with and used Hammer Nutrition products (which are designed for this kind of endurance event), but I am nearly convinced that they are partially the problem. I am debating several issues right now including 1) Hammer products (used as recommended) are not allowing me to hydrate properly and may even be contributing to dehydration by pulling body fluids into my intestinal tract - maybe I need to use less??, 2) I am not getting enough sodium with the Hammer products even though I am taking their recommended usage (low body sodium will contribute to all my problems), 3) Maybe I need to prehydrate more - hard to believe since I was peeing frequently and clear just before the race, and 4) I need to find a way to take in (absorb) more fluid faster...according to all the research out there I was drinking the maximal amount my body should be able to take in per hour, yet I was thirsty feeling (a very bad sign) within 4-hours. I never felt I really caught up on the hydration. If I ever get this figured out I will be competitive in these events.

Moab - The End

Moab was such a fun adventure that I thought I would put out a few more pics of the many I have.



Ahhh...Springtime in the desert...a few desert bouquets...





This is Ray...the ultra-cool guy that invited me down. I owe him many thanks for this motivating little tour...













This is part of the gang I rode with down there (part of Rays group)...all were super fun to ride with...













More Slickrock...this stuff was so much fun to ride and on the Single-Speed it was awesome...









Johnny found some wildlife in the middle of the desert...every person I met down there was friendly...something of a rarity in many places it seems...













The country around Moab was so enormous that you can not imagine it from these pics. This is from the top of Amasa Back...













Jackson's Hole as viewed from Amasa Back...That is a huge butte in the middle of a hole it seems...very cool to see from this viewpoint...








Yes...I was there....and so was my bike...












Now off to something new...











Since Moab I've been goofing off (...that really means riding and dabbling into new adventures)...

This is 35-miles into a loop (all uphill to this point). A few months ago I tried to make a loop up here but...









If you remember...it was impassible due to knee-deep snow fields. Not this time though...I found it to be a cool 70-mile loop. I've got a few more adventures in the works to be shared as soon as they happen...