brassnipples

Video catch up

2012-02-03T06:51:00.000-08:00

In chronological order.

Touring in Oregon

Riding in the upper peninsula of Michigan

Home turf in the snow

Taste of B.A.L.L.S.

2011-05-02T21:56:00.000-07:00

Cracked Pepper

2011-04-25T21:29:00.000-07:00

Starting on something new.

Happy spring from Madison

2011-04-19T17:06:00.001-07:00

Hub Conversion

2011-04-16T21:57:00.001-07:00

The bolt on wheels on the Masi had to go. It's silly to need a 15mm wrench, which is uncommon on modern multi-tools, just change a flat...

Hollowing the axle was the stressful part, the bit wandering was a real threat. I drilled to the center, over 2", flipped it and met the hole on the other side and they lined up perfectly.

Gravel grinder

2011-04-11T10:37:00.001-07:00

Despite a night of little sleep, I took off early on Saturday morning with the Pugsley on a ride out Blue Mounds to attend a trail work day with CORP. It's about 10 miles of pavement from my place to where the gravel starts, and the latest reports of the trail were that it was too soft still, but that was almost a week ago and big tires float well. As soon as the tires hit the dirt I knew it was going to be fine, there were soft sections but I barely left a print. I lowered the pressure down a bit, from an initial rock hard 20 PSI, to smooth out the ride but was worried about going too low and picking up resistance which which would have been undesirable for the 60ish mile trip.

The ride was mostly an experiment to see how the bike felt for long treks because I'm considering taking it on B.A.L.L.S to try and make the Cheese Country trail at bit more tolerable. The weight is certainly noticeable, but the wide bottom bracket was the big concern and thankfully my knees didn't complain about it.

The work day was scheduled to start at 9am, so I was riding against the clock and was pushing the whole way to make it but never really checked the time (what good would it do anyway). A coworker mentioned that he was starting a road ride at the top of the mound with a big group at 9am and sure enough, right as I hit the park road, several dozen road bikes came screaming down the hill, perfect.

Build some trail, everyone took the Pugs for a spin, struggled on the way home, did yard work, became zombie, in bed by 8pm.

Field repair

2011-03-06T19:52:00.000-08:00

I was out riding on the Capital City Trail with two other guys today and learned a neat bike repair trick. The path had a lot of sections that hadn't melted off yet, the temps were in the low/mid 20's but the sun had softened up the snow and ice mix for a slushy experience. The ice build up on our bikes was pretty impressive by the end. About half way through the ride, out in the prairie sections that are far from anything, my cassette got so covered in ice that the chain just skipped over it in any gear and only the slightest pressure on the pedals; I wasn't going anywhere. I was about to start jabbing at it with a multi tool (which I wasn't keen on doing) when one of the guys suggested melting it off... One empty bladder later (not a camelbak bladder) the bike was officially mine, the drive train was astonishingly clean, and we were on our way.

Semi bi annual blog shakeout

2011-02-25T18:51:00.000-08:00

Why not. More stuff that's happened since the last update. Me and 7 other guys headed out west to ride from Durango CO to Moab UT using the San Juan Hut system. Lots of driving, lots of riding, lots of beer, and lots of fun.

Snow!

2011-02-25T18:45:00.000-08:00

This is from the first day of the white stuff this year.

Bonk!

2010-03-15T11:44:00.000-07:00

Joined up with this guy for this ride in this weather. Pro tip: if you want to burn calories just sit on the edge of hypothermia for a few hours, it's the new fad diet. I didn't account for the extra burn from the cold and the route was already pushing what my legs can do right now which all culminated in the hardest bonk I've ever bonked. Misery loves company and the company was good but I wasn't feeling the love the last few miles.

Luckily we ran into this guy towards the end who was kind enough to shuttle a couple of us home who's tanks had long since run dry.

It's a really nice route, some of the finest roads around, I'll be back for more of it.

Studless

2010-03-03T12:24:00.000-08:00

Smooth rolling street tires made my morning commute seem effortless but not having to endure the grinding 'zzzzzzzzzzzz' of the studs on pavement was the real treat. Hopefully the worst of winter is behind us.

wakeup

2010-02-12T08:12:00.000-08:00

Yawn ...ah..
The 2010 season is going to be good. My little commute is an ingrained habit now so riding is a daily thing, big rides planned, only doing fun races, and new local play spots are in the works.

Stump Farm 12

2009-05-11T20:50:00.000-07:00

It's been a great year for trail riding so far. A winter backed off pretty quickly and spring showers have been merciful to the trails so everything opened early. A few romps at the kettles, new mileage at Cam-Rock and BALLS and I feel like I have more miles on my legs than I normally would by mid summer (or all summer some years). Craigslist tossed a well used but zippy new race bike.

I loaded up the car on Friday night during a thunderstorm and fell asleep wondering if the race would happen, or if I would be able to muster up the will to go. According to the race web site they said the trail handles wet so a few extra layers to manage cold and soggy and I was headed to Green Bay.

