18 September 2010
17 September 2010
New Bike 3
The Nickel has arrived. This is the replacement for my stolen Cannondale Rize. The Nickel is new model from Santa Cruz. It's a simple single pivot rear suspension like the classic Santa Cruz Superlight, but it has an extra link in the system that slightly alters the shock rate throughout the suspension travel. Check it out here, if you want.
A nice looking bike in white, isn't it? My first choice probably would have been the color "chocolate" but none were available. I haven't had the chance to really get it out and ride it hard on a trail yet, but I've ridden it to school and back with Quinn, once to work and back, and Quinn and I got in a little bit of trail in a couple of the local parks. That's probably getting close to 10 miles. Now the weekend is here...
So far, I think the Nickel is going to be great. When I first climbed on, it seemed a little shortish in the top tube, and I briefly feared I was going to wish I'd ordered the next size up. This one is a large, and there is an extra large available, but the size chart from Santa Cruz put me squarely in the middle of the large size range. After riding it to work, mostly on roads, I began to think the shortish feeling resulted from the 90mm stem that came with bike. Although the shorter stem is clearly the norm now for "trail" and "all-mountain" machines, I really felt like I wanted just a little more weight over the front wheel. I looked around in my parts bin and found I had a Ritchey 105mm stem that would work, so made the swap. It's only a 15mm difference, but it really seems to make a big difference in how it feels. With the 105mm stem it feels perfect. The seat height is just an inch or two above the bars, which should be great for me on Michigan's trails.
Quinn made me ride it off the deck while he took pictures...
A nice looking bike in white, isn't it? My first choice probably would have been the color "chocolate" but none were available. I haven't had the chance to really get it out and ride it hard on a trail yet, but I've ridden it to school and back with Quinn, once to work and back, and Quinn and I got in a little bit of trail in a couple of the local parks. That's probably getting close to 10 miles. Now the weekend is here...
So far, I think the Nickel is going to be great. When I first climbed on, it seemed a little shortish in the top tube, and I briefly feared I was going to wish I'd ordered the next size up. This one is a large, and there is an extra large available, but the size chart from Santa Cruz put me squarely in the middle of the large size range. After riding it to work, mostly on roads, I began to think the shortish feeling resulted from the 90mm stem that came with bike. Although the shorter stem is clearly the norm now for "trail" and "all-mountain" machines, I really felt like I wanted just a little more weight over the front wheel. I looked around in my parts bin and found I had a Ritchey 105mm stem that would work, so made the swap. It's only a 15mm difference, but it really seems to make a big difference in how it feels. With the 105mm stem it feels perfect. The seat height is just an inch or two above the bars, which should be great for me on Michigan's trails.
Quinn made me ride it off the deck while he took pictures...
12 September 2010
New Bikes -- 2 of 3
I haven't finished writing up the Colorado trip, but I'm anxious to post photos of some new bikes. Since, on our drive home from Colorado, some lost souls chopped three of the four bikes from the top of our van and stole them, we've sadly undertaken the task of finding replacements. Obviously, it's great fun to get new bikes, but under such circumstances, the feeling is bitter sweet.
Partially to keep things simple, but largely because of a general fondness for Santa Cruz Bicycles, we selected three bikes of the same brand we could order from one shop. We were able to get some cost savings this way, too. It took a couple of weeks for Santa Cruz to gather up the bikes and get them shipped, which seemed a little too long, but all three bikes were scheduled to arrive Friday (the day before yesterday, as of this post). We'd had hopes of hitting some trails this weekend, but it was just my luck that only two of them made it. Mine missed a transfer at the UPS hub outside of Chicago and won't be here until Monday. I've spent far more time waiting for bikes and parts this year than I have riding them!
We replaced Cindy's stolen Superlight with another Superlight. This one is red. It's so red that our camera is befuddled, coming up with splashes of orange and yellow and white that are not evident to the human eye. Is it the real chameleon? This bike is brand new, whereas the old was mix of old and new.
