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Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Bobby Salsa Cycles On 24 October 1901, Annie Edson Taylor became the first person to survive a trip over Niagara Falls in a barrel. She felt her job as a schoolteacher in Bay City, Michigan was too insignificant, and believed that going over the falls would bring her fame and fortune. Taylor used a pickle barrel for her trip, constructed of oak and iron and padded with a mattress. After screwing down the lid, friends used a bicycle tire pump to compress the air in the barrel. The hole used for this was plugged with a cork, and Taylor was set adrift from the American shore, north of Goat Island. The Niagara River currents carried the barrel toward the Canadian Horseshoe Falls, which has since been the site for all daredevil stunting at Niagara Falls. Rescuers reached her barrel shortly after the plunge, and Taylor was discovered to be alive. She briefly earned money speaking about her experience, but never achieved the heights of fame she sought. Taylor died on 29 April 1921 at the Niagara County Infirmary in Lockport, New York and is buried in the "Stunters Section" of Oakwood Cemetery in Niagara Falls, New York.There are varying reports on whether or not Taylor completed her trip with a pet cat in the barrel. According to the Buffalo Evening News from a week following the stunt, Taylor was accompanied by a black cat named Iagara. The IMAX movie The Falls corroborates this by placing a black kitten called Henry into the barrel with Taylor, and adds the humorous note of a terrified white kitten emerging from the barrel at the end of the trip. Joan Murray's biography of Taylor, Queen of the Mist, indicates that Taylor used a cat to test her barrel's fallsworthiness before going over herself; the book indicates that the barrel survived but the cat did not. Publicity photos of Taylor with her barrel include a white kitten but do not indicate if the animal went over the falls with Taylor. Posted by Bobby : 11:04 AM 0 comments 
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Okay so I am writing this blog to settle a little dispute here is Salsa land. The result of the dispute is that I'm totally nuts, which may indeed be fact, but the discussion that gave way to this accusation is definately not a bunch of crap. Here is the deal. In high school science class I saw a movie once that was from the 20's or something in which peole were going all crazy for going over Niagra falls in a barrel. As in floating in the water and taking the falls like a thrill ride. In once such video an older lady went over the falls with her black cat. Upon being retrieved from the barrell her black cat had turned stark white and although she was a bit worse for wear she was still kickin'. Here in lies the discussion. A) nobody believes that I actually saw this video, and B) no one belives this to actually be possible (both for someone to survive the drop and for the cat to turn white). So... Here is where you come in. If you have seen this video or have a link to it or can lend any help to my cause at all...email Pepperman at pman@salsacycles.com If you can for sure disprove this to be possible email Pepperman. If you really can't disprove or prove anything but you want to stand up for your favorite Salsa crazy and make him feel much better about himselff.....email Pepperman. My self esteem is counting on you. I'll post what I find out on the blog here. Thanks and out! Ride and Smile (but not over the falls please till we get to the bottom of this.....no pun intended...even thought its not really a pun but just a funny bit of wording.....okay I'm done now.) Bobby Salsa Cycles Posted by Bobby : 12:24 PM 0 comments
Monday, January 29, 2007
I spent last week in Phoenix on a vacation with my family. I made it the whole week without my computer and phone. I vowed to do no work while I was away. Well, I found out that even if you take the tools away, you can still end up working and learning. While I vowed not to work on this trip, I did have a pretty fun bike related day planned. I had a ride planned with my friend Chris Cocalis. Some of you may know this name. Some of you may not. Chris founded Titus Cycles way back in his college years. He's a smart guy and someone I respect a great deal. He's also one of the most knowledgeable guys I know regarding suspension design for bicycles. Chris is no longer part of Titus, but that is another story for another time. Little did I know that my fun ride with my friend would also turn into some ongoing education. Since I was only going to ride one day, I decided to not ship my personal bike and planned on riding one of Chris' bikes. Chris set me up on one of his personal rides and off we went towards South Mountain. I've