S240 in bike parlance means Sub-24hour-Overnight
Ride-Camp-Ride Home in less than 24 hours. A single night with decent odds the weather prediction will be correct.
This gives a good chance to test gear in controlled environment and to practice skills.
I do this several times a year with some friends.
A rainy evening with a low of 48 gave me a good chance to test the
limits of my Enlightened Equipment Prodigy backpacking quilt. A 50F
rating on a sub 1 pound synthetic quilt. A minor mistake dampened the
socks in my campwear bag, leaving my feet cold all night, but otherwise
the quilt was adequately warm, though I wouldn't try it in any cooler
weather, and will likely opt to bring a slightly warmer baselayer to
sleep in for similarly rainy conditions near this limit. I plan this
Fall to pick up one of their warmer down quilts.
The evening also gave me a chance to test out my Swedish Hand Axe, a
Hultafors, while practicing my one stick fire technique. For such a
small, pocketable axe, it really does some work. I got to work getting
the fire started while my friends worked on getting their tents up. By
the time their tents were assembled and staked out, I had processed a
piece of firewood into shavings, matchstick, and chopstick sized pieces
and had the fire started with a single flick of the lighter.
Sub 24 hours, 2 pieces of gear tested, and a skill practiced, all while
getting in a nice bike ride, a night outdoors, and hanging with friends.
A evening well spent.
Saturday, October 3, 2015
Monday, June 29, 2015
Saturday, June 20, 2015
Touring notes
Things to work on for next tour (pics from current tour may or may not ever exist)
-figure out a way to keep sets of batteries marked together and whether charged or discharged
-more dry bags to keep dry/wet items seperate and organized.
-take an AC charger just in case you happen across AC
Things that worked really well.
-using Ixon IQ and Ride&Charge to keep AAs for phone and GPS charged.
-TarpTent Contrail (some minor condensation issues, but considering the rain and warm mugginess, a little condensation is unavoidable)
-Enlightened Equipment Prodigy 50F quilt. Never have I slept in a tent with sleeping bag in warm muggy weather and not felt like I was sticking to the bag...until now.
-Bedrock Bags, um, bags. Solid, stable, roomy, waterproof. and they look great. what else do I want?
-Carradice SQR Slim saddlebag. Still awesome. Was actually mostly empty days 2 and 3, as I carried beer day 1, and after that it just had the empty 6pk cooler and a pair of FiveFingers. For a more hardcore trip, most of the weight in my Camelbak would move there instead of on my back.
-figure out a way to keep sets of batteries marked together and whether charged or discharged
-more dry bags to keep dry/wet items seperate and organized.
-take an AC charger just in case you happen across AC
Things that worked really well.
-using Ixon IQ and Ride&Charge to keep AAs for phone and GPS charged.
-TarpTent Contrail (some minor condensation issues, but considering the rain and warm mugginess, a little condensation is unavoidable)
-Enlightened Equipment Prodigy 50F quilt. Never have I slept in a tent with sleeping bag in warm muggy weather and not felt like I was sticking to the bag...until now.
-Bedrock Bags, um, bags. Solid, stable, roomy, waterproof. and they look great. what else do I want?
-Carradice SQR Slim saddlebag. Still awesome. Was actually mostly empty days 2 and 3, as I carried beer day 1, and after that it just had the empty 6pk cooler and a pair of FiveFingers. For a more hardcore trip, most of the weight in my Camelbak would move there instead of on my back.
Monday, November 10, 2014
Back to Marengo
A bit short of 2 years ago myself, David, Tim, and Patrick did a route out of Marengo thru English. Tim, David and I were joined by Jeff this weekend for another go...and I took zero pictures.
I was riding the acclaimed Clement X'Plor MSO 40mm tyres. They sucked. Video below.
I was riding the acclaimed Clement X'Plor MSO 40mm tyres. They sucked. Video below.
Sunday, June 8, 2014
ReBoot
After a fun and calorific Derby and birthday season, my weight is up to levels not seen in 4 years and my fitness is in the cellar. Time to take my health seriously.
