Snow Commute

I've been off the commute for the last couple of weeks, and I'm noticing a significant increase in my frustration and irritability. I'd like to say it's 100% due to not commuting, but other factors are playing a role. I have not had nearly enough dirt time since winter has set in, and it's been a very mild winter for CO standards. I've been buried at work lately, and have begun to notice some unfavorable tactics that I need to gain some distance from (need to take the high road instead of trying to prove my point... since no one really cares anyway). Finally, the distance and time between my family is really getting old. So, in an effort to not lose my mind and job, I've decided to start commuting in again, and what better day to choose to commute in, but the day we're expected to get close to 2' of snow... heck, why not?

I'm not gifted at taking over the head pictures, my arms are too short, and my head is too fat, but here's my best attempt. *note* mine were the only tracks on the trail Friday

I left the office ~4:00PM on Friday, some very deep sections of snow, but the bike paths were mostly clear!

Skinny(ish) 700x32's will go back on soon, as will fenders. The Salsa El Mariachi does it all and never complains.

The last two weeks....

As I mentioned in the last post, Colorado weather is schizophrenic. Last weekend we had 60* weather and Schnauzer insisted we ride and show off his new "Beast" a giant diesel F350. He suggested 3 Sisters in Evergreen, and since I'd never been and he was going to drive, it was an easy "sure". We met up near his place, and continued on to the village of Evergreen, CO. Passing through downtown Evergreen it felt like a Norman Rockwell winter scene, or the cover of an L.L.Bean catalog. Frozen lake, kids ice skating, people ice fishing, dogs frolicking in the snow. Awesome little town! We got to 3 Sisters and Schnauzer let me in on his secret weapon... evidently, over the holidays he got bored and purchased a Pugsley (see honey, it's not just me others suffer from the same bike lust affliction). Needless to say, we had a blast on 3 Sisters, we only got 8-10 miles in total, but it took us all day due to the snow drifts and hike a bike sections. If you haven't tried out a Pugsley, put it in your list it's as much fun as I can remember on a bike... did I mention we were riding in snow drifts while wearing short sleeved shirts an enduring 60* temps? Crazy.

So Yesterday, not to be outdone, Schnauzers once again put together a great ride. This time we would travel south to the once bustling city of Pueblo. While temps in the Golden area were hovering ~ 38*, Pueblo would see a high of the mid 60's. The trail system was a mix of west Texas and open prairie. This time around we had Tim and his very capable girlfriend along for the ride. Tim has been in Colorado for a few weeks more than I, and is originally from the east coast also (VT). His girlfriend is originally from NY, Schnauzers is also from NY/NJ and I was born in the NY area and lived on the east coast a good portion of my life, so we were a group with very similar tastes. Tim is a wild man and has not yet learned fear. His girlfriend while a little more reserved on the tech stuff, did not give up and smoked us in the wide open sections (she is a former roadie after all). The trails were fantastic and the weather unbelievable. Pueblo is very arid and warm, the perfect get away for mountain bikers in CO while the good stuff is covered in snow. We only rode 10-15 miles, but they were super technical. We finished off the day in style with "Sloppers" from Grays Coors Tavern. Evidently these guys won on Food Wars Battle of the Slopper in 2010... I'm glad I got to taste it, and after a hard day of riding it did hit the spot, but I don't think it will ever be a part of my regular diet.

Oh, and sorry for no pixels, I've evidently misplaced or lost my camera and I'm sick of my mobile providers stupid billing system, so I'm going old school with no fancy cell phone pix. Going to try to track down my camera, it's been lost since my last trip to TX.

Colorado weather = koo koo

at 4 am there was no snow, by 5:30 the streets were covered. After a day in the cube farm, it was 20* colder than the morning commute but the snow was mostly gone....

Protected bike lanes work

Kinzie Street: Chicago's First Protected Bike lane from Streetfilms on Vimeo.

I stole this from Seattle Bike Blog Nice work Chi town... now if only you could fix your broken "pizza" and lessen your brutal winters ;^)

What do you do on a snowy Saturday....

....with no rides on the agenda? Install fenders on the commuter bike of course.

Some "minor" modifications were needed as these fenders, while listed a disc brake compatible, should really read (Disc Brake Compatible if you have a degree in Mechanical Engineering, and several years of mock up and design under your belt... a full on manufacturing facility is highly recommended too).

