http://bikepeddlerutah.com American Fork's favorite bike shop Thu, 09 Sep 2010 06:23:45 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 en hourly 1 http://bikepeddlerutah.com/2009/08/defeated-by-single-speeds/ http://bikepeddlerutah.com/2009/08/defeated-by-single-speeds/#comments Sun, 16 Aug 2009 16:40:00 +0000 Joshua tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1846558422594797389.post-4344939143050103519 I've never fully understood the singlespeed impulse. I have set out to build a singlespeed before. But as with most of my "I'm gonna build one up" projects, the frame ends up hanging in the rafters without any parts on it. Then as I'm chugging up a particularly painful climb, I often think "Why, in the name of Zeus's butthole, would anybody want to do this without the benefit of multiple gears." I get simplicity. I get lightweight. But honestly, who among us has never been trudging up a steep climb and kept looking down to see if there wasn't one more gear you could grab.
Last night we rode South Fork counterclockwise in the dark. It was a "Stars of UMB" event, with Oilcan, Cobes, TacoTim, and newcomer Noobyu along with Retro Bill and I. After an already long day, I was slightly less than enthusiastic when I pulled up to the trailhead. Without any thermometer, I would gauge the summit at a frosty 45 degrees. It was colder than a stepmother's heart. I kept a t-shirt on over my jersey and pulled on some arm and legwarmers. And we dropped down the two miles Cascade Springs road. I was running my crappiest light on my helmet which was a mistake in hindsight.
Cobes had some kind of oxyacetylene/plasma job on his head and hadn't quite perfected the nuances of looking just below the face of the person your talking to. Which resulted in a searing headache for me. I officially bestow the Light and Motion Arc as the brightest light that has ever shown up for one of our night rides.
Then came the climb up South Fork. I'm cruising along, minding my own business. When the bobbing solar spot behind me gets so close I can hear his lycra. Vwip,vwip,vwip.
Now anytime you hear me say, "Just let me know if you need to get by." There are two possible, acceptable reactions. Say, "Now" and pull around. Or sit up and fall back. My delicate ego can't handle somebody right on my rear wheel, and like dog forced to race, I feel compelled to try to go faster. This is how Riley usually makes me puke. Eventually, Cobes did pull past, followed shortly thereafter by Oilcan. Both on singlespeeds. Then Retro Bill. Then I uhhhh stopped to check my bike, and soon I was at the back of the pack. With minor variations, this was the way we rode up to the four-way.
At this point Retro Bill was looking for any takers to drop down Tibble and then climb back up Mud Springs back to the Ridge. Like riding a single speed, I'm not sure why anybody would voluntarily want to ride up Mud Springs. But Nate, aka Noobyu, jumped like an excited puppy and they both disappeared into the night. Leaving four of us to pick our way back across the ridge and eventually back to the truck.
It did my heart good to hear Cobes complain about the disproportionate amount of climbing to descending. Even though he did it after kicking my trash all the way up the mountain. On a singlespeed. Noticeably absent was any complaining from Tim who had expressed concern about being able to keep up prior to the ride. He just quietly ground away like a good soldier.
At the trailhead, we shot the shit for a good half hour or so. And with no sign of Retro Bill or Nate. I felt like I should be concerned. Normally, I try to make sure everybody makes it back. But since they took an alternate route, of their own volition, and I was freezing. I left them to the bears.
Bill or Nate, if your still alive let me know.
No pictures of this ride. After all the crashes my camera has survived, it was finally destroyed after being dropped on the concrete while taking pictures of a frame I was posting for sale online.

]]> http://bikepeddlerutah.com/2009/08/defeated-by-single-speeds/feed/ 0 http://bikepeddlerutah.com/2009/08/south-forkimba-and-old-pics/ http://bikepeddlerutah.com/2009/08/south-forkimba-and-old-pics/#comments Fri, 14 Aug 2009 01:29:00 +0000 Joshua tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1846558422594797389.post-9154031764786633440 Sally, Nathan, and Wes showed up. It was an uneventful trip around South Fork, but a nice cool evening, with a couple of rain drops thrown in for good measure. I did come to the conclusion that come 'cross season, Wes and I are going to be battling it out for 30th place in the C flight.

As a point of interest, I just signed the group up as an "IMBA affiliated" organization. I had often wondered what qualified other clubs as affiliated. Surely it must mean that they are out digging trails and organizing pep-rallies four times a week. Nope. It ends up that it's a lot like an individual who goes to the IMBA website and punches in their credit card. And then gets a packet of information in the mail. Actually, it's exactly like that, only it costs a little bit more. Thank Brian Fruit(the founder of the feast) next time you see him. There are a few modest perks to being in an affiliated club, which I will let you know about once I sort through the info. And the money does go to a cause that we can all get behind.

Finally, Nathan let me know how disappointed he was that I didn't post about last weeks ride. I think he just wanted to see pictures of himself. Ironically, none of the pictures I took are of him. Sorry buddy.

Here's Chef Scott from Park City(Go to Easy Street Restaurant in the SkyLodge on Historic Main, you'll be glad you did.),Tyler, and Kyle at the top of the Love Climb.Speaking of the "Love Climb". Here's Brady enjoying Kyle's nipple. Notice how Kyle can't look him in the eye. Maybe if we all pitch in a dime, we can buy Brady a water bottle and a cage so he doesn't have to beg water. Ever wonder where the trail that drops off to your left immediately after you cross the dam from the bottom of Tibble? It goes here.

No, it's not ridable.
Remember, we're riding South Fork counterclockwise Saturday night at 9pm. Meet at the summit trailhead and don't forget to charge your lights.

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