collideous

Big Fat Plastic Wheels

I took my lunch early today to drive to the post office one more time. I was picking up the wheelset I had built by Mike Curiak. I first expected them in early April but Mike was able to lace them up before taking off to Alaska for a 1000 mile journey through snow. In the two boxes that arrived from the US were two WTB Prowler SL tires sitting on top of some really sweet Edge Composites All Mountain rims. Some solid Chris King singlespeed hubs in red build the center of the wheels and black DT Aerolite spokes hold it all together. I wanted a strong, reliable set of wheels for a rigid singlespeed and fat tires. Mike recommended the AM rim and although they’ve only made it out of the box so far and have not been ridden yet, I’m sure these will be a killer wheelset for my type of riding. This evening the Formula rotors will go on and the tires will be mounted. A ride report will follow once the new bike is built. For now I’m offering a few photos.

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Tomorrow is right around the corner

Sunday Saddle Frost

Yesterday’s snow storm dumped a couple of inches of fresh snow onto the ground within just a few hours. Over night, the temperatures dropped and this morning a very strong and freezing wind blew from the East. Perfect conditions for a bike ride, provided you like this type of weather. I headed out on the Niner to find pristine trails. The cold wind was howling through the trees whose frail branches constantly crackled. The climbs were hard but in the couple of inches of powder doable. At higher altitudes riding became often impossible and at times even walking was treacherous. I reached a narrow hiking trail on which I found it safest to ride with one foot in the pedal and the other foot close to ground. Once in a while, a piece of hidden ice would throw my front wheel off its path and my unclipped foot would save me from going down. As I lost altitude, the trails got better and I decided to drop down a ultra-narrow trail. It looked like a rabbit had taken the trail a bit earlier and I followed its tracks. At the bottom of the trail, I shot into a fire road where I greeted the first humans I crossed today. As most of the way back was going against the wind that was bringing freezing air from Russia’s Tundra, I was slowly turning into a moving icicle. It was time to call it a day, and drop back down into Biel for a long, hot shower at home. A few impressions taken with my iPhone along the way:

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2010 S-WORKS MT Helmet

I’ve been MTBing without visor for the last couple of years and sort of miss one. In fact, I used to wear an MTB specific helmet on my road bike, which provided me with a competitive advantage riding through a hail storm once. Specialzed’s new MT helmet would fit the bill - light weight, visor, attractive design.

"Retro is cool because back in my day we didn’t have these fancy Hydraulic disc brake 150mm suspended oil leaking extra bearing pivot squeaking bi-sickles. Noooo. If we wanted to go fast we took a beating from the trail, and our forearms would get cramps from the downhill death grip. Our backsides got to feel the trail too. Now its all soft and mushy and if something breaks we get all whiny."

Nonracerrichie on MTBR - Why is retro cool?

First Evening Ride After Work

As the sun is out longer day by day, I pedaled home from work on my road bike with the plan to swap bikes and head up into the trails. After arriving at home, I slipped into my mountain bike gear - shorts and knee warmers seemed like enough - loaded the washing machine with some dirty clothes, and then rode off to my usual trailhead. I needed to keep the ride fairly short, but wanted to gain some decent altitude nonetheless. I rode westwards above lake Biel to get onto my favorite singletrack, which brought me to a long and steady climb on a rough fire road. I was quite excited to see my legs working well. I rode a steady pace, not fast yet, but constant without much suffering. Upper body and arms did their part and agreed that I’ll be riding myself into good shape this year. Before reaching the top, I stopped briefly to take a few photos of the sunset. Rested, I climbed the last stretch and navigated to the entrance of a fun downhill back into town. It was quickly getting dark, requiring me to reduce the tempo downhill a bit. Awesome to be able to hit the trails this early in March!

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So, I’m searching for Actiontec chainrings on Google tonight.

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I follow a link to Tumblr entries tagged Actiontec and hey, that’s my bike!