The slipped cervical disc I suffered last year seems to be as good as it's gonna get, meaning mostly pain free, but I still have serious strength issues in my right arm, as well as some rotational limits in the shoulder. I'm hopeful some strength training will help that out. There's not enough strength for most body weight exercises, so I'm looking into dumbbell routines.
As far as weight, diet and cardio. The goal is to cycle 3-4 days a week and get in 2-3 5k or longer runs (mostly treadmill). The diet, is mostly paleo again. Trying to keep carbs under 75grams/day and no idea how to make this happen without protein shakes, but 1g/lb of lean body weight in protein. Alcohol? Dry white wine has less carbs than even the lowest carb beer, whiskey less than either. Cheat Days? Tuesday Night with the guys for beer.
If anyone wants to know what my new Go-To Snack Food is: Pumpkin Seeds. Lower in fat and carbs than peanuts, and higher in protein. Also scores pretty well on the Omega 3s.
The slipped cervical disc I suffered last year seems to be as good as it's gonna get, meaning mostly pain free, but I still have serious strength issues in my right arm, as well as some rotational limits in the shoulder. I'm hopeful some strength training will help that out. There's not enough strength for most body weight exercises, so I'm looking into dumbbell routines.
As far as weight, diet and cardio. The goal is to cycle 3-4 days a week and get in 2-3 5k or longer runs (mostly treadmill). The diet, is mostly paleo again. Trying to keep carbs under 75grams/day and no idea how to make this happen without protein shakes, but 1g/lb of lean body weight in protein. Alcohol? Dry white wine has less carbs than even the lowest carb beer, whiskey less than either. Cheat Days? Tuesday Night with the guys for beer.
If anyone wants to know what my new Go-To Snack Food is: Pumpkin Seeds. Lower in fat and carbs than peanuts, and higher in protein. Also scores pretty well on the Omega 3s.
Sunday, November 10, 2013
Gravel Adventure Rides
As part of my rehab effort and to get back in race shape, I've decided to add a series of rides to the LBC schedule. Today was the first such ride. 35 miles out of Marengo, IN.
11 hearty souls decided to give this gravely goodness a go. All said they had a great time and would definitely be back for more.
The day started out on a beautiful November morning and was warm considering the time of year. We left heading South-West, and much like the rest of the day would go, started uphill to gain altitude for a downhill run at the first gravel section. It felt odd leading a club ride from the front, but this allowed me to regroup the riders at intersections, turns and the top of climbs making sure no one got off track or left behind.
Suddenly, we were sweeping down the first section of gravel through Bogard Hollow, a quick regroup where we crossed a road and we had our first water crossing, which everyone managed without getting dunked!
Bogard Hollow ends in a short climb, then we turned onto Magnolia to reclaim altitude on pavement. Again we reach the top and turn onto gravel and descend, this time the fast and wide Seaton Hill Rd into Grantsburg. A steady 2 mile paved climb up 237 brings us to Zahn Rd, which seems innocent enough at first, but soon turns downhill. What starts as fairly deep and fresh gravel, soon turns to rutted and leaf-covered dirt and rocks. We regroup at the bottom, where we are amazed that there is an actual road sign.
We reach Tunnel Hill Rd, where they have happily paved the bottom, steepest part of the climb, then are treated to about 3 steady miles of beautiful, rolling gravel.
At the top again, we turn onto busy and boring IN-64, but after a quick 0.2 miles we take a left and to quote another rider "Fall down the rabbit hole" onto Longest Rd. a full 2.5 mile downhill run of gravel, mud and water crossings galore. I have video from this winter, I'll add here at some point.
A quick stop at the gas station in English, IN (which, luckily, was open!) and we're heading uphill again. Soon, we're zooming down a paved road coming up to the road around the reservoir, where I'm asked "Aren't reservoirs typically at the top of hills?" Ummm, quite often.
The road around is rather muddy and quite fun. I'm just a big kid splashing right through instead of riding around each puddle. As we get to the climb up, the road turns to rocky and rutted, forcing nearly everyone to walk.
The climb to the top of Reservoir Rd:
After that it's just a couple miles of rolling and wide gravel and a few more of paved and we're back at the ride start.
"I feel like I've just been hit by a truck full of awesome."- Kirk Roggenkamp.
and here's the route we rode
Next week: New Washington, IN.
