The Pleasant Commute

After a few weeks of 100 degree temperatures the weather finally became cool enough that I decided to resume my bike commuting. Normally weather doesn’t bug me, as I have ridden in rain, sleet and snow over the past few years. However, when the heat becomes so oppressive as it has been lately I retreat to the car. Often during the summer I will have my wife drop me and the bike off in the morning if the weather is too warm, as the shower facilities  at work are presently unavailable, and I would like to avoid the covered in sweat look.

This week the weather has broken allowing me to ride in and home from work. My route into work is usually  to cut over from my house by Butler University to the Monon Trail and taking this downtown to the Cultural Trial which runs by my office. Here is a shot of the Monon just before I cross Fall Creek Parkway and Fall Creek proper. If you squint you can see one of  my fellow commuters in the distance. Or it could be a jogger.

I typically ride my commuter bike, a Fuji Absolute 3.0 with fenders and a rear rack for panniers when I commute. This has been a decent bike although the wheels are terribly weak and the rack is being held on with a zip tie on the left since the eyelet for the lower rack mount got stripped out. I think this winter might be a good time to sell this bike and build up a commuter based on a mountain bike frame. Hopefully that would be made of sterner stuff.

However, if I need some MTB saddle time, I will take my mountain bike and ride via the Tow Path, as this route consists of a crushed limestone trail and provides a few opportunities to go off road.

This week traffic continued to be high on the trails. I got used to being absolutely alone on the Monon in the dead of winter, so anytime I need two hands to  count the bikes I see along the way is a momentous occasion.

Next week my wife and I will be on vacation in Vermont for a week. I plan on getting some mountain biking in while also trying my hand at some serious hiking.

Single speeding the Fort

I enjoyed the glorious 4th of July with a early morning  ride at Fort Ben Harrison State Park with my Monocog 29er. If you haven’t  had chance to ride the new trails at the park, I would highly recommend making a trip.The Hoosier Mountain Bike Association (“HMBA”) has done a great job building the trails at Ft. Ben over the past few years. So far there is one trial, Schoen Creek, rated as Very Difficult, and a one mile Easy trail, Camp Glenn. A new trail, apparently to be called the "new" Lawrence Creek Trail is in the final stages of being completed and will be open for riding and hiking. Presently it is unofficially open for riding. It is categorized as More Difficult. Here is a trail map showing the locations of the trails within the park and other information.

I spent my time on the new trail, taking a relatively easy pace and stopped to enjoy some of the views from the top of several hills and bluffs. This is a view of the trail from somewhere around the midpoint of the ride. There is a small rock garden just beyond the two large trees at the center of the photo.

Ft. Ben is particularly well suited to riding a single speed, as the flat sections aren’t so flat that you spin out, and the hilly sections at the most require a bit out of the saddle work. I recently changed out the cranks and bottom bracket on the Monocog (the original Octalink BB was not working out) so it was due for a test ride. Everything worked well and I think the chain line issues I was having with the original crankest have been resolved. The  The Strava file for this ride may be found here. 

Overall a great ride, although the temperatures were already pushing into the upper 80s by the time I finished. I did encounter quite a few hikers/walkers on the trial. Most were friendly, although one guy seemed to stare daggers at me. The trails built by HMBA are usually billed as multi-use trails so hikers and trail runners are common place. However, the new trail crosses the "old" Lawrence Creek Trail, a crushed grave lhiking  trail six to eight feet wide that loops through this part of the park and is very heavily used. At the trail heads for this hiking trail are signs which indicate the trail will be closed in the coming months and all traffic would be routed onto the new multi-use trail (the trail HMBA built). Questions about this arose on the HMBA online forum and the explanation was that the Department of Natural Resources wanted to shut down the Lawrence Creek Trail due to sustainability issues. Understandable that DNR does not want to continue to pay the costs of repairing a unsustainable trial. However, on Wednesday morning, the Lawrence Creek trail heads were quite busy with hikers, runners, families out for a stroll, and dog walkers.  

While I expected some folks would take advantage of the new multi-use (trail runners, hardy hikers), I am a little worried about ALL of the old Lawrence Creek traffic being routed onto these trails. It is pure single-track and about 2 feet in width for most of its course. I'm not sure the multi-use trail can accommodate the capacity of usage experienced by Lawrence Creek and its hiking oriented users.  I would liken it to closing down a four lane highway and routing the traffic onto a winding two lane country road. For now it seems ok, but once Lawrence Creek is shut down, and the multi-use trail officially opens, both bike and foot based traffic are going to increase. Hopefully the trail will be able to handle the traffic and all the users will be able to get along.

