Tandem on the Chichaqua Valley Trail

It is not very often that we get to visit this trail.  If memory serves, we did not ride on it at all last year, 2013, and only once in 2014.  There is no good route from where we live in Des Moines to the trailhead outside Bondurant.  So we schlepped the Fisher Gemini tandem in back of the truck and headed out.  This probably saved at least 3 hours.

3 vehicles in the trailhead parking lot.  It is rarely crowded here.  We encountered 2 or three families, an elderly couple on trike recumbents, a group of 3 and the occasional solo rider.  Everyone was supper friendly even the dog that walked behind the trailer with two kids pulled by their father.  The sight of the tandem brought out the usual  questions that people have about that style of bike.

The trail is in good shape.  We could see snow and ice in the woods and in the streams.  The section between Mingo and Ira has a few areas of gravel but the rock is not loose and did not produce dust.  The Fisher has 26x1.25 tires on it and did not slide or squirm on this surface.  I imagine a road bike could handle it just fine.  There are a few rock patches between Ira and Baxter that are safe to ride on.  I do wish they would repave but this solution is much better than the old busted surface.  See
review from November 2012.  We did not notice the old damage or repairs this time.

Changes we did notice.  Ozzy's in Mingo is now under new ownership.  Well, new owners for over a year now.  It is the Greencastle Tavern.  They now have draft been.  I had a Buffalo Slap oatmeal stout.  Mary had a ShockTop.  Exile's Ruthie and a Goose Island were also available.  $8 for two mugs.  Mary saw a sign that said $2 Busch Light Tallboys.  Nice!  A thick crust pizza is available and judging by the aroma and the smiles of people enjoying those pies it must be good.  We sat out on the patio.  There were two families with a bunch of kids.  Greencastle is also part of the Friday Night Rides on the trail starting in May.

Our plan was to have pizza at the Home Oil convenience store in Baxter but the tacos we had for lunch at home kept our appetite sated until we got home.  After the obligatory photo session at the red caboose we sought out the Goat Ranch only to discover that this gem of a small town dive bar is no longer among us.  We went to Cadillac Jack's next to the caboose and trailhead.  Busch Light and a Bud Light $5.  Lynyrd Skynyrd played at volume.  Despite the spacious patio we drank inside.  No draft beer, no trifecta of Busch Light.

This frame was built by hand in 1890.   The basic diamond frame never really has changed.

A family walked in and complimented us on the tandem.  I returned the favor by complimenting him on his bike.  A 1890 frame!  Literally the oldest bike frame that we ever seen that is rolling.  Did not get the manufacturer's name.  Kewl!

Interesting how the seatpost connects.  Heavy metal rear triangle!

Wood BB shell and halfstep gearing (he's in middle ring prolly a 4T difference between middle and big ring.

The ride back was fast.  Did not stop for beer.  Saw the recumbent couple again.  Encountered another family with a little boy extremely proud of his bike.  The scooters and peanut butter sandwiches on the trail just inside Baxter were gone (I did on accident run over the handle of one scooter, rear wheel, but it was a maze).  At the start of the 3 mile climb to the trailhead were passed 2 guys and 1 woman enjoying adult bevies before they made the climb.  They reached the trailhead as we were loading up.  The older fellow, probably the father, was on an older Cannondale MTB with slicks, said it was his first ride ever.  Then the engineerical questions about the tandem.  24 years later and that tandem still fascinates people.  They only rode to the 3 mile point before turning around and heading off in the direction of Altoona.  I was jealous in a way.  I wish we had the time to ride here from home.  Someday we will.

To Protect & Serve

Cruising to work on that final stretch is always interesting.  Been staring at the traffic light for nearly a mile hoping that it will magically be green when I hit that intersection.  Judging my time by the Ford Escape blasting hip hop at volume at 6 am (if I am running behind I hear it).  Light is green hammer time up the incline to the overpass of I-80.  It's a 4 lane so I take my royal share of the outside lane.  Some ass in a black Camry encroaches if I ride too far to the right.  The law cleary states that cars must change lanes to pass.

