Easter Sunday on the Blue Burleys

Sunday morning; Easter candy; waffles for breakfast; more drywall mud. Sore butts from a long and bouncy ride the day before. Rain, rain, and more rain. Will it ever end?

Sunday afternoon, finally pulling the blue Burleys off the wall, we went on a road ride with some friends from Playmakers. The rain held off for us, and yesterday's strong westerly wind had blown itself out. The air was chilly, perhaps 50 F, but with a little sun and no wind, we weren't complaining. Well, not about the weather anyway, but after spending three hours in the saddle the day before on such a bumpy ride, we were all complaining about our bruised and tender butts!

We'd been playing around with our seating arrangement last fall, and the tandems were still configured for father/daughter and mother/son seating. To keep things simple, we left them this way for this 30-mile ride to Sleepy Hollow State Park. With Abbey's nearly full-sized body on the back of big Burley I had run 95 psi in the tires instead of the usual 75 psi I'd been using with Quinn. I probably could have backed off the pressure in the tire under Quinn on the little Burley, but I didn't think about it.

A couple of weeks ago, Steve, the guy in the orange jersey riding the Waterford, asked us if we'd be interested in doing an Easter Sunday ride. It was going to be Lizzie's first of the season so they were looking at something short and easy. Both working at Playmakers, Steve and Lizzie are very fit runners, so I guess they thought a 30-mile ride on some hills would be a good place to start the season. We were really glad to have someone ask us along for a ride, but we warned them that for a ride of that length this early in the season, 12 mph would be all we could expect to average. As evidenced by Cindy's garmin data, we averaged about 11 mph. The ride and the pace were nice. Plenty of time for chatting and checking out the scenery.

As a last-minute addition to the group, Bob, also a Playmakers staffer, also rode with us. Bob was clearly the strongest rider in the group, but if he minded the slow pace he didn't complain. Bob's getting ready to take his new touring bike, a Surly Long Haul Trucker, which has not yet arrived, on a 2-week unsupported expedition in the Canadian Rockies. Nice. Bob also has a new 29er mountain bike and we're hoping we can do a relay race with him this summer. Unless we move somewhere first.





We did really well on the ride, set up as we were. Cindy is strong right now, in the midst of her intensive marathon training program. Quinn and Abbey did a nice job of pulling their share of the load. I even popped my feet off the pedals and had Abbey push us up a long steep climb on her own. I didn't think she'd be able to do it. But she did. This should be a good year of cycling for us!

Lakelands Rail Trail

Oh, what a week it has been! Nerves in tatters. If I'd had the foresight to see the events of this week when I passed up a job opportunity with NOAA Fisheries a couple of weeks ago, this week would have been different, because we'd be packing! But I'll save that story for another day.

For now, let us back up just a few days to the weekend of 23 April:

Saturday morning, smearing mud on fresh drywall in the basement kept us busy. I do enjoy building walls, and the improvements to our laundry area will, I hope, be one more step towards getting us out this place. And, if we never do, it will at least make spending our lives here a little more tolerable.

Being a holiday weekend there were no soccer games, lacrosse tournaments, or bicycling events on the calendar, so we got to make our own fun. Cindy had the weekend off because we'd planned to go camping to make up for the weather-related cancellation of our spring break camping trip, but since the rain was still coming down like the tears of a half-giant who'd lost his baby dragon, we'd once again cancelled the camping, this time replacing it with a couple of shorter bicycling trips.

We had previeously noticed a rail trail passing through the small towns of Stockbridge and Gregory. We learned that it was the Lakelands Trail, one of Michigan's linear state parks, comprising about 13 miles of rail trail, surfaced with crushed-rock, and open to most types of non-motorized recreation. With our skinny-tired blue Burleys, we've avoided significant amounts of non-paved surface, but now that we have the two fat-tire tandems rolling, all of these soft surfaced trails are open to us.

It was a chilly and very windy Saturday, but the Lakelands Trail was quite nicely sheltered in most places by trees and hills or berms. We started at its western terminus, and rode eastward. The trail passed through a few suburban housing areas, but mostly through farmland, patches of fragmented second growth forest, and noisy wetlands. The frogs, spring peepers, I think, probably among others, were singing at their best, and it sounded just like the final track on Neko Cases's "Middle Cyclone."

The setting was quite nice, as I said, but the trail surface was not quite nice for bicycling. All sections of the trail were covered in a finely crushed rock, much of which had a particle size similar to course sand intermixed with some fine sand. In some sections, this material was compacted sufficiently to make a smooth and firm surface for our tires to roll across, although we had to pick a path through the horse prints.