11 hearty souls decided to give this gravely goodness a go. All said they had a great time and would definitely be back for more.
The day started out on a beautiful November morning and was warm considering the time of year. We left heading South-West, and much like the rest of the day would go, started uphill to gain altitude for a downhill run at the first gravel section. It felt odd leading a club ride from the front, but this allowed me to regroup the riders at intersections, turns and the top of climbs making sure no one got off track or left behind.
Suddenly, we were sweeping down the first section of gravel through Bogard Hollow, a quick regroup where we crossed a road and we had our first water crossing, which everyone managed without getting dunked!
Bogard Hollow ends in a short climb, then we turned onto Magnolia to reclaim altitude on pavement. Again we reach the top and turn onto gravel and descend, this time the fast and wide Seaton Hill Rd into Grantsburg. A steady 2 mile paved climb up 237 brings us to Zahn Rd, which seems innocent enough at first, but soon turns downhill. What starts as fairly deep and fresh gravel, soon turns to rutted and leaf-covered dirt and rocks. We regroup at the bottom, where we are amazed that there is an actual road sign.
We reach Tunnel Hill Rd, where they have happily paved the bottom, steepest part of the climb, then are treated to about 3 steady miles of beautiful, rolling gravel.
At the top again, we turn onto busy and boring IN-64, but after a quick 0.2 miles we take a left and to quote another rider "Fall down the rabbit hole" onto Longest Rd. a full 2.5 mile downhill run of gravel, mud and water crossings galore. I have video from this winter, I'll add here at some point.
A quick stop at the gas station in English, IN (which, luckily, was open!) and we're heading uphill again. Soon, we're zooming down a paved road coming up to the road around the reservoir, where I'm asked "Aren't reservoirs typically at the top of hills?" Ummm, quite often.
The road around is rather muddy and quite fun. I'm just a big kid splashing right through instead of riding around each puddle. As we get to the climb up, the road turns to rocky and rutted, forcing nearly everyone to walk.
The climb to the top of Reservoir Rd:
After that it's just a couple miles of rolling and wide gravel and a few more of paved and we're back at the ride start.
"I feel like I've just been hit by a truck full of awesome."- Kirk Roggenkamp.
and here's the route we rode
Next week: New Washington, IN.
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Westgate-Chillicothe 200K
I drove up to Columbus, OH to complete my third 200K this season. I had originally planned to stay an extra day and do the FrankenBike 50, and as such decided to just take one bike to do both: my Origin8 700CX, rolling on 29x2.0 Kenda Kozmik Lite II, with a 2x9 Shimano SLX drivetrain offering gearing of 36x22 and a 11-28 cassette. I figured this would be good training for the upcoming gravel season.
The Westgate-Chillicothe 200k is a flattish triangular route, with one decent climb around mile 55.
I left home at 3:15am to try to arrive by 6:30. It was raining, and I didn't expect it to let up until well into the ride. It was a bit chilly at the start as well, and dropped into the upper 50s as we left the city. While many of the other riders (there were 30 who finished, as several of the 40+ registered opted to not start in the rain) were opting for rain jackets, rain pants, helmet covers and the like, I opted for a simple wind vest over Swobo SS wool and wool armwarmers, with my 7-Eleven cycling cap under my helmet.
As we rolled out, I made a mistake in following the other riders, expecting them to know the route. Oops. We spent quite some time trying to figure out where to go. This killed about 5 minutes out of the first 20. I then decided to stay on the front draft for as long as I could hold on. Probably not the wisest choice, and I would spend the rest of the day trying to keep my over-cooked quads turning. It also put me off my fueling plan, and playing catch-up doesn't quite work.
On the other hand, I did average over 19mph for over 30 miles. On knobbies. Turning a 36x11 high gear. A four mile stretch in the middle of that averaged over 22mph! I don't see averages like that on my Soma!
At the first control in Circleville, Mile 33, I quickly got my card signed, ate a bar out of my bag and rolled on out. That took about 10 minutes, with the crowd at the control circling all the way to the back of the store to checkout/get signed.