As you can see in picture #1, the support struts required a good amount of massaging to get to work with the disc brake caliper. I suppose I could do what everyone told me was "easiest", and add a ton of spacers, but frankly I don't care for the look of that. Just looks wrong. While I won't call my butchery...er..."modification" elegant, it gets the job done. These fenders are also not out of the box compatible with suspension corrected forks as you can see in the last picture. I had to improvise a new bracket which would have meant using a dremel tool to remove the old bracket, and fabricating a new bracket. My dremel is in TX, and I don't have any errant bracketry up here in CO... not to mention a bench vise to simplify the modification process. Instead I used an old Mavic hub adjusting tool I had laying around in the bottom of the tool box, cut off the wrench end, and hand bored two mounting holes to extend the existing brackets reach.

Overall I think they turned out pretty well. I'm not super happy with the gap on the rear fender, I'll have to ponder a fix on that. Considering the lack of a proper or even half ass shop, they will do. The ultimate test will be Monday morning to see if they keep the slush and road grime off my bum.

And time passes

Wow, have I really not blogged since Sept? It's been a busy few months. New place to live, new job, new friends, new rides. I should be documenting more of this here, but alas my lazy bone has gotten the better of me. That and the ease of the evil facebook have limited the time I take out to reflect and journal about my adventure.

So, since moving to Colorado, I've become a full time bike commuter again... wish I could say I'm car free, but I'm not that brave... yet. My commute is, as always, the best part of my day. I start the morning and have accomplished a goal, no matter what else happens during the day, no one can take that away from me. Then, on the way home I can purge the stress built up during the work day, by enjoying the ride home. It's the perfect pressure relief valve for my mind. The added benefit of course is that I'm burning calories and not contributing to co2 emissions.

I've also been inspired to try to take better care of myself, it's amazing how just a nudge of fitness will make you think more about the choices you make, or perhaps it's just the natural balance our mind and bodies crave. I've been eating a more plant based diet, and have tried to eliminate all animal based foods from my diet. It's not the easiest thing, nor am I some hard core vegan, but it makes sense that more natural, green foods are what our systems are designed for. I've read bits and pieces, and seen loads of documentaries. Most are pretty far out there, but the one that sealed the deal for me was "Forks over Knives". I'm not suggesting that everyone needs to go radical I've found that especially with families this is recipe for disaster, but if you just eliminate some animal based foods and slowly introduce a plant based diet over time, you will yield much better results. I say if you're a meat & potatoes kind of family, try going meatless one day a week. It's really not that hard, and it's a far better gift than anything money can buy.

Now the not such good stuff. I miss my family desperately. Fortunately we live in a high tech world, and I can video chat, text, FB and all other sorts of ways to communicate and stay in touch. This is a great relief, and makes being alone much easier, but I miss being with my little girl, hugging her, putting her to bed. This is a really tough time to be away as I feel I have limited "good years" left with her before she becomes more and more independent and wants less and less to do with me. Honestly, I feel selfish and trapped. I made this situation hoping things would fall into place, but my 20 something nomadic abilities have been thwarted by the responsibilities of family life and a shitty real estate market. But the decisions have been made, commitments need to be fulfilled, and with luck the experience will only serve to make our family unit stronger... only time will tell.

I think that's it for now. I have a bunch of pix to post up, will try to upload them from the phone & camera to picassa so I can link them here. Hope you all are doing well and enjoying this wonderful winter.

FB

Catching up....

.... so I've been in Denver for two weeks now. I still don't have internet access and the new job has been trying to melt my mind with a metric sh!t ton of new systems, cisco certification (11 hours to go), juniper self study, and PM self study for certification.... mix all that up with trying to learn new people, departments, responsibilities and I've been in the weeds... this will be the case until mid October, so not much update wise, but I'm sitting in the airport with free wifi (sucky 512k... seriously?) time to kill... thank you TSA! So here's the update... I'm loving Denver so far. Not so much that I love the city or anything... frankly it's nothing earth shattering, but the front range is awesome. I've been to Golden & Boulder, and while Boulder had the cool factor, Golden may just be the new place for us. It's like Boulder w/out the college and not nearly as expensive... did I mention they have a killer bike shop? Now I have to have one of these...

Made it!

