my other single is fixed

20,065 revolutions

2007-01-30T10:04:00.000-08:00

One of these bikes is doin' it's own thing...

After last week's successful Washoe Valley lap on my fixed gear bike with Wolfy and his pal Sean, I thought it'd be fun to try and do a long ride with some climbing and descending. I started making noise about riding up Geiger Grade and looping the Truck Route, then returning the way we'd come. Walker, GBG, Huck Tater, and Smithers were more than happy to call my bluff and run with me on a longish road ride (wa?) Saturday morning.

Weeeeelllll, my fixed gear bike is running a 42 tooth chainring and a 16 tooth cog, so she's geared pretty stiff for long hills. It goes though, and with some standing and huffing I made it to the top of Geiger in pretty good style.Walker was doing laps between our strung out party, checking on everyone, and keeping GBG and I informed of their whereabouts. Huck Tater was happy to call it at Virginia Highlands and Smithers was continuing on to VC at his own pace.

GBG, Walker and I continued on to VC, nuked down the Truck Route then toiled back up via Gold Hill. Now that was Hard. I ended up boot-packin' it from the train tracks to the last switch back.
It was all downhill from there, with the exception of those up hills between VC and Geiger... but we made it. The sustained 30-35 mph spin 7 (?) miles down Geiger was nuts on the fixed gear bike, inducing a kind of Zen where the legs were deliberately moving w/o accelerating or resisting the rotation of the pedals. Nothing felt sketchy though, didn't miss brakes a bit. Riding back across Reno was the riskiest part of the day for sure, playing with traffic on the flat streets in the interest of avoiding hills on the outskirts of town.

We stopped at Bibo's for a caffeine fix on the way in and to see if the weekend’s Soup Kitchen Alley Cat race had begun. Luckily, they’d dispersed so we didn't have to worry about getting cajoled into doing more urban shredding. We stopped by the Satellite to see if the apres Alley Cat party was swingin’ yet, but the place was locked up. Probably for the best, since I’m “banned for life!” from the Satellite. GBG headed home and Walker and I worked our way to the Reno Homebrew store for a few recovery drinks to polish off the ride buzz. Three days later and my legs are just now feeling “normal!”

J.r.

let's see,

[(5280 ft/mile)*(70 miles)]/[(221 in/revolution)(ft/12 in)]= 20,065 revolutions

Rollin' into the New Year

2007-01-03T18:59:00.000-08:00

The Shredder and I spent the holidaze in Arizona with family and friends, took some time to drive as much dirt road and old 2-laners as possible, ride bikes a lot, and party. Winter Solstice night we car bivied in Saline Valley, CA. There's a 2 or 3 day dirt road tour I've got in mind for that zone, looping Eureka V. and Saline V., maybe some pavers on 190 through Panamint Springs and a meal at the cafe. hmmm, maybe early Feb. in an effort to "harden" myself for the 24 Hours of Old Pueblo...

Riding in AZ was sick. On a hunch we found our way the Cave Creek Trailhead and kinda committed to riding Trail 4, SS on my Vulture and Shredder running gears on her Coconino. Conditions varied from rad 1-track to completely gone-washed away by highwater to ballistic angular rocks with modest exposure to rolling babyheads and sand dunes etc. A herd of javelina bowled the brush along the creek early on in the ride, kinda humbling me and peaking Oso's interest. They'd make short work of him for sure. Ever seen one of the those little buggers charge straight through chapparal at full throttle?! On a lighter note, jumping cholla and cat claw mesquite were everywhere, as were a few other toothy species i haven't had the pleasure encountering before this. Views of the canyon were stunning - rugged hills studded with 20' saguaros and a crystal clear creek below, flowing from plung pool to boulder stretch for miles on end. Unfortunately, the aesthetics of the situation were such that bleeding shins, leaking tires, seized SPD's and very hard to ride surfaces dominated the situation. At about sunset we emerged from the trail to a dirt road and Shredder span on home to get vehicle and was to return for Oso, rather than run him down 5 miles of rural roads. We kept pluggin along though, making it to about a mile from the house when they found us. Dark, hungry, thirsty, and happy were the ending notes for that ride... at least for me.

