You are currently browsing the archives for the 'Bike culture' category.
A while back, I branched off on one of those 30-something diversions that gave me a new job, a new home, and a whole lot of changes in the way my family did the day-to-day stuff we’ve been accustomed to for the past decade. It’s not really a mid-life crisis (I think those things come in the late 40s now…) but a bunch of friends are going through career changes, shifting away from high stress work to stuff that’s arguably less tough on the nerves.
Anyhow, one of those things I’ve been wrestling with is a car that never seems to get any better, despite throwing plenty of cash at our mechanic. For much of the winter, I was forced — there’s no way in hell I was going to commute in torrential rain, wind, or snow — to drive the vehicle but spring has arrived (hopefully) and I’ve started riding my bike to work on days when the weather doesn’t suck.
I’ve got a couple commute-worthy bikes — my others are dedicated off-road rigs and flatout suck for riding on the road — and I’ve been giving them each equal billing on my trips to and from work. That being said, a favourite is starting to emerge and, to be honest, I’m a little surprised with my preference.
The first bike is the xc rig that I’m rebuilding into an all-round trail bike. I’m familiar with the mountain bike’s geometry and am comfortable with the ride, despite some of the ghetto parts and the crappy fork. It’s quick and I can usually cover the 5km trip to work in 12 or 13 minutes.
My eye opener came when I started riding my ‘06 Masi Gran Crit to the shop. I picked up the bike last year as a way of getting in better shape for mountain biking and took it on semi-regular rides along long, quiet roads near my home. I’d hop on the bike in the morning for an hour or 75 minutes, knock off 40km, and call it a day. I liked the bike but, in all honesty, I don’t know a tonne about road bikes so it might have been totally wrong for me and I wouldn’t know.
But as a commuter (albeit an expensive one), the bike took on a new life. It corners in a way I didn’t expect and it’s a total blast to rip around corners at 40 or 50 km/h. The best thing about riding the Gran Crit is that my car’s been on the same tank of fuel for the past month AND it takes me less time to ride my bike to work than it does to drive.
So after only a month I’m pretty pleased about the experiment. I’m not sure that I’ll ever proceed beyond being a fair-weather commuter but it’s a fun way to get in some miles before and after work. It’s also given me the time to look around and smell the flowers as I listen to the Ramones’, the Buzzcocks, Beirut, or some other hipster 30-something band.
3 Comments »
Ray’s Indoor Mountain Bike Park is like a fine wine. It gets better with age.
The unique indoor cycling facility located inside an old parachute warehouse in Cleveland, Ohio celebrated its three-year anniversary over the weekend with a grand re-opening.
Read the rest of this entry »
16 Comments »
Long time readers of The Biking Hub might recall my stories about the Trans Iowa ultra endurance event. The event is promoted, organized, and run by two bicycle mechanics that love long distance cycling. One of those mechanics is me, and the other is Jeff Kerkove, who is also an endurance off road cyclist for the Cat Eye Enduro Team.
Since the event is stretched out over 300 miles of gravel roads, and the route changes each year, the work load for planning this little outing is pretty heavy for two fellows. After each running of the event, Jeff and I say, “No more!” It’s partly a feeling of relief to be done with the event, and the pain of putting it on is still fresh in your mind.
So, how does it happen that we are doing this crazy event again? Read the rest of this entry »
No Comments »
This past weekend, I travelled with a teammate to the fifth race in the Plastiglas /Chico Racing’s Ontario Cup Series. The drive from From Guelph to Sudbury takes about six hours and we only had a Pontiac Firefly to stretch out in, but watching the event in the flesh and riding the course afterwards were well worth the cramped legs.
Our trip began on Saturday around 5:30pm with Derek picking me up in his little three cylinder which we call ‘Booger’ (it’s a faded forest green which could have been sampled from a five year old’s trousers). We loaded the bikes on the rack, packed another layer in the hatchback, and took off like an excited sneeze. Having brought my laptop, I burned us a ten hour MP3 CD to cruise to and we were settled in for the long haul by the time we hit HWY 401. Read the rest of this entry »
No Comments »
The other day, I went out for a nice after-work singletrack ride. I’ve found that it is a great way to clear out the cobwebs from a long day at work, and I highly recommend it to you all, by the way. On my merry little way, I noticed that the trails were a bit damp, something that reminded me of the previous day’s downpour. Not to worry, I thought, as the trail system drains very quickly, made up mostly of sandy, silty dirt. The soil was collecting on my tires a bit and was getting tossed up in the air around me in small bits by my tires. I am always amused when that happens, and I kept right on pedalling and having fun. And that’s right about when it happened.