Well, it took me 2 days... 971 miles. I used to be able to make this length of a journey by myself in one shot, but my body and mind won't allow it anymore. Leaving proved to be much more difficult than I imagined, I'm going to miss my girls terribly over the next 10-12 months. Panic stricken, I thought about turning around at Palo Duro Canyon SP and heading home like a failed run away kid that only gets to the end of the block before he realizes he's made a critical error in judgement. The thought plagued me right up to the point of taking possession of the apartment. The damage has been done, old job is not an option (couldn't stand that place)it's time to take my medicine. Typing this now, I miss my girls, this was not expected as K and I are very solid, we can weather any storm, but my precious little E... brutal. I don't know how people cope with divorce or loss. I've gotten soft in my old age I suppose, maybe I've learned to care and think of more than myself through the experience of being a parent? Looking forward to my first visit home.

Day 2 here has proved to be much better, went for an easy spin just to get out of the house. Rode the Cherry Creek trail around Cherry Creek State Park (lake)... got about 1/2 way though before I got a flat... looks like tubeless will be a requirement here too. The Rockies are beautiful, but I'm having a tough time enjoying them without the rest of my team :(

T minus 24 hours....

.... no time left to eff around. Tomorrow morning I'm off for 16+ hours of windshield time. I have most of my clothing sorted, and boxed save for a couple of suits and some random bits. I have to put together a quick kitchen supply, and finish up with the bike/camp stuff. Then this evening I have to load everything up and get a good nights sleep. When the girls depart for school, I'll head on out. I'm still on the fence as to where to stop. If I were Chuck Norris tough, I'd solider on and drive until I got to Denver, but I'm no Chuck.... I'm thinking I'll look for a place to camp overnight in southern Colorado. Need to check the forecast and make sure it will be doable then commit to it. I still have so much to do, why do I always wait until the 11th hour to do stuff... So this may be the last post for a while. I still have to get settled in and I'm sure it will take a week or so before I'm acclimated, but I'll post up as soon as I'm all set and have some pix to post up.

Wish me luck....

The fix....

... so despite my awesome offer to sell or trade my Osprey Raptor 14, no takers. Funny how this was the best pack in the universe according to all the arm chair experts, yet when there was a deal to be had no one stepped up. I ended up emailing Wingnut to let them know how much I love their stuff and to also let them know that I had committed the ultimate sin and purchased a pack other than theirs. Scott wrote back and let me know that being a holy man, he'd forgive my sins, but I must atone for them (see the linkage in there Scotty boy?...eh?eh?). I'm a humble guilt ridden Catholic/Jew, what can I say. So while I wait for some super top secret stuff to come to fruition, I had to get my ride on. The thought of having to ride with the back breaker (aka Osprey Raptor) made me almost not want to ride.. now that's some f'ed up sh!t there kids. So I asked the wife once again if she'd mind helping me out with the pack repair. This went as expected (she's really pissed that I'm going to Colorado) so I was phuked.

What happens when you take this...

and this...

and sew your harness system back together?

No, it's not pretty, but it is super functional and yes that's 20# test (fishing line for the lay person). Strong as all get out, water proof and won't break like the cheap cloth thread the wife used on fix #1.

Since I was getting in touch with my inner crafter (I'm about as crafty as a turnip) I decided to add a couple of additional mod's to the pack. The excess strap-age has always bothered me flopping around. I've done the zip tie thing but always have to cut them when the seasons change and my clothing gets more/less bulky. I've also done the rubber band thing, but they never last more than a couple of weeks. I found some rubber strips and sewed them into a loop to hold the excess strap material. I can now ride without the long tails flapping about, and when the layers build up and I need to lengthen the harness I simply let in/out the straps and adjust the "strap on keeper" **kinda catchy huh?**.

My next modification or "Mod" as the MYOG crowd likes to call it, is to add a hanging handle to the pack. IMO this was one of the reasons my harness system could have failed. Unnecessary weight on the harness due to storage while hanging. With no handle or hanger all the weight of 100 oz of water plus all the stuff I carry is put on the harness system. I stole this idea from most back packing stuff. And while I doubt it would ever make it to a production model, I don't mind adding it to my old wing nut as I plan on getting a new one very soon.