spent 95% of the year riding 29" bikes and I was a bit nervous and excited to ride a 5" travel 26" wheel bike, but that too is another story. South Mountain is a pretty great place to ride and it has trails for every type of riding. Chris even took me on his little test section of trail that he uses for testing suspension and components. It is a cool section of trail. Chris also told me that he took some of the Shimano folks here when they were working on the new XTR. This section had a little bit of everything including a few jumps, some rocks, ledges, and stutter bumps. It also had some fast rolling sections and just as Chris said, I could see and feel that this section was in fact a very good test bed that could be ridden over and over testing equipment. The ride wasn't all that long nor all that hard. We had fun talking and exchanging industry rumors. You know, nothing too serious, just two bike geeks out riding on some great trails. What I learned from this experience is that when you are involved in product design, you really need to have that special place to test equipment. This special place really needs to have the proper terrain to test the equipment at hand. If Salsa made a down hill bike, testing at the MN River Bottoms would essentially be worthless. I also learned that when it all comes together, there are few things better than riding a bike in the specific conditions that the bike was designed and tested. Lot's of folks are probably saying, "Hey you can ride any bike any where." Well, your right, you can. All I'm saying is that when you get the chance and ride THE place where the specific bike you are riding was designed and tested, it is special. OK, maybe I've lost you. Heck, maybe it was just the fact that I was riding in 60+ degree temps in January. I don't know, I just had fun and I learned a lot about testing equipment. Thanks Chris. See ya next year in AZ! Jason Posted by Butcher : 8:23 PM 0 comments
Friday, January 26, 2007
First time in stock: Complete El Mariachi bikes. Check out our first complete bike offering for 2007. The El Mariachi bike comes with a sweet SRAM X.9 1x9 drivetrain, Avid mechanical brakes and a painted to match Salsa Cro Moto steel stem all for under $1600.00! That is a sweet deal. With the eccentric bottom bracket and single chainring TruVativ Stylo crankset, switching this bike to a single speed is a breeze. Also hitting our dealers this week is the new Salsa Casseroll. This is our new road frameset that handles long reach brakes, wide tires and fenders with ease! Add a rear rack and light pannier bags and you have a sweet commuter. And for you anodized parts fanatics, the Salsa Lip-Lock seat collars have arrived in vivid green, red and blue colors. All sizes are in stock so tell your local dealer to get his head out of his new QBP catalog and order some up. Where is Miker? Our illustrious Marketing Coordinator, Miker, is off to London this weekend for the Core Bike Show. Stop on by and say "Cheers" and be sure to visit ISON, our UK Distributor. OK. Nuf. Posted by chuck : 4:02 PM 0 comments
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
Cold, Colds and the Final Weeks It is less than two weeks to the Arrowhead Ultra and some things are looking up. We finally have what looks like winter here in Minnesota. There is snow on the ground and some consistently colder temperatures. That's the good part to be sure. For a while there it was looking like we'd be racing on dirt and dead grass and through unfrozen swamps. Still it is a bit off kilter, as the areas to the south of the Twin Cities have been getting more snow than the Arrowhead region. I come in and check the DNR weather report each day for confirmation that it still is winter up north. Who knows what the actual race day will bring for weather? Best to be prepared for the worst. The bummer part of the last week has been the cold that I caught. It has brought my time on the bike to a halt, which was not part of the plan. Tapering, yes. Dead stop, no. Today is the first day where I feel like I'm improving, so I hope that maybe tomorrow I can spin on the trainer for a while. Then Thursday I'll try to get in a couple hours outside with another short session on Friday. Friday afternoon I fly to the United Kingdom to help show our wares at CoreBike, a dealer only UK bike show. I won't get to do any riding while I'm there but hope to keep active, get some swimming, walking, and climbing some stairs in. All my gear seems to be sorted. Here are a couple shots of my bike loaded up out in the backyard.   