I got that rude awakening that we have all received at one time or another. The trail went around a tight 90 degree turn to the left. I dove into it with a good head of steam and the dirt-packed front tire started that dreaded slide that is a precursor to, well, doom. At that point in time, I always find I enter a time warp. How else can I explain the slow motion feel that I get when I am about to be introduced to Mother Earth in a violent manner? Read the rest of this entry »
5 Comments »
Once upon a time I was a cross country racer, the typical beginner that moved up to sport and then clogged the middle of the pack. You know the guy that made you dismount on the courses most heinous climb? That was me. And I was plunking along just fine until, one day, It hit me. And that day, my view of racing changed forever.
Setting the stage
The venue was one that I had been going to for a couple of years. It was run by a crazy old man that was more concerned about having fun than setting course records. He had his own independent series, and his own licenses.
The thing that really set this guy’s series apart from the others was the courses he created. I recall that one course that had us hiking about 50 yards up a waist high creek, holding our bikes above our heads. Then there was the one with the ravines so deep, that you had to hike your bike up and down each side because of the steepness of the ground. And the one where I found a junior racer buried over his head in a hole he fell into, waiting for another racer to pull him out. Yep! This promoter was certifiably crazy. And we were probably just as crazy for racing those courses. Read the rest of this entry »
1 Comment »
One of the largest segments in the 29”er market place is made up of a group of singles. There are many of them, they are cheap and easy, and they are not hard to find. Of course, I’m talking about the tremendous array of choice in the single speed 29”er hardtail mountain bike marketplace.
For those of you who are new to the game, you might ask, “What is it that mates these two things together like white on rice?” For most people, this strange phenomenon defies explanation and makes it difficult for them to get their heads around. Is this whole thing nonsense? Or is there something to it? Perhaps there is an obvious connection between these two seemingly disparate things. Let us take a closer look at big wheels and single speeds. Read the rest of this entry »
6 Comments »
Last week I finished off a series of entries about the 2005 version of the Trans Iowa endurance event. I’m devoting this week to a recap of this year’s event — Trans Iowa V2 — which took place on the last weekend in April.
Whenever you “set the table” for your guests, you always hope that they like what you have prepared, and there are plenty of anxious moments before everyone arrives. For Trans Iowa V2, I was no different; in fact, I don’t think I slept a wink the night before the event. I suppose the other main worry I had as one of the race promoters was that someone would get injured or, even worse, die. Of course, injuries are always a possibility that people putting on races have to live with but it’s still not a comfortable thing to grapple with. Happily, I can report that nothing beyond sore muscles and shattered egos resulted from this years event!
We planned Trans Iowa V2 for the weekend of 29-30 April, and those days were marked by rain, mud, and gritty performances by several of the racers. The event, which started in the early morning hours in Hawarden, Iowa, began with a slight drizzle coming down and high hopes that the riders would reach the finishing town of Decorah, Iowa. Of course, everyone’s best laid plans were no match for the soaking rain that started a day and a half before the start of the event. Read the rest of this entry »
No Comments »
Photo: Jeff Kerkove. Stormy weather combined with Iowa’s “B” roads proved to be difficult for every racer in the event.
For the regulars out there, Guitar Ted has been spending the last few weeks describing some of the highs and lows of getting the 2005 edition of the Trans Iowa endurance event off the ground. The 2006 Trans Iowa went this past weekend and it was, how do you say… a bit wet.
Ted’s partner in crime, Jeff Kerkove, posted up a bunch of event photos on Flickr and you can see for yourself the conditions that the participants endured.
Be sure to tune in next week for Guitar Ted’s recap of this year’s event.
No Comments »
In last week’s entry, I described some of the pitfalls and successes that we had in getting the first Trans Iowa event off the ground. This week I’m writing about how the event actually went down.
One of the first things that became apparent was that Jeff and I didn’t have enough help. Even though I tried not to show it, the enormity and seriousness of the task at hand was brought home to me when I looked into the faces of all the racers at the check in. We ran the pre-race meeting without a hitch and then it was start time. Read the rest of this entry »
2 Comments »