March In Like a Lion Rides

[rebeccaC]

Some warmth for this thread Back to our normal 70’s here. Rode Caryl Rd on my way home from today’s work in Oxnard. It always gives me a hour or so of a good climb, descent back down to my car and a good way to clear my mind. There is something about this road, maybe the past frequency of my riding it and knowing it so well, maybe the changing nature of the plants/trees (I’m patiently waiting for the huge wild geranium show, the start of it should be soon.) or maybe just its relaxing way after a day’s work with grad students.


I always welcome the relaxed/peaceful moments that roads like this one gives me

[emily_in_nc]

That is some gorgeous terrain, rebecca! Roads look a little rough, but I'd put up with that for the scenery and lack of traffic. Truly idyllic!

[north woods gal]

Plus one on that beautiful country. I think that would be the prefect road for the ECR.

[rebeccaC]

Yeah the road isn’t all that perfect but for my bikes being paved is more perfect than other isolated farm roads in the area. I’ve also known where the rougher sections are for quite a while now and can see any changes on the ascent to consider on the descent back down. My 26/1.5 tires help too. The times of year they harvest the lemons are the only days when I wouldn't ride it because of traffic. I very seldom see any cars/trucks. It’s kinda the perfect shorter ride to do after the days i work up there and before the 45+ minute drive home on pacific coast highway.

[Crankin]

First commute of the year today. As I was getting ready, DH commented it takes me longer to get ready than to ride there. Probably true, but I always feel better. I had a short day, so less traffic on both ends. There was a section of the street my office is on that had gigantic crater pot holes. The holes are not new, but since our storms in the past month, they grew. I was nervous, as avoiding them would mean not just getting in the lane, but going into the opposite side of the road!. As I turned the corner, I was thrilled to see the pot holes had been filled yesterday, when I don't work. Otherwise, I was seriously considering going through some parking lots, risking getting hit by a 90 year old, going to the doctor, but that will be avoided.
It was only 40 when I left, so I thought the clothes I had brought in to wear were not warm enough, so I wore my merino cycling dress and a base layer with winter commuting tights, exchanging them for regular tights when I got there. I also wore a Terry commuting jacket that is very cool, but too warm for temperatures over 50 or so. Thankfully, it was cloudy on the way home, so I ditched the head cover and it was fine. I know it's only 5.6 miles round trip, but it's worth it for my good mood. And, I have to walk about 1/2 a mile rt to a corporate cafeteria, across the street when I ride, so that's more activity.

[north woods gal]

I agree, those 26x1.5 tires will do just fine. What bike are you using?

Back in the day when all MTBs were 26" wheels and tires, I used the 1.5s on my 26" MTBs for pavement work and rough roads. Still have a set of 1.5s on my vintage steel Kona 26" MTB (which I will never sell). Rode all kinds of pavement with that bike, back in the day, gravel and dirt roads, too. 1.5", after all, works out to a 38mm on a road bike for width and that's a common width on gravel bikes.

Okay, old retro me, here I go, again. I think it's sad that the bike industry, overall, has been so quick to ditch the 26" wheels for the newer 27.5", which, by the way is only slightly larger than the 26" wheels, despite the 27.5" label. Fact is, the 27.5 is nowhere near halfway between a 26" and a 29", not even close. It's much closer to the 26" than the 29". To illustrate, if you went with a 26x2.75 wheel/tire setup on your 26" bike, you'd actually have the same overall wheel diameter as the standard 27.5x2.2 and, yes, there are now a few companies making a 26 plus bike with a 26x3" wheel/tire setup that is even slightly larger in wheel height than a standard 27.5. Of course, if you can convince everyone that the 27.5 wheel is much better than the old 26", you can get a lot more people to buy a new bike. Okay, rant over.

Barely broke the freezing point, today. Made it 1o yards in on my icy trails and know I was beat. Everything that had been slusg=h, tow days, ago, was now sold ice.

Took the Krampus, instead, for a road ride. It now wears the original 29x3 Dirt Wizard tires that came with the bike. Switched out the Dirt Wizards, right away, after buying the tire, so today was my first ride out on the road with them. For those who don't know, the Dirt Wizards are heavy and heavy-lugged serious dirt tires. As road tires, though, all I can say is "Bow wow! They really are a slow moving, slow responding dog.

