Got Forked Up Last Night!

My new (to me) White Brothers Fluid 110 29er fork finally arrived Thursday after some delivery issues.  I got a screaming good deal from a Misfit Psycles Garage Sale that I just couldn't pass up.  In fact, it was sheer luck that the fork was still available because when I contacted Peter he said the last buyer's card failed.  Then, getting it down here seemed to be a challenge.  It got returned to sender once and I was afraid I wasn't going to get it and then I would be screwed because I already traded my Carver Carbon Fiber fork for an Avid BB7 brakeset and some handlebars.  However, it finally came!  Woo hoo!

Kicking the car out of the garage and firing up the Kerosun heater the garage was magically transformed back into the man cave/bike shop.  With a fresh six pack of Naragansett Porter and Sirius Liquid Metal on the stereo, I got to work.  I wanted to try this 120mm, adjustable height stem from SpotBrand Bikes that I got with the Long Board but never used in order to make the cockpit larger seeing that this is a 19" frame and a tad small on me.  The only 31.8 bars that I have are these really wide, 762mm Sunline bars that I got in trade for the Carver.

I had to trim 20mm off the sheath that the stem sits on.  That hacksaw that I found at the dump a few months ago came in handy for this operation but I really need find a better cutting guide.

My box of cables yielded enough housing to cover both front and rear brakes.

Just need to decide whether to keep these cranks or go with my newer race face cranks on the Raleigh XXIX.

Going to use my Tubeless wheelset for now.

Showing some skin in December!

Taking advantage of another 50+ degree day I headed out on the Raleigh to try out the new cockpit.  The first thing I notice was my Garmin was at a weird angle but a good angle for that matter.  Bars felt solid, too.  So I took off for a quick workout ride.  I was feeling a little stiff after yesterday's workout at the office gym.  What I thought was going to be just a normal spin class turned into a lot more that I was prepared for but I was able to hang, just paying for it today.

Riding up the to the Gussy trail got me thinking that I need more to ride now that SSAP is back on again so now it's time to start training for the event.  This past year I have added more road riding into my regimine but I think I need to start adding some single speed road miles, too.  Riding the Raleigh, despite the weight, keeps getting better and better.  The bottom bracket issues have been resolved and the bike feels really tight. 

Although shotgun season is over, hunting is not over at Upper Paugussett State Forest because it's now muzzle loader season!  Yippee!  And then Bow Season opens up again, when this is over.  There was a truck parked on Sanford Road so I had to surmise someone was hunting along the blue trail and then I saw the Hunter Dumper's van at the Echo Valley lot and John, as I came to learn his name today because he was standing as still as a scarecrow on the blue trail about 20 yards in from where it crosses the Gussy on the right of way, normally hunts along the Gussy.  Good thing I am wearing Orange and other bright colors, and I have my bear bell!

This one corner has been bugging me lately and it's largely due to the fact that the turn is really abrupt so I thought I would widen it a bit and have it go around the outside of the tree instead of on the inside.  I foot raked the path but next time I come back in I will make it pretty and probably bench it some.

For awhile now I have considered myself a dirt purist and trying keep the knobbies only in the dirt. Road riding to the trail head is a necessary evil but now I changing that mindset.  On today's ride I threw in a little road action by climbing up Butterfield Road (yes, there is a Strava Segment here).  I am not sure how accurate Strava is when it's showing the % grade but it has one section at 41%, on average, however, the first section seems to be an 18% grade and the second section is 16%.  While I my HR never hit the red zone in the woods it did on this climb! 

Bar Replacement

Thought I would share the mini collage that I made right after riding home with only half a handlebar.  I never new the manufacturer on the handlebar but I imagine it came from somewhere with little or no reputation for quality.  It was fun on the way home thinking about the possibilities of riding with only one arm and how it could be done.

