52

52...that is how I'm now judged and compared to others of this world we live in. We have some need to compare ourselves by age. It seems like a bragging right or an ego issue with most people who are talking about their age.



Me? I could care less about how many years I've been around. I do care about other people, living well, eating good foods, and having some fun along the way exploring anything that is available to me.



Of course my preferred way of exploring the outdoor environment is on one of my bikes. I usually go it alone (of course anyone is invited along anytime) only because my work schedule is so screwed up and inconsistent that I can not schedule a ride with anyone...the perils of working as a nurse in a dysfunctional medical care system.




I hope to change my schedule in the future to be more consistent, but I'm not counting on anything changing (that way I can't be dissappointed again. I could take a boring job and be much less happy I guess, but that would defeat any purpose in my life. So for now I ride alone at a young 52 years of age.

Aimless Wonderings

Good days of riding are not hard to find around here...



There has been some days of gloom and rain, but that is what it takes to make this area beautiful instead of a solid desert hell.



My ride this day was up in the Blue Mountains, just a few minutes from my Asotin, WA home (the one that is for sale currently). Definitely a spectacular place to ride with some of the best vistas around.



I often ride up here to de-stress and to let my thoughts wander as aimlessly as my travels through the many forest roads and trails I've come to know well.



I am soon to leave this oh-so-familiar area to continue a dream-in-progress over in Idaho, which I have been exploring as often as possible on the bike. I'm not sure where this next journey is taking me, but I am certainly continuing the adventure in my new area. And so far I am very excited about the endless possiblities of bike exploration, fishing, and camping around Grangeville, Idaho. Now if I could only find a job that keeps me happy.

Life Outside the Bubble

Some days are absolutely perfect for riding...Bluebird skies, fresh spring greenery popping out everywhere, and a world of new colors seem to appear every week. I love riding my bikes this time of year. Well actually I love riding nearly anytime of year, but spring is always very exciting and full of pure eye-candy.



I only wish I could ride everyday, but my life prevents the reality of such selfish dreams...there is work to be done on both of my residences - the Washington farm house, which is for sale, and our new Idaho place. Plus I need to work sometime to afford this dream-in-progress of having a better life for my family. Currently I'm working night shifts at a rural hospital in Cottonwood, Idaho, which means I commute, I have to spend time away from family, and I have the added stress of sleeping issues associated with working nights. Somewhere in this chaos I need to spend some quality time with my kids and the love of my life. Needless to say I am often so exhausted that nothing sounds like fun - even a bike ride. From experience I know that I need to keep my life's attitude off the floor, otherwise others around me suffer as a result of my poopy moods and worries, which in turn creates a bad downward spriral that becomes so much harder to climb out of.  So I know that I must "make" myself go riding since a bike ride always renews my soul and lifts my spirits up once again.




Some days I'm not sure why I need to do all this...Life should be fun right? Well right now it is not much fun so I do rely on my bikes to pick my attitude out of the sewer every week and bring me up to a happy state of being once again.  Between all the chaos I try to sneak in a few rides a week...sometimes more, many times less. I cherish each ride, dream of more, and hope that someday my kiddos will want to ride along on some of my adventures and come to appreciate the beauty outside the small bubble they choose to live in at this time.

When is a Tire Too Worn?

Hmmm...I've been keeping a close eye on my rear tread over the last several rides questioning myself: Is the tire going to make it through this ride? How many more miles can I get out of this tire? How far am I willing to walk if the tire completely self destructs (has happen to me a few time in the past) before I get home?  Why don't I just change that tire? I wonder if there is enough tubeless sealant in the tire? I really don't want to add more at this point because it would be a waste since I am going to replace the tire soon, but I've been telling myself this for the past 2-months.



To say the least this Michellin Mud-2 (one of my favorites except it tends to wear rather quickly) is well beyond need of replacement...it's starting to show signs that epic failure is coming. So how long do you run your tires? Me? I seem to like making mine more worn than a typical semi-slick (which is a tire that looks like this one, but you actually have to pay for it new to have no center tread).



Well I finally retired the paper thin tread and put on something a little heavier and with a lot more tread to continue my explorations. Now I have less worrisome self-talk at the start of my rides and more self-debate about where to ride today and wonder what I will see...

Spring Backcountry Riding

Beautiful spring days here in north-central Idaho, perfect for testing new stuff and exploring more of my backyard.



