The Dirt

It's been a while since I felt the pulse of Mother Earth through my knobby tires. I couldn't wait any longer so this morning I loaded up my mountain bike and hit the trail.  Every spring I like to ride the mountain bike trail at Mohican State Park. 

This place never fails to recharge my batteries.  While I stay in shape doing other things in the off season I'm from the flatland so busting out of the gate and flogging myself up and down these hills transports me to another place.

Speaking of transports in this picture is my new internal combustion powered four wheeled recumbent with 5-speed manual transmission (I like to decide when to jam the gears of whatever contraption I happen to be piloting.) and cargo box.  Toss the bike in the back and secure it with a bungee cord to keep it from bouncing around and I'm off. 

Of course I'm concerned for our planet and for that reason and my own good health I ride my commuter bike to my day job and other errands about town as much as possible.  As long as I am able to afford and operate a motor vehicle I will continue to use one for important things like getting to awesome bike trails.

  

I've been trail riding since the early nineties.  One thing I've noticed about climate change in my region is the spring-time is much drier. This makes for excellent mountain biking.  I'm sure I've been mentioning it before that the trails are dusty dry this early for several years in a row now.  I can remember waiting out the muddy season not only to prevent damage to the fragile ecosystems but to save the head ache of cleaning mud from my bike and accelerated wear of drive train parts from what is basically liquid sandpaper.

   

I rode the same route I usually do with the first half being 8 miles from the snowmobile parking area east to the campground on State Route 3.  All was going fine and before I knew it I was cruising on the camp ground road towards the connector trail to continue on back west up the other side of the gorge.  

Clear Fork of the Mohican River

The camp road is paved and flat following the river in the bottom of the valley so for the first time I could shift up to the big ring.  There was major work being done in the campground with heavy equipment of all shapes and sizes and workmen busy on improvements.  The road surface had been ground in preparation for repaving but rolling on my fat off road tires it felt fine.  Suddenly I noticed that the bike was feeling way to hard to pedal as if I was going uphill. I soon realized my back tire was almost flat. This was both irritating and odd as I had just replaced the tube the night before to fix a slow leak that I'd been dealing with since last year.

Luckily I was right near the camp commissary which had picnic tables and shade so that made a perfect place for a pit stop to eat my mid ride snack and fix the flat.  I was also well prepared with an extra tube and my trusty mini pump so shortly I was on my way again.  

 The path up from the campground starts with a steady two mile zig-zagging climb up to the top of the north ridge of the gorge.  The mountain bike trail "officially" starts at that point but I hate starting my ride first thing with that devil of a climb. I'd much rather face it in the middle of my journey when I'm at least warmed up.

After a few more miles I was feeling pretty beat down and was ambling along a relatively flat section of trail when I suddenly felt the urge almost subconsciously to look to the left.  I didn't think about it just instinctively jerked my head around and instantly locked eyes with a whitetail doe standing perfectly still watching me pass about 30 yards off the trail.

I came to a stop and pulled out my camera and attempted to get a shot off.  Unfortunately in my excitement I forgot that I had the two second timer set. Whether it was the beeper going off or she had simply had enough human interaction the doe turned tail and bugged out.  I did manage to keep the lens on her and after the timer delay I got a shot of her warning flag flying.

     

These last couple shots are of an area along the north ridge I really like. The hill slopes down steeply and is covered with Hemlocks. Some older trees tower high above but it is reassuring to see younger hemlocks doing well waiting their turn to one day take the place of their elders.

Eventually after 16 miles of single track I used the park road to cross back down and up the other side back to the parking area where I left the truck that morning.  Completely exhausted but with that well earned satisfaction that only a hard day on the trail can give.

I used my smart phone's gps to determine something I've always wondered about while running around in this park: Elevation gain.  I climbed a total of 2700 feet during my ride.

Ride Data

July 4th MTB Ride -- Mohican SP

I spent the afternoon of the 4th in the woods on my all terrain bike.   Getting out on the trails has been a long time coming for me.  It's been rainy so I have been avoiding the trails until they dry out.  I hate to see trail damage and ruts from riding too soon.  Fortunately the ground is sandy and rocky in the Mohican State Park so aside from a few soft pockets the trail was firm and dry.