  I was seriously contemplating converting the Raleigh into a Singlespeed Monstercrosser the other night, especially since I just picked up an Origin 8, Gary II bars, as well as having Gary I bars still, and my Misfit Psycles FMe bars to choose from but I am going to hold off on that conversion till after I get the Kona rebuilt and decide whether I am going to sell that bike or race it again at the 5th Annual running of Singlespeed A-Palooza (SSAP).  

With my 2013 racing goal set, I still need a bike to work out on and even though it's kind of heavy I really like riding this bike.  I rummaged through my parts box when I found that I had not one but two T2 Carbide handlebars that were on the Burley Rock'n'Roll Tandem.  While not as light as the titanium bars that I had on there they certainly look sturdy enough so I thought I would give them a try.  

I also decided to try a different stem, an Easton 100mm with a negative 6 degree rise.  While I have felt that I could use a shorter stem I am going to try it this way to see if it makes any difference.  If not, I will hit eBay for some different stems to try to see what works best.

 

Monday RAW in Shorts!

I couldn't pass up getting back into the forest Monday after work because local temperatures were in the upper 50s and after Sunday's fiasco I needed a real ride. I got up Poly Brody's Backside pretty quickly and what really surprised me was that I was barely winded climbing the fire road.  At one point there was a blur in front of me and a crashing through woods immediately off to the right that I can only fathom was a deer.  Based on the droppings I have been seeing along this part of the trail there seems to be deer frequenting.  Closer to the water crossings something with a really big wingspan took flight in front of me, too, which was really cool. 

Reaching around the end of the Gussy I went back up and did a reversal on the roller near the blue trail crossing and then took my wavy gravy side dish route.  Bailing out after riding through cleavage I headed home via Poly Brody's Frontside and further up the forest road I found another empty Michelob Ultra in the stonewall.  I drained it and left it there for the next time I ride through.  By the time I got home it was really dark and temperatures were back in the low 40s once again.  

Bar Breaker

Headed back out to Upper Paugussett Sunday morning on the Raleigh XXIX and decided to head up the Mulikin Trail.  It was damp and foggy and I may have over dressed a bit because at the top of the first part of the Mulikin I was soaked.  Further up, though, looks like someone foot raked my reroute.  Finally some acknowledgement!  I put that reroute in years ago and have been riding it ever since because the section it by passes is always muddy and wet.

Looks like the Trail Gnomes also got to the tree that was blocking the trail thanks to Hurricane Sandy.  Just need to reposition it a bit because it's going to make a nice a skinny!

  

Just past the future skinny I came across a big group of riders heading down the Mulikin.  Turns out, a friend of mine, Ed P., was leading a ride for bunch of his buddies.  I gave them the G-2 on the Gussy and figured that I might run into them later on the Gussy.

 

The primary focus of today's ride was to head into the woods to see if I could find an old trail that I used to ride before I started working on the Gussy.  It lies between forest road and the Gussy and is a mixed back of old woods roads, skidder paths, and probably a hunter trail.

Shortly into the forest is when disaster struck.  I popped over a log when my titanium handle bar broke at the stem!  The funny thing is when it snapped it made this very loud tinkling sound that I have heard time and time again.  Putting two and two together, I think the bars were cracked and today it finally gave.

There was no point bailing and since I wanted to head this way I decided to push the bike to explore these woods and try to find my old trails.  There are some really fantastic rock out croppings that would make some nice rollers, up-and-overs, and spines, not to mention some incredibly flat terrain.  Halfway in from the Brody I followed a combination of old skidder paths and game trails.  I think I might have even found an old cart road back there but it was very faint.

Halfway through is a big descent and I found one route that was probably an old skidder path but then it connected with one of the old logging roads that I used to ride many years ago.  It's all still there, just a little more over grown.  Can't wait for some snow to go back in there with the snow shoes.

Once I was back on the Poly Brody, I was able to ride by holding onto the stem with my right hand to climb and on the smoother stuff I could ride one handed all they way home.  At least I didn't have a Walk of Shame!