Abbey's Kona, which had been Heather's Kona, has been replaced by this green Chameleon (which photographs without optical confusion). The Kona was very nice, quite quick and light, with the 1990s cross country geometry. The Chameleon not as light, and is in many ways a rather different bike, but it's named the Chameleon because it is based on a very versatile frame that could serve a variety of purposes, from racer to jumper, depending out how it's set up. It will be Abbey's until she outgrows it, and then we hope it will have many more riders in years to come.
Interestingly, Abbey and Cindy are now similarly sized enough that they can switch back and forth between bikes without even adjusting the saddle height.
When the other bikes were stolen, Quinn's was left sitting alone on top of our car. Although he was probably quite glad that his bike was not stolen, it's been tough for him to watch the rest of the family select replacement bikes. He's handled it very well.
Here he is navigating the steps off the deck behind our house on his old Trek. What's he doing with his tongue??
And catching a bit of air at the pump track...
Partially to keep things simple, but largely because of a general fondness for Santa Cruz Bicycles, we selected three bikes of the same brand we could order from one shop. We were able to get some cost savings this way, too. It took a couple of weeks for Santa Cruz to gather up the bikes and get them shipped, which seemed a little too long, but all three bikes were scheduled to arrive Friday (the day before yesterday, as of this post). We'd had hopes of hitting some trails this weekend, but it was just my luck that only two of them made it. Mine missed a transfer at the UPS hub outside of Chicago and won't be here until Monday. I've spent far more time waiting for bikes and parts this year than I have riding them!
We replaced Cindy's stolen Superlight with another Superlight. This one is red. It's so red that our camera is befuddled, coming up with splashes of orange and yellow and white that are not evident to the human eye. Is it the real chameleon? This bike is brand new, whereas the old was mix of old and new.
Abbey's Kona, which had been Heather's Kona, has been replaced by this green Chameleon (which photographs without optical confusion). The Kona was very nice, quite quick and light, with the 1990s cross country geometry. The Chameleon not as light, and is in many ways a rather different bike, but it's named the Chameleon because it is based on a very versatile frame that could serve a variety of purposes, from racer to jumper, depending out how it's set up. It will be Abbey's until she outgrows it, and then we hope it will have many more riders in years to come.
Interestingly, Abbey and Cindy are now similarly sized enough that they can switch back and forth between bikes without even adjusting the saddle height.
When the other bikes were stolen, Quinn's was left sitting alone on top of our car. Although he was probably quite glad that his bike was not stolen, it's been tough for him to watch the rest of the family select replacement bikes. He's handled it very well.
Here he is navigating the steps off the deck behind our house on his old Trek. What's he doing with his tongue??
And catching a bit of air at the pump track...
02 September 2010
Crested Butte - Day 5
We saved for last our most wild and crazy day in Crested Butte. After a few morning hours spent cleaning up several days of dirty clothes, dog towels, and dinosaurs scattered about the cabin, we drove uphill to the ski resort town of Mt. Crested Butte. We purchased a full round of all day passes at the Crested Butte Mountain Resort, which included lift tickets as well as access to rock climbing, miniature golf, and bungee jumping.
Obviously, there was no snow, so we weren't going skiing. We were getting a taste of lift-served mountain biking, an activity that I can imagine could be quite addictive. My first thought was that taking the lift up the mountain rather than pedaling should be considered lazy -- or even cheating. Maybe it should, but it was really fun and I'm very glad we gave it a try.
On Mt. Crested Butte, there is a nice selection of bicycling trails to choose from. Some are long smooth "cross country" trails that wind around the mountain, flat and even slightly uphill in places. Others fall into the category of "downhill" and take a more direct route down the mountain.
At first the kids were a little anxious about the ski lift, since there were no seatbelts, and sitting loosely on a little seat with feet hanging in the air a hundred feet above the rocky ground felt precarious. They enjoyed the thrill of it, I think. We could sit four to a chair but our bikes had to come up after us, each bike hanging on the back of an empty chair. At the top, the lift attendant unloaded each bike and handed it gently to it's owner, who had to haul it down some wood stairs to the open gravel area that was the trailhead.
For the first ride, Heather stayed down with Cailan while the rest of us went to the top. Chris tested out some of the longer cross country trails on his own while we scaq started out with the trail rated the easiest. It was called "Luge" and was described as "a wider gravity assisted singletrack trail that flows through moderate terrain featuring man made berms and rollers."