A bit of rain hit AZ after Christmas, dumping snow on the hills just a few hundred feet in ele above Cave Creek, and all over the higher country including the sandstone of Sedona. It made for a forced rest day, but by time Huck Tater found his way to Cave Ck we were willing to gamble on riding up north a bit. We jammed up to Sedona hoping that by time we'd arrive the snow would melt out and dried up enough for some riding. Turned out to be one of those rare, not cold but kinda wet mornings with snow melting out giving way to blue skies and warm afternoons. We stayed away from the sticky trails and rode the rocks and sandy surfaces of Templeton Tr. to Baldwin and back on Templeton, with a detour to Llama and back to the rig near Bell Rock. If that doesn't mean anything to you, take notes and get out there. The riding in Sedona is very good, especially on a one speed.That night we drove up to Flagstaff and visited with the Garros. It's absolutely amazing how well Steve is recovering from the collision he had with a truck a little over a year ago. He's starting to walk again, brazing frames a ton, arm biking and learning to kayak whenever he gets some time. He and Denise are awesome to visit with and a tremendous inspiration.

They next day we joined them for some biking-arm biking-hiking again in Sedona. Talk about amazing, the stuff Steve spins that One-Off through is real impressive. It took me 4 tries to clean a techie climb he arm biked with only mild assistance to get the front wheels up some big rocks and keep from flipping. Go man Go!And to fully round the AZ holidaze out Shredder and I had the supreme pleasure of seeing Flathead play live along with Thee Oh Nos and Elmo Kirkwood in Tempe. What a hoot! Ever see garage-surf punk played by 4 dudes in black ski masks? Follow that up with Airborne and all the FH songs I can think of and my ears were ringing well into the new year... kinda spinning too.Happy New Year, readers.
Japhy rider

merry Solstice, Freaks

2006-12-18T20:30:00.000-08:00

this is ski season but the bikin' is better than skiin', at least in the Nor-east Sierra. i'm still procrastinating on the Deux closing party pics i promised but it's on the short list. since i haven't postin in a few whiles, i thought i'd at least throw a pic out there and say Hey.Hey.

WTF, it's mid December and we've got 4.1321cm of freshies!!! i can't believe everyone was too hung over after a run of holidaze parties for an AM shred, lulled into lethargy by the promise of lift served skiing after sleeping it off. Oso and I got freshies, 1st tracks for much of it. the sound of knobbies hookin' up in fresh pow on a fast descent is kind of cool, somewhere between the sound of trees flying by while dropping knees in deep pow and a roulette wheel, but more like a roulette wheel.

story time. i'm about to stoke the fire, curl up on the sofa with a mag and sip some flammables diluted with egg nog. roll Waits or Biram, or just plain fall asleep. zzzzz.......................

merry solstice,
Japhy rider

techie pics

2006-11-30T00:36:00.000-08:00

this evening i was in the garage catchin' up on stuff, listening to a new Tom Wait's 3-disc set, and putting the hurt on a pack of Mirror Pond Pale Ale. i'd tried to wash the schmegma off the fixie after its traverse of the Rockies in a show storm, stuck on the roof. temps were cold enough tonight to have the hoses and bibs outside all froze up. HOT water in a bucket, dish soap, and a down jacket and i had the tall crust off, but the suds were frozen in place. the water on the concrete was a bit slick too... had to take the garden hose into the bathtub for a hot soak to get the ice out, then hook it to the water heater and plumb it out to the driveway to finish the job. once rinsed and in the garage, i closed the door and cranked up the heat - nice. drying off the fixed gear bike, a.k.a. "Harlan" and possibly to become known as "the Bullish Dude bike," i detected a bit of lateral wamble in the cranks. hmm, funny looking cones on the bb, but let's go fer it. i spread a towel below the bike stand (learned my lesson with the loose bearings in the headset), disected the bb and found 22 loose ball bearings pasted in what looked like 20+ year old grease and a mild pit on the nondrive side of the spindle's cone... spent some time thinking about this, listened to ol' Wait's lecture on "Army Ants" and decided to give McGuiness a call. haven't talked at him in a while, and hey, i had some beta for him...the pics are of some contemporary WTB Dirt Drops. McG of Calavera Cycles is going to help me fit them to my Coconino trail touring rig for less techy rides. he's cookin' up a steel and brass brazed stem to fit to the oversized bar, with just right rise and reach. can't wait to see what he's done, and mainly, to ride the Hell outta it! i'm slowly warming to dd's, definately aided by time on the fixed gear townie with it's Midge bars, and appreciate the variety of positions. when it comes to just plain trail riding, it'll be a while before i'm as comfortable as with some 2" Protaper risers and Oury's. ahh, trail riding...

