Snow ride at the Fort and schedule additions

If I did a post for every recreational or training ride I went on this blog would be unmanageable and rather repetitive. However, my ride this past Monday was one of those great ones which requires a post. Plus, I just like photos of single track in the snow.   

Morning temperatures were forecasted to be in the mid to low teens on Monday which would make for some perfectly frozen ground at Ft. Ben Harrison. Even better was that some forecasted morning snow flurries intensified into a rather heavy snow which covered the park. Ride time temperature was 13 degrees and despite the endless fogging of my glasses, and throwing my chain on the first uphill (I had the single speed), I got a good workout and enjoyed a mostly empty park. Sure beats sitting in my basement on a trainer watching videotapes (yes, VHS) of past Tour de France stages.

 

A view from the parking lot post ride. Trail is in the trees on the left.

Also, my previously detailed season schedule has had a few additions. Planet Adventure, one of the local race promoters has posted on their site that they plan to have a night mountain bike race series consisting of three races in the summer. So far they have two venues, Southwestway Park on July 27^th and Town Run on August 31^st. Last year’s night race at Town Run was a great time, save for the stifling humidity, and I'm looking forward to these unique races. Assuming they have a single speed division like last year I will once again race on the Monocog.

Two 29ers and a full suspension 26er walk into a bar....

Ok, so there is really no joke behind the title but it does describe my current bike stable. I mentioned several weeks ago that I was gathering parts for a winter bike building project. Well, here we are at the end of January and said project is now complete. So much for the remaining 8 weeks of winter. Since we’re in the winter doldrums and no one wants to hear about my daily commute (highlight being I saw a rabbit one morning last week), I figured I would do a reveal of the new to me bike.

(warning, show and tell ahead)

Anyway, my goal with this bike was to try full suspension riding. I have two 29er hard tails (3x9 speed and a single speed) and had never tried full suspension. Also, I had my first bike, a 26 inch hard tail, hanging in the garage after my attempt to modify it for my wife to use. This modification failed, but the bike still had plenty of parts (inckuding its wheel seta) that I could use for another project.

My first goal was to find an affordable full suspension frame. I found this on ebay in the form of a 2010 Motobecane Fantom Team frame, size large, with a Rock Shox Monarch 4.2.  It was the right size, and with only cosmetic wear to the decals. Check off the frame from the to get list. A few other parts, such as the derailleurs, shifters, etc., came from ebay and local sellers.

Unfortunately, my goal to stick to use as many parts as possible from the old bike didn’t quite hold. I did use the brakes, grips, bars, saddle, and wheels. However, I deviated in two big areas.

First, was the crankset. The old bike had a basic Shimano Acera three ring crankset. It actually has had very little use and there is absolutely nothing wrong with it. However, during my snooping for deals, I spotted a Shimano SLX M665 double crankset (36-22 chain rings) for an unbeatable price. I have the SLX triple on another bike and have been very happy with its performance and I really like the look.  Between the price, the model, and my desire to try a double crankset, the decision was made.

 

Still not sure about the bash guard. It might come off at some point. (purposefully, not by “bashing” into a rock) I also already had a long cage rear derailleur when I bought the SLX. Technically I think a medium cage rear derailleur would have been best, but it seems the long cage works well enough when the bike is on the workstand. Whether there is any impact on performance on the trial remains to be seen.

Second was the fork. The first bike came with a Rock Shox Dart, a nice little entry level fork with 28 mm stanchions and 100 mm of travel. It worked fine when I first started riding in 2008, and saw me through many of trails located around the state. But, I wanted something more substantial. The 28 mm stanchions were the big thing. They are just so thin, and when compared to my other forks (RS Reba) the Dart looks tiny. But, ebay came calling and I spotted a Rock Shox XCTK32 on sale for a decent "buy it now" price. While still mostly low end, it is above the Dart on the quality scale.

So, all parts in hand, I slapped everything together and here it is:

 

 

Nothing spectacular, but for a mostly budget, winter project, I think it will do just fine. Interesting thing should be the 26 in wheels. I haven’t ridden on those in a few years.

