Holiday Happenings....Fenders, Bike Rides, Maintenance, Xmas lights, and more!

Four day weekends freakin' rule!  You have time to recover from the week, be lazy, go out with friends, ride bikes, and just get things done that have been hanging.  Now if only they occurred more regularly!  So anyway, here's a bunch of bikey things that happened over my four days off.

Wasting no time at all, Wednesday night kicked off at Craft for drinks.  It was pleasantly busy which usually means wifey and I would know someone....but since we didn't, we migrated over to the Reno Home Brewer where we hung out with friends until they kicked us out. 

Thursday morning was a bit hazy and slow....until I remembered I had a phone call the previous night from a Cycle Oregon buddy telling me there was an "Outlaw" cyclocross race some time this morning.  After a quick check of email, it was determined the race was in about 15 minutes and I was still in PJ's.  A mad dash ensued and I made it to the race.  You can read about it in the previous post.

The rest of Thursday wifey cooked up a fabulous meal.  Turkey, green bean casserole, stuffing, mashed potates, squash, etc. There was much gluttony and laziness!

Friday morning it was time to pay for the previous days sins.  So a 5-6 mile run was set in motion with wifey and a friend.  Afterwards it was time for some bike maintenance and some long overdue fender installations.

You've seen this configuration on the Salsa for a while.  However, after another cyclocross race at Clayton, the rear tire is hosting a goat head party.

Standard steps are required here.  1) Get a beer. 2) Remove wheel.

3) Remove tube.  4) Find all the goat heads still stuck in the tire.  5) Use up all your patches to fix the tube.

Next up.  I had some absolutely gorgeous custom fenders made up for the Salsa....about 6 months ago and they've been just sitting.  Mostly because I miss measured and they were a little wide for the rear mount....meaning I had to custom cut them to get the perfect fit.  And...they were just so pretty I didn't want to rush it and mess them up.....so they sat. 

Required tools and mounting hardware....check.

After finally daring to cut them this is the preliminary mount.  Oh, yeah....the other delay on my end.  I had to drill a hole in my "newish" frame.  Something I also was nervous about.

Add the support stays.

The final mount for the rear.

And...finally, add the front fender. 

You can love or hate fenders....but they don't get much nicer looking than this.

 Ok, where does that leave us.  With this much time off, the days just start to run together.  At some point we decided we hadn't had enough social interaction, so friends were called and plans for visiting Public house for beer and Wild Garlic for pizza were made.

Beer and friends....these guys screen names are still evolving....right now I'm thinking Smiley (this one is a no brainer) and the Sasquatch.

He's huge and the eyes are kinda creepy...hence the Sasquatch (and that's what the preacher called you so deal with it).

Cold nights require two things for riding.  Layers and lights.  The xtra was sporting it's new Christmas light configuration.

Good lord.  This post is getting long.  However, we're not done.  The next morning I decided it was time to get motivated again.  So there was mountain biking.  Sasquatch was supposed to join me....but as the discovery channel has taught us, Sasquatch's aren't morning creatures, so I was on my own.

The plan was just to ride up Evan's canyon and then around the downhill course.....it evolved.

Some newer banked turns of the downhill course....they aren't as fun when you're going up.

We need a storm with some winds...the smog is building.

A view back on a steep section leading into the banked corners.

Bridge over an abandoned mine shaft....only on a Reno bike ride!

A view back on some of the climbing involved on the Halo.

Ok, so that's that.  I didn't take a lot more pictures because the Halo gets really rocky and I was tired.  And just to prove that the weekend totally kicked ass....here was what Monday morning gave up for the bike commute in.

How much better can you get than riding in to work under this sunrise / Sierra wave cloud delight. And with that I'm done with this ridiculously long post.

Tires and Fenders and Weather.....What's your Combo?

I talked about my fender failure yesterday.  I didn't get motivated to solve my own issues until I saw the fresh snow on the ground this morning.  Fortunately, wifey is almost always up early (like 5 am) to head out the door for a run.  Yep, outdoors by 5:45 for 6 miles in fact. 

Anyway, this usually gets me out of bed earlier than I would naturally rise.  So today it was time to address the issues of fenders and tires.  And yes...coffee is definitely involved!

Yesterdays attempt lead to a bad bead seating and a tire wobble...and I completely gave up on getting the rear fender on.

It might not look any different...but now the bead is set correctly and there's no wobble.

Now with snow on the ground I glanced over at the studded tires.....

Hmmm....should I have thrown these on?  They are great when snow and ice are actually on the ground.....but with wet roads they are actually a bit slick.  And they roll like molasses!

Decision made....sticking with the regular tires until it really gets to snowing.  And I even had enough time to get the rear fender mounted! 

A biketastic weekend (Part 2).

Ok, the other project that I did this weekend was to mount fenders on wifey's new bike.  It came out a little something like this:

.....after about 3 frickin' hours of finesse, cajoling, and cursing.  I have the racks (front and rear) for it as well so we're getting close to the finished product.  It did make me think of this old Yehuda Moon comic however.

There are people in Reno who think you don't need fenders, but they look like the guy in the blue shirt more than a few times a year!

Riding biycles in the Rain...woohoo!

Did you ride today!?  I love the changing seasons, you just don't know how fun the commute can be until it gets a little interesting weather thrown in.  I've talked about the cool weather and some of the additions I make, but rain is a different story.

Today the cloud cover actually kept temperatures up over night so not all the cool weather gear was necessary.  I opted for a long sleeve shirt over the t-shirt and jeans, but stuck with sandals for foot gear and gloves just weren't needed.  I'm sure many of you opt out of the ride when it rains, but today it was just spitting rain and a rain coat wasn't even necessary.

Fenders are the key!  I know you don't need them very often in Reno, but the other riders I saw out today probably had wet backsides!

Note the spray off the wheel!

Here's a few shots of the roads and even another brave soul (I did see about 6-7 riders on the way in).  Sorry about the fuzzy pics, not sure what's up with that.

I think the fuzzy shots are due to me thinking about slick roads and snapping the pics really quick.

The glow of tail lights in the cloudy morning.

A very fuzzy fellow cyclist. 

That's right...snow on Mt. Rose, time to get the studded tires ready and the skis tuned!

An ode to fenders!

There are people in this world who do not appreciate fenders on a bicycle.  They say they make a bike look dorky, clunky, and complain of the weight they add.  I heartily disagree and today I am far drier because of these marvels.


So without further ado....

Fenders are flashy and curved just right.  Fenders protect from the slush that arrives in the night.  Fenders you say slow me down, take away.  At least my rear end is quite dry today.

The streets in my neighborhood this morning.

Fenders in action!

Ok, so I might not be publishing as a poet any time soon.  But all the weight weenies and guys who think fenders aren't necessary in Nevada have a rear end that looks like a giant skid mark this morning.