In most sections of the trail, however, the surface was substantially churned by horse prints, and we could not find a firm enough or smooth enough surface for comfortable bicycling. Even with the big-hoop 29ers and suspension fork on the Fandango tandem, the constant pounding from riding on the rough surface fatigued my arms (and butt), and the skin on my arms began to itch from the constant vibration. It was probably even worse for the girls on the Cannondale tandem with its rigid fork.

When we set out, we thought we would cover the 13 miles of trail out and back pretty easily since it was a flat rail trail. We did not. We rode for at least and hour and a half, but did not complete 13 miles before we decided to turn back. The trail surface had continued to deteriorate as we rode eastward, and it soon began to feel like we were trying to cycle on a rough, dry, sandy beach: progress was very slow and difficult. We passed four horses on the trail, and I would have to say those big feet and long legs were better suited to the trail surface than were our wheels. This condition, of course, was the result of those feet.



It was a good day for seeing wildlife. Many waterfowl, shorebirds, and red-winged blackbirds were out in the marshes; we looked for the frogs we could hear, but they were hard to find. Not surprisingly, we saw a heard of at least 15 deer. We saw a wood chuck a couple of times as we passed his home, and we saw this water snake lounging in the sun on his island of grass.



We stopped to take some photos of this strange creature. At first we worried it might be dangerous, and Cindy and Abbey kept their distance while I took some photos, but after observing it for a while, we concluded it was in fact mostly harmless.



After returning to the car and loading up the bikes, we took the shortest route to the ice cream shop, where we stopped for a round of milkshakes for the drive home.

April Snow Showers

Out my window right now I see about an inch of snow covering the ground and our deck. The big heavy flakes have slowed, but a shower of fine, dense, flakes continues in the still air. I'm so ready for spring...

Yankee TT

I raced on my Nickel in the Yankee Springs Time Trial today. It was my first mountain bike race, so I raced in the Sport category rather than in the Beginner. I just didn't feel like a beginner. It went pretty well, I guess. I didn't sign up until the last minute, so consequently I started last in the Sport Men's 40-44 age class. At 1 hour and 9.1 seconds, I finished 15th of 39 in that class, so I must have passed 24 riders in that age class alone. I got passed a couple of times, too. If I'd had that time in the Beginner category, I'd have taken first in my age group. If you're interested, the complete results are here.

I had a distinct advantage over many other riders: I was on my Santa Cruz Nickel with 5" of suspension travel front and rear, so instead of having to tip-toe my way around the course like those poor guys on their lightweight and delicate, plastic 29er hardtails, I could just hammer the fastest lines, rough or smooth, up or down! Really, though, most folks around here ride hard-tail 29ers (like our new black tandem), which means they have no rear suspension and have bigger wheels than the 26 inchers on my bike. The idea is that those big wheels are faster because of the lower angle of attack, and that on a smooth trail a hard-tail is faster than a bike with rear suspension because it doesn't bob and suck up energy. Both ideas are probably correct to some extent, but my Nickel felt just fine to me. I was glad to have that dual suspension when going up or down the rough stuff, even if it wasn't all that rough.

The time trial worked like this: Groups of racers started in clusters based on category. The top categories, Elite and Expert, started first, then Tandem, then Sport, and then Beginner. Within each cluster, or category, racers started singly or in pairs, every 10 or 15 seconds. Starting position within each category was in order of time of registration. So with number 409, I started almost at the back end of the Sport Category. The reason I rode Sport was because I didn't want to be stuck behind a bunch of slower riders in the Beginner category. As it happened, I was stuck behind a bunch of slower riders in the Sport category (if I'd realized that, I would have signed up weeks ago). That's OK, because if I hadn't been at the back, I probably would have ridden too fast, burned out too early, and finished with an even slower time!

This was the windiest day we've had yet this spring, with gusts that must have been at least 30 mph. The temperature was in the upper 30s around noon when I started, and snow flurries were being whipped around in the wind. It was quite chilly. I wore tights and a jacket, and was reasonably comfortable except for the numbness in my two outer fingers on each hand for most of the ride.

The course was about 11 miles of the 13 we did the week before. Rain yesterday had moistened and packed the sand, so the trail felt fast. I wore Cindy's Garmin Forerunner, so I should be able to review my race on the map, with speed and elevation and all that fun stuff. However, something happened when we plugged in the Garmin to upload the data; it locked up and we had to reset it, and now there are no activities on it all. A reset doesn't normally clear any records, but whatever happened this time took the watch back through the whole setup process. Oh well, so much for that. The map from last week's ride on the same course is available, here, only this time I did the loop a little faster.

