There's Music in Them Hills of Brown

I had two great rides at Brown County State Park last week with Tania. We rode on Wednesday afternoon (3/15) and early on Saturday morning (3/18). On Wednesday we parked at the North Tower and rode North Tower loop. On Saturday we parked down below and rode up the connector and out around Aynes loop. The trail conditions were excellent. The creeks were still flowing strongly from the rains the weekend before. Riding Brown County was fantastic after this long, cold, wet winter. It was good to get back down into the "Little Smokies". It's always a feeling that captures my spirit. I've been listening to more and more bluegrass this winter, and it just seems to play in my head as I roll up, down, and around those hills. Pickin' and ridin' were meant to go together. I can almost hear old Bill Monroe and his boys playin just a few valleys north in Bean Blossom as my wheels roll over the dirt. I picked up a live recording of Bill's 7th Annual Bluegrass Festival from Bean Blossom in 1973. It was a recording that was released by MCA. It's available on iTunes, and it is some great, classic picking with tons of notable players. The crowd is quite lively. I wish I could beam back in time, go to the show, and then go for a ride. Since Bill is gone now, the iPod and conjurations of his ghost will have to suffice.

Great Trails Dry Fast

The trails down south dried out wonderfully after the torrential rains the weekend of the 11th and 12th. Directly after the rain it was reasonalby warm (50 degrees), sunny, and definitely windy. Strong winds and sun will dry out trails quicker than one would think. After several inches of rain on Saturday night, Ron and Scott G. and I went for a night ride at Nebo on Tuesday night (3/14). We knew that the Nebo trailhead, initial climb and doubletrack sections would be a muddy mess so we drove past Story, up Mt. Nebo Road, and onto Berry Ridge Road to where it runs alongside the trail. We parked there at about 8 or 9 p.m. and headed south on Nebo Ridge. As we suspected, the trail conditions were near perfect. The south half of Nebo is always so fast. We hot-dogged it all the way to the south trailhead at 1100N just west of Houston (that's House-ton, NOT Hugh-ston...and don't get it wrong while you're there). At the old "sit-a-spell" spot with the log benches we heard the coyotes howling at one another all throughout the valleys below. The moon was nearly full and shining strong. Spectacular! We took the road west over the bridge and into Hickory Ridge. We took gravel up to the east end of Hickory Ridge Trail 19 (the Nathan Avery). We weren't on 19 long before we suffered some shock issues and decided to head back. The gravel road downhill from 19 to the cliff camp was exhilirating and oh so fast. Back to Nebo. Why is it that heading north on Nebo from the south terminus is always so hard? After several minutes of suffering the flow got going and before I knew it we were back at the car. This was also my first ride using my new light. I picked up a new fancy Light and Motion Lithium-Ion HID. It sure is purdy, and it lights like the sun. It weighs less than most of the other junk I throw into my pack. It probably weighs the same as two bananas.

The Great Deluge

Well, in my last post I mentioned that five of us were going to go down to the Hickory Ridge fire tower area of Hoosier National forest for a ride and camping on Saturday evening (3/11). Well, the impending doom of the wet weather forecast frightened off all but the bravest (or most stupid) of us. Charles and I forged ahead with the journey despite weather forecasts of rain, rain, and more rain. Charles had arrived in the afternoon, and he already had camp set up when I got there at about 8:30 p.m. I had checked the weather for the Norman, IN area, and I noticed that there was going to be a 3-4 hour "hole" of dry weather from about 9 p.m. until midnight. When I arrived I convinced the reluctant (and somewhat tipsy) Charles that we should ride immediately instead of in the morning as originally planned. We got our gear and bikes ready to roll, and we headed out from our campsite near the fire tower and we headed west on Tower Ridge Road. There were beatiful, ominous-looking clouds above that zipped past the nearly-full moon. The light from the moon was so plentiful despite the clouds that we rarely used our lights. We rode west on Tower Ridge Road until we could hear cars on 446. We stopped for a bit and decided to head back. We heard the grumble of thunder off into the distance. We also began to see lightning light the sky. We hot-footed it back east on Tower Ridge to the campsite. We weren't back more than 10 or 15 minutes when it began to rain. We were dry underneath Chuck's EZup tent. We had an amazing dinner of beer brats, potatoes, and grilled green pepper and onion. We also each had a 22 oz. Fat Tire. Sidenote: They are now selling Fat Tire Ale in Chicago! It rained very steadily all night long. In the morning the campsite had several inches of standing water all over it. It stopped raining and the sun came out just as I left for home at about 9 a.m. I barely made it out of the area due to the extremely high water conditions and flash flooding everywhere. The water in Salt Creek was almost touching the bottom of the Maumee Bridge. It is usually 20-25 feet below that level. I had to turn around or detour on Houston Road, Christianburg Road, and also on 135 because of high water levels. What an adventure!