I'm still testing the Salsa Woodchipper handlebars on my Lynskey Cooper CX bike. Also I am experimenting with bar-end shifters. So far I really like the handlebars. I am getting quite use to the shifters also, but still have a habit of wanting to reach for the brake lever to shift out of habit.



I am really amazed at the Woodchipper comfort. It provides quite a few hand positions to help avoid hand fatigue on long rides, which has always been an issue for me. Also I really like the power and easy of pedalling up hill while in the drops...the drop position provides a very natural hand position for climbing out of the saddle when you need that extra boost to get up some really steep stuff.



I could use some lower gears on the steep terrrain I've been riding. At this time I am running a 34 tooth small ring with a 28 tooth big ring on the cassette. I can get by, but sometimes on long steep climbs I have a desire for a few lower gears. I am debating with myself about putting on a mountain bike crank with a 26 tooth small ring. I'm sure that in the near future I will try this setup (which is similar to the one I previously had on a Volagi bike I rode in the back country and is worked well except I lost some speed with lower high end gears).



The snow seems to be going for good this time, so I will say it again, fatbike season seems to be done. Every week now I see a new set of spring flowers blooming...I love mountain wild flowers, they are so uplifting for my soul.



Go ride your bike, do some exploring, and enjoy this awesome spring season.

Return of the Fat

Apparently I spoke too soon when I said the fatbike season was done...Snow has been pouring from the sky up on Mt. Idaho which means I "needed" to go and test the quality of such a nice event with the Fatback...Whoohooo!!!



Amazing how much fun it is to ride the fat. The snow is wet and heavy, which means going to extreme in low tire pressure to maintain traction. This kind of snow gives you lessons in tire pressure...too high at 8psi means you spin out and slid around a lot, whereas 3-5psi is pure glory for riding smooth and without issue. Yes, that is really low by most standards, but not for a fatbike in wet snow.

Get out, ride your bike, explore, and seek out new biking adventures - fun you will have!

Woodchipper on the Lynskey Cooper CX Bike

I seem to never be content with a single bike setup, always need to experiment with something. Biking for me is a never ending experiment, a never ending adventure, a way of exploring the world around me. So changing my bikes up is natural for me. Last week I decided to try a Salsa Woodchipper handlebar on my Lynskey Cooper cross bike. I had the parts laying around collecting dust plus I'm all about gaining more comfort on my bikes. I thought that the Woodchipper would provide a few more hand positions to enhance ride comfort.



However, I was not sure the Woodchipper would work well on this bike, but I had to find out since the idea came to me on a ride and it was already stuck in an endless loop in my non-stop brain. So after installing the bar I had to take it out for a spin (of course) to measure the perceived fit and comfort that I was dreaming of versus the reality in true use. Of course along the way I alway stop and enjoy some of the beauty I am riding past.



Dissappointed I am not. I'm not sure this bar looks so stylish (depending on your personal opinion of such things), but let me tell you that the bar is comfy both in and out of the drops. My hands are truly in heavenly comfort with this bar setup. I am amazed at how natural it feels no matter where I put my hands. I opted for barend shifters (a 1st for me) and I'm quickly getting use to them...I should have tried them years ago, but I was resistent because I wanted to be stylish and look like everyone else. I obviously have gotten over that and could care less about being one of "them" anymore.



I also layered extra bar tape in strategic areas to provide additional cushing. Doing this has become a habit of mine for any road-type bars. I'm still in the "experimental" stage here so nothing is completely permanent. When I'm satisfied then I will probably run a full cable housing setup with some higher quality housing. So far though this is a nice setup.



Of course any bike experimentation involves test riding over countless miles with huge elevation gains and every possible road condition...it seems that my new Idaho back yard is the perfect testing ground. Get out and ride your bike, do some exploring!

Spring Seems to be Here

OK, I'm back...It's not that I have not been out on some new adventures riding, but that I simply have not taken the time to put anything here. Also during the past month my online photo depository (picasa web) changed making it much more difficult to publish my photos here. Not sure why they have made it so difficult to make links to my photos, but it's their product. Anyway here I am.

Fatbike riding has essentially ended since the snow has been uncooperatively melting away. I typically have a nice crust to ride on this time of year, but warm weather up high created mush, then slush, then muck. My last ride was last month in the rain on a fairly deep snow bed. It was "fun" and challenging, but it was essentially the end for my snow bike riding this season. Rats!