Of all the types of cycling I like to partake in mountain biking is one I really enjoy.  I've long since given up on going fast and instead I like to keep a slow to moderate pace and enjoy the sights, sounds and smells of the natural world as it slides by.  Following the natural undulations of the terrain and being totally immersed in the organic surroundings is a totally different experience one can have on two wheels compared to other forms of cycling.  Trail conditions and surfaces can change quickly and technical challenges and obstacles keep things from getting mundane. 

 The unique thing from a fitness standpoint is that even if one rides conservatively or even pokes along the exertion paid out from the constant climbing and descending can be taxing if not brutal.  I rode about 17 miles of the single track loop and it was by far a much greater effort than the 50 mile road loop I did the other day.

Back in the early 1990's when I raced mtb I used bar ends on my handlebars.  For some reason bar ends seemed to have fallen from favor and I even rode my bikes a few years without them.  I may be letting my retrogrouch show but this year I put a set of old bar ends on my Motobecane and found they make a huge difference. 

  

These stubby bar ends are the last ones I bought years ago.  Made by Profile Designs they are only 3" long overall and stick out about 2 1/4" from the leading edge of the handlebar.  Last week I dug them out of my spare parts and stuck them on for a quick test ride around neighborhood.  Without them I never really felt totally secure with my grip on the bars.  When my hands are on the regular rubber grips I like how the bar ends contain the outside of my hands.  They make my grip on the bike feel more confident especially on rough fast descents.

On long rides bar ends offer a different hold position which is welcome when spending hours on an upright bike.  Canted forward as I have them the position approximates the feel of riding on the brake hoods of my road bike.

The original intended purpose of bar ends I think is to aid in climbing.  Moving my grip to the far ends of the bar opens up my upper body increasing leverage and just makes me feel more powerful when rocking the bike up the steeps.  I've also noticed that having a hold on the bike slightly forward of the leading edge of the bar seems to remove some of the twitchyness of the front end while navigating slow technical terrain.

People have asked me "Aren't you worried about hooking small trees with those?"  I suppose that there could be a small risk but in over two decades I've only caught a bar end on a tree once and that was a slow speed encounter so I wasn't launched over the bars.  With experience a rider just knows how wide he or she is and makes allowances for it.  Like walking through a doorway we position ourselves so we aren't banging a shoulder as we pass through.

Something I noticed while riding on tight twisty trails with trees close in is that occasionally I'll make contact with trees on the very end of my bar.  Just glancing blows not enough to cause a loss of control.  Without bar ends if my hand is hanging off the end of the grip just a little bit the pinch between the tree and bar can hurt.  On my ride yesterday the bar ends protected my hands a couple times as I bounced along between the trees.  The bar ends will stay on my bike. 

Eastern single track: Roots and rocks O'plenty!  After many years of riding hard tail mountain bikes I love my full suspension bike.  Sometimes I miss the quick agile handling and climbing prowess of my single speed hard tail but so far not enough to want to actually get it out and ride it on the trails.

As usual I spotted lots of wildlife.  Here's a Whitetail fawn that still has it's spots. 

Wood bridge decking is covered with a continuous length of chicken wire to provide grip.  In a moist forest environment it doesn't take long for bare wood surfaces to get very slippery.  The chicken wire works great to help keep the rubber side down.

Happy Trails!

Moutain Bike Weekend

On Friday the Road Queen and I headed south to Alum Creek State Park to ride mountain bikes.  RQ is no stranger to trails in the woods but usually her mount has four legs, a mane and a tail.  This was her first time riding mountain bikes and other than a little case of nerves she did great.  

   

Riding off road for the first time is always a trial by fire but the Road Queen's tenacity and adventurous spirit served her well and she kept the rubber side down all day.  

During a break during our ride she commented that trail riding on a bike is opposite from horseback.  On a horse you pick your way slow and careful down the hills obviously to keep the horse on his feet.  Going up is another story.  When climbing it's easier for a horse to take advantage of all that muscle and lunge up the hill with big powerful strides.  Hang on and enjoy the rush!  On a mountain bike it's the climbing that goes at a snail's pace as you grind your way up using the mechanical advantage of the bicycle's low gears.  It's the downhill runs that generate the thrills on a bike. 