Riding away from the starting line:



Nearing the finish line:



Crossing the finish line:



Quinn also raced today, too. He raced in the kid's race, for which a special loop of about 2/3 mile had been set up on part of the warm-up loop. It wasn't organized with quite the attention to detail that that was given to the full race. For some reason, they started the younger riders first in the kid's race, I suppose to give them a head start. Maybe five or six kids, the 6- and 7-year-olds, lined up in front and started first. One of them was fast, and he got in front and won the race by a couple of minutes. Some of the others could barely keep their bikes on the trail. Quinn's group, the 8- and 9-year-olds, went next and quickly caught up with the first group and were then stuck behind them on the tight single-track. We couldn't see the course, but Quinn said that at some point the course left the tight single-track and went through a wider grassy area, but the girl in front crashed when it widened and Quinn and another boy piled on top of her. Quinn quickly picked up his bike and finally got around her. After that he lead the pack for the rest of the race. He was pleased, and had obviously ridden quite hard once the field had opened up. At least one of us came home with a trophy!

Here's Quinn finishing his race:

Yankee Springs Half Marathon and Fandango First Ride

Taking advantage of window between spring showers, we stole Friday afternoon for a trip to Yankee Spring Recreation Area. I've known about and wanted to ride the 13-mile bicycling trail at Yankee Springs, about 70 miles to our southwest, for quite some time. With the new tandems set up for Quinn and me, it seemed like the time had come. No, it wasn't actually a half-marathon of the running sort, it was a bicycle trail ride, but the distance matched.

The trail at Yankee Springs was really nice; many thanks to the Southwest MMBA Chapter and the MDNR for all the work to build and maintain the trail and the nice facilities (included a clothes changing station) at the Staging Area.

The trail conditions were great this weekend. The trail had only been thawed enough to ride for a couple of weeks, and recent rains had left much of the sandy trail damp and tacky, but there was almost no mud. There were a few areas of deep sand, which I understand will grow larger and deeper as the summer progresses, but none of the sandy spots gave us significant trouble.

The trail is generally smooth and flowing with gently bermed turns and a few rooted climbs and descents. The terrain is notably more contoured than most of what is closer to home for us. It climbs over forested ridges and descends passed lowlands and marshes as it loops around the Devils Soup Bowl, which the MDNR describes as "a glacially carved kettle formation." In some places the trail ran along the edge of the bowl, with steep forested hillsides sloping frighteningly downward; frightening, particularly if you're an 8-year-old on the back of a tandem weaving through the trees at break-neck speed.

Cindy and Abbey rode their single bikes, while Quinn and I shared the new tandem.





Most of the forest comprised deciduous trees, which had not yet sprouted leaves.



In some areas, pine trees dominated, giving the trail the look and feel of some of the trails we rode in Colorado.



Although most of the trail was smooth and easy, allowing the local racers to speed through on hardtails and rigid 29ers, there were a descents and climbs that gave our team pause. For this particular section, we'd had to stop and scout the trail to make sure there weren't any drop-offs that might cause someone to go over the bars. After a quick survey, Abbey tackled it with ease.



Abbey really did quite well on her Chameleon, handling obstacles and hills that I thought might have stopped her.



However, we did not bring enough (any) food with us on this trip, and with a late afternoon start, we were getting quite hungry and low on energy after a couple of hours of riding.



Abbey is making use of solar power, placing her face in the sun to soak up some calories, while the rest of us watch in awe at her abilities. Cindy probably wished she had solar cells in her face, too, since she'd run 16 miles the day before and consequently started this ride with leg muscles already sore and shaky.



This 13 mile trail ride, equivalent in length (but not difficulty) to a half-marathon run, was quite successful. We didn't hammer it out in record time, but that wasn't our goal. The trail was fun and scenery was nice, and we gave our legs a good first-ride-of-the-season workout.

The new (used) Fandango mountain tandem worked really well for Quinn and me. We only had two incidents in which the boy was launched from the bike. The first being a simple case of me stopping us quickly and attempting to lean against a tree, but losing control of the front wheel and tipping the bike over. It was a good laugh. The second was a little more painful for him. We were trying to wield the bike around a tight bend with a few big roots roots to climb, and lost our speed; I had to put a foot down and the bike tipped to the side, rolling Quinn off to the left on the roots and rocks. He survived, but in his eyes, just barely.

I found the biggest challenge to be just that: navigating around corners and simultaneously over roots and rocks. Although the captain of a tandem can un-weight the front end to some extent, it's not possible to 'wheely' over stuff as can be done on a single bike. For getting through those spots, the tandem requires momentum, balance, strength, and commitment. The squishy fork is very helpful, too. I wish I could get more progressive dampening out of this one for better small bump squish.



Here's the report from Cindy's Garmin:

Garmin Connect Link

So, how much $ will the tooth fairy give me now?