Around this point, I joined up with another rando, Rich, who I ended up riding the rest of the ride with. He was a much stronger rider, having done PBP in '03, and allowed me to spend as much time as possible in his draft. It helped. Even so, the drag those big 50mm wide tyres create was undeniable.
The second leg, to Chillicothe, continued South, but was also the hillest part of the route, including the one major climb, Rocky Rd, a ~500ft 1.3m climb with a large 15% section. This was a very nice section.
The next leg started turning back North, towards New Holland, taking advantage of the Tri-County Triangle Trail for nearly 17 miles. A nice rail trail, with tunnels under other roads and bridges over creeks, It made for an enjoyable change from dealing with traffic.
The final 38 miles took us back to Columbus, straight into the wind pretty much the whole way. I spent much time continuing to draft Rich, 12-13mph was about all I could maintain into the wind, with my speed popping right back into the 15-17 range when we turned out of the wind momentarily.
After we finished, we each had to go over to the RBA's place to do our final control, and we also had a picnic.
I had originally intended to, as I mentioned at the beginning, stay overnight to do the FrankenBike 50, but considering how my legs felt after pushing those fat tyres into the headwind (and the hammering for the first 30+ miles probably didn't help), I opted to drive back home that night, having to eventually stop and catch some sleep at a rest area.
I was very happy with the way the bike performed and the overall comfort level. I will seriously consider using this bike more often for brevets and other long rides. Just not on the knobbies, that's what I have road tyres for.
The Westgate-Chillicothe 200k is a flattish triangular route, with one decent climb around mile 55.
I left home at 3:15am to try to arrive by 6:30. It was raining, and I didn't expect it to let up until well into the ride. It was a bit chilly at the start as well, and dropped into the upper 50s as we left the city. While many of the other riders (there were 30 who finished, as several of the 40+ registered opted to not start in the rain) were opting for rain jackets, rain pants, helmet covers and the like, I opted for a simple wind vest over Swobo SS wool and wool armwarmers, with my 7-Eleven cycling cap under my helmet.
As we rolled out, I made a mistake in following the other riders, expecting them to know the route. Oops. We spent quite some time trying to figure out where to go. This killed about 5 minutes out of the first 20. I then decided to stay on the front draft for as long as I could hold on. Probably not the wisest choice, and I would spend the rest of the day trying to keep my over-cooked quads turning. It also put me off my fueling plan, and playing catch-up doesn't quite work.
On the other hand, I did average over 19mph for over 30 miles. On knobbies. Turning a 36x11 high gear. A four mile stretch in the middle of that averaged over 22mph! I don't see averages like that on my Soma!
At the first control in Circleville, Mile 33, I quickly got my card signed, ate a bar out of my bag and rolled on out. That took about 10 minutes, with the crowd at the control circling all the way to the back of the store to checkout/get signed.
Around this point, I joined up with another rando, Rich, who I ended up riding the rest of the ride with. He was a much stronger rider, having done PBP in '03, and allowed me to spend as much time as possible in his draft. It helped. Even so, the drag those big 50mm wide tyres create was undeniable.
The second leg, to Chillicothe, continued South, but was also the hillest part of the route, including the one major climb, Rocky Rd, a ~500ft 1.3m climb with a large 15% section. This was a very nice section.
The next leg started turning back North, towards New Holland, taking advantage of the Tri-County Triangle Trail for nearly 17 miles. A nice rail trail, with tunnels under other roads and bridges over creeks, It made for an enjoyable change from dealing with traffic.
The final 38 miles took us back to Columbus, straight into the wind pretty much the whole way. I spent much time continuing to draft Rich, 12-13mph was about all I could maintain into the wind, with my speed popping right back into the 15-17 range when we turned out of the wind momentarily.
After we finished, we each had to go over to the RBA's place to do our final control, and we also had a picnic.
I had originally intended to, as I mentioned at the beginning, stay overnight to do the FrankenBike 50, but considering how my legs felt after pushing those fat tyres into the headwind (and the hammering for the first 30+ miles probably didn't help), I opted to drive back home that night, having to eventually stop and catch some sleep at a rest area.
I was very happy with the way the bike performed and the overall comfort level. I will seriously consider using this bike more often for brevets and other long rides. Just not on the knobbies, that's what I have road tyres for.
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