I pass the debris that may have been or may not have been a dvd case.  It has been there for weeks.  At the center of the overpass I look down at the freeway traffic and smile that it is not me.  Today I have a mere head wind.  Sometimes it is so windy up here that I feel that there exists a possibility that I could be blown off the road and plunge to my death on the freeway below.  Not today.  Time to prepare for the downhill and 180 degree turn into the parking lot of work.

Something is wrong.  There is a car in the medium at the bottom of the descent.  No lights, no flashers, no reflectors.  Just the dark outline of a vehicle stationary where it does not belong.  I ease a bit to the right.  Cars are going to see this and want to get over and out of the way.  What a hazard.  As I pass I have a sudden urge to shout, "Are you OK?"  But I resisted.  Need to represent the bicycling community properly.

As I close the distance quickly as gravity and pedaling have increased my speed the car becomes more visible.  West Des Moines Police.  Radar/speed trap.  I have seen them here before on westown Pkwy.  Sometime in Farm Bureau parking lot.  Yesterday across from Lowes searching a mini-van.  Great, I just got dosed with radiation.  Worse still, a Prius passes a little too close.  What is it with assholes in Toyotas out here??

Then I think about it.  He/she is getting cars to slow down or punishing those that speed.  This is a good thing.  But years of driving and the general abuse of power by government agencies have lowered my opinion of police in general.  Revenue generating or safety promotion?  And why did he/she miss the Prius passing me illegally?

Mixte Action To Cumming

No party at the Lean To today.

With the weather improving and our winter commuter bikes heavy, slow and half functioning, Mary and I decided to go on a ride together after work.  We have over 1600 miles each since the beginning of the year and very few of those miles have been for pleasure.  Even less have been in "warm" weather. But winter is still with us despite the Official Season Change To Spring the day before.  Roads are filthy covered with salt, sand, debris from car wrecks.  Trails are in similar conditions with the addition of mud both dried and wet and tree debris.  We took our cheap mixte frame bicycles.

I covet our road bikes.  I refuse to ride them with such crappy conditions. Maybe because I see what happens to our winter bikes.  The sand and the salt and the filth and the destruction.  Wait until May to bust out the top o line.  We need our best road bikes to be in perfect condition for the early June ride across South Dakota.  The mixtes, on the other hand, are less expensive and cheaper to maintain.  We literally can abuse them until mid May when we need to do serious road bike rides.

The went according to early morning discussions and daytime texts.  Meet at the Raccoon River bridge in Water Works Park and ride to the Cumming Tap.  We had not been there since October of last year.  I would leave from West Des Moines where I work on the other side of the freeway.  Mary would leave from home since she had the day off..  Pack lights, hats, gloves and jackets as it may be cold and dark by the time we return.

What we did not count on was the strong 30 mph wind from the NNW.  Now I did get to enjoy it from WDM to the bridge.  Turbo, WEP (war emergency power) boost.  Smooth sailing.  And in the back of my head I feared the 13 mile ride home from the Tap since it would be into the that evil wind.  Gusts up to 41 mph.

1977 Raleigh Grand Prix and 90s vintage Bianchi Boardwalk.  Neither currently as when originally built and sold.

On a normal bike this would not be as big of a deal.  Scoot ass back, stretch out arms and flatten back.  Ride in the drops.  All skills we will need in June.  BUT we are riding bikes that put one in the most upright sitting position imaginable.  No drops, no aerobars, nada.  The Bianchi was a set of Tiki moustache bars and the Raleigh has something similar.  Great for slow speed maneuverability but extremely high profile.  Not aerodynamic.  Good for a tailwind!  To her credit, Mary did not chicken out.

So we made it to the Tap in record time.  Only got passed by 1 road bike.  Empty trail.  Two road bikes at the bar.  Stayed for one round.  And headed out.  We saw Laura and Will heading to the Tap on loaded touring bikes as well as a few other brave souls.  Really need a cheap diner and a Casey's there.  Hunger was a major factor in our short visit.