I took my Fatback to Grangeville in hopes that I would find more snow up on Mt Idaho (my new backyard), but I simply have not had the opportunity to expore that option. I did ride up to the top of Mt Idaho on my Lynskey cross bike a few weeks ago and found some nice snow that would have been perfect for the fatbike, but before I could get up there again the weather turned quite warm making it mushy. I've been having a blast exporing my new back yard and the gravel roads around Grangeville when I'm up there and have the time (I stay up there when I work and come back to Asotin with my family when I'm off).



Spring is definitely here, gravel grinders on the cross bike are it for me now (one of my favorite kinds of riding beyond the fat bike). Get out and ride your bike, do some exploring!

Fat Chatter

Last week I went out and played in more fresh snow, it seems that once it started there was no end to it. The snow level went from essentially zero to several feet. WhooHooo!!! The only issue is that fresh snow is kind of difficult to travel in; especially uphill (which is typically the start of my ride here).

 
I let some days pass (actually I had to work) so that the snowmobilers would pack down a nice trail for me, and they did. So today being a free day for me I was ready to go play on the USS Titan (my Fatback titanium battle cruiser).  Everything started great. The snow was packed, but still fairly soft which made me spin uphill rather easily. The internal, insistent, nonstop self chatter was going as I climbed up in the soft snow: "I wonder how much better I’d do with a fatter tire on the rear, like a Surly Lou 4.8? Would this larger tire fit my frame?"  The Surly Nate 3.8 on the rear now has super traction, but I am finding that it has many limitations in the snow I ride most of the time.  Bottom line is that I need more float on the rear which means a wider tire. My Surly Bud 4.8 up front holds its own well.

Before I started, from my house I could see some dark snow clouds drifting over the mountain top. The day started sunny, but darkened as I trekked uphill on the Fatback. Once up on the ridge line, where there is a very scenic overlook into a 3000 foot river canyon, the weather was instantly not good. There existed 20-30mph winds blowing snow mixed with ice pellets stinging my face, plus a thick fog was part of the mix. The blowing snow and fog made visibility a few feet at best. There's a forest out there somewhere...

Having just climbed a difficult 1000 feet in the last 2-miles my thin layers of wool were damp with sweat and I was instantly freezing up. I quickly pulled a fleece vest and jacket from my pack and put them on. My internal chatter was now going at mega speed, taking mental inventory of additional clothing and survival equipment I had on the bike or in my pack…another wind proof fleece, a down puffy coat and vest, a wind proof winter parka (that is in the seat pack I strapped on for no known reason at the last minute before I left home), plenty of extra gloves, hats, facial covers, wind proof and water proof matches, a mini butane flame thrower (starts fires quickly), extra food, mini stove, knife….OK, I had enough stuff to NOT die up here any time soon. In fact I could quite easily spend a few nights.  I have much confidence in winter and wilderness survival, payment from all my past winter trials in winter wilderness trips and Antarctica. Bottom line - I love winter and snow.

My chatter continued...hmmm, I’m only 5-miles into a 30-mile round trip and the going suddenly looks very, very hard…I had a fleeting thought of turning around and calling it a day. "Wait a minute, that would be wimping out and totally no fun." I tried to come up with other options...Hmmm, none! "Alright then, forward I go, buck up Eric you live for this kind of adventure and you will finish,  ONWARD!!!"

The forward momentum from this point on was definitely a trial for one’s mental toughness, lots of slow going and blind riding. There were many times I’d be riding slowly along, at a best possible speed, when I’d suddenly stop because my front wheel was axle deep in an snow drift across my intended path...time to get off and trudge through. I spent plenty of time hike-a-biking (which is always part of fatbiking anyway). A "normal" person would probably get lost up there, but normal I am not and I know that place well, even in blowing, whiteout conditions I always knew where I was at. There were times when I did get some reprieve in tree canyons in which there was no wind and it was like another world with soft fluffy snow coming down.

Forward progress became more difficult with drifts forming at an amazing rate with the strong winds building giant roller drifts (which on a good day I would have fun on, but today these drifts were soft and difficult to get past. In the end I made it to my turnaround point.  I wasted no time starting back since it was getting late.

My tracks were totally non-existent where I’d just been. The way back was a tad easier since it is mostly downhill and some of the fog had let up, but the wind and blowing snow was still in full force keeping this adventure real.  

By the time I got back to my trusty Subaru the legs were rather tired and I felt hunger. I’m sure my previous day’s activities, working out on "nature’s elliptical trainer" (snowshoeing in deep snow), did not help the tired feeling in my legs. It feels good!