DINO Muscatatuck Race Report (or how a new bike needs more than a day of shakedown time)

Ah, my first race report. I started doing DINO (Do INdiana Outdoors) races last year and enjoyed the competition. This year I am trying to compete in the full series of at least five races. I race Cat 3, so I am by no means a competitive racer. But the races are fun and provide good training goals. This year I have done the tune up race at Town Run in Indianapolis, and the series races in Warsaw and Brown County. My results have been fairly mid pack with top half age group finishes. My goal is to finish in the top 25% in one race this year.

 I will start by saying that I really like the trails at Muscatatuck. My in-laws live in North Vernon so I ride it a few times a year.  In preparation for Sunday’s race, I had gone down to NV to pre-ride the approximately 12 mile course as there had been some new trail added since last time I was there that I heard might be used during the race. The course was very dry and dusty, but I was able to clear all technical sections and felt very good. I paid special attention to part of the trail which goes through a creek and under a bridge, and then comes out on a technical and rocky ascent up a short hill. This has given me problems in the past, but during the pre-ride I cleared that section multiple times. 

But nothing goes as planned. One unexpected turn of events was the severe thunderstorm that plopped itself on top of NV in the wee hours of Sunday morning. Four weeks with no rain and all of the sudden an inch and a half of rain hits the race course. Such is life, and the race was still a go.

My wife and I arrived at Muscatatuck at around 11:30 for my noon start in the Cat 3 30-39 wave, leaving time for a bit of a warm up. I eavesdropped on a few Cat 1 and 2 riders commenting on the conditions and noted most had a decent amount of mud on themselves and their bikes. One rider passed along that the technical section just after the bridge was quite muddy. 

I lined up in the first row of the 30-39 wave and was already sweating profusely. The temperature was in the upper 90s for the race and any attempts to stay cool were futile. I had planned to ride all my races with only water bottles. However, because Muscatatuck is a trail system with relatively few quiet sections, I felt a Camelback would ensure easier drinking. 

The Muscatatuk course starts in a grassy area next to the main shelter and of the first quarter mile rides rolling ground on the edge of the woods before dropping into the single track. The 30-39ers got off to a clean start and I was roughly in the middle of the 15 or so racers when we reached the trail. This section of trail was generally a descent to an armored seep/creek crossing, which claimed a rider four racers ahead. This required a dismount due to the resulting traffic jam, but I was back to riding soon without losing any position. A gradual climb followed which allowed me to gain a slight gap on the riders on my wheel. 

Unfortunately, the aforementioned bridge section lay ahead. I hit the drop to the creek under the bridge alone and found several inches of water. Not a big deal, but as I popped up on the other side I found the technical and rocky uphill covered in slick mud. Several riders ahead of me were already off their bikes and struggling through deep mud and slick rocks, while I saw a few with flat tires. Riding this section was a no go. I hopped off and dragged my already tired self to the top of the ascent (the best heckle during this section as some kid screaming “What do you think this is, cyclocross?!?”) and then mounted back up although it took several minutes to get my cleats clear of mud. Soon after I got rolling someone back at the bridge began screaming and cussing in obvious anger. Not sure what happened, but I’m guessing either a flat or some mechanical issue which ended someone’s day. 

Following the bridge is an uphill section with several somewhat tight switchbacks. Alone I would be fine, however, the field was still somewhat clumped so there were a few traffic jams on this section as well. Once past this, the course heads to the south side of the park and into more rolling terrain, with numerous short down and up sections. Exhausting yes, insurmountable no. I was still quite tired from my early effort, although as the first lap came to an end I did start to recover. In addition to my fatigue, I was fighting with my rear derailleur all day. While the front was shifting fine, I was having ghost shifts and incomplete shifts all day from the X-7 rear. Apparently I didn’t give enough shakedown time to the bike after I reinstalled all the components.

        About to start the second lap. Have to remember to zip up my jersey next time. 

       Photo credit: Jim Vonderahe

The second lap was ridden mostly alone. Although I started lap last in a group of three, I wish I had made a move to pass the other two riders. I had gained something of a second wind and had the power to get around them as we came into the wide open start area. Instead, I sat behind them at a low speed and let them set the pace. I ended up passing one of them later, but the other used the second lap chaos at the bridge to get a large gap.