There are just a few things left to do in preparation for the event. I need to get my food sorted. It will be riding in my frame bag. I need to check the O-rings on my stove and fuel bottle to make sure they aren't on the verge of breaking apart. I'll also lubricate the fuel pump cup. I've got some reflective decals to add to my frame (anything to avoid a collision with a snowmobile and add some visibility). Checking rim strips is also on the agenda to make sure they haven't shifted. Flatting is something I very much hope to avoid. Mentally, I am telling myself that I will finish this event. I am properly prepared and have solid cold weather experience and outdoor skills. I know it will be difficult and that there will be suffering involved. But my goal is to finish…and that is what I will do. Thanks once again to my sponsors for this event! Salsa Cycles. Yup, Salsa is helping me out with some of the components I need for my build. Yup, I work for them too. Better than the help with parts though is the fact that they are supportive of this endeavor and seem to understand how I'm having a hard time thinking of anything else! Our motto is Ride & Smile! I intend to do just that at the Arrowhead. Surly Bikes. Surly is a sister company to Salsa in that we share the same parent company. The Surly guys generously offered me a special deal on the Pugsley frameset, Endomorph tires, and Large Marge rims. Thanks fellas. Evingson Cycles. Specializing in frames, parts and accessories for snow bikes and bikes that run big fat rubber. I'll be riding with an Evingson fork and racks in the event. John is a Minnesota/Alaska guy although Alaska has got a hold of him right now. Forty Below makes mountaineering overboots to keep your feet warm, along with other mountaineering products and bunch of beer insulators too. Mmmm…beer! I think I'll have at least one beer following the event! My wife Becky and son Jordan. No websites for them! They've been very understanding of the time (and money) I've spent preparing for this event. Their support is invaluable. My mom. No website for her! She's helped me out with some sewing projects for the race. Webbing straps for lashing my gear on as well as some custom strap-on boot insulation. I'll try to post some pics of that later this week. Do a snow and cold dance for me. -Kid Posted by Salsa Kid : 5:04 PM 0 comments
Sunday, January 21, 2007
Thought I'd just take a moment to update you on a few of my new years resolutions. I'm doing well with 2 of my resolutions and struggling with 1 of them. I'm heading to Arizona for a little vacation with the family. I'm so excited. It's cold and snowy here and I'm heading to warmer weather. It's my mom's 65th birthday and we are going to relax and have fun with the kids. Can't wait. I've also made a commitment to not bring my computer and I'm not doing any shop visits. I'm not going to sit up and scan mtbr and read my friends blogs. It's a real vacation. I'm also going to get a ride in with my good friend Chris Cocalis. That means I'll start January off with a ride in Arizona. Phew. At least I won't break my resolutions in the first few weeks of the year. The one resolution I'm struggling with is worrying about everything. I really struggle with letting stuff go. Right now, I'm strugglng because friends and business partners are clamoring about the age old issue of mail order vs IBD (Independent Bike Dealers). That's right, it's rearing its ugly head again....and I'm struggling to think about anything else. The good news is that the reason this issue is coming up again is that Salsa is starting to do pretty well in certain categories and especially in 29" mountain bikes. Yep, we love the 29ers and our new El Mariachi 29er complete bike is making some noise on the interweb forums. The bad news is that these people are emailing me and calling me at home about Salsa this online and Salsa that online. Well, all I want to say is that I'm listening. Right now, I want to just listen and let the smoke settle. I expect that once the initial excitement of a new product passes, that folks will get down to doing business and will see that we are making efforts to support those who support us. I also hope they see we are trying to have honest conversations on each side of this conversation. It's not an easy subject. I'm doubtful we can make everyone happy, but we are committed to working towards progress. See ya in a week. Jason Posted by Butcher : 8:33 PM 0 comments
Thursday, January 18, 2007
Okay so I'll get pics up eventually I promise...but anyway for those of you that are familiar with my past blogs, you will know that I have the most hideous captain america Ala Carte that you have every seen. She's called El Capitan and this week she got some shiny new parts. First and foremost she got one of the new Salsa Liplock Blue seat collars. I have been waiting for these to come into stock for nearly a year. When they hit stock last week I was so excited my Dreadlocks fell off. It looks soooo purty! I am also in the process of installing a new Race Face Deus xc crank in the silver. In order to be a bit different I'm painting one of our Ring Dingers in a bass boat sparkle blue that I found at an auto parts store. I'm thinking of stenciling stars on it too just to be even more over the top. Anyway...it has been a good week for El Capitan. Bobby "I'm pro Ano!" Posted by Bobby : 10:54 AM 0 comments
