Singlespeed--aaaahhhh yeah

I got up pretty early and went out the door before 6am and picked up a friend on our way to do a little singlespeed riding in Forest Park. Why so early? He still needed to work and doing the ride so early in the morning means that my family wouldn't miss me.

I went with Marcus and it was his first ride on a singlespeed and also on a 29er. Oh yeah, and we were both riding without any suspension. Other than his difficulty with the cold morning air and asthma, it was a great time. We started at the bottom of Germantown and climbed up to where Leif Erikson meets Germantown. He wasn't really ready for that climb. Still he was a trooper and we were soon finished with the 3/4 mile climb. Leif Erikson was a pleasant break.

Then came Springville Road. That is a fairly difficult road when you only have one gear. He just walked up most of it. The stock gearing on the bike he was riding was not the best for a SS newbie. 32/18 with 29 inch wheels is a pretty difficult set up when you haven't done much biking lately. While Marcus is in pretty good shape, he doesn't ride a bike much at all. That combined with some odd lung difficulty from asthma or bronchitis it made was already a difficult set up, impossible. Still, there was no complaining from him at all.

We headed down Firelane 7 and then branched off onto 7A. The trail was nice and clear--thanks to all those who must have spent some significant time clearing it--and we blistered the trail with our suspensionless bikes. I hit 37 mph--which ain't so bad I don't think for any kind of bike really, suspension or not. Marcus was not too far behind either.

We dumped out onto Leif again and headed back to where there is a bit of singletrack that leads back down to where we parked the car at the bottom of Germantown Rd. I was just feeling pumped. I railed and nailed everything. All of the little drops and off-cambers where no match for the Curtlo and I. There was one time in particular where I just had to trust her. I put us in the right direction and the bike just went down the rooty drop as if it were nothing. And the steering at speed is perfect. Stable but agile. There wasn't much of a learning curve to know how to push it. Many thanks to Doug Curtiss at Curtlo.

Marcus was a little timid going down the more difficult parts, but did fine. He said he had a blast and loved the way the GT Peace 9r rode. I think he is a convert to both SS and the Church of the Twentynine.

Swim Class: Technique Workouts

I love them, usually. I am getting good enough that they don't confuse me and feel like an idiot in the water. Early on I felt totally uncoordinated when doing these sometimes odd things in the water. Usually the technique exercises involve fins. Sometimes it is just finding neutral body positions. Other times we turn from side to side without using our arms. And often we have to stroke with just one arm and then turn on our side, repeated over and over again switching arms each length. There are others we do as well, and some are difficult to describe. Anyway, it is a nice break from our usual workouts. For the last 10 minutes or so of class we did 6 50's @ 1:10 including rest and then 2 100's at 2:20 including rest. I did the 50's in 55 seconds and the 100's in 1:55.


29ER Proselytizing

A friend of ours was interested in a going singlespeed. I talked him into trying a 29er. Actually I didn't have to try that hard. He seemed pretty excited. The shop let me borrow a GT Peace 9r and he is giving it a spin.

His wife would rather he buys a road bike to ride with her, but he seems to have little interest in road bikes. When she first heard he wanted to buy a bike she was all excited that they would be able to bike together while she trains for tri's. When he said it was a mountain bike she was totally deflated. She wasn't really excited about him getting a mountain bike, and he responded by saying, "So I am supposed to support you when you are spending a $1000 on a road bike and you won't support me when I want to buy a $300-$400 mountain bike?"

She responded, "Yes!"

NAHBS Pics

This bike is really made from bull horns and bamboo. It really works and is very rideable. Maybe not safe...



This is a classy dame here.



Innovative way to solve the long wheel base issue with 29ers. Crazy seat tube.



If nothing else, I know they spent a lot of change on the paint. The bike may ride like crap, but no one will notice.




John Castellano and his sub 22 lbs full sussy 29er.






This Bruce Gordon bike was "Best of Show" for me. You had to see it to fully appreciate it. Plus that color always gets me if nothing else.




Steve Garro / Coconino. Really nice guy. If I only could buy a bike from everyone I wanted too...







Sweetpea. Natalie may be making a frame for Bridget soon. I was very impressed with her and her work. Local to Portland, too.



This is for Fish.



Go anywhere bike. Dirt, sand, snow, whatever.



Pegoretti. . . yum




Someday I will get my fix for a Jones bike satisfied. Someday....





Ventana makes some mean aluminum frames. This cross bike really made me drool, which is saying a lot since I am not a big aluminum fan with regard to cross frames. Color was my current fave and really nice classic look geometry-wise.



This Speedvagen by Sacha White at Vanilla is my dream cross bike. Sooo fast. Sooo light. Sooo steel. This, however, is a road bike. My pic of the cross bike was kinda fuzzy, too bad.



This bike frame is by Delta 7. The design came originally from guys at BYU. It can be yours for $5,995 frame only.



You need to be pretty freaking good to ride this bike and not look funny.



Yes, it is a bike frame made from wood and carbon. . .really.