Dirty Kanza 200

So I have made the decision, thanks to RD,  to bite the bullet and sign up for the Dirty Kanza 200.  For those of you who don't know it is a 200+ mile, one day, gravel road race in Emporia Kansas.  This should be a good time.  A co-worker, Nate, has said that he will partake in the punishment so now we need Douglas to man up [;-)] and commit to it and we can have an Omahaians showing.

More to come.

Tranquility....not so much.

The girl friend and I decide no to sit around the house all day and go for a ride.  Yes we know it is snowing and contrary to the loud old lady in our parking lot, no, we are not crazy or stupid.

I decide to throw the studded tires on my Redline and I dug out my Schwalbe Marathon Winter tires to put on her Kona Dew Plus.  And I was really proud of her.  She gave it a good try and was a good sport about it.  The snow was DEEP.  We only got from the trail head to the first road crossing and decided to go back.  It was a blast but it took for EVER.  Anyways here are some pics.

There she goes....sort of.  [:-)]

 

 It was some deep snow.

We both took some good spills.

Snow? What Snow?

So along with everyone else that is dedicated to spinning some cranks instead of turning a key, I too have a post about my adventures in the first bought of "real" snow in the Omaha area.  And here we go.....

I was on a quest this summer to build my own ultimate snow rig.  I had ridden my cross bike last winter with some studded tires and wasn't completely happy with the results.  I tried riding my single speed 29er and enjoyed the ride more than with the cross bike but my knee joints didn't like me when it came to trudging through the deep stuff.  So I opted for the best of both worlds:

Redline Monocog Flight 29er 19inch frame
Red Chris King headset
RaceFace Evolve Cranks (22-32-44)
SRAM PG-990 11-34 cassette
SRAM X.O rear derailleur and grip shifters
Shimano XT front derailleur
Custom wheel set, SLX center lock hubs, DT Swiss Comp Spokes and X470 rims  (a little heavy but super bommer!)
Avid Juicy Ultimate Brakes
Maxxis Ingnitor 29 x 2.1 tires for the fresh powder
Nokian Extreme 294  29 x 2.1 studded tires for the deep and icy stuff

Upright riding position, super low gearing, grip shift for easy use with gloved hand, and a straight bar for more control.  So far the results are very, very positive.  Here is some pics from the ride in on Monday:

A little bit of frost on the beard.

 

 Even with fenders had some nice build up on the frame.

 

X.O rear derailleur took it all like a champ and never missed a shift.

And I will have more from my commute on Wednesday.  Tuesday I have off.

Ride safe!

Very moving

New Rig....Wrong Time.

So I finally got my new rig put together.

Steel Langster frameset from Specialized.  True track geometry, 56cm.

Specs. as follows:

-White Steel 56cm frame set
-Custom Velocity Deep V White Rim
--Red All-City Track Hubs
--3 Cross lacing front and rear white DT Swiss Competition spokes

--Red nipples

-All-City Red 170mm 46t Cranks
-White Industries 17t freewheel
-TRP R960 red bake calipers
-Surly 17t fixed cog and lock-ring
-Cane Creek SCR-5 Brake levers
-Crank Brothers Candy SL pedals
-Thompson Elite silver seatpost
-Specialized Mondo Tire 700x23c red
-Nitto handle bar and stem
-S-wrap Classic bar tape
-Old School Saddle found in our back storage area 

22.5 pounds of road skiddin' love.  Just too bad I finally got it together when the weather turned shitty.  I hope for a few good days to break 'er in before the snow flys.

From MTB Omaha

CX Tuesdays

Who's up for CX practice on Tuesday nights? I've got a good practice course at Seymor Smith park by the soap box derby track. The course includes a paved climb, gravel climb, gravel/sand trap, and we can get a high speed barrier section too. I'm thinking 5:30ish. Two lap, five lap and three lap mini races.

All levels are welcome, don't be shy.

First SNOW of the season

Had an interesting ride Saturday morning.  Rode to the Joslyn Art museum for a class assignment and then rode to work on 151st and industrial.  The morning ride to the museum was really wet and still snowing.  The ride to work afterward was just wet and windy.  But I do have to say that the new FORCE/RIVAL 10 speed groupo performed flawlessly, way exceeded my expectations.

Even with all the ice on the cables I never missed a shift.

Other than the snap of cold, it was an awesome day for a ride.

Yeah 10 speed

Me being a bigger guy I expect to wear out bicycle components faster than your average rider.  On the Last bacon ride I apparently "broke"  my Truvativ carbon Rouller cranks.  I called SRAM and they warrantied them no problem.  Unfortunately they didn't have the exact cranks that I needed and were not making them anymore.  So they upgraded me to these bad boys!

SRAM FORCE BABY!!  For Free!  Now the only downside to this is that These cranks have a true ten speed spacing and I was running nine speed, so dang it! I have to upgrade my entire drive train.
 ;-}

Found a FORCE front derailleur in the used part bin at work.  SCORE!

 

I decided to go with a RIVAL rear derailleur and shifter set.  Why you might ask?  Well, during my discussions of whether FORCE or RIVAL would be the best choice, I think Nate put it best: "You brake shit."  I can't handle replacing a $150 rear der. or a $490 set of shifters if and when I get hit or wreck again.  The only part of this bike that I haven't broken or worn out is the tires, the seat post and the frame.

A new set of wrap as well and I think that I'm ready to give cross riding a shot this year....  If I can find the time.  Overall weight of the bike, with Acid2 pedals and bottle cages and pump mount, is now down to 22 lbs!  I know that might seem nothing spectacular as far as bikes go, but I wish I had weighed it when I first got the thing.  I have dropped some serious wight off of it.

WTF!!

This shit makes me very angry and sad at the same time. I don't know exactly what the G20 in all about but I'm gonna look into it.  Very scary that they are getting away with actions like this.  Using an LRAD on people is not something to trivialize.  This is from the LRAD manufacturers web site:

The Long Range Acoustic Device™ (LRAD®) is a highly directional acoustic array that is designed for long-range communication and unmistakable warning. The LRAD device can issue a verbal warning and has the capability of following up with a deterrent tone to influence behavior or determine intent.

B.O.L.O (Be On the Look Out)

Some jackass (white male, 40-55 yrs old, brown hair) in a early to mid 90's blue Dodge Dakota pick-up turning left across traffic, nearly clocked me yesterday around 5:30 at Pacific and the Interstate on ramp. The fucker wasn't looking where he going, literally, and he didn't even stop or slow down after he finally did see me. Very scary situation.