1" wide nylon webbing (can be had at most climbing stores or camping stores) plus 700# para-cord (also can be found in most camping or surplus stores)

Stitch the para-cord at both ends to keep it from moving (could also use hot glue or crafting glue or so the wife tells me after the fact) then sew a "baseball stitch" I'm not kidding, there are hundreds of different stitch types try a youtube search for stitching or sewing... who knew. I chose the baseball stitch because it's easy and reasonably strong. The end result.

The extra long "tabs" will be sewn to the cargo area of the pack. The para-cord acts as the handle (I've seen this done with just the fold over technique, but feel the para-cord adds to the strength and comfort). With the extra long tabs I'll have more surface area to sew to the pack. On the inside of the pack I plan on using tent repair patches (mainly because they're a peel & stick and are water proof) to add to the strength of the handle and to ensure I don't rip the pack with the heavy load. If you're a crafter and know of a stronger/better material speak up before the wife gives me the lesson on how to use the sewing machine. I plan to create a rectangle stitch with a double row of stitching top and bottom with an X stitch in the middle. I've seen this used in a lot of climbing harnesses and heavy duty back packs. If you have any experience in this area please feel free to add your comments or email me. I don't know that I'll get this done right away, but it's in the planning stages now so speak up.

Argh!!!!.... or more back problems....

... so as my avid readers and fans all know, I recently had an issue with my stellar Wingnut Gear Hyper 3.0. The harness tore away from the main body due to my lackluster riding skills. The spousal unit was good enough to repair the harness (after making me repair/replace her AC compressor on her Jeep). Well, repaired it is no more. On last Wed's R&I ride, I was on the Mariachi and going through some rough when the harness gave up again. I cut my ride short and decided to keep the cooler & beers company until the rest of the crew finished their ride.

The next day I headed into San Antonio for a farewell lunch my former co-workers put together for me. Post lunch, I headed down to Good Sports to check out the latest offering in hydro packs from Osprey. Lots of folks on www.bikepacking.net swear by these things, and at least three of the SA crew are sporting them and claim to never want to go back to another style of hydro pack. So what the hay, I'll dive into the shallow end. A dry run @ the store seemed pretty good, and I do have to admit that this is a very well thought out pack. Pockets where you need them, compression straps a-plenty. I was sold.

So funday Sunday rolls around and I'm off to Flat Rock Ranch for possibly the last time. A bunch of the Mojo's came to bid me farewell. The ride started great, but by the middle of the first climb things began to take a horrible turn for the worse. My back started to twinge, by the time we finished chasing down Dennis & Jimmy my back was toast! I was able to limp through the rest of the lower loop, but my back was finished.

So what? So when you find something good, and that works for you, don't deviate from the plan... which is now making me wonder if I've made a horrible decision career wise and wonder of the Colorado move is just a huge mistake?

I'm feeling the pain (in my back, still) and crunch time is upon me. Still don't have a rental lined up, and no one seems to want to point me in the right direction as far as housing is concerned. I think I'm going to throw caution to the wind and choose a place close to work (less than 15 miles) so I can commute to the office and won't have to spend quite so much time staring at brake lights.

So if any of my faithful readers out there have a nice studio or 1 BR for rent in the DTC or Littleton area's speak up yo! Gotta keep the budget modest so 1k or less per month please.

For sale or trade for Hyper 3.0 & cash

Raptor 14 $80 (no bladder included... eww why would you want my germs?)

Trade for:

Hyper 3.0 & some cashish!

The calm before the storm....

... so the 429 has been side lined due to my neglectful cut and bleeding job over a year ago! Sure, I could just swap out some BB7's, but that takes work and effort, and besides the El Mariachi is supposed to be there when things go wrong with the 429... I ramble about this to say I haven't ridden since Wed. night's R&I where I noticed the neglect in the form of a fading rear brake lever, turns out I goofed on the re-assembly of the master cylinder and warped the diaphragm which was made more evident with the heat we've been experiencing here in Tejas. So looks like I'll be on the Mariachi on Wed... take it easy on me fellas. The one on your left is the one that's sh!t the bed...

Productivity moves on slowly. It dawned on me the other day that the Garage was a project I never got off the ground while the girls were away this summer. I need to tackle that before I head north and need to sort out what's trash versus what's a keeper... should be lots of stuff for the for sale bin here soon. Also on the "to do" list is to kill the weeds sprouting in the patio and apply new sand to the joints. While I'm away, will hire the guy that mows the neighbor's lawn to keep K from having to deal with that. She's a brave one, staying behind, but is trying to shuttle the dogs to Colorado with me to "ease" her burden... uh, yeah... me and two 85 # boxers in a 650 sq ft efficiency.... not sure how that eases my burden, but we'll manage.

