Well I cleaned up the NRS and decided to head out to the woods and give it another try. So, after work I loaded up everything and off I went. Everything started out good. I was feeling good and climbing strong. It actually took me a little over 5 miles before I used the granny gear. That is not too bad for riding at Ferdinand. But, then I hit the back side of the lake and used it several times. I probably didn't need it for some of them, but when it is there it is hard not to use it.
No snakes to scare the crap out of me this time. That is a good thing!! I did see a nice sized deer. The one thing that I didn't miss was all of the damn spider webs that seemed to be every 10 feet. I had a few large spiders crawling on me and I really didn't care for that.
The NRS was a much more plesent experience then the Proflex was. But, I already knew that it would be. The disk brakes are easier to squeeze and that helps my bad wrist. The drive-train is much nicer and shifted accordingly. They rear shock was nice on the down hills, but I think the Proflex climbed better. Too much movement going on all the time. I will have to try and use more air next time.
My Surly keeps catching my attention, but I have been hesitent to ride it. I know that I am not in good SS shape and I don't have an easy trail to ease into shape. With me dismantling the Proflex, it will free up the shock that used to be on the 1x1. I also have a new Thomson post to put on it. I sure miss riding that thing, I just wished it had the disk brake tabs. Maybe I need to trade it in for the next size up. Then I could get a set of 650b wheels to try out.
With the extra set of wheels left from the Proflex, I am thinking about seeing what kind of gear combo might give me that magic gear for the Caloi. If I can find one that works for the road, I plan on getting a Tomi cog and try some playing around fixed. Could be interesting.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Monday, August 18, 2008
Time to bury my head in the sand.
Well, over the last few years I have become what I guess I would call a retro grouch. I have enjoyed singlespeeding just for the pure simplicity and fun. That does not mean that I do not have some newer toys. Actually, I purchased a Giant NRS to bring me some what in to the 20th century in biking. A far cry from what I had raced and rode for years. I do like the disk brakes, but some of the other stuff I could do with out. I have a fork that moves freely through the travel depending on how much force is applied to it. I thought this was a good thing, until I went over my first big log and just about ate it because my shock kept going when I didn't think it would.
I didn't like the shifting that came with it, but have since swapped out for some SRAM stuff that I do like. The biggest problem I have had was the fact that even though I didn't ride it a lot, my rear shock decided to no longer hold air. I needed a bike before I went to Colorado last year and didn't really have the $100 to fix the shock. So, I purchased a replacement shock off of evil bay. The problem was that the spacers were not interchangeable. Well, I put my head to it and ended up with a stack of washers as my spacers. This actually worked quite well and survived the whole week out west. Actually the spacers and shock is still on the bike and working.
Well, this spring I was going to do my part and stick it to the man that wants everyone to spend a ton of money working and upgrading their bike all the time. I have a 1997 Proflex 857 that I built up to ride. I figured that it worked great back then and still works good, why not use it. Well last weekend I finally got off of the road bike long enough to take it for a spin. Needless to say I was not pleased with my experience. I am ready to strip it apart and put it on ebay. Actuall it is not the frames fault. Everyone would think that an old bike like that could not stand up to today's standards, but it does climb very well and is really light.
The problems of the ride started when I was having some ghost shifting problems and my chain wanting to slip over the teeth when I put a good load on it. Then when I put it in the granny gear, it was grinding even more and ready to slip and hurt me. So, I just kept it in the middle ring and did what I could.
Then I started to hear a sound that reminded me of a cracked frame. I thought great, I just what I needed. But, it turns out that my head set was making all the noise and sounded like it was ready to explode. Top that with my rear break cable not working as smooth as it should, making my wrist hurt for the next two days. I am ready to take the plunge and buy a new bike. I really hate to, but I just think I need to. I know I could ride my SS more and get back in to shape enough to ride that bike well. But, I have plans to ride more at Pisgah this winter. I don't think I am up to that challenge. So, that puts me in the bike market with no money. Just where I wanted to be.
The only positive out of the problem is, I plan on putting my shock back on my SS to help with my wrist problems. Rigid was fun, but I have abused my body too much over the years to deal with the after math.
I didn't like the shifting that came with it, but have since swapped out for some SRAM stuff that I do like. The biggest problem I have had was the fact that even though I didn't ride it a lot, my rear shock decided to no longer hold air. I needed a bike before I went to Colorado last year and didn't really have the $100 to fix the shock. So, I purchased a replacement shock off of evil bay. The problem was that the spacers were not interchangeable. Well, I put my head to it and ended up with a stack of washers as my spacers. This actually worked quite well and survived the whole week out west. Actually the spacers and shock is still on the bike and working.
Well, this spring I was going to do my part and stick it to the man that wants everyone to spend a ton of money working and upgrading their bike all the time. I have a 1997 Proflex 857 that I built up to ride. I figured that it worked great back then and still works good, why not use it. Well last weekend I finally got off of the road bike long enough to take it for a spin. Needless to say I was not pleased with my experience. I am ready to strip it apart and put it on ebay. Actuall it is not the frames fault. Everyone would think that an old bike like that could not stand up to today's standards, but it does climb very well and is really light.
The problems of the ride started when I was having some ghost shifting problems and my chain wanting to slip over the teeth when I put a good load on it. Then when I put it in the granny gear, it was grinding even more and ready to slip and hurt me. So, I just kept it in the middle ring and did what I could.