pumpkin time. happy dreams, readers. it's tomorrow and i have to be up early to partake in the last day ever that the Deux Gros Nez will be open. more on that later!

Japhy rider

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

12/05/06 Update...
Sean sent me this mid-fab pic of the stem. Way cool! Thanks for the shot, Sean, and the great work. Can't wait to build it up and get gone.

as ever, thanks for watching.

J. rider

ps- I spent some time lookin' at the pics and dig vid of the farewell adeau, Duex party. that was nuts. I didn't feel "normal" again till Sunday, just lookin' at the pictures pulls stuff from the margins of memory... ragin' fiddles, lotsa beer, a hunerd or more peeps (?), bag pipes, Mexican wrestler masks?! closing after 21 years in business, what else would you expect? hope to get some kinda something together soon and post it for your viewing pleasure. till then, fly that freak flag.

pss- Sean McG will be MFEM-side tomorrow for some early winter night riding - Peavine style. can't wait to show him our homegrown 1-track. too cold to see scorpions out there, but should be fun under the full moon.

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01/30/07 - Update, Calavera stem installed and tested, it Rocks!!!

these pics don't do it justice, but the fillet brazed oversized clamp double pinch bolts and skull detail are all excellent. thanks Sean McG, lookin' forward to doing more riding with you and spinning my touring rig all over tarnation.

Turkey Day in the Ozarks

2006-11-23T08:12:00.000-08:00

A 30 hour road rally last weekend got us out to the parents' place in SW Missouri, from here on known as "Ssura," for the Thanksgiving holiday. Man, it's a big country, and the Basin and Range is still my fav landscape, but the few bits of intact prarie we could see from the highway were beautiful! Flatlands yielded to the hills of the Ozarks, with all kinds of oak trees and cedar (?) replacing the grasses. Time catching up with the parents has been occupied by helping with a construction project on the house, "mowing" the fields...

Amanda was happy to drive the Ford tractor!

"does this tractor make my butt look big?"

as well as walking around in the property's stands of oaks, eating, playing pool, tending fires, eating, drinking, eating, and RIDING! I've gotten in 2 rides on the fixed bike, the bike of choice for this trip, shredding the state highways and dirt back roads all over the place. Yesterday, Ace motor paced me on Harley Davidson MT500, my parent's farm bike. We rode about 20 miles, maybe a 3rd of which was dirt and all of which was Hilly. The remainder was up or down on the asphault state roads... nowhere to hide on the fixed gear! Ace clocked me going over 40mph on a sustained downhill, wheeeew...

"did you hear a banjo?"

Today is the day, lots of cooking to do this morning, then the feast. With any luck, we'll get a kitchen pass to go start flagging trail in the trees behind the house. This place should support a fun cloverleaf trail network, kinda hilly, maybe some logstacles, slippery limestones too. If we can get it marked and start roughing it in, it'll be fun to see how much Mom and Dad accomplish before our next visit.

