First Official Ride

I got out this last Sunday with Josh for the first official ride of the year. We tried to ride Murphy, but without fat tires it was slow going. We rode the trail for about 30 minutes, and then moved to the dirt roads for another 30 minutes. It was hard work, but that's the point. I probably beat last year's first ride by 4 months. I hope that it pays off this year. I have high expectations and lofty goals.

Winter Bike - SS steel 29er

This weekend I finished putting together my new single-speed winter riding bike. The build goal was to have a bike that I could beat on this winter, while keeping it cheap and mechanically simple. The frame is a ZION cromoly SS with EBB. I pulled the Chris King headset from my old Diamondback XR8. The fork is carbon eXotic from the Schwinn. The stem, and handle bars are also from the schwinn, which were originally on my Heckler. I had to cut the handle bars down because one of the ends was cracked from getting a bar end caught on a tree this summer. The front brake is an Avid 3.5 that I bought last summer for the Schwinn. The rear brake is an old XT set that I had on the Diamondback. I threw a new set of pads on, and they still work great. The crank is a single Race Face that I have been running on the Schwinn for 2 years. The front wheel is the Chris King/ZTR 355 that I was running on the Schwinn with the same Crossmark tire (it seems to have enough tread to cover turning in the snow. The rear tire I had built with the Chris King hub and ZTR Arch (a little cheaper, but looks the same). I am happy to have this wheelset as a backup for the Niner. I will probably run these wheels with an agressive tread when the summer rolls around. Gearing is 36-18. Cog is a Surly 18tooth Cromo-zinc plated. Chain is SRAM PC-1. Time to ride!

The Training Begins

I started my training this weekend. My initial focus will be to build core strength and endurance. My first goal is to ride the Cold Bear race at Hillside on February 20th with my new SS bike. More to come on the new ride...