Month: December 2013

Last Sunday, December 15th, Tim wanted to take his fat bike on a snow ride.  I put the 2.2″ knobbies on my Fargo, and we headed to southern Indiana – where we assumed we’d find some snow.

Our ride started at Muscatatuck National Wildlife Refuge.  It’s a nice way to get in some flat-ish gravel roads, and a little off-road riding.

We miscalculated on the snow.  There had been rain overnight, which had frozen over.  The beginning of the ride was clear roads.  Once we hit gravel, the roads were icy.  On the first turn, I went down hard, hitting my head and helmet on the road.

After I came to my senses, we decided to go off-road on the crunchy snow.  This was hard traveling, but much safer than the roads.

We eventually got back to where riding along the road was required.  Luckily, there was a muddy spot along the side without ice.  When the ice took over the road, we dismounted and walked.

We traded bikes for a bit to compare the ride.  My Fargo rode like a bike.  Tim’s Mukluk was pedal-powered tractor.  I’m not sure which was better.

Our short ride of under ten miles was quite the workout.  Crunchy snow is hard to ride in.  We did manage to have fun and Tim watched a few birds.

I had a cold commute this morning.  It was 14 degrees here in the city, but below zero just north of here.  I’m glad I don’t live in Charlestown anymore.

Yesterday, I planned on riding in appropriate clothes and changing at work.  For some odd reason I didn’t.  Instead, I wore bib-tights under my work clothes, and a sweater under my jacket.

I’m not the only year-round bicycle commuter at the office.  Unfortunately the office space I’m in is not conducive to bicycle parking indoors, so the bikes sit outside locked to a sub-standard rack.  I stick to riding the Big Dummy, as its size makes it harder to steal – especially with two locks on it.

The picture below was actually taken on Tuesday.  I was not wearing bib tights in that picture.

Timothy, Asher, Tim, and I met up yesterday morning for a ride in the aftermath of the “weather event” Louisville experienced.

Originally, Timothy was putting on a 100k Populaire, but with the winter weather, nobody was going to shop up.  He decided if we’d show up, we do a shorter ride for coffee.

The snow/sleet/rain/ice mix hadn’t quite finished, so roads were not in great shape.  I was riding the Fargo with the studded tires.  Timothy and Asher both rode ‘cross bikes with studded tires.  Tim was the oddball with his new fatbike – and no studs.

The Fargo looks a little silly with the 700×40 Marathon Winter tires.  The bike is meant for 2.2″ tires, but these studded tires were bought for the LHT, which I no longer own.  The Fargo is the only bike I have that they’ll fit.

Asher’s Specialized Tricross Disc is meant for ‘cross racing, but he added a rear rack for commuting, and some Schwalbe Snow stud tires for the icy mess.  The bike was in it’s element for this ride.

I don’t know a lot about Timothy’s bike, other than the frame is sold by Origin 8.  He built it up from a frameset with his choice of parts.  He had some 45NRTH branded studded tires mounted.

Tim stole the show with his new bike.  He wasn’t running studded tires, but snow was not an issue for him.  Ice could be, but he managed without falling.

This is the monster truck of bicycles.  He got a few comments from people we saw.

We headed across the bridge into Indiana.  The roads in Jeffersonville were pretty bad.  Strangely, they were a bit better in Clarksville.  We crawled up to the Levee Trail which was completely ice and snow covered.  Many children were sledding down the small hill from the top of the trail.  Again, the orange bike with 4″ rubber brought stares and comments.

We made our way to New Albany, where the main roads were mostly clear, but the bike lanes were a mess.  We stayed out of the bike lanes.  We warmed up at Quills coffee – again people were agog over the size of Tim’s rubber (wait, what?)

We mostly followed the same route back to Louisville.  We finished up at Against the Grain brewery for food and beer.  We each went our own way – I ended up at Four Pegs for more beer.  Diane got off work and met me at Four Pegs.

I ended up with 24.6 miles on the Fargo.  That was enough.  I had dressed well enough for the ride that I was comfortable, but my sinuses were bothering me from all the cold air.  I believe now that I was coming down sick, as I had trouble sleeping and I’m a bit sick today.

Diane and I went out on the tandem to a local Mexican restaurant for dinner.  There are no studded tires on that bike, but the main roads were fine by that time.  The alley behind the house was a little slippery, but we did fine.

On the way home, I must have run over some glass.  After we were back home and warming up, I heard the hiss of air escaping from the front tire on the tandem.  Fixing that is on my to-do list for today.

Being between jobs, I’ve had some extra time.  I have been on the bike, but not for any long rides.

I met up with Tim, Asher, and Drew on Thanksgiving morning.  Timothy joined us later.  It was a cold morning.  My feet didn’t stay warm.  Drew had painfully cold fingers.  We cut it a tad short and stopped for coffee.

Black Friday morning brought me an errand ride to Jeffersonville (not shopping).  From there I rode to New Albanian to meet up with the KyMBA crew, then riding back to Louisville with them.  It was interesting to use the Big Dummy as a mountain bike.

Later in the day on Black Friday, Diane and I did some bar-hopping on the tandem.

Saturday brought out the battery-powered Christmas lights for the tandem and Big Dummy.  Then Diane and I rode to Apocalypse for beer.

I was supposed to race Gravel Grovel on Saturday, but I had already decided against it.

I’ve been pulling domestic duty recently.  I haven’t started the new job, and Diane is working full-time.  Staying home, doing dishes, and spending time with the dogs isn’t all bad – especially during cold weather.

The weather today is ugly.  It started with rain, then freezing rain, and now slow.  There’s a layer of ice underneath the snow.

I haven’t stepped outside.  I’ve been content to clean house and work on bikes.

I did put the studded Marathon Winter tires on the Fargo.  They were bought a few years ago for the LHT, but I no longer have the bike.  The Fargo looks a little strange with the skinnier tires, but that’s better than sliding on ice.

Also, I had ordered some Schwalbe Big Apple tires for the Big Dummy.  I got the Performance Line for a bit better feel.  Maybe the extra money was wasted on a cargo bike, but they are noticeably different than the tires I removed.  The Big Apples arrived today, and are now installed.