The Luge trail started out slightly rocky with a few steep downhill sections that exceeded Quinn's fear tolerance. I tried yelling at him, but that just made it worse. Cindy couldn't yell at him because her sore throat was preventing her from talking, let alone yelling. Eventually, he realized the hills were well within his ability, and just looked scary from the top.
After its bumpy start, the Luge left the rocks and became a very gentle trail, smooth and winding, wide and fast, as its name would suggest. We flowed down the mountain like rushing water. The kids loved it. I loved it. With all the rain, the surface was soft and grippy, muddy in places. I followed Quinn at nearly 20 miles an hour, thrilled to watch him catching controlled (usually) chunks of air as he bunny-hopped the frequent rollers. Fear and inexperience, maybe a rational sense of self-preservation, kept the kids from letting loose of the brakes and making full use of the berms around the corners.
Heather and Abbey on the lift:
The view from the top was nice, despite the cloudy wet weather.
Cindy following Quinn along one of the cross country trails.
Heather, Chris, and I took one ride on a newer more challenging cross country route called "Westside." The description stated:
Westside is an epic new piece of single track that will keep you smiling. Flowing trail sections through forests of aspen and pine are the highlight of this ride.
It was indeed brand new; some sections looked like perhaps the grass had been cleared from the path only a few days before. We wondered if more than a handful of riders had yet ridden the trail. It was fun and challenging, and took us a little further away from the civilization of the resort. Here's Heather coming out of a uniform stand of aspens. Can you see her broken finger?
Q&A each climbed the artificial rock. I told Abbey that if she failed to make it to the top, she would not eat for the rest of the day. She's a growing girl, usually hungry, and made a strong and steady climb to the bell at the top.
All three kids got in two rounds each of bungee jumping - the first round in the rain. This looked fun, too. After being clipped in while standing on the trampoline, the bungee cords were wound tight with an electric motor, and the victim was lifted into the air. The attendant then pulled the victim down to the trampoline, just like a slingshot, and the poor child was launched into the air.
Here's Cailan getting ready to fly:
Quinn, after the launch:
Back on the bikes, Heather and Abbey went racing down the Luge again, hair blowing in the wind. Are their smiles expressions of joy, or is the wind in their faces pushing their cheeks back as they surpass the speed of sanity?
Speaking of sanity, or lack thereof, Chris and I did a couple of trips down a trail called "Avery."
Avery is the Downhill race course for the annual Wildflower Rush. Avery throws a little of everything your way as you descend through pine forest, rock gardens, fast open terrain, and man made jumps.
Avery simply zig-zagged under the ski lift. The trail probably represented an upper limit of downhill difficulty for me and my RZ. Although I must admit to bypassing the biggest drop, which I would estimate was more than 6 feet if not 10, we did quite well together. Its 140mm suspension fork got me through some very challenging rock gardens at high speed unscathed, much to my surprise. Much more of that sort of trail though, and I'd be looking for a purpose-built downhill bike with 8 to 10 inches of fork travel -- and perhaps a full face helmet and some body armor.
On our second trip down Avery, Cindy and Abbey rode the lift down while Chris and I rode the trail. They were able to get some nice pictures of us speeding down, but the jumps and rock gardens were mostly in the trees hidden from view. It seemed that every time Chris and I shot out of the trees, we'd see the them on the lift. Even with a couple of minor crashes (Chris's was quite impressive and acrobatic), Chris and I still got down the mountain before Cindy and Abbey.
When the ski lift closed at the end of the day, we drove to Grand Junction.
Obviously, there was no snow, so we weren't going skiing. We were getting a taste of lift-served mountain biking, an activity that I can imagine could be quite addictive. My first thought was that taking the lift up the mountain rather than pedaling should be considered lazy -- or even cheating. Maybe it should, but it was really fun and I'm very glad we gave it a try.
On Mt. Crested Butte, there is a nice selection of bicycling trails to choose from. Some are long smooth "cross country" trails that wind around the mountain, flat and even slightly uphill in places. Others fall into the category of "downhill" and take a more direct route down the mountain.
