It was time for a shakedown ride of a pretty new set of chainrings and chain on my 29 plus. The coast had recently been battered by a big storm, ripping away much of the beach, and in some cases, all the beach and frontage parking lots.
Before I get into the details of this ride I need to talk about mountain biking in the rain in this area because it is easily misunderstood. Nearly all of the local wilderness parks in the area close their trails for a day or two after a rain, and for good reason. They are all …
Here it is late February and I have a few days of downtime as I change jobs. So what should I do? Go riding, of course! President’s Day was unusually warm. We were supposed to be getting slammed by El Nino driven rain storms by now, but they have not materialized yet. El Nino has …
If you have followed my ride reports you may have noticed that I have done a similar loop lately, changing the route a little every time. Today’s change was that I did the loop in reverse, eliminated some climbs and did more mileage instead. The first thing I met of any significance was of GREAT …
I recently posted this image on the Facebook Bicycle Touring group, though by now you may end up seeing it elsewhere (Click on the image for full res): It was well received. But since it was, I want to come clean: it is a Photoshopped image. That is the easiest way to explain it. I …
Yummmmm, dehydrated bikepacking food. Before I look at these beans in more detail it is probably worth talking a little about “why” dehydrated foods and some of your options. The pros of dehydrated foods are that they pack down small and they are lightweight since you are not carrying the water. And they keep for …
I continued the evolution of my local suburban wilderness loop today. I cannot recommend this version, however, due to numerous steep climbs. Next week I plan a variant of the reverse of this loop with a few mods, look for a ride report on that in the near future. The theme for this ride is …
After much planning and anticipation I did another local overnighter tour/bikepack trip, this one staying overnight at Dixon Lake in Escondido, CA. Strava tells only part of the story, of course Day 1: Day 2: I went on this overnighter on the last two days of 2015, which might be symbolic somehow but I really …
In writing a blog about both bicycles and motorcycles I am going to have to deal with a severe limitation placed upon me by the English language. The word “bike”. I don’t know how we got to where we are with both groups using the term. I have not done an etymology on the word, …
Here goes a blog that is pretty much guaranteed to cater to no one. How many cyclists ride motorcycles? Probably a few, but let’s not stop there. How many roadies ride a fat bike? How about 29 plus riders that like bikepacking? Forget boundaries, embrace eclecticism and hold on for the rides. There are riders that care …