Folks, just a quick one today. Casseroll frame sets and El Mariachi complete bikes are in the house. Yep, in our building and being QC'd now. Casseroll frames are here in limited quantities. This first shipment will be held and sold to Salsa dealers only. If you are hot for one of these frames and are not a Salsa authorized dealer, please contact Bobby Dahlberg at 877 Moto Ace. He'll gladly get you set up as a stocking dealer. It only takes 3 frames. We've got more coming in a few weeks and should have some available for non stocking dealers at that time. Jason Posted by Butcher : 10:09 AM 0 comments
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Most true bike freaks have at least one of these in their stable. It's the one bike that you generally keep in working order while all the other projects are in various states of disrepair. It's the one bike that you always turn too when you want a bike that always works and always performs. It is the one bike that has the most chips or dings in the paint. It's the one bike that probably doesn't have all the latest and greatest super high tech gizmos on it. For me, it's my El Mariachi 1x9. It's not the lightest nor does it have all the newest stuff. As you will see from my build list below, I value performance, simplicity and reliability. Here are the details along with a few comments. Frame: In my opinion, our most versatile frame, and it's a 29er too! Color makes me thirsty. Real thirsty. Fork: Rock Shox Reba. Reliable. Affordable. Available. Headset: Hope: I bought two last year while at the London Cycle show. Yum. R-Der: XTR M950 series. The good stuff. Non rapid rise. Front Guide: N-gear jump stop. Actually set it to rub while in the 34t cog. Crank: Race Face Turbine with a 74/110 bolt circle. Allows lots of gearing flexibility. Currently using a 36t Salsa ring. BB: Race Face ISIS. This is the one ISIS BB/Crank I've never had issues with. I will replace with a Middleburn square taper/Phil BB when I wreck this one. Outer ring protector: Salsa Ring Dinger. Simple, keeps the chain on and is pretty darn light. Cassette: XT 9speed Chain: SRAM Brakes: Avid Mechanical BB7's. I've tried hydraulics and keep coming back to BB7's. Simple. Effective. Reliable. They also travel well which is important because I travel a fair amount. Levers: Avid Speed Dial Ultimate's. No others compare. Right Shifter: XTR M950 series 9 speed. Cables: Jagwire Bar: Salsa MotoAce 17 degree flat bar Stem: Salsa CroMoto S.U.L. Simple. Reliable. Affordable. The standard by which I will judge all other stems. Grips: Salsa Juegos Lock On's. Seatpost: Salsa Shaft. Simple. Reliable. Affordable. Seat Clamp: Salsa Lip Lock Saddle: Old worn out Salsa Zona Tres with Ti Rail. Hubs: DT 44O. I built them because I wanted reliable hubs that had a 20mm conversion. Rims: Salsa Delgado 29er Discs. The very first set of prototypes. Rimtape: Rox 19mm, 2 layers. Spokes: DT 2.0/1.8 black w/ silver alloy nips Skewers: Salsa Stainless Flip Offs. Guess what, the green matches perfectly! Tires: Too many to list, currently Rampages. This bike has been with me for about 13 months, 7 as a prototype frame and 6 in current form. It is my one bike that every time I ride it, I wonder why I ride my other bikes. I love it and it is perfect for the trails I ride weekly. I have a requirement that I never leave this bike in a non functional state. That means when I work on it, I need to be committed to finishing what I start. It is the bike I turn too for just about everything. I plan to add a cross/road bike this year as my other work horse. This bike should cover the remaining of my dirt, pavement, and mixxed surface needs. It'll be a perfect Trans Iowa bike too if you are into that sort of thing...no I'm not doing this cool event. I'll share that spec once I figure it out. Anyway, I'm sure you've got yours. Take good care of it because I know it's taking good care of you. Jason ps. Here are a few snaps of it in use. Digi pics taken by Martini at my favorite local trail, Lebanon Hills.   Posted by Butcher : 7:42 PM 0 comments
Friday, January 12, 2007
