My first gravel century and then some....

So here I stand in the driveway, eating the last few energy chews and fruit snacks from the little feed bag that I ran for the 100 mile 2013 Farmhouse Classic. The contents of the bag have melded into a rasta-colored glob of sugar and gelatin after being snuggled together over the last few days in the humid garage. I usually clean the bike up soon after a ride, but the schedule just didn't allow it this time.

As I reflect back to the ride, I am considering all of the things I will do different on the next big ride. This being the first time I had ever ridden much over 50 miles on gravel, I was not sure what to expect or if I could even finish the event. Certainly proper nutrition and light work loads the days leading up to the ride proved to be critical in my even finishing, but back to accessing future ride changes.

Just dumping in a big glob of snacks in the feed bag actually should have been done from the get go. This was found after my ever increasing frustration of trying to open little plastic bags and wrappers while juddering along the road, I finally dumped them all together after the 2nd checkpoint at the 65-some mile mark. My food access and stowing trash issues helped me to get dropped from the group that I was trying to keep up with and I ended up riding the last 35-40 miles solo.

All of this lead to my coming up to a T intersection of an unmarked highway about 80 some miles in, where I felt absolutely crushed. This is a gravel ride, not asphalt! No problem, just pull out the smart phone and check the mapping app to find out where I am? Argh! Since the ride did not start on time, I pushed pause function and never restarted the app at the very beginning of the ride, so no clue where I am now since the app timed out. Not to mention that I can't read the paper map they gave me, especially in sweat and dust covered bifocals with a sunglasses clip-on... perhaps showing my age here!

A passing motorist was very perceptive and noticed I looked lost, so they stopped and helped me figure out that I was on O hwy and needed to ride back up the previous hills to get back on course. I kindly thanked and blessed them as I pedaled off, reminding myself to go slow and steady, since this was now going to be well over a 100 mile ride with my second wrong turn. The whole time I rode back to the actual course, I questioned whether it was fair needing a Garmin to know the route? To which I concluded, I will need to decide if I want to be competitive or just survive these types of events.

Well, slow and steady got me home. There were some much need cheers of encouragement by the few people left at the finish point. I am guessing that I was the last finisher, but I kept telling myself not dead-last, as there were many riders that called it quits at the first and second check points. So in the end, I made some new friends and cycling connections, found my real endurance is more of a mental than physical issue, and know that I am hooked on grinding gravel on bikes.

So here are some considerations for future big events:

• Remove all of the foods from the packaging before the ride
• Purchase a Garmin or pay better attention to my phone app
• Make my bike more efficient or get stronger legs and lungs

Just Stop It....

Seriously, these new Shimano XT BR-M785 brakes really do stop! Over the past 10 years of riding 29ers I had been running the same set of original Avid BB7 calipers and speed dial ti levers with Jagwire cables. This of course was accompanied by all of the little cult following tips and tricks that people had come up with to make the mechanical brake work half way decent.

For the most part, they seemed to work really well and I was always able to set them up so they very rarely squealed and annoyed myself or others that may be on the ride. If fact, they were so dialed that the only thing on the whole bike that annoyed me or made noise was the cable end rattling inside the lever pivot.

So why all of the fuss and trouble some may ask and reason? For simplicity sake of course! I had ridden single speed for may years and always felt the less you had to worry about on a bike during the ride the more enjoyable the experience. Well that ideal had been getting long in the tooth as i was spending consistently more and more time keeping the BB7's quiet as the actual caliper body was wearing away and losing the tight tolerances in most all areas and was just flat wore out.

As I searched around for a bargain price on a new set mechanical brakes, I really began to think of all the short comings that these things actually had, especially the fixed piston on one side that was less than ideal. I had considered the new TRP designed Spyre, but they had chose to focus on road and cross models first and would not have a suitable lever throw for MTB's until later this year.

Then, I received revelation knowledge on hydraulic brakes! Shimano had a recent re-design of their lineup with the powerful Servo-Wave mechanism and mineral oil internals for what would be a super powerful brake and hassle free set-up. I was sold, especially at the price of around $115 per brake. The installation was super simple and way more easy than an Avid mechanical, not to mention lighter and zero bleeding even when shortening the lines.

Now for the best part, the performance! They have yielded one finger stopping power that a mechanical brake never delivered. Ridiculously easy to set up, incredible stopping power, and to date, completely noise free operation. The simpletons can keep their antiques. I think that I am going to start embracing even more of the new technology the market has to offer.

Yes, it is Spring....

The reptiles are coming out! Well, you certainly know when spring has really sprung when you start seeing larger snakes warming themselves on the gravel roads.

I have been seeing several little baby snakes for quite a few weeks out on the roads, which gives a hint that spring is near. But when you start to see the ones that produced all the babies, then you really know that spring is locked in.

The weather forecasters are calling for chances of snow in the next day or so, and the low temps are even supposed to be record breakers, but I'm sure those that crawl on the ground sensed that long before the computer models predicted it. This year I am just going to make sure that i have my camera to document those really big snakes that stretch 2/3 the width of the road. Its gonna be a great year!

Saddle up....