C O L O R A D O !

It's official, I will be starting the new gig next month... don't feel bad for me, someone has to do it, and I'll step up and take one for the team. Shorts & Flip Flops tomorrow... think they'll mind?

Loads going on... not many pixels

Been super busy as of late, no time to stop and snap pixels. Since the wife and kiddo got back from their extended stay @ the "rents", I've not had a single Wed. R&I ride... as an "older gentleman" schedules and routine are required, and missing more than 6 rides is throwing my riding mojo out the window. That along with stress @ work and I've gained a few #'s.... I can now see how a shot off the radar and pushed maximum capacity. I realize it's a struggle to balance life when you have a busy job, young kids, wife, dogs, bills... but without health none of the other things in life can be managed. For me getting out and riding is a critical component to my mental and physical well being. That said, tonight is the first Wed. R&I I'll have been on since June!

Oh, I also have some potentially exciting news, but you'll have to wait until I update next for all 3 of you that still read blogs ;)

Ouch... that's gonna leave a mark

So while out riding Madrone on a tight section of gnar, I got too close to a tree towards the apex of a rocky turn and was literally swept off of the saddle. Evidently I caught a poorly groomed tree branch with my hydration pack (Wingnut Hyper 3.0). The Madrone trail demands respect. It's not nearly as difficult as City Park, but it's not the kind of place you can go and just space out... I wasn't giving enough respect. The end result, I ripped the main part of my harness system away from the body of the Wingnut (amazingly strong actually considering that it held my 178#'s @ 7-8 mph before giving up).

Hard to make it out in the pic, but the harness system pulled away from the body of the pack.

Close up detail of the tear.

We have out of town guests visiting our home beginning tonight, so looks like I'll miss yet another Wed. Night ride with the troops... at this rate it'll be fall before I get a mid week night ride in (I missed the last 3-4 since the wife was out of town leaving me with 3 dogs to tend to @ home). They were originally supposed to stay until Saturday which meant that outside of yard work, I was free to engage in an all day outing, but alas they are now staying @ the Fat Bob Hotel until Monday... maybe I'll sneak out anyway

Austin riding....

been riding up in Austin a lot lately.... Austin feels like home, I'd like to spend more time in Austin.

Dump Truck

The Crew

Getting a little too wild!

mojofest '11

Small group, but packs a big punch

New signs... cool

BCGB Ride...

... The Sunday before Memorial day I had the morning off. So rather than sit around and wait for a list of possible things the wife wanted me to do, I split while I could. Ended up north in Austin got a nice ride in on the Barton Creek Green Belt. I must say, I do love Austin's trails.

My little Honda Fit is a perfect hauler!

with room to spare!

Stay tuned for pix of our trip to the Frio!

Last day of school....

.... and my little girl is now officially a 1st grader! Wow how time flies. Glad to see kids are taking advantage of the bike rack @ school and are riding their bikes to school! If K gets the transfer to E's school, they can ride their bikes to school! What a great way to start and end your day... together... on a bike!

This weekend we're heading to the Frio to do a little camping, and a lot of rope swing adventures! Let's see if the old man can handle the high swing this year!

Government Canyon

Went out for a little ride on Government Canyon, when I called the ranger station to verify that the trails were open, they said yes, but that the front country was going to be a little wet, so we skipped the warm up on the front country and rode from parking area "C" to the main loop @ Joe Johnson, then hung a right to Recharge and began the climb up Far Reaches. I hadn't been out there since before the Terlingua trip, there were only three of us, Jeff29, BernieMac, and me... It was a nice casual pace with rest stops to let everyone catch their breath. I felt super strong and cleaned all of Far Reaches save for one bad line that left me high centered on a ledge. By the end we got in 13 or so miles. It was a great day to be on the trail with temps in the mid 70's and a slight breeze.

Jeff29r

BernieMac working his way up to the top

The view from the top of Far Reaches

The Mach 429

Need to get more long rides in. The Wednesday R&I is fun, but isn't doing what I need it to for me fitness wise. Looking to work in a Friday after work ride @ Government Canyon & Flat Rock Ranch.