"All fine here, hope same there"

Pueblo Viejo

2006-11-14T10:27:00.000-08:00

whup, whoa! Epic Rides has cashed my registration check, so I'm guessing it's a done deal. block off the Presidents' Day weekend in February for the 24 Hours in the Old Pueblo. this will be my 3rd 24 hour race, all solo so far, and the 2nd one on a single speed. now the skitch is to carry some of the summer fitness into the dead of winter so i can really enjoy being out there. hopefully lots of backcountry skiing will help with that, and time on the fixed townie when the trails are muddy. speaking of, it's been a lot like fall here lately with scattered rain and overcast skies. i suited up for a drizzly road commute this morning. riding in the rain isn't soo bad, as long as you don't have to sit in wet jeans and socks all morning at werk...

happy Tuesday,
Japhy rider

Outlaw X

2006-11-09T15:20:00.000-08:00

I wasn't riding a fixed gear or a single speed, but it was a first for me. This morning I did a cyclocross race. The good folks in Truckee and a handful of Reno-ans have been rallyin' for Thursday morning "outlaw" cross races this fall. I don't know who came up with the name, but these things definately are not legit. They are fun, they seem to move from venue to venue every week, and the good times roll for an hour straight. Grizz put this one together, utilizing the levees, dead trees, dirt piles, boulders, and lawns at the Mayberry Park to lay out a fun course. There were flat out fast spots for the fast guys, lots of chicanes for the good guys, and some rockstacles and logstacles for the mountain bikers (me) to make up time on. I think 20 something riders showed up and a half a dozen spectators lined the course. I took a dog lap to run the hound and see what I was in for, then cued up in the back of the pack. Lap 1 I stayed in the way back. Then started riding a bit harder, trailing peeps until it was safe to pass, or just attack at an obstacle, riding away while they ran, or whatever. When it ended I was in 4th and having fun.
The apres ride donut feed was nice way to round it out. Thanks a 10^6, Grizz! Now let's go do a few more trial rides before the snow season takes hold.

J. rider

Election Day

2006-11-07T11:32:00.000-08:00

i have an excuse for being late to work today, and it's not that i was ride-jacked out on the trails (used that one too many times already). today is election day and i chose to do my civic duty prior to working. they told me i was voter #100 in our precinct to hit the polls. good deal, hope a few hundred more make it out before 7pm. other than elections for state offices, we've a few important questions up. smoking in some public places, restaurants, bars, etc? legalizing marijuana? raising taxes to fund more police officers? funding schools first? this is all pertinent - do the right thing. get out there and cast your vote... "be the change you want to see in the world."

J.r.

got grit?

2006-11-03T14:08:00.000-08:00

It's pouring down an early November rain, Friday afternoon. There's supposed to be some kinda Critical Mass ride in downtown this evening. I've never participated in one - and generally avoid groups of strangers of any size - but thought I'd see what's it's all about, how motivated these "bicycle activists" are. It should be dark about then too. The HID and a rain jacket, some leather work gloves and jeans, Sidi's and a fixed gear townie sounds sketchy on wet and oily pavement during a Friday evening rush hour, but first, another hour crunchin' numbers in the lab then a few errands to run. Gotta get to the USFS office in Sparks (about a 25 minute spin across town) to pickup a firewood gathering permit for this weekend, then jet back to downtown by 1700 (?) for Mass. If I'm not hypothermic by then, maybe a session at the Tap House to close out the lab week. Stay tuned for some pics of this evening's goings ons.

Happy Friday,
J. rider

UPDATE- Monday, Nov. 6
i blew outta work last Friday at 3:50 and shot east from the Lab down that 13% (?) grade to Clearacre, whosh! made it across town in time to get the permits i'd need for the weekend's work, then back to downtown by 5:20 for that evenings Critical Mass ride. feet and backside were soaked, but at least the rain stopped.

props to the riders that showed up for some wet pavement rush hour/happy hour bicycle activism. we had an old Schwinn tandem cruiser, about a half a dozen fixies, and about as many geared road and mountain bikes in the ranks. it was probably a subcritical mass, but a few laps were had around downtown with only minor exposure to aggravated booger eaters. i'd say riders and drivers were relatively tolerant, or that the flash of lots of bike lights and reflective swatches in a drenched landscape disarmed most drivers. the apre party and Quicksilver viewing was entertaining. thanks for the hospitality, fellas.