 

Spring is in full force here in the midwest and things are greening up quickly with temps in the mid-80's. I was fortunate to go out for a big 'ol long ride that mapped out to be some 54 miles with a 1,000 ft of climbing. It included one particular hill that I had to walk the crest due to the loose gravel. This is one of the roadside picture stops that turned out nice. Different steeds that use saddles would be a good sub text.

The Monday Grind....

I love having Monday as my day off! It allows me to get out on gravel roads that are near completely empty of vehicles. Occasionally I will see farm implements, or mail carriers, but for the most part, its all mine. This gives me the perfect opportunity to catch up on podcast's or tune everything out and listen for the gentle whisper of God. (1 Kings 19:10-12)

I must admit that when I first moved to this area, there was a bit of sorrow for what would be a disconnect from singletrack riding and the whole MTB scene. Then I realized that within two blocks of my house that if I planned my route carefully, I could jump on gravel roads and literally ride hundreds of miles without ever having to ride on asphalt.

The counties do a good job of keeping the gravel fresh and chunky, so it is almost necessary to use a bike that can take a large volume tire for the cushion, yet have large hoops to keep things rolling at a reasonable pace. The 29er platform works really well for this since the bike can serve dual duty. There are still the occasional times when I get to load up on the car and drive to the trailhead for some singletrack work.

Bike Specifications:

• On-One Scandal 29er size 19.5"
• On-One Carbon Monocoque Fork
• On-One Smoothie Mixer headset
• FSA V-Drive 180mm MegaExo Crank
• Classic Time ATAC pedals
• 1x9 Drivetrain with MRP guide
• Easton XC-Two wheelset
• Clement LXV 120tpi tires
• Avid BB7 brakes
• Answer 20/20 Enduro bars
• On-One CNC stem
• Ergon GS2 bar end grips
• Easton EC70 seatpost
• Titec saddle

There are future plans to switch to a more quiet and smooth Shimano Alfine 11 drivetrain since the On-One Scandal frame features the SwapOut drop system to allow tensioning of the chain. Otherwise, I love this bike.

I had the rare opportunity to go ride singletrack today and the new On-One Scandal performed flawlessly. It also bares mentioning that the On-One Carbon Monocoque fork is butter smooth and a sure winner.

So why an On-One? It is one of the few brands that still build around an 80mm fork, plus they have the ability with SwapOut rear dropouts to run as vertical geared, or horizontal sliding single speed.

The dropouts will become very important in the future, as I plan to someday run this bike with a Shimano Alfine 11 IGH. For now I will just have to stick with the very reliable Deore 1x9 setup that never ever complains. If it never complains, why change? Silence is golden when riding a bike off-road, and IGH is a good solution short of single speed.

So if you are looking for a classic hardtail at a ridiculously good price, look no further than On-One!

Surprising sights....

What a great ride! Yesterday may prove to be the best cycling weather of the year - 60 degrees and no wind - and I was able to get out and put some good miles on my new frame and fork. For the most part I am very pleased with my new ride and probably the only way to do better is to spend money that I don't have on a custom build. It seems that everything is dialed in quite well for what I am wanting to accomplish and now it is time to let the miles really start to add up.

I think my real goal is to keep fit, see something new every time that I ride, and ride to places that I have never been.  So as far as fitness goes, I can really feel how little I rode this last winter. I don't feel like my legs had recovered from my ride that was three days previous, so there is certainly some work to do there.

As far as seeing new things goes... I did spy out some great places for future picture stops, plus I rode slow enough to take notice of a young ring-neck snake warming himself on the gravel. I was also able to see the very reliable deer grazing from the same fields they are always in about the same time of day. A new sight was a small herd of around 7 or 8 Angus calves isolated in a field and jostling around to determine who would be king for the day.

One thing peculiar was seeing rural life take long pauses to watch and wave at the preacher guy on the bike. There seems to be a bit of a lull right now in the schedules of those that work the land - the equipment is ready, but the weather and land is not, so they have time to enjoy the great day that the Lord has provided.

No new places to see on this ride, but many planned in the future....

This will probably do...

Blogging about my gravel and off-road cycling adventures may be exactly what I need as an outlet. It seems that every time I mention it on any mainstream social media, I end up feeling like I have to defend my choice of spending three or four hours on the bike. Little lone the thoughts of planning a weekend or week long bikepacking adventure!

Of course you sometimes expect this from a couch potato that has no concept of fitness, equipment, or bike setup. But sometimes you will even get it from a cyclist that perhaps rides regularly and has done a long charity ride or long rail to trail mini adventure for what is usually on smooth surfaces. The thought of riding off-road or on gravel just seems so foreign to most people.

On the flip side, I seem to have the same cringe factor with the thoughts of car whizzing by only inches from my bar end at speeds that are double or triple to mine. And yes, I did that for many years and rode thousands of miles, but never felt comfortable doing it. I think it is just the understanding of what target fixation really is - look at something long enough and you might likely hit it, even when trying to avoid it!

All that to say, if I just blog about my adventures, most likely people that have similar interests will possibly find it and enjoy reading about it. So check back soon, as my next post will most likely be about a 50 mile gravel ride in the deserted countryside on my new bike.