To get a better comparison, took my Trek Stashe, also a 29x3 bike and also with a trail tire, but a less aggressive lugged tire and a much lighter tire. No comparison. The Trek 29x3 Chupacabra tires made a huge difference. The Dirt Wizards I will now sell. Not happy with them.

We now have a winter storm watch for Friday night. Not good for my riding, but not unusual for this the of year. Have to expect it, but can't help wishing the storm misses us.

[north woods gal]

Sheila, those Ardents look very similar to the Dirt Wizards. Lots of thick lugs on them. To be honest, I prefer something much milder for a tread design out on the road and even for most hard pack dirt riding. You don't need heavy lugs for that. The good old Surly Knards really are a very smooth rolling tire, but be sure to spend the money and get the lightest version with the 120 tpi. Have them on the new ECR and they really ride very much like an ordinary road tire. Huge difference compared to the cheaper version of the Knards and way, way better than the Dirt Wizard.

As long as you don't venture into the thick, soft stuff, you replay don't need aggressive treads for trail work and, even then, I still prefer wider spaced lugs as on the Trek Chucka's. In mud, close spaced lugs fill up with mud, too quick, and then they're useless. It's a lesson I've learned from fat bike tires designed for snow use. These tires use widely spaced lugs for the sake of shedding the snow, rather than collecting it. The Trek Chucka's have a similar design. Great design.

Looks like 8-9 inches snow headed our way, tonight. Eeek! Better get out for a road ride, now, while I can.

[north woods gal]

We are all sand, too. When they build a gravel road, here, they lay down a bed of dirt and clay, first. When that under bedding gets worn, away, it's all sand. The gravel roads that have homes along them get regular maintenance and are good to ride, unless you hit them just after they've laid a fresh load of gravel. (Then they turn into fat bike, only, rides. )

It's the roads that don't have homes along them that get very little in the way of maintenance. These regress, very quickly, back to sand. Even worse, these get designated as ATV trails and those ATVs chew up the sand in a hurry. Nothing against the ATV folks, by the way. They need roads to ride, too, and I'd rather have them out on the roads than chewing up the woods. Have to say, too, that up here, the ATV riders are a very disciplined group and work hard to be good neighbors with all kinds of users. Ours go out of the way to be safe around bicyclists. Really appreciate that.

All this is a long way of saying that when riding sand, it's all about tire width. When riding those chewed up sand roads, there are days when I can get though with the plus bikes and their 3" tires, but there are also days when it takes a fat bike with their even wider tires to get through. For sure, though, it is never a dull ride.

[north woods gal]

Well, from sand to snow. Big storm coming in, tonight, so we figured to get in one last ride before it hit. Got the Trek 29 plus bike out of winter storage, yesterday (great timing), so after giving it a tune up, last night, Bill and I headed out for a ride around the neighborhood paved roads. Just as we left, it started spitting snow. Bill called it good after a couple of two mile laps, but I went to six laps and a good 12 miles. Figured it best to say close to home, in case it really started to snow.

My Trek Stashe is now one of three 29x3 bikes I have. Yeah, that's going bit overboard and I admit it, but this is a very unusual 29 plus bike, nothing at all like the other two. It's also not replaceable, either, because Trek changed the geometry on the Stashe the very next year, not to mention this first year Stashe 5 was the only version ever offered with this fixed carbon fork. These days, all models have suspension. Old retro me, though, still prefers rigid bikes.

What it all boils down to is that the Stashe is super light as MTBs go and rabbit quick in its handling and acceleration in the way no suspension bike can be. Even makes my Krampus seem a little on the slow side. Reminds me very much of the way an old 26" MTB handles, though, of course, this has much bigger wheels. It's not a bike I would choose for long distance road work, though. That super fast handling means you have to pay constant attention as it heads down the road. Not a bike that forgives a little day dreaming as you ride. Not at all a bike like the ECR. That bike tracks straight as an arrow and almost guides, itself.

Love the color, too. (Taken last summer)

[north woods gal]

Sheila, do you really need a fat bike? Not that need has a lot to do with it, sometimes. They really are trail bikes at heart, but can be used as utility bikes and be ridden on the road for other uses, too, like touring and all weather commuting with the appropriate tires. Just about everyone has one, up here in snow country, and a lot of us ride them as our standard trail bike all year, long. Minnesota and Wisconsin is kind of the mothership for fat bikes.