Tiki bars.  The red bike is my winter commuter.  The Tiki bars put my up higher than on the red bike which is already a high position.

NOTE ON THE TRAIL:  Massive tree cleanup/clearing outside Cumming.  Use the park turn off as the trail is extremely dirty and covered with mud, rocks, tree debris.  ALSO noticed a sign saying that the trail would be closed for two weeks in March or April.  Linda thinks they are doing drainage work.

It was not bad at all.  I use Endomondo to track mileage when I ride a bike lacking a proper computer.  Every mile was less than 5.5 minutes with the exception of 1 but that was still less than 6 minutes.  The curved nature of the trail and the protection the trees offer help mitigate the wind.  That and the general descent from Cumming to Orlandos.  Got home before dark and collected Timmy and went to Mullets for dinner.  I ended up with 45 miles for the day.  A good day.  A great day.

Yeah, take your stupidest bike and fight the wind.  Come May, I am going to kill on my road bike.

Normal Late Winter Morning Commute

Typical morning. Take Fritz out at 345 am for his morning constitutional. It had rained, no snow and above freezing but a tad too windy. Come back in and check the weather on the WWW, nothing on radar but the wind is from the north at 19 mph. Better than a west wind. Shit, shower, shave and brush teeth. Dress and kiss Mary good bye. Fritz has taken my spot on the bed. Step outside and retrieve FX from storage. It is snowing now. Took me 4.5 miles to realize that if... I turned off my headlamp I'd be able to see better. Illumination of snow in front of my face is blinding. Taking an extra minute or two for every mile. Wind only really bad as I cross the freeway on the Westown Pkwy overpass, the highest elevation of the ride and zero wind protection. I shake my fist at it and ask if that is the best it can do. Downhill from there and a turn into the parking lot. A few moments until coffee. I made it once again.

The Worst of It

I think we have seen the worst of it.  I believe the last of the below zerex mornings has passed.  The 10 Day forecast looks acceptable.  Every moment forward lessens the chance of a return to the extreme cold.  10 days from now it will almost be St Patrick's Day.  It should be green by then.  The snow does not bother me.  I can get through or around it.  But the -20F hurts.  From now on it could snow 12" and melt in 2 days.  The worst of it has to be over.

I think the worst of it was the morning that Mary and I rode together.  Within the first mile of trail we encountered a bird with a broken wing flopping around on the trail.  It was going to die.  If not from exposure but maybe a fox or cat of the snow plow.  It was extremely cold.  We could barely speak not having ridden long enough to warm up.  All we could do is look at the poor thing and roll on.  Not a good omen.

There are four electronic billboards along our route.  We always hope that the temperature page is displayed when we come within view of them.  Just a reminder of how bad or good it is at the moment.  On this particular day the St Jude's Children Hospital sponsored weather page come up.  Or it may have been the one from Orchard Place.  Off-white screen with a tree in the left corner and 3 windows for the forecast, now, tomorrow and the day after.  All three were blank.  What does that mean?  No temperature?  Negative Kelvin?  At 0 K all molecular movement stops.  I had a thought at at negative K all matter ceased to exist, hence no weather.  Mary, myself and our two bikes were the only things left in the universe and at any moment we would mercifully disappear with all of matter.  Not the case.  St Jude, btw, is the patron saint of lost causes.

Yes, that morning was the worst of it.  -5F with strong headwind.  Each pedal stroke laborious.  Ice inside the helmet and jackets.  Mary's hair frozen to her hat.  Toes getting painful with 3 miles to go.  Seems the colder it is the slower I ride.  Too cold for the truck to start.  Still need to get a new battery for it anyway.

