Duffins Creek Pizza Ride

In the continuing mission to ride new places and explore. Hooked up with my buddy Nick to attend his Duffins Creek Pizza Ride on the last weekend of October. So again on a over cast day headed out to the meeting loction. Both bike and pizza fixngs in tow. At least this drive was short with Pickering nearby.

We gathered at Nick's place and like any group ride it took the usual extra time to get ready. Add the usual attempt to figure out what gear to wear. Nothing like a fall day to make gear selection fun. Part of the problem being it was forecasted to rain. Plus waiting for Ilan and Wayne to get there as they where a little late due to the GO Train being delayed. Then it was off.

Nick led us down a couple of streets then into his local trails. Which like the Dundas ride I still have no clue where we went. Lot's of rocky hill climbs and some fun descents. Though sadly I had to walk some of the descents as my front brake decided to take a vacation- no power at all. But after a bit of tinkering was able to ride some DH. Though did figure out that hydaulic brake seals in the cold tend to leak.

At one point while moving at speed watched Wayne do the front wheel mud slide to ricochet into the brush. Proving again, that easier sections lead to lack of trail focus which leads to crashes. I say that as it occured while riding 4x4 track towards more singletrack.


During the ride back to Nick's place he showed us his little downhill run he built. Nothing big just a simple little line. Some of the best times can be had on the simplest of lines. The we continued back to Nick's place. Which after 20 minutes of riding we returned to his place. After 3 hours of in the woods riding it started raining.

Then it was time to crank up the oven, crack open a beer, and make pizza. And for the record Nick makes a good pizza dough.

In The Snow

Working on something... pic's of the snow today to fill the gap.

Anti Shopsmas Ride

Headed out to ride CB for a bit today. Ground was nicely frozen and it was a balmy minus 6




This section of new trail is a marsh in the fall and spring. Yet ridable in winter.




Clan approved anti freeze.

Handlebar Booties

Last February I got my hands on these Handlebar Booties courtesy of my buddy Andrew at Cycle Solutions. He let me know of these winter lovelies that are a wicked solution to the problem of winter riding.

Since I have been out here I have had to make do with various combinations of bulky gloves. And since I tend to run warm things get sweaty in some of the other systems I have tried. Plus the problem other issue with bulky winter gloves is that one start to lose feel, meaning you not only have a harder time gripping the bar but also as the glove thickness increases you start to lose that feel of what the bike is doing.



Similar to what you see riders use in Iditabike, but without all the extras like pockets. Enough room though if you want to stick a small camera for short periods.



The day these pictures where taken was -24 on the way to work and I wore just a standard pair of full fingers and no issue. Which for me is a good thing as Goretex gloves turn into a sweat sauna when I use them.



These are only usable on bikes with flat or riser bars. So that means road and cross bikes are out of luck. But this is about keeping the mountain biking in the fun of minus 20 Ontario winter.

http://www.myspace.com/handlebarbooties

Dundas Monstercross

On October 2nd was the social event of the fall Cyclocross season, the Dundas Monstercross in Hamilton.

So after some thought the decision was made. Departed Toronto at the wonderful time of 7am and headed out on the 401. Smooth sailing till near Hamilton when had the fun of getting around all the highway repaving. But no worries as all in attendance where still getting gear sorted and dressed when I arrived. Sadly I have never been good remembering names but it was great to meet Linda, Tom, and Marc the organizer of this ride as well as his wife Nerdgirl.. Which turned out to be to celebrate his birthday.

So after the usual talking, changing, checking of tires , and posturing with bikes. We were off. Mark led us on an interesting route that combined a bit of road connectors, rail trail, double track, and a wee bit of singletrack. Really I have no real clue where Marc led us but does it really matter? It's all about getting out with people and having fun. Had a mix of bikes which in order of majority- 29ers, Cross bikes, and one lone token 26 inch wheel mountain bike.

Having never ridden at all in 8 years of moving to Ontario in the Dundas/Hamilton area. It was nice to sample some new trails. Though I have no clue really what the route was as I mentioned earlier. Though I think the Deer head on the trail discovery was the weird find of the ride. And Tom riding his SS Steelwool worked on his rut magnet skills was entertaining. especially when you consider Marc was on a skinny tired cross bike. But it is nice not at times not having to make these difficult route choices and just ride. Plus the evil rain held off till near the end so we avoided getting the wet gear march to Garage Monster's Lair.

After 3 plus hours we returned to the Lair and thus began the pumpkin soup phase of this Monstercross Duathlon. Nothing like warming up after a chilly misty fall ride with warm soup. And the Garage Monster makes good pumpkin soup. Of course chased with a bit of alcohol. And a gathering of cyclists can't be completed without talking about cycling, impersonating race officials, and such other cycling topics.

After a good feed thus began the drive home along the brake light freeway oops, I mean the QEW towards Toronto. Sadly the plan to ride a bit more as the rain came down and thwarted my plan for checking out the Waterdown trails and simply had to start the long drive home.

Dirtbag Road Bike Build Part 1

Have been wanting to rebuild a road bike for riding to get more mileage. Though to keep costs low had to do it as cheaply as possible as I want to get a Cyclocross bike this winter. Plus it came about simply due to a discussion with someone with the misguided belief that one has to spend lots of money to have a road bike or a tri bike.

First step was the frame which was easy. Had an old Centurion Le Mans in my parents basement so had it shipped out. Once I received it I stripped it of all the parts. And after a trip to Rona for black spray paint. The reason for this is there was rust in some spots from the frame being chipped and such from use. Painstakingly cleaned the rust off section by section and painted each section black. After everything was cleaned and painted. Began adding layer after layer of paint- basically sprayed it once then let it dry. Once that was done added a few layers of clear coat. Sure would love to have the old Centurion 1980's paint job but I am not that skilled. And am no where near the Hamster level of skill that is the Dicky.

www.teamdicky.blogspot.com/

While this was going on sourced various times. Set of road brakes $25, wheels $60, brake levers $30, cranks acquired from a parts swap, chain parts bin, bars freebie, tires $25, Derrailleurs freebies, and cassette parts bin. Pretty much less than $300 bucks with the only part remaining to get being a Octalink V1 BB. Plus need some tires, hoping to find some 700x25's if I can.

Now keep in mind this is only for fun. The bike will be spending the winter mounted to the old Turbo Trainer as riding road bikes in snow and ice is not fun. That is what the cross bike will be for as well as the Concubine V2. Though the next project will definitely be the funding of a cross bike for 2011.

The reality is that this is a build project to see how cheaply one can build up a road bike. It's to challenge the present convention that one needs to shell out large sums of cash to ride or race well. Shortly the build will be complete and Part 2 will be the full cost and other such as uninteresting weight weenie gibberish as can be applied to a non UCI approved project bike.

Paul's After Fun

Some pic's of post Paul's fun.

The new offering from Herbert Titslinger.







Surf and Turf.