Here is the part list:

Frame: 2010 Motobecane Fantom Team
Wheels: No name set from first bike. J
Fork: Rock Shox TCK32 100mm
Rear Shock: Rock Shox Monarch 4.2
Crankset: Shimano SLX M665 36-22
FD: Shimano XT
RD: Sram X-5 (long cage)
Chain: Sram PG-950
Shifters: Sram X-5
Brakes: Avid BB7 (from old bike)
Handlebar: Niner Alumium, no rise
Grips: Ergon GP1 
Seat Post: Sette
Seat: No name from first bike
Tires: Kenda Klaw (from the old bike but still have plenty of life left)
Pedals: Eventually Shimano SPD (from one of my other bikes)

Now I know this bike would not be up to par for many people, but I never intended to build a top of the line racing/recreational machine. I wanted something that was affordable, that would allow me to snoop around for good deals on parts (which I love) and provide some entertainment during the dark days of winter. I’d say mission was accomplished on all those points. Now I just need to ride it! A ride report will be forthcoming.

 

Polar Bear Pedal II Ride (not race) Report

Edit 1/14/13: Finally figured out a work around for the photo uploading issue. Two Three photos added.

The 2^nd Annual Polar Bear Pedal hosted by Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard was held this past Saturday morning. Nothing much to report as it was a social ride, but since I mentioned it a few weeks back, I felt a follow up was needed. The ride went well and it was a beautiful day (clear and 18 degrees) for riding the streets of Indianapolis and is a good indication that cycling is gaining more of a foothold and overall acceptance in Indianapolis.
 

Gathering of riders before the PBP. This is only a portion of the riders as
many others had already moved to the start area.

Folks struggling over a snow bank on their way to the start line.

This year’s ride looped around the north side of downtown, past the Soldier’s and Sailor’s monument and then down to Fountain Square and Garfield Park. (Strava file here) Overall it was a nice ride, although I think I enjoyed last year’s edition a bit more. That ride set off in the middle of a fairly heavy snow fall which added some excitement to an otherwise easy ride. Still, pre-registration for this year’s edition was over 1,000 which for the second year of a ride that is held in early January was pretty good.  It seemed everyone enjoyed themselves and stayed safe, save for the two bikes that got mixed together near Garfield Park. Interestingly, the roads the ride followed were snow/ice free and covered in a nice 2 inch layer of salt while my street was still an icy mess. Hmm….

After the PBP I went for a short base ride along the Monon Trial and Canal Tow Path. Parts of the Towpath were impassable with snow and ice, but the section near Butler University was covered in perfectly tamped snow and was simply fantastic.

Side note, I got a truing stand for Christmas from my parents and have been slowly getting the hang of using it. Turns out I have no shortage of out of true wheels in the garage so I’ve got plenty of test subjects.

Second Side Note: I had several photos to go with this post but the upload tool on Blogger seems to be not working as it doesn’t give me the option to attach photos from my hard drive. Not sure what the deal is, but this post would have looked a lot nicer with some pics.

Ice, Snow, and...other frozen stuff

I have to think riding on ice will have some impact on my bike handling skills. Then again, it could just result in me crashing rather unspectacularly and laying on a bike path/side road waiting for someone to find my broken self.

Now that I have set the stage for third post, my first ride of the New Year was my 8 mile commute along the Indianapolis Central Canal and White River Trail early this morning. Beyond the crisp 8 degree temperatures, the ride started well. The Tow Path was perfectly packed down and fast. I used the Monocog 29er, and its 2.2 inch Nevegal front provided great traction while avoiding the annoying collecting of ice and snow in the chain rings and rear derailleur which occurs with a geared bike. Unfortunately the White River Trail was still covered in thick snow, ice, and frozen goose crap. This turned the commute into a bit of an adventure trying to stay on snow while avoiding ice (and to a lesser extent the goose crap which for some reason I imagined slicing open a side wall), all of which proved quite slow resulting in a ride that was 20 minutes longer than usual.