At first the kids were a little anxious about the ski lift, since there were no seatbelts, and sitting loosely on a little seat with feet hanging in the air a hundred feet above the rocky ground felt precarious. They enjoyed the thrill of it, I think. We could sit four to a chair but our bikes had to come up after us, each bike hanging on the back of an empty chair. At the top, the lift attendant unloaded each bike and handed it gently to it's owner, who had to haul it down some wood stairs to the open gravel area that was the trailhead.
For the first ride, Heather stayed down with Cailan while the rest of us went to the top. Chris tested out some of the longer cross country trails on his own while we scaq started out with the trail rated the easiest. It was called "Luge" and was described as "a wider gravity assisted singletrack trail that flows through moderate terrain featuring man made berms and rollers."
The Luge trail started out slightly rocky with a few steep downhill sections that exceeded Quinn's fear tolerance. I tried yelling at him, but that just made it worse. Cindy couldn't yell at him because her sore throat was preventing her from talking, let alone yelling. Eventually, he realized the hills were well within his ability, and just looked scary from the top.
After its bumpy start, the Luge left the rocks and became a very gentle trail, smooth and winding, wide and fast, as its name would suggest. We flowed down the mountain like rushing water. The kids loved it. I loved it. With all the rain, the surface was soft and grippy, muddy in places. I followed Quinn at nearly 20 miles an hour, thrilled to watch him catching controlled (usually) chunks of air as he bunny-hopped the frequent rollers. Fear and inexperience, maybe a rational sense of self-preservation, kept the kids from letting loose of the brakes and making full use of the berms around the corners.
Heather and Abbey on the lift:
The view from the top was nice, despite the cloudy wet weather.
Cindy following Quinn along one of the cross country trails.
Heather, Chris, and I took one ride on a newer more challenging cross country route called "Westside." The description stated:
Westside is an epic new piece of single track that will keep you smiling. Flowing trail sections through forests of aspen and pine are the highlight of this ride.
It was indeed brand new; some sections looked like perhaps the grass had been cleared from the path only a few days before. We wondered if more than a handful of riders had yet ridden the trail. It was fun and challenging, and took us a little further away from the civilization of the resort. Here's Heather coming out of a uniform stand of aspens. Can you see her broken finger?
Q&A each climbed the artificial rock. I told Abbey that if she failed to make it to the top, she would not eat for the rest of the day. She's a growing girl, usually hungry, and made a strong and steady climb to the bell at the top.
All three kids got in two rounds each of bungee jumping - the first round in the rain. This looked fun, too. After being clipped in while standing on the trampoline, the bungee cords were wound tight with an electric motor, and the victim was lifted into the air. The attendant then pulled the victim down to the trampoline, just like a slingshot, and the poor child was launched into the air.
Here's Cailan getting ready to fly:
Quinn, after the launch:
Back on the bikes, Heather and Abbey went racing down the Luge again, hair blowing in the wind. Are their smiles expressions of joy, or is the wind in their faces pushing their cheeks back as they surpass the speed of sanity?
Speaking of sanity, or lack thereof, Chris and I did a couple of trips down a trail called "Avery."
Avery is the Downhill race course for the annual Wildflower Rush. Avery throws a little of everything your way as you descend through pine forest, rock gardens, fast open terrain, and man made jumps.
Avery simply zig-zagged under the ski lift. The trail probably represented an upper limit of downhill difficulty for me and my RZ. Although I must admit to bypassing the biggest drop, which I would estimate was more than 6 feet if not 10, we did quite well together. Its 140mm suspension fork got me through some very challenging rock gardens at high speed unscathed, much to my surprise. Much more of that sort of trail though, and I'd be looking for a purpose-built downhill bike with 8 to 10 inches of fork travel -- and perhaps a full face helmet and some body armor.
On our second trip down Avery, Cindy and Abbey rode the lift down while Chris and I rode the trail. They were able to get some nice pictures of us speeding down, but the jumps and rock gardens were mostly in the trees hidden from view. It seemed that every time Chris and I shot out of the trees, we'd see the them on the lift. Even with a couple of minor crashes (Chris's was quite impressive and acrobatic), Chris and I still got down the mountain before Cindy and Abbey.
When the ski lift closed at the end of the day, we drove to Grand Junction.
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