Overall, my second lap was faster, more confident, and with less riders versus rider action as the field had spread out. I was following a 40-49er for a good chunk of the lap, and although I would get on his wheel on the climbs, he would then pull away on the descents. In the end, I came in 20th place overall, and 5th in my age group, my best finish in a DINO race outside of the Tune Up. Although soaked to the bone in sweat, I hydrated well and did not suffer any ill effects from the heat.

  Showing my angry/determined face coming into the finish. 

    Photo credit: Jim Vonderahe

I did learn/confirm a few things: First, climbing is a strength. Not only here, but also at Brown County, I made great gains on other riders during climbing sections. However, the second thing that was confirmed at the Tuck was that I am too conservative on descents. Other riders fly down the hills while I tend to ride the brakes too much, and while perhaps safer, I lose time and places. Maybe a different tire (I use Maxxis Ignitors front and rear) on the rear would help limit potential slide outs or perhaps more practice would help remedy this. Either way, I was satisfied with the race. The next round is at Versailles State Park in late July. However, I will be returning from a week’s vacation the day before the race so I may skip this and focus on the last two races in the series.

New Bike and New Blog

Just what the world needs, another bike blog. Well, I recently got a new mountain bike frame which seems like the perfect time to start a cycling blog, starting on sort of a clean slate. Except that all the parts that will be attached to this new frame are old and are presently being pulled off of the old bike. Anyway about me, I reside in beautiful Indianapolis Indiana. I am consider myself primarily a mountain bike rider, although the majority of riding is done  bike commuting to work 7.1 miles each day. I ride almost all weather, except when the temperatures get above 70 in the mornings as the resulting sweat isn't easily resolved upon arriving at the office. On those days my wife drops me off and I'll pedal home. Other than that, I'll ride in rain, sleet, and snow, and many times during the winter have been the only living thing on the local green ways.

But now back to the bike. To start at the beginning, I purchased a Access XCL 29er frame from Performance Bike in 2009. Over the course of a few months I purchased used parts and sale parts until I finally assembled a complete bike. The bike was great and has served me well since then. But all good things must come to an end. Last week a I started noticing a creak from somewhere on the bike, the kind of creak that you just can’t pinpoint and no amount of disassembly and lubing will remedy. 

Reaching maximum frustration I stepped back to evaluate the situation, and recalled a post from the Hoosier Mountain Bike Association forum sometime ago in which a rider had dealt with a similar situation and eventually found a crack in his frame. I checked the normal crack spots and welds and finally happened upon a thin line right above the weld where the top tube and the seat post tube meet. I had seen this a week after racing in the DINO Brown County race, but took it for a small scratch in the frame. Well, the scratch and grown to almost halfway around the seat post tube and was definitely a crack. Frame = dead.

Problem was, I was planning on racing at the DINO race at Muscatatuck Park in North Vernon on July 1. With my primary bike down, I thought my “fun” bike, a Redline Monocog 29er, might get the call. Not that this would have been terrible, as sometimes I think I’m faster on that. Unfortunately, Performance Bike does not provide any sort of discount if you are purchasing a replacement for a damaged frame (boo), nor did they respond to my inquiry about the warranty (boo x 2). Despite being dead set against purchasing another Access frame because of the lack of customer service response. and after looking at other frames (Sette Razzo, Niner EMD, Niner Air, and Jamis Dragon) I decided to go with the Access. The geometry works, and I know all my components will swap over, while that is not the case with the other frames. Two days later, the frame arrived.

                              The new frame, in all of its glory. Of course, red bikes go faster.

The old frame was a matte silver color, which I liked, but the new gloss coloring and graphics are an improvement. All parts switched frames just fine, although I had to use my home made headset press to install the headset into the new frame. By homemade, I mean the directions for making it were found on an online cycling forum and it utilized a threaded rod, two flange nuts, and several steel washers. Surprisingly, the thing worked without a hitch!

                                       Assembly is almost complete. Just need to re-attached the derailleurs and brakes.

I took the almost new bike out for a test ride on Saturday morning, and it rode quite well. Everything was tight, no squeaks, and the brakes and shifting were all in order. Frankly the bike is looking dead sexy. Should be a fun ride at Muscatatuck.