see you in the mountains,
Japhy rider

October 31 is Nevada Day

2006-10-31T12:34:00.000-08:00

Today I rode my Coconino rigid-rigid touring trail bike on the mixed dirt and paver commute. Temps were cool, air was clear and calm. As I approached the roundabout at Parr and 395, I was fortunate enough to spot two huge vultures soaring above the bleached hills and sparse pinons. These birds were big. From 60 to 80 feet up they looked to have wing spans of at least 5 or 6 feet. At that moment I did the right thing, I detoured into the dirt and stopped to watch a few minutes. One cruized around the SE side of the hill, one stayed above me, spiraling up on thermals. The second soared back, made a few turns with it's pal, then the 2 of them cruized off over the summit of the hills. I charged for the hilltop and looked around but they were gone. What a great way to start the day, watching a pair of vultures "contemplate the world from a silent and considerable height."

Home Means Nevada Written & Music by Bertha Raffetto

Way out in the land of the setting sun, Where the wind blows wild and free, There's a lovely spot, just the only one That means home sweet home to me. If you follow the old Kit Carson trail, Until desert meets the hills, Oh you certainly will agree with me, It's the place of a thousand thrills.

Home means Nevada Home means the hills, Home means the sage and the pine. Out by the Truckee, silvery rills, Out where the sun always shines, Here is the land which I love the best, Fairer than all I can see. Deep in the heart of the golden west Home means Nevada to me.

Whenever the sun at the close of day, Colors all the western sky, Oh my heart returns to the desert grey And the mountains tow'ring high. Where the moon beams play in shadowed glen, With the spotted fawn and doe, All the live long night until morning light, Is the loveliest place I know.

Home means Nevada Home means the hills, Home means the sage and the pines. Out by the Truckee's silvery rills, Out where the sun always shines, There is the land that I love the best, Fairer than all I can see. Right in the heart of the golden west Home means Nevada to me.

numero uno

2006-10-23T23:51:00.000-07:00

thanks to my wonderful wife, i have had the opportunity to meet class A supershreddermutants. a few of those fellows are building frames these days, and have been doing so for muchos anos. i was ready to try something a bit more committing with my bike riding and que-ed up for a custom Vulture singlespeed from Wade - The Vulture.
i went out on a limb and committed to a 29" single speed frame, drafted for a 85mm travel suspenion fork (all that was available at the time), and sat back to wait and watch. a few months later a box showed up. i didn't get much done that day at work, other than building up the bike. it was mid-January and a bit of snow was on the ground, so even riding was limited to pavement or early morning icy mud conditions. i was pleased nonetheless.things warmed up, i rode it a bunch and have never had a single problem with the frame or Vulture laced wheels. we've made it through a few 100 mile races, a 24 hour race, and scads of commuting, shredding, overland rides, and general mayhem. this last winter it went through an overhaul and got new powder and decals, a 100mm travel fork, and new wheels. i was amazed at how well the frame accomodated the longer travel fork. this bike just plain fits well and rolls with everything i throw at it. we're closing in on 3 years now, and i expect at least another 3. thanks Vulture!see you in the mountains!
J. rider

fixed it

2006-10-23T22:55:00.000-07:00

I've tried this once before, in another timespacebloginuim, but thought it's worth doing again - here, now. for the books...

so, in anticipation of a killer teleseason - and heinous mud season closer to home - i ressurected an ancient road/touring bike frame as a fixed gear commuter. i married into the frame, we've loaned it out in original config to friends in need over the years, but never really rode it. my objective with this project was to take a rarely used bike and dial it in for getting a SOLID ride out of my dry land commute, do something that'd require as little capital as possible, that would be downright tough. in the last 2 weeks i've probably put over a hunerd miles on it, only lost the pedals once, and had no real close calls... unless you consider racing a geared mtb, passing a parked car on the right and scrubbing the curb, holding a 30+ mph spin for a few minutes (seemed like hours!) and looking over my shoulder and finding the challenger wayway off the back (ergo, smarter than I). my legs have been comfortably numb since the first spin, so whatever i've done is working. here's how it went:

initial conditions
boneyard

warmer
the stock post was too short, no prob, just dig into the bin-o-parts to find an old mtb post that was long enough. it was a few 1000th's to fat, sooo, a few turns on the lathe and wala!

Readers, meet Harlan

happy trails,
J. rider