The Proletarian Fat Bike

I did something I thought I would never do.  I purchased a bicycle from Wal Mart online.  For the price of a Ragbrai bar tab I had delivered to my house a 26" oversized all terrain bicycle, the Mongoose Beast.  $207.11 including tax and free shipping.  I had to put the wheels, seat and maybe another item or two on myself.  Going into this I had no illusions that it would in anyway compete with Surly's Pugsley or the Salsa Mukluk.  The Beast is heavy, weighing over 40 lb, single speed bicycle with coaster brakes.  But for $200 I could own a bike with 4+ inch tires instead of spending upwards of $2000+.  And if it ends up being a true POS it could always be modified into a cruiser for pub crawls.  I have no illusions of racing anymore, being fat and old.  I like to ride for the sake of riding.  I ride over 100 miles per week all year round.  I do not need to race.

My main desire for a fat bike was to use it in snow.  I could never get the straight answer from other  fat bike owners on how these bikes handle in deep snow that 100s of cars have smashed down.  I know my skinny tire bikes even with studded tires fail in these conditions as well as my 26x2.2 bikes.  With stock gearing the Beast moves through snow good but I have a feeling it will be better with the 22T cog.

I own a lot of bicycles.  I have spent multiple thousands of a few of them.  I have ridden over 6000 miles per year for the past 5 years.  I ride to work every day even in winter.  I love bicycles.  I even had the privilege to have ridden a Salsa fat bike and the Moonlander.  Yet I never felt the urge to purchase one.  I'd much rather spend that money on a new touring bike or another road bike.  Then along came the Beast.

Usually I spot a bike in the LBS and begin to lust over it.  Find a need that burns my heart.  Honestly, the last few bikes I have purchased I new test rode.  Laid the money down and told them to wrap it up.  But when I stumbled upon the Beast I did my research.  $200 for a new bike is extremely cheap and the quality would have to be suspect.  But out of the 104 reviews I read the word "fun" popped up 99 times.  And the more I looked online the more I discovered that this bike has an internet community dedicated to helping other owners in taming the Beast.  It is the most researched bike I ever purchased.  I knew what I was getting into and I knew what I needed to do once it arrived.  Namely, put liberal amounts of grease on the bearing surfaces since that seems to be where Mongoose cut costs.

The Beast with The Beast.  Fritz was a young pup in this photo taken in late September.  Now he weighs over 85 lb or about twice the weight of the bicycle!

Taming the Beast

The bottom bracket was the first issue.  Being the impatient person I am I put about 15 miles on the bike before taking it in for the BB job.  Sure enough, no grease on the bearings.  To make matters worse the spindle was bent.  Whether I bent it or it was defective to begin with or a shipping snafu, I had to contact Pacific Bicycles to get a new spindle.  I did not demand a new one, simple inquiry of the dimensions so i could purchase stronger and lighter one.  They sent me a new one free of charge included the bearings as well.  I went to the Collective and installed them myself.

Gearing is the main issue.  The solo chainring is a 36T with a 18T rear cog.  That is a bit steep for a heavy bike with WIDE low pressure tires.  It moved around good in snow, on single track trails that are flat or lack huge climbs and on the river bottom (sand) but on the streets and trails it is a work out to get it to accelerate and maintain a cruising speed.  Hills?  They are a bitch with the stock gearing.  I have over 500 feet of ascent on my commute to work yet i took the Beast one day.  Stayed seated all the way.  A slow grind but I made it.  Switching back to my normal commuter I felt like Superman the next day!  Something needs to be done.

There are many options such as adding a custom built adapter plate that allows for a derailleur and rear disc brake.  Internal gear hubs.  I briefly considered the Metropolis Patterson Transmission crank to make it a 3 speed.  Most people simply swap out the 18T for something more humane such as a 20T or a 23T.  Some swap the crank for a chainring with less teeth.  I opted for a 22T made by Sturmey-Archer.  After all, it is a 3 tab cog secured by a metal circular clip.

