Finding the Lost Temple

The day after my last ride on the SuperFly SS, I felt that my Gunnar Think Pink was getting lonely...sooooo I took it riding. This time I went up another climbing route (which is all there is around here and I like it that way) to the top of Lick Creek and beyond. I am still quite amazed at how little snow exists above the 5000-ft level. I finally hit some snow at 5400-ft, but was not stopped by it.


The only reason I turned around was due to lack of time to continue on (had to get back to pick up the Kevinator from school). On the way back I took a detour down the Pinkham Ridge Trail for some sweet riding and some cool views...but of course I had to stop for some of my favorite spring time flora...


On the way down I rode past this interesting art work that I had not seen before...it's in the middle of no where.


Not sure what to think of it other than someone was mighty bored...maybe a "hunter" from last fall, maybe it's a hippie toker temple, maybe it is a gateway to another dimension...hmmmm.

The smell of purple little flowers is so nice, can you smell these? Maybe that temple is affecting me...

Never Been this High

"Never been this high in April" I was thinking to my self as I pedalled past the 5000-ft level today. Typically there is snow or ice that stops me long before now, but not this year. I'm a tad fearful of the fire season we will have this year with so little snow pack and moisture.


I turned it around when I finally hit a small snow field across the road - an ominous sign that there will be more to come and attempting to go much further will prove futile. The odometer was indicating that I would get at least 70-miles in on this warm, sunny spring day - another great ride on the Fisher SuperFly Single-Speed.



The flowers were spectacular and, as usual, gave me a super-boost in the mental well being...something I needed after working 4-long 12-hr shifts in the ER.




There is still some snow up there feeding Asotin Creek (in the background is the headwaters are of Middle Fork Asotin Creek).

Spokane Riverside

I've spent many hours riding at Riverside State Park just west of Spokane. Most of my many hundreds of miles of mountain biking at Riverside have been done riding in the annual 24-hr race and other past mtb races. I love Riverside Park's many miles of fast, forested single-track trails and I dream of having a riding area like that where I live...after riding such nice trails the thought of moving becomes strong in my nomadic, wandering mind once again. I like green forests and I like dirt trails, that is who I am deep inside. For now though, I have to live in an area with dead, brown, weed infested yuk, and very little single-track trail, but with plenty of dirt/gravel roads to ride. I'll take what I have and enjoy every speck of dirt I can...for now that is.


Fortunately, the Kevinator and I had to make a necessary run to Spokane for some appointments, but our focus was all about having an excuse to ride the sweet single-track at Riverside. We were not disappointed, the trails were buff and in perfect riding condition, the weather was cool and sunny, plus the wild flowers were blooming providing eye-candy everywhere we rode.


The Kevinator insisted on riding the 24-hr race loop, so we did that and more.




The kiddo was exhausted, but happy and smiling big after riding nearly 23-miles this day (we rode 17-miles the day previous - the kid is a mountain biking animal).

Asotin Creek Graupel Ride

I've been mountain biking up on Asotin Creek Trail many times this past winter (not really sure you can call what we had winter though)...every ride has been an adventure in some way. Today was no different, except that I had a riding partner along today to share some spring time adventures. Meet the Kevinator, one lean, mean mountain biking machine...


Together we explored the Asotin Creek trail single track...we rode in sunshine, graupel, and rain...nothing stopped us since the ride was all smiles.



We stopped a few times along our 16-mile ride to enjoy some of nature's spring artwork...hmmmm




It was a perfect MTB day (any day is a good day for MTB rides like this).

Yes, I Stop for Flowers...Kill Bill Episode-II

A true miracle happened today...a MTB group ride! Very exciting since MTB group rides for me seem so rare...partly because of my work schedule, maybe partly due to my lone ranger attitude (Single-Speeds Rule!!!) - OK the real reason is because it has been rather hard to get everyone's (anyone's) schedules to align. But, the SeanMan has a way of sweet talking people (which involves some smack-talk) into group rides. It was a sweet day for a ride and the company was perfect.


There were 3-geared Fisher SuperFlys, my SS SuperFly, plus 3-other Fisher 29ers along and one lone wolf (Doug) on a Salsa Fargo...hmmm suspicious.


At one point when I got behind near the end of the ride the SeanMan was giving me some grief...I did get behind only because I saw a field full of little yellow flowers that as usual just melted me into stopping and dropping the bike to get a closer look...


The SeanMan said something about flowers are for girls, well to me flowers are ultra cool and always worth a stop and look. I'm not sure anyone else really noticed those little yellow beauties flowing by as they focused on the roadway, a bad roadie tendency that I will someday break them of...if they continue to want to ride with me again that is - we unintentionally tried to kill Bill. The SeanMan reminded me that others tried to kill Bill last year also. Sorry Bill, we'll plan for a nicer ride next time, maybe.

I hope everyone had a good day and did not suffer too much. I have plenty of much cooler rides after the snow melts for those interested.

Mountain Bikes Rule!!!

