Do you see anything missing? Eric and I rode “Back Bone” (or something like that) and Pine Ridge today. Back Bone was mostly a piles of semi-large rocks strewn throughout orange clay and cold (very cold) muddy creeks. Pine Ridge was much better, except for the fact that one of the bolts holding the saddle onto the seat post snapped.

I never realized the true value of a saddle, until today. I only had to ride a few miles without a saddle, but those miles were tough. It is probably also worth mentioning that this seat post (and hardware) are original to the bike (1995). I think I’ll take this opportunity to replace the other bolt as well. I like the seat post, it has some scars from a wreck many, many years ago that I would hate to lose. I also broke my bottle cage and completely trashed my worn-out SID XC fork. Luckily I have a nice REI dividend. Check back soon to find out how to rebuild a SID XC.

Eric made a video of the ride, check it out here:

See more biking videos and other stuff on Eric’s site: ericfilcoff.com

The wheels that came on the Gunnar were a little sketchy. The front hub liked to vibrate apart and I did not trust the rear. So I traded in the old ones and had some nice shinny wheels built (at Klunk). The new wheels consist of black Salsa Delgato Cross 32 hole rims, Deore XT hubs, DT Swiss spokes and black brass nipples. I had the wheels built with 3-cross lacing with a nice pattern with alternating pairs of black and silver spokes. These wheels, while not particularly light, should stand up to some abuse. I also switched to a 32mm Ritchey Speed Max Cross kevlar front tire. The 32mm version is much more suited to hard packed gravel and dirt than the 35mm. The 32mm seems to have more cornering grip and turns more predictably due to the round shoulders.

Update: I rode the 19.2 mile route this morning. It was windy (again) with strong gusts. The headwind was tough, but the tailwind was very helpful. Still, I only managed 1:10, 16.5 MPH; 1 minute and .1 MPH slower than the first attempt. At least I’m consistent.

Date: 2006.03.16
Time: 9:00 am
Conditions: 55°F, very windy
Mileage: 19.2
Time: 1:10
Average Speed: 16.5 MPH

Instead of moving my speedometer from one bike to the other, I’ve been using a GPS receiver on the Gunnar and leaving the speedometer on the M2. I use a Garmin etrex Legend along with Terrabrowser to map and store ride telemetry (how often do you get to use that word?). Terrabrowser is the best OS X software I have found for plotting Garmin GPS data. It is more than a little buggy, and the current version has not been updated in about a year. So, I’m still looking for something better, maybe Garmin will offer something…

Eric and I took this route this morning, before the thunderstorms and hail. The weather was nice, in the high 60s, the trail was wet, and the wind was strong. Trail traffic was pretty light, and those who were using the trail seemed mostly aware of others using the trail. We averaged 14.8 MPH over 25.2 miles; uphill and into a headwind both ways.

Tip: Don’t draft too closely on wet gravel trails. Small rocks and sticks can achieve higher altitudes than you might expect.