Riding faster is my thing this year so I opted for the 6 hour instead of 12 and after Saturday and decided to just go out hard and run myself into the ground, not something advisable for 12 hours but manageable for 6. Everything went as well as could be expected. The 12 hour racers squished out the water from the trail leaving it nice and buff, thank you. My tummy was on edge for a lot of the race, but everything stayed down but it was tough to keep enough anti cramp juice flowing and my right leg teased me with a cramp for the entire second half, it never made good on it's threats though.

There wasn't a big green clock, and I lost my watch recently so when I finally asked what time it was it took me some time to do the mental math to figure out how many laps I had left, or how many I had done. In the end it was 8 laps and good enough for 4th which is far better than I expected.

Met some guys from Team Segal during the race and we yo yoed for a while. Afterwards the Segal guys revealed their secret, sponsorship from PBR and tossed a coozied can my way.

Spring tease

2009-03-24T08:21:00.000-07:00

Everyone knew the winter reprieve last week was temporary, now 40's and rain are the forecast for the week. A recent job change dropped my commute to just a hop and a skip of two miles from the house so we decided to sell a vehicle and become a single car family. I thought that having to ride everyday would feel like a burden but so far it's just a lot easier not have the driving option. The crappy weather this week would have made me consider driving in the past but now that distraction doesn't exist and I just have to figure out how to stay dry.

So far the car is not missed, it's too bad we didn't sell it a long time ago.

oh deer

2009-03-01T11:29:00.000-08:00

The sun was out on Saturday the temps were up and I was getting anxious to ride something dirtish or at least not easy. H8tr, site of the MBM, delivered.

The initial spur off the Southwest commuter path was unrideable snow but it got better after the railroad bridge. Hmm, better, let me be more clear. On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being pavement and 10 being unrideable this trail was just retarded. Walkers and animals cratered up the snow and then freezing rain gave it a nice thick coating of ice. The studs on the frankenbike are now rounded and useless, there are bruises to prove it.
An unfortunate soul is resting in the middle of the trail.

The sounds of yielding ice and snow were better than any earbuds could provide. The auditory experience changed frequently and dramatically as the snow mutated from to shadows, puddles, fields and pedestrians. Franken bike dropped his chain several times but we've come to an understanding about this sort of behavior, he doesn't pretend to work perfectly and I don't give him too hard a time about it and we always make it where we're going.

All in all about two and a half hours of saddle time and at least some of it was dirty.

getting itchy

2009-02-24T10:03:00.000-08:00

The sun is sticking around longer, the ground peeked through the snow for a while, team meetings, worba meetings, a lead on a new bike, it's almost too much to take. The last two years were a little weak on riding/racing/trailwork but I'm all revved up for 09, just a bit early yet.

For now the hum of the trainer is somewhat soothing the itch (or maybe making it worse) and getting outside when the weather isn't stronger than my will to ride.

going nowhere

2009-02-03T06:57:00.000-08:00

Did a group ride at Garretts last night. Troy beat us into a pulp,

black ice

2009-01-22T06:35:00.000-08:00

A few people this morning were treated to the sight of a cyclist sliding down the street on his back like an overturned turtle. No injury, only slight damage to bike stuff, and a good laugh.

oh toes

2009-01-15T12:34:00.000-08:00

-15F this morning, that's a new low for me on the bike. I learned the following:

1. Freewheels work inconsistently at best when grease freezes

2. Bodies generate plenty of heat, but keeping toes warm is a losing battle.

3. Cars seem to be more respectful at lower temperatures. Though my sample size is low, I was surprised at the extra room granted this morning, and at nearly every intersection someone unnecessarily yielded for me.

4. Colder = slower. Though the roads were pretty clean, and I felt like I was working hard, it took me longer than ever to make it to work. Not sure if it was because of restricted movements due to the extra layer of cloths

New sled

2009-01-14T11:04:00.000-08:00

It has come to my attention that some a few folks actually read this thing and I was chastised for letting it die. Unfortunately my old posts were lost after letting my old account expire, but I have a plan to restore them, at least the text bits.

Anyway, I cobbled together a winter bike with homemade studded tires, full fenders, single speed, and even foam grips for added warmth and it's been a pretty good commuter. Actually the geometry of the frame is really uncomfortable, the front end has a shocking and dangerous amount of flex, the chain falls off fairly regularly, the rims are dented, and the rolling resistance of the tires is so bad that I rarely need to touch the brakes. All the hate for the machine washes away when I get to ride in the conditions it accommodates, so it's all good.

The normal 45 minute max ride to work takes a minimum hour on this frankenbike as compared to my sunny day road bike. The extra time wouldn't be so bad were it not for the cold weather, around the 45 minute mark I'm usually thinking "well, if i were getting to work now I wouldn't lose the feeling in my toes at all". The cold is manageable, but sloppy roads and sliding cars scare me back to the caged warmth of a car. The forecast for tomorrow is -20F for the morning commute, but the roads will be clear...