We spotted this little guy sulking around in the woods:

RCT successful balance test on the long bridge.

I've used clipless pedals for years on my mountain bike.  Bucking around on a hard tail bike over roots and rocks I always felt more secure with my feet attached to my pedals.  Since I got the dual suspension bike though I've noticed that the ride over the rough stuff is more manageable so I decided to ditch the eggbeaters and try some big platforms for change.  

I picked up these Nashbar Venge platforms and had them in my hands Thursday just enough time to install them to my cranks and go for a little test spin around the neighborhood.  Tall studs screwed into the pedal provide a solid grip and the nice wide platforms feel very stable.  After just a short while on the trail I was sold.  Clipless pedals have their place for sure in racing but for more leisurely riding in the woods I really like not having to deal with clipping in and out.  When I did cut loose on a sketchy downhill or catch a little air off a jump the pedals felt as stable and secure as ever.

Low profile, well finished in handsome black with sealed cartridge bearings all for $39.00 I think one would be hard pressed to find more value in a good platform pedal.  I'll continue to mash and bash them and see how they hold up in the long term.  For now they've found a home on my dual suspension and I hope they stick around.

RQ said she loved the mountain bike experience compared to the monotony of road riding  and wanted to go again so on Sunday I took her to my local single track The Stoller Road Trail located near Lexington, Ohio.  We spent a few hours playing in the woods and enjoying the pretty views and nature all around us.

On her second ride RQ got a handle on her nerves and was able to begin honing the fat tire craft.  Since she doesn't have her own mountain bike I let her borrow my Yeti single speed.  Now that may sound like a dirty trick cutting a new rider loose on a one geared bike but I actually think a SS is a great way to learn the basics of off road bike handling.  As a freshly minted trail rider bouncing around on rough root covered single track it's hard enough just keeping yourself upright let alone trying to figure out when to shift and what gear combinations to use for any given situation.  RQ agreed and said she liked riding the Yeti.

This time of year in the late summer is when I ramp up my moutain biking activity.  The cooler weather and clear crisp days makes the woods magical and the place to be.  Rolling along on fat tires keeps you moving just fast enough to stay ahead of the biting insects and the trails are dry and worn smooth by a summer of use.  If you need me I'll be in the woods.

Cycling Update

Last Tuesday I got some new tires for my road bike.  I've been thinking about trying out 28mm tires but I ended up with these regular 25mm slicks from Vittoria.  I like slicks and the price was right so I decided to give them a try.  I always enjoy new tires and look forward to that first ride.

I mounted the clinchers and went for a spin on my out and back time trial course.  The tires feel fast and comfortable as a 100 psi skinny tire can.

20 Miles for time

Ride Time:  1:06:49

Distance:  20 miles

Average Speed: 17.9 mph

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Here in north central Ohio we've had 5 sunny warm days in the 70's and I could stand it no longer.  I had to get out and ride my mountain bike and I figured the trails at Mohican would be dry enough for my first knobby tired ride of the season. I got an early start and it was pleasant to get out on a Friday during the day to enjoy the solitude that's soon to be gone from the trails and roadways come Saturday.  To my satisfaction the trail was hard and fast but had not totally dried out.  It turned out a great day to be in the woods.

  

Leaves just spouting. Spring time comes to the Clear Fork Gorge.

The Motobecane dual suspension rode perfect. To get an idea of trail conditions look at the following picture.  This shot shows how clean my bike is after over 20 miles of single track.  The wet spots on the trail numbered a half dozen and most of those were just places were the trail was saturated from nearby natural springs.

I spent 5 hours and 40 minutes in the park counting stops for food and photography.  It is possible to ride about 17 miles of single track and then bail out to the pavement to cross the Gorge at the west end of the route but I felt up to it so I decided to ride the full 25 mile single track loop.  I took my time and didn't worry about racing the clock just enjoyed the day and tried to keep moving in a forward direction.  Traveling completely off road by bicycle in hilly country for 25 miles is a huge accomplishment even if it takes all afternoon.  I would estimate my total ride time would be 4 hours with an average speed of 6.25 mph.

Gear shown is 1st. 22T chainring, 36T sprocket.