A whole host of fun things to bring you today so let's get cracking. First off, not quite to the midway part of the Kings basketball season and the young lads have put on quite an exhibition. We're 4 - 1 for the season and won our last game 41 to 10 with a big performance from the Zach Attack. Secondly, my Arrowhead Ultra training continues. Got another big boy 6 hour loaded ride in this past Wednesday. More on that next week along with pics of my bike and gear as it'll be used in the event. Trail conditions are supposed to be really icy up there right now, so there may be a mandatory helmet rule in place so folks don't ring their bells more than necessary while out in the cold. Thirdly, check out this little write up from one of our dealers on our new Chili Con Crosso cyclocross frameset. Just a little more info to tantalize your taste buds. Check it out here. And finally, props to Salsa racer Brent Prenzlow for another fine season duking it out on the cyclocross circuit. Brent finished with a final ranking of 15th for US National rankings. Not bad at all, eh? Now Brent is a former Minnesota boy who transplanted himself to California during the last decade. As such he knows just what will psych us up in mid-January with temp in the single digits and a negative 10 windchill…so he sent us a couple pics from the Storm The Beach cyclocross race last week. Uh yeah, riding in shorts on a sandy beach…thanks a lot Brent…we'll save you a spot in our ice fishing house!   Peace out to everyone. Have a safe and enjoyable weekend. -Kid Posted by Salsa Kid : 1:40 PM 0 comments
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
I'd like to take a moment to announce Salsa's first annual 2-9 (Feb 9th) Ride & Smile ride. What: A fun mountain bike ride - Not a race. This is not an official event. If you frequently talk about winning races, you probably won't have too much fun on this ride. You can also schedule a test ride on our new Mamasita 29er. I'll be bringing limited quantities of Mamasita bikes so if testing a Mamasita is important to you, please read the details below and act fast. Where: Chino Hills. When. Friday February 9th. We'll meet in the Carbon Canyon parking lot at 9:00AM on Friday, February 9th. We'll cruise in shortly after that and do a couple of loops. Our goal is to do 29 miles. Why? Because it's fun and it's a lot warmer in Southern California than in Minnesota! Who? Anyone that wants to ride. 26" wheels? No problem. Another brand 29er? No problem. Come on out. Meet some new friends and ride your bike. Details: This ride is in support of one of our new dealers, Bannings Bikes. http://www.banningsbikes.com We will have a Thursday night gathering/happy hour at the shop sponsored by Salsa followed by the ride on Friday. To schedule a Mamasita test ride, please contact Banning Ostrow at the shop. Banning is a former Minnesotan, a good guy, a Salsa rider, and a great cyclist. If you've got questions, please contact the shop or ask questions here. I'll do my best to answer them. Thanks for your time. Jason Salsa Crew Posted by Butcher : 2:17 PM 0 comments
Monday, January 08, 2007
All We Need Is Snow With a mere 4 weeks remaining before my first Arrowhead Ultra I feel as if I'm close to ready…now all we need is some true Minnesota cold weather…and a heck of a lot of snow. We got about six inches on New Years Eve so I was able to go out in it for a few hours that weekend. Unfortunately our temperatures have sky rocketed again and it is melting quickly. I did get in almost 7 hours on the bike last Wednesday and almost all of that was on snow. I took what is now my usual Wednesday training route out to Wayzata along the railway and then onto the Luce line. After Stubbs Bay Road, the trail is groomed for snowmobiles so I was able to roll on what hopefully will be something like the race surface for a while. But the big problem at this point is that there just isn't any snow. About two months ago my lady joked 'Now that you've got all this stuff together it'll be warm and you could have ridden any old bike.' Boy I hope she is wrong. Lots of emails from people in the race wondering what conditions will be like. Who's to say? A month from now we will hopefully be knee deep in it. If not…well, that could be interesting. We at least need it to get colder. Right now the rivers and swamps on the Arrowhead aren't frozen. According to Grayboy, we have to ride through a swamp close to the finish. Hmmm, I can see some extremely last minute planning as people try to sort out that scenario. I was able to ride my bike fully loaded this past Wednesday. I'm working on stitching up some straps for it now. Most of my equipment is fully sorted now as well. I've decided to carry a bivy sack because it cuts 3 lbs of weight by losing my one-man tent. I've also got my modified 40Below overboots finished.  Lightweight overboots that go on quick and roll up quite small. I've added a more aggressive sole to them by cutting some tread off of a dead Endomorph tire and gluing it on using some rubber adhesive. Here's the before.  And here's the after.  