November rides: bringing in the chill

[north woods gal]

Well, November definitely brings in the chill, up here in the north country, but for you folks down in warmer climes that have been suffering in the heat, I hope November brings you some relief.

Yippee! Got my Pugs 2 back form the bike shop, yesterday and it is now a single speed or actually a double speed. More on that in a bit. Anyway, here it is, with a few other mods. Pretty good deal on it, by the way. My guy at the shop did all the labor at no cost in exchange for the shifters and cassette that was on the bike. Me, I supplied the parts, up front.


To further lighten the bike, I also replaced the stock Moloku handlebars with a much lighter FSA flat bar. I love the Moloku bars, but they're really a heavy duty touring handlebar, with emphasis on heavy, since they're made of steel. The FSA bar is MUCH lighter and better suited for trail work, anyway. Besides, I can always go back to the Moloku anytime I wish.

Yes, this is actually a double speed, you might say. It's a standard single speed in the back.


This version of the Pugs, though, is unique in that it uses the same width axle, front and back, plus the front hub is threaded for a free wheel. What this allows you to do is run the front wheel with a different size cog, then just switch front and back wheels to change the gearing. Here's the front wheel with a smaller cog that I will use when I want a higher gear.


Right now, the gearing is with the rear wheel, set very low for trail work, with a nod to some snow riding or mud riding. My trails are very dry at the moment, so the gearing is a bit lower than I would like, but still very useable. Should be just right, though, when things turn mushy and soft. Then, too, I can always switch wheels to get a higher gear.

Did 6 miles of trail work, late afternoon, and loved the way the bike handled. It handled nice with the full set of gears and the heavy stock handlebar, too, but now it handles even better with the reduced weight, plus no big derailleur to snag or break hanging from the back. I now have single speed bikes all the way from a skinny tire road bike all the way up to a fat bike.

Speaking of late afternoon, don't forget, Daylight Savings time ends this Sunday. Pretty much means my late afternoon rides will become more like mid-afternoon rides, being this far north.

[Crankin]

Sigh... rain today and tomorrow. No riding in western MA for my birthday weekend. In fact, we aren't going out there until 4 pm tomorrow, have dinner at 8, then up early-ish Sunday to do a short hike, as our friends have a western MA AMC chapter dinner and we are going to my son's at 5:30. I am hoping that if we get home by 2:00, I can hop on my bike and at least say I have ridden on my birthday, as that's when it will be the high of 53. Only sunny day until next *Thursday.*

Nice bike, NW!

[north woods gal]

Happy BD, Crankin. I do hope you get a chance to do a little ride, just to say you did on your birthday. We have some of that wet weather coming in over the weekend, too, but looks like we'll get some snow mixed in, too. Oh, well. This is November.

Cold and cloudy, this morning, but did 14 miles of pavement on the Nature Boy, then came back and did 2 more miles on the trails with the Krampus.

So glad I didn't sell the Krampus, even though I was tempted. Now that I've got it the way I want it, it's a keeper. Took a different set of tires, then converting to tubeless and, of course, doing a single speed conversion, not to mention a different handlebar, stem, seat post and seat to get there, but I'm enjoying it MUCH more now than I did when it was all stock from the factory. Out of the box, it was actually a little disappointing and I usually love Surly bikes. Fun, fun ride, now.

[north woods gal]

On the Krampus? Those are Maxxis Chronicle 29x3s, 120 tpi, set up tubeless. That's what I used to replace the stock Surly Dirt Wizards, which were a very aggressive dirt tire, but also a very slow rolling tire. The Chronicles are, as usual for me, a XC tread tire. Very fast and pleasant rolling tires that do well in the sand, but clog up a bit in the mud, but the important thing, now that the Krampus is a single speed, is that they roll easy.

[north woods gal]

First snow ride of the year, this morning and, also, my first ever single speed snow ride. There I was, yesterday, riding my single speed setup Pugs 2 on my hard dry trails, wondering if maybe I went a bit too low on the gearing and thinking maybe I should change out to a slightly faster cog in the rear. Woke up, this morning to snow falling and by the time I hit the trails with the Pugs, had 2 to 3" of wet, glue-like snow. The gearing I chose was perfect for this work. Riding a single speed fat bike for some snow riding was exactly what I had in mind for the Pugs and looks like I got it just right.


Did 3 miles of trail riding in the thick snow. Lots of fun, but lots of work, too, so got my daily does of exercise. So did Star, who loved her first snow outing of the season.


Looks like my pavement riding may be on hold for a day or two until the temps melt off the snow. Of course, I could just ride one of the fat bikes, too.

[Crankin]

So jealous! If we had snow, I wouldn't feel guilty about not riding and I could maybe x country ski????
Sheila, you didn't miss my birthday, it's today. Ended up hiking about 10.5 miles over 2 days, one at home, yesterday, and today in western MA. Off to finish my birthday celebration at my son's house. We had a great dinner with our friends' last night.
And grandchild #3 arrived Friday afternoon. It's a boy! He looks like he was born weight lifting.

[north woods gal]

Congrats on the new grandson. That's a great birthday present.

Most of the snow melted, overnight, due to rain, but this snow/rain pattern is forecast to continue most of the week and by the weekend, temps will not even get above freezing, so, yeah, winter is here for us. Had hopes it would hold off a bit longer to get more November trail riding done, but, I'll just have to take it one day at a time, now.

Crankin, I wouldn't let the guilt get to you for not riding. As long as you can get outdoors, that's the important thing. Up here, we have to fight SAD (seasonal affective disorder) because we get so little light in the winter months. Our long, dark and gloomy winters can be very depressing. Always a challenge, but winter can be beautiful, up here, too. The best cure for SAD is to get outdoors, every day, and soak up as much light as possible. I never skip my daily outdoor time. Winter bike riding is my first choice, but I also cross country ski and snowshoe, all depending on snow conditions.

Yeah, gloomy, today, but hope to be able to do some pavement riding.