The way home was just as entertaining. While the Monon Trail was pretty clear, the side roads I use to cut over to my house were not. Several days’ worth of car traffic (residential roads don’t get plowed very often) had compressed the snow into a thick sheet of ice.  The photo at the top of the post is a represenative example of the ice I ecnountered. Notice that nice sheen?

The good news is that I made it home without crashing while demonstrating some fine bike handling skills in finding safe passage through the ice. When does spring arrive?

Time for 2013

Here we are at the end of 2012 but I won’t be doing a wistful retrospective of my cycling year. Not to say I don’t enjoy reading the yearly overviews on other blogs, but this past year’s cycling has been pretty…normal. No serious injuries, only a few equipment issues, and generally run-of-the-mill race results. (For example, remember when I got 36^th at the DINO Brown County race? Wow, good times….)

But with 2012 about to become a distant  memory, it is time to look ahead and see what kind of trouble I can get into in 2013. Presently, my cycling calendar is as follows (maybe events in italics):

1.       Jan 5: Polar Bear Pedal (non race)

2.       March 9: Sub 9 Death March

3.       March 23: Barry Roubaix

4.       April 28: DINO Tune Up Town Run

5.       June 3: DINO Brown County

6.       June 16: DINO French Lick

7.       July 1: DINO Mustcatatuck

8.       July 7: Rangeline Rampage

9.       July 22: DINO Versailles

10.   August 12: DINO France Park

11.   August 26: DINO Southwestway Park

12.   September 8: 24 Hours of DINO (6 hour solo)

13.   Brown County Breakdown (non race)

14.   Sub 9 Gravel Grovel

The thing about this year is that I’ve actually assembled a formal training plan. My sister got me a copy of The Mountain Biker’s Training Bible by Joe Friel for Christmas and it has proven to be an interesting read. Admittedly, I’ve actually had a fun time developing the plan. However, the most difficult part has been to try to compensate for my work schedule. Often during the week my only time on the bike is my morning and evening commute which can be 4, 7, or 9 miles each way depending on the route I take. My only trail time will likely be on the weekends. To compensate for this I plan to get trail and endurance workouts on the weekends while focusing on intervals and hill repeats during the week, both of which can be done along my route to and from work, or after I get home in the evenings at several locations within a 5 minute ride of my house. The plan itself starts on January 1 with prep and base workouts and then I will gear up for the Barry-Roubaix in March.

The Barry Roubaix is what I am considering the start of the season. I’m operating under no delusions of grandeur, but I’m still hoping to make a good showing for myself (maybe top 50%?). The Death March race is a maybe. In looking at the map for this year the number of checkpoints has been increased dramatically and it could provide a good warm up for the BR. Still, I’ll be on the fence for a few weeks. The core of the season is the DINO races. I decided to race Category 3 again this year. While I had a few top five finishes in my age group last year, and one podium, I feel I need to try for some more consistent success at Cat 3 before trying Cat 2.

I’m skipping the first DINO race at Warsaw, not because I don’t like the course for recreational riding, but because it’s a longer drive and I didn’t like racing the course last year. I like Versailles State Park more, and since I skipped VSP last year, I figured I would make an effort to go to VSP (and also French Lick which I skipped last year).

One of the “maybe” events is the DINO Rangeline Rampage, a time trial at Rangeline Park in Anderson, Indiana. It is a very technical trail system with a heavy emphasis on man-made features. I have ridden it in the past, but have never ridden ALL the expert trails, which will be used for the TT. I figured the full suspension 26 inch bike I am building (another post) might be good for this type of racing.

The 24 Hours of DINO is also a maybe, although I suspect it will be a priority as September draws closer. I wasn’t happy with my performance last year and feel that I have some unfinished business with that race.

I imagine additional races may pop up. There are typically some time trial events as well as special mtb races put on by DRT Racing and Planet Adventure. Those will be tossed in as I have time. The lack of events in May is unfortunate, but this will be some solid build time with some recreational/training trips around the state.