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Springtime is motorcycle time.  The Road Queen and I met up after work on Thursday for an 80 mile loop through the hills of north central Ohio.  I love to pedal but the warm weather always brings out the urge to twist a throttle and really extend my two-wheel range.    

Trail Test -- Mohican State Park

 

 

In my mad rush to get to the trail Wednesday morning I got half a mile down the road before I realized I forgot my jacket and had to backtrack home to grab it.  My second attempt got me to the end of the block and I noticed I didn't have my camera.  By this time I'm feeling like Chevy Chase stuck on the roundabout in European Vacation.

 

 

Eventually I did make it to the trail head only to discover that the memory for the camera was still at home stuck in the computer.  I had my cell phone and its camera works fine in a pinch so I was able to document the ride.  Having been through the drill so many times I normally never forget my essential gear but with a new bike hanging on the rack my mind was in that dazed state of giddy anticipation much like just before a first date.

 

I chose Mohican State Park for the first ride of the Motobecane Fantom DS.  It only makes sense to find the trail with the biggest ups and downs and rootiest and rocky sections to try out a new trail bike.  Keep in mind that I've been riding the same hartail mountain bike for the past 15 years and have no experience with dual suspension designs so this post is just a summary of thoughts on the initial ride.

 

Observation #1

This thing is a blast. I should have gotten on the dual suspension bandwagon 10 years ago.

  



 

After a couple hours on a hardtail tree roots perpendicular to the trail get to be downright punishing and there is no option but to stand so that the legs can absorb the constant jarring.  It was funny because I would see these trail surface irregularities coming and brace for impact but I quickly found out I could just stay in the saddle while the suspension greatly diminished the rapid fire hits.

 

The suspension was equally effective in the rocky sections.  Again with years of hardtail experience I consider myself pretty good at picking a line and staying with it but on the Moto if I didn't manage to cleanly finesse my way around a rock the bike easily absorbed the impact with out the rear end bucking around with that out of control feeling exhibited by a hardtail.

 

The head tube angle on the Moto is perfect and sets up well with the Recon shock.  The fork travels freely with no forward or aft deflection at all while rolling through obstacles.  I've ridden frame - fork combinations in the past that just didn't feel right in extreme situations like gully crossing where the front end of the bike has to suddenly cope with abrupt and violent change in direction.

 



 

Following is a particularly steep, loose and rocky climb that I spun right up with little difficulty.  As I suspected the 10-speed cog in the back with 32-34-36 low gears makes climbing ridiculously easy after coming off 8 years of 32-20 single speed riding.  It's been a long time since I rode with a 22 tooth granny gear and I have to admit I was enjoying it.  No more stand and grind just drop it down stay in the seat and casually spin up the hills.  Surprisingly even with a longer travel fork the front end seemed to stay down when applying torque with little tendency to wheelie while climbing the steep stuff.

 

Initially I was worried about climbing with a heavier bike.  Using the digital bathroom scale I did a little weight comparison between my two mountain bikes.  The Moto checked in at 29.4 pounds while the Yeti single speed measured 23.2 with the difference between them being 6.2 pounds.  Honestly I could not tell a difference when climbing I think because of the much lower gear ratios offered by the ten-speed cassette. 

 

I think the Fantom DS is considered a "trail bike" and it fits that description well. To me it seems to pedal just fine uphill and when I let loose on the downhill sections I've never felt safer and more in control.  An experienced rider can do steep rough downhill on a hardtail but I am amazed at how this bike seems to work even better when velocity increases. Lessons learned I suppose and this old dog can still learn a few new tricks.  

 

The Bike came equipped with Panaracer Fire XC Pro 2.1" knobby tires that look very much like old school square lug dirtbike tires.  They hooked up well in all conditions and I don't remember the back wheel losing traction and spinning out all.  In my opinion Bikes Direct did an outstanding job specing out the parts list on this bike.

 

 

I love Mohican country and even though much of Ohio is pancake flat at least here I can ride my mountain bike in terrain that somewhat resembles mountainous.  This is an interesting little segment where the trail forks into two with one side of the Y skirting the edge of a 100ft cliff.  It's a bit of a thrill especially while making the little log hop seen in the upper left corner of the picture.