The Wednesday would make a good choice for a fat bike just to have a fat bike without spending a lot of money. Components are low end, for that reason, but the frame design is sound and it's steel, of course. My Norco fat bikes are aluminum and that's fine for trail work. Those big tires soak up most of the bumps and vibrations, anyway, and the geometry on the Norco frames is all about trail riding.

For actual road work, though, I'm a big fan of steel, even if it is heavier than aluminum. My Pugsley is a decent road warrior when it has the right tires.

Here I go, rambling, again. Sorry. I'll give you my nutshell on fat bikes versus plus bikes and shut up. A plus bike with 3" tires can do 90% of what a fat bike can do three seasons of the year for trail riding and do it, faster, with the exception of riding in the very soft stuff, such as deep sand on the beach or roads, deep mud or loose, anything. That's fat bike country.

Plus bikes with 3" tires can do a lot of snow riding, too, out on the roads when they are plowed or when the snow is only a few inches deep or even if it is packed hard. Still not as good as fat bikes, but there are now 3" plus tires with studs, now, so that opens up some more snow riding possibilities for plus bikes. For ice and trail riding on groomed snow trails or slushy or deep snow, or anytime traction is a serious issue, a fat bike is really is a must.

To be honest, if I didn't live in snow country, I could manage with a plus bike for most of m riding.

[north woods gal]

For beach riding, a fat bike would be tops. Can't say what ocean salt would do, but I do know that road salt can definitely take its toll on aluminum, too. A lot depends of the aluminum alloy used and its finish. For sure, in the winter in Chicago, had to clean off my bikes after every ride. Both the aluminum and steel frames held up pretty well as long as I did that. It was some of the small parts that took the hit with the salt because it was harder to clean in the small areas where the salt would collect. As for carbon, have no experience with how it reacts with salt. Not being metal, it might not be as sensitive to salt. Maybe we can get some feedback on this.

[north woods gal]

Update

We finally dug out from our storm, Bill with the snow blower and me with the cleanup work with the shovel. No small task, since our driveway is 500 feet (longer than football field) long. Snow blowers are great, but they don't get down close to the surface. Leave a coating of snow that will turn to ice if you don't get rid of it. Anyway, over two hours of work.

The good news is that I can now ride the bike out to our paved roads, which were plowed shortly before I finished with the shovel. Was dead tired and cold, but really felt a morale booster was needed, so took one of the fat bikes with studded tires for a short three mile run around the neighborhood. That was enough, though. Felt much better knowing I could still ride.

[Crankin]

Sounds tough, and for the last day of March, too much snow!
Had a wonderful ride with our friends. We had done this ride, or I realize now, a version of it, last fall, and I thought it was 22 miles, but today was 18.5. Anyway, bright sun, temperature going up from 49 to 55, with a light wind. Lots of cyclists out there.
Nothing felt bad, a little tough in the beginning, as we have to climb a short steep hill after a mile, but then, all was well. Three out of the four of us pushed it on my favorite road, good for gauging your fitness, and then we went back to our moderate, slower speed.
Now getting ready for our Seder.

[north woods gal]

Well, speaking of snow, we got nailed. Woke up to ten inches of new snow, this morning, on top of the foot of old snow we already had on the ground. If that isn't enough, we're due to get another storm in a couple of days. As I've mentioned, before, March comes in like a lion, up here, but that darn lion sticks around well into April and sometimes even May. Par for the course.

Still, I am bummed out. My riding is out until the snow plow comes through our area. If it does, I'll grab a fat bike with studded tires and take my chances out on neighborhood roads. As for my trails, I'm done. I'm beat. I give up. I've managed to keep them open all winter long by shoveling and using a snow blower, only to see them turn to ice, anyway, this month. Was it with all the effort? Will I do it, again, next winter? I don't know. Something to think about over the summer (if it it ever shows up). No more his year, though.

Not going out on a sour note, though. I had a good month, probably my best March, ever. First half was all snow riding and the second half was mostly road riding on our dry pavement roads. Pavement riding is not something I expect to do in March, but logged in almost 200 miles on the road and who knows how many on the trails? Only missed two days of riding all month. One was for digging out (probably one of those, today) and one was for skiing.

On to April.