The results were felt immediately.  The bike will now accelerate without making me sweat albeit with some loss of top end but then again it was a bitch to spin out the 18T.  Hill testing today.  No issues.  It's not a antelope but it will climb much better than before.  I even could mess with gloves and sunglasses during a climb.  I may change the rear to a 21T or 20T since it is an easy procedure.  I may even get a 23T for serious off road.  But I am happy with it now and cannot wait to get it back in the woods when the trails dry up a bit from the snow melt.

The rumor in the Mongoose Fat Bike community is that there is a 1x7 fatty coming out in early March named Dolomite.  Price point, less than $300.  Shimano 7-speed rear and disc brakes.  If these rumors are true, the Beast and its brother Brutus, single speed with 32x18 gearing, will fade away as novelties but should be remembered as the Peoples Fat Bike.  which begs the point.  Whenever I ride the Beast people stop and look.  Kids always yell "COOL BIKE!"  And even adults take notice.  During today's ride I was stopped outside walgreens.  A gentleman in his 50s inquired about it.  He really dug it.  Perhaps these people will get them.  Perhaps these people will discover the joy and benefits of riding a bike.  And if they can do this without spending $2000 so much the better.  Nothing will deter people from a bike than the price of admission.  If it takes less than $300 to get someone on a fat bike then I don't know a better bike.  I just hope they take the time like I did to make it a joy and not a waste of money.

At the Laotian Buddhist Temple, Des Moines, Iowa.

Mile # 1001

The 4th digit will only change 7 more times this year if I am lucky.  Any more means that I am riding too much.  Hard to balance family, work, house and life when in the saddle for 7000+ miles per year.  I narrowly missed 8K last year and have a feeling I will reach that point this year.  Many opportunities are available for it.  But 9000 or 10,000 miles?  I don't think I even want to run that river dry.

My original guess of where I would roll past that mark was near the University Tap.  I would stop in and have a beer and hope that people would join me.  But at work I redid the maths in my head and realized that University Tap would not make the nut.  I would have to ride farther.  Water Works Park.  So I stopped at Windsor Heights Hy Vee and purchased a bottle of Barefoot Citrus Fusion champagne for Mary, as she probably has her 1000,  and I to share at home and a bottle of Stone Brewery's Cali-Belgie IPA for my self when I hit the magic spot.

That spot was in view of George Flagg Drive so I rode an extra mile to the Fleur Viaduct to break the seal on the beer.  Discretion.  Legally purchased drugs must not be consumed in view of the public.  The viaduct is a better place anyway.  So I pulled over and parked the bike.  Photoed the bottle on the bike and Tweeted it.  Then another biker pulled up and asked if I needed help.  I wished I had a 2nd bottle to offer.  But we had a nice conversation.  When we finally exchanged names we realized that we pass each other almost every morning at 5 am somewhere on the Bill Riley Trail.  Every morning, snow, rain, -5F, wind from hell, ice, warm weather ect.  The last time I took Ingersoll instead of the trail he did too!  I cannot think of a better person to enjoy the moment with than Paul except for Mary and Craig and a few others.  But someone that has been there this year, this miserably rough and overlong winter.  Paul has been there.  Where was David this afternoon?  Probably the streets.

But 2014 is starting very good for me.  My commute is now over twice as long as it was when I began 2013.  My preference to bike instead of drive is as strong as ever.  I have only driven to work once this year.  And I have survived the very worst that weather can dish out at a bicyclist.  Hoping that the winter will retreat soon but I think I can handle more, not that I want too.

It was at the last quarter of 2007 that I started dedicating myself to riding more.  Through the years I made simple goals.  One that really helps to add the miles up is to have at least 100 miles every week.  Not an easy feat but this year I have done that thus far.

So lets look at my best years.

2010 it took 14 weeks to achieve the first 1000 miles for the year on April 3rd.
2011 it took 9 weeks to achieve the first 1000 miles for the year on February 27
2012 it took 9 weeks to achieve the first 1000 miles for the year on March 3rd
2013 it took 9 weeks to achieve the first 1000 miles for the year on March 3rd (again!)
2014 it took 8 weeks to achieve the first 1000 miles of the year on February 19