 



 

We received a good deal of rain Tuesday during the afternoon and into the night.  I wasn't too concerned with it because Mohican is fairly rocky and drains well.  Still there are bowls and drainages that hold the moisture so I picked up a little mud along the way. 

 

I like the way the rear suspension is laid out on this bike with the shock positioned inside main triangle somewhat protected from wheel spray.

 



In all I spent between 3 and 4 hours on the bike and had a most fun and satisfying day on the trail.  And like that proverbial first date where the sparks fly I'll be counting down the days until we can be together again!
 

Motobecane Fantom DS Elite

 

 

Today just as I got home from work I met the big brown truck and received a large box.  This fall I have been doing some mountain bike riding and have gotten bit by the bug and rekindled my love of the fat tire.  My Yeti hardtail single speed has served me well over the past fifteen years but its purpose built for speed and that's about it.  Now that I'm a little older the speed aspect is not as important to me as all day comfort out on the trails. 

 

 I started my love affair with fat tire bikes back in 1986 when I first took a Schwinn Mirada with a triple crank and cantilever brakes off road on four wheeler ATV paths near my rural home as a teenager.  In the Air Force I bought my first real mountain bike a 1991 Diamond Back Apex equipped with a complete Shimano Deore DX component group.  The Apex, a solid chromoly steel hardtail I used to cut my mtb teeth on trails out west in the states of Washington, Idaho, Montana and up in BC and Alberta, Canada.  I still have the old Diamond Back and will have to get some pictures of it up on the blog.

     

 

I rode rigid hartail for years before finally joining the crowd and installing a suspension fork on the front of the Diamond Back.  I watched with interest as the dual suspension bikes hit the scene and although I have always loved checking out the various designs and even test ridden a few owning a dualie is a step I never took until now.

 

Last year when I got the Motobecane titanium road frame I instantly became a fan of the brand.  The quality and craftsmanship of that frame made it an easy sell once I took a look at the market and saw what a value I could get parts wise by buying a complete Moto set up for trail riding.

 

 

Opening the box I found my new ride nearly assembled and well packaged for transit.

 

 

Once out of the box and stuck in the work stand the only things I had to do was attach the handlebar and seat, install the front brake rotor, torque the screws and attach the caliper to the front fork.

 

 

I've got a set of Avid BB7 mechanical disc brakes on the recumbent and they work well but I have to say the Avid Elixir hydraulic stoppers on this bike are very nice.  The brakes system came already bled and all I had to do was seat the calipers to the rotors. 

 

From the manual:

 

Tri-Align (TM) Caliper Positioning System -Avid disc brakes use a unique alignment system called CPS.  These stacks of concave and convex washers allow the caliper to be perfectly aligned with the rotor, regardless of imperfections in the mounting tabs on the fork or frame, giving you full, square pad contact.

 

 

As advertised I rubber banded the brake levers shut and tightened down the mounting bolts on the calipers.  When I released the levers the rotor was perfectly centered between the pads and the wheels spun with absolutely no drag.

 

I checked the air pressure in the Rockshox Recon fork and the Monarch RT3 which provides the boing for the four bar linkage in the back.

 

 

While not a true "Horst Link" suspension, a patented design owned by Specialized the moto version is according to my buddy Steve almost as good.  The main difference is the placement of the rear pivot which on my bike is placed on the seatstays above the axle instead of on the chainstay in front and below the axle as on a true Horst Link layout.

 

No big deal to me as it will surely be more plush than the rigid rear triangle of my old hardtail.

 

 

Gear shifting is accomplished with a mix of XTR and XT components.  The crankset is an alloy FSA V Drive with 42-32-22 rings.  Seatpost, headset, stem and bars are all Ritchey products, a familiar name I use on several of my other bikes.  WTB wheels and seat round out the specs so really all these parts are just what I would have picked out myself had I been building up the bike from the frame alone.

 

 

By nature I'm pretty retro-grouchy but I am excited to try out this 11-36 tooth 10-speed cassette. After running the single speed setup for the past 8 years first with 32-19 then later 32-20 having a 36 tooth cog to bail out with on the climbs is going to make the uphill almost relaxing.

 

 

Thinking ahead I scheduled myself a day of vacation for tomorrow so I'll be heading out first thing to Mohican State Park to get her dirty!