BOB Dreams

Well, I ended up not riding at BCSP the other night. Ron and Scott G. did and said that the trail conditions were excellent. The trails are a muddy mess now I'm sure. Oh well, that's March in Indiana. I've got the bike and the new light ready for the next dry opportunity to night ride. Charles, Kado, Ron, and maybe Jason O. will be heading to the Hoosier National Forest for a gravel road ride this weekend. We're going to car camp near the fire tower in Hickory Ridge/Deam Wilderness. Depending on the weather we'll either do a night ride on Saturday or a morning ride on Sunday. The route is yet to be determined. It will be a last minute call, I'm sure. It will be the inaugural ride for the '85 Trek 620 in its latest incarnation for country touring on asphalt, gravel, and dirt roads. I'm going to add some new platform pedals and some SKS full coverage fenders before this weekend and it will be pretty much complete. I added some Salsa cantilever brake converters this week to make the XT cantis work much better with the Tektro reverse time trial levers. I also put on a modern rear derailleur. It is a Shimano rapid rise derailleur, which I despise, but I've heard good things about using them with down-tube shifters. I'll try anything once. During a few short city rides, the action felt smooth and natural, so indications are good. I aligned the derailleur hanger, which dramatically improved the shifting.

Speaking of touring, I've been thinking a lot lately about the BOB trailer, and just what a dreamweaver it is. One of the best things about being a BOB owner is to constantly try to think of new and creative ways to use it. It can be used to haul almost anything of reasonable size and weight. It can also help you realize wild fantasies of escaping the grid. Whether it's a run to the corner store or a 6 day backcountry escape, the BOB will be your friend throughout. Not all products are this exciting or empowering. Do yourself a favor. Buy a BOB and challenge yourself to use it over and over again.

Althought the original BOB Yak trailer is a fine piece (I've owned one), it just can't compare to the BOB Ibex. Yes, it's a few extra bucks, but it is definitely worth the dough. The suspension makes it oh so much more pleasurable to pull. It greatly increases the possibilities of use as well. You'll never have to make compromises with the suspension. Pull it over anything! It can handle 35mph mountain decents with ease. It will handle anything you can dish out. I loan my personal BOB out. Borrow it sometime (when I'm not using it, of course). Haul flowers from the nursery. Go get a gallon of milk. Do trail work with it. Escape civilization. You'll love it. Be forewarned. You'll want one.

Expecting to Fly, Learning to Ride

Spent a quiet morning at home with Ian and the dogs. We just got done with another session of learning to ride with no training wheels. He is doing fantastic, and we're both having a lot of fun. He just about has it. He rode 30-40 feet by himself this time. It's a sunny, perfect spring day for a bike ride. We may hit the greenway in Z-ville later or make a run to the store on the bikes.

Ron, Scott G. and I are planning to night ride at BCSP tonight. The trails should be pretty good after the sun and wind today. I just checked out the pictures from the workday this weekend on HMBA.org. Great job guys! Wow. It looks like some big improvements were made on the HP Trail. I can't wait to check it out in person this evening.

Now it's off to the shop to get the sled ready for the ride tonight. I think I might check out some headlights. I've needed a new light for a long time. For the last ten years (that's right, a decade) I've been using the same Blackburn VistaLites. The things just will not die. They are going to be turned into commuting lights exclusively. I think I'm going to dive into the world of modern HID headlights.

Morning Ride at Nebo

Ron and I spent the evening at the cabin. It was quite cold. Despite a raging fire in the woodstove, the temperature never really crested the 60-65 degree mark. We left Irvington at about 9, and we were in bed by about midnight. Ron's phone alarm went off at 6:00 and it was still dark outside. It was hard to get out of the warm sleeping bag and put the cold riding clothes on. We were on the bikes by about 7:00. The cabin lane and gravel road ride to the Nebo trailhead was really, really cold. We warmed up (and the sun came up) on the Nebo climb. It was my first ride on the new demo bike (19" '06 Kona Dawg Primo). The bike was feeling great. The trail was super solid and frozen. The conditions were fantastic. We got to the top of the Nebo climb and decided to continue out Nebo to do the WB loop. On one of the downhills my rear shock blew out. Bummer. The bike was still rideable so I limped it back to the cabin. It happened 75% of the way through the ride, so not all was lost. The trails were just barely beginning to get soft on our way out of the woods at 9:00 a.m.

The new bike was great despite the problem with the rear shock. I still need to change the cassette to an 11-34 instead of the idiotic 11-32 that came stock on it. Why would you put that gearing on a 32 pound, 5-inch travel trail bike? I'm also going to put Sram X.9 derailleur and twisties on it. The Shimano triggers are horrible. They feel about as solid as shaking hands with a four year old girl. The upshift is somewhat OK, but the downshifts in the rear are totally imperceptible. The Shimano chain will go away as well. I'll give it to my worst enemy. The shifting was unpredictable. The Hayes brakes were very solid, and the Race Face crank felt very stiff. I've used RF Evolve cranks in a splined style BB as well as the new outboard BB design. The outboard design does feel a bit more stiff and solid. The handlebars are 27" wide now. That's about 1" too wide for my liking. I'll trim them to 26" and probably be real happy. I really liked the WTB saddle as well. I've used a lot of Speed V's in the past and liked them, but I think I liked this Laser V a little better. I also must mention that the green color of this bike is fantastic. It's a real good looker.