117° F?  Really?  No, it was only about 100° F. I think the Subaru was a little optimistic.  Good ride though, and not too crowded. 

As you can see, I took the Subaru from Maryland to Utah: 4,559 miles and 157.556 gallons of gasoline.

What else? Well, the Subaru averaged 28.94 MPG with the best average mileage of 33.05 MPG on a tank from Glenwood Springs, CO to Castle Rock, CO. The worst mileage, which was still better than the average mileage to date, was in the Denver metro area that was driven entirely with two bikes on the roof. This partial tank averaged 25.45 MPG. Overall, the Subaru’s lifetime average fuel economy increased from 22.9 MPG to 24.4 MPG. The longest day of driving was the first day from Maryland to Missouri, and which covered just over 1000 miles.

During the trip the load ranged from two to four bikes, luggage/camping gear for one to two people and one to three actual people. The bikes were inside the car for the most part, but occasionally were mounted on the roof. Average speeds stayed within about 5% of posted speed limits, which are 75 MPH in Colorado and Utah.

Aside from driving, we also rode the Kokopelli trail in Fruita, CO, Slickrock in Moab, UT, and the Apex trail near Denver, CO.

The Erkisen made it back to the Kent Eriksen shop where it received a professional tune-up, new cassette, chain and handlebar. The cassette was more worn than I thought, and the Wippermann chain was causing (or at least contributing to) chain suck. The Titec handlebar died at Moab where a strategic fall ripped one of the end plugs out of the bar with some of the titanium…

I finished building my new Kent Eriksen titanium hardtail XC bike this week. I’ve been working on this bike for almost three months, and it was well worth the effort.

The frame was made by Kent Eriksen in Steamboat Springs, CO. Kent did a great job (as expected), and was very helpful in the design and planning stages. The frame construction, welding and overall design are the best I’ve seen. The attention to detail is also impressive (check out the screw head orientation on the headbadge). The headbadge was designed by Eric and made by Jen Green in Philadelphia, PA. Jen kept to Eric’s design and the badge turned out beautifully. Most of the remainder of the components came from Karl at Klunk Cycles in Columbia, MO, and a handful of parts came from local DC-area bike shops.

The components on the Eriksen tend toward the durable side, as opposed to light weight. The fork is a 100 mm Rock Shox Reba Race w/ lockout, and the drivetrain is mostly Shimano Deore XT with a SRAM cassette and a Wippermann chain. The brakes are from Paul’s Component Engineering, and the wheels are Mavic ceramic Crossmax ST/XLs. Other interseting components include Salsa titanium skewers, Thomson stem, Titec bars, Selle Italia saddle and a very nice Kent Eriksen “Sweetpost” titanium seatpost. The total weight of the bike (w/o pedals) is 23.25 lbs.

I’ve only ridden the Erkisen once. It has been very wet and muddy here. However, I’m planning a biking trip in Colorado and Utah soon, and I’ll have some riding impressions and more photos…