Last month I shamefully rode my geared bikes a total of 2-times...I'm starting to question why I even have geared bikes anymore. Worse is that my road bike has been collecting dust for the last 2-months and even then I've only been on it once this year...shameful. I still find road riding sooooo boring. On the road bike I spend much of my riding time looking at the trash in the ditches just to liven up the ride. Sometimes I stop and investigate a trash treasure, otherwise I just try to avoid the glass from drunks tossing their bottles on the roadway and banana peels from idiot road-toad cyclists. Why do road cyclist feel the need to let everyone know they've been here by dropping those peels? Are road-toads like male dogs marking territory? Why can't roadies just toss the peels in the ditch where they decay and disappear instead of laying on the road side for a few weeks? I have no answer to this after much pondering.

On the mountain bike I find that the gravel road and trail-side scenery much more stimulating than the road trash, glass, and peels...


I find animals, cool bugs, flowers, and more.


Mountain bikes rule in my world.

Are Your Bikes Feelin' the Love?

My bikes are feelin' the love...I can hardly believe that I've had 5-days off and been able to ride at least once each day - that means that some days I ride more than once - whoohoo!!!

I've been just about everywhere I can go without hitting solid ice...once upon a time I would run into snow, but it's very odd this year since I am running into slip-slide-fall-bust-your-butt-solid-ice. After my first encounter with this slick phenomena I learned quickly that it is best to turn it around and go back to where I just came from...walking on that stuff is treacherous, riding it was not possible without some seriously studded tires, which of course I was not about to just run home 40-miles and put on.



There's been a definite hint of spring in the air all week, which was confirmed by the siting of some wild flowers. I saw my first wild-flowers in Spokane on Sunday then notices some at lower elevations locally a day later (that I swear were not there previously). Flowers are one thing that can instantly put a stop to my insane need to pedal or get somewhere fast. One siting of a wild flower and everything in me just melts to a halt so I can drop the bike and get a closer look...



Then there's the bike-art that I am always finding along the way...a natural talent of mountain biking that is easy to attain (just ride), but rarely appreciated...

SuperFly SS...Whoohoo!!!

Thrash testing has begun on the the Fisher SuperFly SS now that it is "nearly complete"...the last major piece was my Stans tubeless wheels (that I just built up) with some fat Bontrager XDX 2.1 tires installed (that look more like 2.3 inch tires). I use the words "nearly complete" since I'm contemplating putting a rigid fork on this bike in the near future, which should easily make it a sub-19 lb bike - maybe closer to 16lbs with the right tire choice...sick!!!



So far I'm still skeptical about the tires, but that is why I love thrash testing. I've found that the Bontrager XDX tires are not too good in mud, but seem to be excellent at riding in hard crusty snow and on the dry dirt they are fast enough to keep my happy.



The SuperFly SS climbs well and I am surprised at the hills I'm making it over at this time...let's just say that making it up George Creek (Meyer's Ridge Rd) and the grade on Weissenfels has my SS ego a tad inflated. I've tried these hills in the past on a SS and never made it very far...heck these climbs are hard enough on a geared bike. Here is a 3D map of the Weissenfels-George Cr/Meyers Ridge Rd loop (~5100 ft climbing in 60-ish miles) that I frequently do...



No mud-yuk on this day, but there is still a wee bit of snow up there in spots.



The SuperFly ride is soooo much smoother than I ever thought carbon could be and I ride some rough, bone-rattling stuff. I was truly anticipating a slightly harsh ride from it - similar to what I experienced in the past (long, long ago) test riding Trek carbon mountain bikes. But the Superfly frame has a butter smooth ride that has converted me into a believer that carbon mountain bikes can be extraordinary in function...so what I'm saying is that the company hype is more than true...Fisher got it right! I don't get paid to print the truth or say things like that.

So far (4-rides, 213-miles) I'm grinning big with some hurting legs...

Mud-Yuk

Well I thought I could sneak in a Couse Creek-Weissenfels Ridge Rd loop without much difficulty today...bad idea. I found that the end of Weissenfels was a tad boggy in some rather long sections (the worst I've ever seen it up there) and turning around at this point would make for a very, very long ride, which I had no desire to do.


So my bull-headed ego took over and from that point on it was make through or die trying. At times I thought I was doomed to walking, but I kept the speed up (which really makes the mud fly a long ways...cool), kept my mouth shut (gets kind of gritty if you don't) and forced the forward progress slipping and sliding all the way. The end result was a face and bike full of mud-yuk, plus I had the classic diarrhea butt look on my tights. The Think Pink bike was lookin' more like Downtown Brown.


I was very thankful for the SS since mud has very little effect on the one-gear system...a derailleur and multi-gears on the other hand is a nightmare in the muck-yuk stuff.


Also kind of glad I didn't take Rocket Ship One (the Fisher SuperFly SS) today...my old wheelset on it at this time has a minor wheel bearing issue and I wasn't willing to trust it too far away from home. I just build some new wheels for it, but haven't got the tubeless set up yet.


The name, Rocket Ship One, came about after a few rides just because this thing is way fast on the dirt...


...and I had the brakes on!