Outside of the racing, I would also like to travel out of state to ride more often. I hit Vermont this summer and did some riding there but have generally been anchored to Indiana. I’d like to check out trails in Michigan and Ohio if possible.

Beyond cycling I would like to do more camping and paddling this year. Additionally, I would like to dust off my telescope and get back into astronomy. In years past I would drag my telescope for hours of stargazing but this hobby has been placed on the back burner of late due to work and life in general. Anyway, happy 2013!

Now that was good winter riding!

Merry Christmas Eve to all! My wife and I are about to host a short holiday get-together but since our preparations were completed well ahead of schedule, I figured I could ramble on about my second  snow ride of the year.

After my less than satisfying ride on Friday I decided to try again on Saturday. The morning dawned cold and clear with temperatures hovering around 15 degrees. I arrived at Town Run Trail Park on the north side of Indianapolis a little past 8 am and found the trail perfectly frozen with parts covered in a light layer of snow and other sections completely clear. The single speed once again got the call for what was an absolutely fantastic ride. Something about riding in the early morning, combined with the cold and snow,  that just made for a great time. The first lap took me almost an hour to complete due to two downed trees that needed some hike a bike, and several stops to clear out downed limbs the result of windy weather we had on Thursday (although one the smaller of the two trees had actually been downed by a beaver).

A victim of recent winds.

The north loop was very fast while the southern loop had a great deal of ice covering, which required some caution, and several sections of clear frozen trail. The snow which was on the trail was fairly shallow, except on a short section of technical trail on the return leg. The snow had drifted in this section and was fairly deep with a few parts at axle level.

Heading into some deeper snow. The snow really helped smooth out the roots and rocks in this section.

I was the first bike on the trail but I did run into several hikers and trail runners out enjoying the morning. Overall, it was a great morning and I’m glad I hauled myself out of bed early enough to ride before the thaw. Central Indiana is forecasted to get nailed by a winter storm tomorrow evening into Wednesday. The amounts of snow vary based on which local news station you watch, but right now it looks like we could between 5 and 9 inches. This should make the commute on Wednesday interesting and may provide some other riding opportunities. We’ll see how this all plays out. Merry Christmas to all!

First snow (and ice) ride of the year

I took Friday off work to celebrate my birthday and to take  my first snow ride of the year. We not snow Thursday night, part of a massive storm which covered the most of the Midwest. Unfortunately, the conditions turned out to be not quite ideal for a ride. The big problem was that prior to the snow the temperatures had been up in the fifties, so a rather sharp drop in the temperature Thursday evening was quickly followed by about two inches of snow. As a result, the ground did not have a chance to freeze before the insulating snow. Come this morning I could tell the ground underneath the snow had not frozen meaning I’d be running into quite a bit of mud. My trip to the Town Run Trail Park on the north side or Fort Ben was out of the question.

Instead I opted for a ride around the Butler University campus and the Central Canal Towpath (a crushed limestone green way that cuts through Indianapolis) on the Monocog. Getting to campus was a trick since all the neighborhood roads were covered in ice. Once on campus, I found some snow, but some of the trails I usually spin around on were only partially covered in snow with lots of mud as a result of the lack of a solid freeze last night. 

The Tow Path is usually perfect for snow riding but someone (either Butler folks or the water company) had plowed the path leaving a crushed limestone mud and ice fest. I didn’t end up in the canal proper, which considering some of the ice pockets I encountered was quite the achievement.

In the end of I rode the perimeter of the university soccer and softball fields which did have a solid layer of snow. No mishaps save for almost endoing into a snow filled drainage ditch as I was cutting across a field. Overall, not exactly the snow ride I wanted, but there is supposed to be a hard freeze tonight. Considering that most of the trails I saw today were almost snow free, or on their way to being snow free, I’m hoping the exposure combined with tonight’s freeze will harden them up for an early morning ride up at Town Run.