Then I started to hear a sound that reminded me of a cracked frame. I thought great, I just what I needed. But, it turns out that my head set was making all the noise and sounded like it was ready to explode. Top that with my rear break cable not working as smooth as it should, making my wrist hurt for the next two days. I am ready to take the plunge and buy a new bike. I really hate to, but I just think I need to. I know I could ride my SS more and get back in to shape enough to ride that bike well. But, I have plans to ride more at Pisgah this winter. I don't think I am up to that challenge. So, that puts me in the bike market with no money. Just where I wanted to be.
The only positive out of the problem is, I plan on putting my shock back on my SS to help with my wrist problems. Rigid was fun, but I have abused my body too much over the years to deal with the after math.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Brown County Breakdown
Fourth Annual Brown County Breakdown HMBA Epic Mountain Bike Ride on Sunday, October 12.
$50 Early Bird registration begins on Monday, August 11 and ends Sunday, September 14.
$65 General registration begins on Monday, September 15 and ends Friday, October 10.
Online registration closes at 11:45 p.m. on Friday, October 10.
Choose route lengths of 20, 35, 50, 75 or 100 miles!
Go to www.browncountybreakdown.com for registration, up to date information and event FAQ's.
Monday, August 11, 2008
The HMBA Century
Wow, what a great weekend for riding. I could not complain one bit about the weather. Friday night I headed up to Damon's to crash and get half way to the starting point for Saturday's ride. Well, that was my excuse anyway. It was not really 1/2 way, but it was closer. It also helped that Damon was going to ride too, so we could share the trip. I also needed to hang out with him since it has been so long since I have done so.
Friday night was great. Huge bonfire and company to chill with and get ready for the ride. The lack of sleep for the week and the time I went to bed didn't start out the ride on a good note. Damon set his alarm for the wrong time and for some reason my phone was in my pocket. I guess I was afraid it was going to fall off the bed and the dogs were going to eat it. The problem with the location of the phone was the fact that it muted my alarm more then normal and we didn't get up as planned. After we were up and moving, we got everything ready as fast as we could and headed out the door.
We were not real late, but too late to see most of the group leave the parking lot. By the time get were fully ready we were already 30 minutes behind everyone else. Not too far down the road a rider caught us and as he was passing I was told that he looked like my pace and I should hop on. So, wanting to get a good ride in I did just that. Mike was great to ride with. Being an ICS team member helped me feel like I knew him more then just a few seconds. We cruised way faster then I should have been going, but I was hanging and wanted to stay as long as I could. I knew that if I had to fall off the back I could always recover some by the time Damon hooked back up.
Well I can not complain one bit about Mike. He kept waiting for me at the top of all the hills to make sure he didn't drop me. I could ride with him on everything except the hills. I already knew that I didn't have my climbing legs that I normally have. Some of those hills were by far the steepest and hardest hills that I have road up. That should have been one heck of a jump start to my climbing training. Now I just need to hit the woods more.
Over all I rode good all day. We ended up averaging something like 16.5 mph. Not that great, but considering the climbing involved and how chicken I was to really let it all out on the down hills, it is not that bad a pace. We ended up climbing over 6000' of elevation for 106 miles. Great rest stops and good road markings. This is on the must do list for next year. The only thing I want to do different is first of all, plan ahead more and get some more climbing in and secondly, make it to the start before everyone leaves so I can see how long I can hang with the fast group.
I really need to get a copy of the map so I can head back up there and do parts of the loop again some time.
Friday night was great. Huge bonfire and company to chill with and get ready for the ride. The lack of sleep for the week and the time I went to bed didn't start out the ride on a good note. Damon set his alarm for the wrong time and for some reason my phone was in my pocket. I guess I was afraid it was going to fall off the bed and the dogs were going to eat it. The problem with the location of the phone was the fact that it muted my alarm more then normal and we didn't get up as planned. After we were up and moving, we got everything ready as fast as we could and headed out the door.
We were not real late, but too late to see most of the group leave the parking lot. By the time get were fully ready we were already 30 minutes behind everyone else. Not too far down the road a rider caught us and as he was passing I was told that he looked like my pace and I should hop on. So, wanting to get a good ride in I did just that. Mike was great to ride with. Being an ICS team member helped me feel like I knew him more then just a few seconds. We cruised way faster then I should have been going, but I was hanging and wanted to stay as long as I could. I knew that if I had to fall off the back I could always recover some by the time Damon hooked back up.
Well I can not complain one bit about Mike. He kept waiting for me at the top of all the hills to make sure he didn't drop me. I could ride with him on everything except the hills. I already knew that I didn't have my climbing legs that I normally have. Some of those hills were by far the steepest and hardest hills that I have road up. That should have been one heck of a jump start to my climbing training. Now I just need to hit the woods more.
Over all I rode good all day. We ended up averaging something like 16.5 mph. Not that great, but considering the climbing involved and how chicken I was to really let it all out on the down hills, it is not that bad a pace. We ended up climbing over 6000' of elevation for 106 miles. Great rest stops and good road markings. This is on the must do list for next year. The only thing I want to do different is first of all, plan ahead more and get some more climbing in and secondly, make it to the start before everyone leaves so I can see how long I can hang with the fast group.
I really need to get a copy of the map so I can head back up there and do parts of the loop again some time.
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