I went out for some nighttime testing on the local sledding hill last week and they worked quite well. The overboots slip around a little and I'll have to correct that every once in a while, but I'm going to try to sort that out somehow beforehand. Thanks to a blog reader I was set up with a large amount of free Thinsulate. My mother was helping me yesterday as we made some insulated shoe covers that strap on nicely. I'll post pictures of those later this week. Between my boots, the strap on insulation, and the overboots, I am quite confident my feet will stay warm no matter what the temperature! I'd like to thank my sponsors for this event! Salsa Cycles. Yup, Salsa is helping me out with some of the components I need for my build. Yup, I work for them too. Better than the help with parts though is the fact that they are supportive of this endeavor and seem to understand how I'm having a hard time thinking of anything else! Our motto is Ride & Smile! I intend to do just that at the Arrowhead. Surly Bikes. Surly is a sister company to Salsa in that we share the same parent company. The Surly guys generously offered me a special deal on the Pugsley frameset, Endomorph tires, and Large Marge rims. Thanks fellas. Evingson Cycles. Specializing in frames, parts and accessories for snow bikes and bikes that run big fat rubber. I'll be riding with an Evingson fork and racks in the event. John is a Minnesota/Alaska guy although Alaska has got a hold of him right now. Forty Below makes mountaineering overboots to keep your feet warm, along with other mountaineering products and bunch of beer insulators too. Mmmm…beer! I think I'll have at least one beer following the event! Thanks for reading. -Kid Posted by Salsa Kid : 2:40 PM 0 comments
Wednesday, January 03, 2007
The holidays brought me back to northern Minnesota and north central North Dakota. My wife and 4 year old twins headed home and I got a much needed rest. I grew up in Crookston, MN and my wife grew up in Minot, ND. No computer. No phones. No work. I did not open an internet browser for 7 days. I did not check work or personal email for 10 days. I did not read the book on primal marketing that was recommended by Steve Flag, Salsa's owner. I did not check my cell or work voicemail for 11 days. What I got from this experience was clarity and peace. Clarity that I have a few problems and addictions. Peace in that I am in control and have a choice in how this all plays out. In an effort to break some of my addictions and habits, I am going to take a step back and make a dedicated effort to change my work and night time computer addiction. I'm doing this to improve my personal life and my health. Don't feel sorry for me as I've got an amazing wife, two amazing kids who know that I love them, a strong spiritual life and a great job with great people. I am just saying that both my personal life and health be improved. Kind of funny that I'm declaring this in a web based blog. I'll just say that I've been told that you need to declare your goals to others so that they can hold you accountable. So here goes. Here are my new years resolutions. Nothing shocking. Heck, nothing even that original. Please don't take these declarations as wisdom or a challenge. You need to do your own thing. I'm just sharing mine so you can hold me accountable. So here goes. 1) I will teach my kids something that is disappearing from modern society. I told a story today that in 3rd grade I used to get up before school and ride my motorcycle around the country side to go check and set my gopher traps. I'd be home to get on the 7:15AM bus. A couple of my friends who grew up in the city and didn't know me back then couldn't believe it. I'm not saying I'm going to teach my kids to trap gophers. I'm just saying that sometime this year I will teach my kids something that is disappearing from our society. I don't know what it is yet. 2) I will work less. I am doing this through better planning, empowering, and setting boundaries. Again, nothing new. Just my way of making sure I spend less time worrying about everything. 3) I will ride my bike in a different state our country each and every month of 2007. My true passion is riding and this brings me back to what I loved about cycling in the first place. I've got an Arizona vacation this month followed by a quick work trip to California in early Feb. I also have the Iowa based Big Wheeled Ballyhoo in June, a family trip to North Dakota in July, and a "work" trip to the 2nd Annual 29er Meat Up in September. That leaves a lot of open months and states. 4) I will improve my health. I keep getting older and my body is starting to give way. I broke my arm in August and then in October I was diagnosed with a crushed disc in my spine. Degenerative Disc Disease in an advanced state. My body is hurting and I'm too young to feel this way. The only way I can make sure that I can play and have fun with my kids is to improve my health. 5) I will surround myself with great people, both personally and professionally. Whoa, that's pretty serious stuff. When I started to process this and write this blog entry, I didn't intend it to be that way. For those that know me, that's just how I am. I'm not trying to change anyone or tell anyone what to do or think. I just hope that when I meet many of you out on the trail or at one of the various events around the globe, that you'll know a little bit more about me and will ask me how I'm doing? Thanks for humoring me and allowing me to share this stuff. Jason Posted by Butcher : 9:28 PM 0 comments