The following post is by Abbey, the toothless wonder. :)

A couple of weeks ago, I was not pleased when I was standing at the front desk of the orthodontist office because they were telling me that I was going to get four teeth pulled, two on each side of my upper mouth. I was speechless. This would not do. I had already gotten an expander, gone through some retainers, and had four braces on my front teeth. I knew that eventually I would get a full mouth of braces, like, in a few years. The orthodontist hadn't said anything about this. I was determined NOT to let this happen.
Well, my plan failed. I say this because over spring break, while half of the town was in Florida getting a nice tan and going to the new Harry Potter theme park, I found myself bound to a chair, with a chain saw drifting over my head, and cackling voices in the background. No, just kidding abut the whole chain saw thing. But, Tuesday, at around noon, I was sitting in a chair in a dentist room. Two women were there, and they were going to take two of my teeth. The other two would be done later. They never actually said that they were pulling teeth, they just said they were going to remove some baby teeth, and that they did this all the time.

I will now describe my painful, tingly, bloody, and honey tasting experience to you.
1.They numbed the spots around two of my teeth; the numbing stuff tasted like honey.
2.Then they had to let it sit for a while. This is where I was beginning to think that they would pull the teeth really soon, and it would be over in minutes. But of course, the worst was yet to come.
3. After about five minutes, while I was staring at the poster of some mountains and a seal tacked to the ceiling (by the way, I was seated in a chair that was tipped back and I think every room there has posters on the ceiling, even though they have nothing to do with teeth), the ladies told me to relax my mouth, open my jaw, and close my eyes. I knew then that this wouldn't be good.
4. Hey, I was right! As I was taking the only advice mom and dad had given me, ('Just shut your eyes, Abbey, you'll be fine!'), they began to stick some thing in my jaw. I was blinded by the big light over my head, so I just went with it. Now, I really, thought that they were pulling out the teeth. But soon, my feet were shaking, and I knew what was going on: A giant needle was being stabbed into my gum. This was why they had numbed me with that honey stuff. This was only the beginning.
5. As she pulled the needle out from my mouth for the second time, I could only feel the tingly sensation that was spreading through my upper jaw. After a few minutes, she took a screw driver looking thing and started poking the teeth that she was going to pull. I didn't think that the teeth were loose, but apparently, they were loose enough.
6. Finally, it was time to pull the teeth. I was trying very hard to keep my feet still, but they kept on going. In the beginning of this tale of misery, one of the ladies had offered to let me squeeze her hand. She had also said to raise my left hand if it hurt. But I had to squeeze with my left hand too...hhhmmm... Anyway, the other lady whose hand I wasn't squeezing, but I wish I could have, pulled out something from her selection of pointy, shiny, objects. She pulled out what looked like a small clamp. Then she told me that I would hear some cracking! By this time, I didn't even care what I heard. If it meant it was going to be over, then I was all for it. So, she clamped down on my teeth, and twisted and pulled. It was really painful, even though they numbed my mouth. After both teeth were out, they gave me some soft cotton-like stuff to put where my teeth would have been, to stop some blood.

In the end, everything puts me closer to braces, and later on, a nice pretty smile. :) I also got a cool pen, and some silly bands. I'm not going to say that it was all good, because my lip was tingly for the rest of the afternoon, and I had a headache of most of that time, too. I guess, just for you, reader, I could put at the end of my story what everybody, at some point in their lives, wishes:

Everything was okay.

Welcome to the New Machine

Our new machine arrived safely in a well-packed box Monday afternoon. Our Fandango Tandem 29er, that is. We hauled it to the basement, unpacked and assembled it, and immediately put in an order for some new brake pads, a brake bleeding kit, and some new tires. It was a used bike, after all.

I had to go to Buffalo for a few days, but I came home Thursday and the box of parts arrived the same afternoon. We installed the new brake pads and bled the brakes up front, replacing the front tire while I had the wheel off. This evening I repeated the process in the rear. The brakes feel great now, and so far I like the new Geax Gato tires.

Quinn & I got it out for ride (and a few photos) this evening. We just buzzed around the neighborhood for 10 or 15 minutes; it'll take a few rides like that to get those new pads burned in. The fit seems good for both of us. The drop and reach feel very comfortable to me. The Middleburn cranks are 175mm up front and 160mm in the rear. Perfect for me and reasonable for Quinn. 160mm is a little larger than Q uses on his single bikes, but smaller than is often put in the stoker compartment. He shoudn't need his crank shorteners, although I see in the photos below that his saddle could come up a bit. Once he gets to the point of having 90mm of seat post showing, we can get him Thudbuster suspension seatpost to protect his spine from the shock of getting slammed onto his seat when we bounce over big logs and take big jumps and drops...

The Fandango seems to be solid, mechanically, but we'll have a little more adjusting to do yet. I'll have to spend some time getting the shifters adjusted, and then it'll take more time yet for me to adjust to using grip shifters. And we'll need to get that suspension fork dialed in - it's a little firm right now. That should be about it. I think I'll get some sort of a rear fender so that if Quinn should slip off the back of his saddle those Gato 29ers won't widen his crack!