Tuesday, January 02, 2007
Reality Check The Arrowhead Ultra is a short 5 weeks away. In some ways I am more ready than ever, but in others I could say I wish there was more time. This past Wednesday I did just over a 5 hour ride. Now part of this involved 3 hours breaking trail alongside the railroad line out to Wayzata. Usually it takes about an hour each way on the Pugsley, but with the couple inches of partially hardened, crunchy snow it raised the workload immensely. An hour and a half each way and I could feel it in my quads much of the time. Part of that extra effort might have been because I was riding in my mukluks to see how their flexible foot would treat me after a few hours of pedaling. I'm pretty sure that the soft sole was upping the workload. Because of that I'll be riding in my boots instead. The harder sole would make for better power transfer to the pedals. I'll just need to be sure to keep my feet warm. The bad thing about the ride was that it felt like a real effort. The good thing about the ride was that it was the perfect reality check. You all know the feeling. You start preparing for an event and then you start thinking, 'hey maybe I'll do really well in this'. Well, Wednesday's ride brought me back to my original focus. My goal is to finish the race without damaging myself in the process. It was the perfect reality check. Finishing is a fine goal to have I believe. While I may wish I had more time to ready my body, my bike and gear has pretty much reached completion. Yesterday my Evingson fork and racks arrived and I promptly gave them the rattle can treatment.  The Evingson fork allows me to run a standard front hub, rather than the rear hub the Pugsley fork dictates. John also added several extra braze-on's so that I can run water bottle cages on the back of the fork legs. I'll be carrying my MSR fuel bottle(s) back there. Someday I'll experiment with making a custom cage to hold 32-ounce insulated Nalgene bottles there as well. The racks are pure, lightweight sweetness. Notice how the rear mounts to the brake bosses. While it may look like a lot of space now, it will fill up fast. I'll have pics of the bike loaded next week. My overboots from 40 Below also arrived. They are lightweight, very compressible, simple, and easy to put on. I'll have pictures of them as well next week. They are neoprene with a thin, dimpled rubber sole on the bottom. The uppers are uncoated Cordura for breathability. Because there are quite a few steep hills I'll be pushing the bike up and I want to make sure I'll have plenty of traction for pushing 50 pounds uphill, I've begun adding treaded soles to the bottoms. I've completed one so far using a large piece of old tire tread and some rubber adhesive. I'll post pics to show the before and after. Special thanks to Joel at 40 Below for making this happen and helping me have some Toasty Toes! I'd like to thank my sponsors for this event! Salsa Cycles. Yup, Salsa is helping me out with some of the components I need for my build. Yup, I work for them too. Better than the help with parts though is the fact that they are supportive of this endeavor and seem to understand how I'm having a hard time thinking of anything else! Our motto is Ride & Smile! I intend to do just that at the Arrowhead. Surly Bikes. Surly is a sister company to Salsa in that we share the same parent company. The Surly guys generously offered me a special deal on the Pugsley frameset, Endomorph tires, and Large Marge rims. Thanks fellas. Evingson Cycles. Specializing in frames, parts and accessories for snow bikes and bikes that run big fat rubber. I'll be riding with an Evingson fork and racks in the event. John is a Minnesota/Alaska guy although Alaska has got a hold of him right now. Forty Below makes mountaineering overboots to keep your feet warm, along with other mountaineering products and bunch of beer insulators too. Mmmm…beer! I think I'll have at least one beer following the event! Be safe. Get outside and enjoy it. -Kid Posted by Salsa Kid : 2:14 PM 0 comments |
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