Road Dogs

To help accommodate the boss's schedule and needs this week I swapped my Friday for a Thursday which turned out to be perfect. The wet, cold rain has kept me and the pup off the trails and today ended up a pretty descent, though cold, dry day. Plus a new gizmo I'd purchased had shown up just before the messy weather and I'd been itching to try it out.

But first I'd need to chisel off the concrete mix that had hardened onto the Moots after Sunday's wet gravel grinder. Luckily when we were "renovating" the barn a concrete padded, hot water equipped bike wash was installed which made quick work of removing the quickcrete buildup.

Once cleaned up, I was able to install my new gadget, the WalkyDog Bicycle leash. I'd stumbled across this site a few weeks before Christmas but was skeptical and a bit hesitant. As I did more research, I became more and more confident in taking the leap and ordering the leash. Being as I am getting more and more road miles I figured it wasn't fair to leave the pup out. Plus it'll be nice to be safely able to ride to the trail head with him or just be able to get a run/ride in when visiting the parents or for a quick run at lunchtime when at work. If it works, it'll be handy dandy. If it doesn't well at least it'd be worth a laugh as H. was hellbent on videoing the inaugural ride. I'm sure thinking it could at least be a runner up for America's Funniest Videos.

The very first night I got the leash I installed it onto the Surly for a quick test. It worked pretty well but I had issues with the pole section spinning around the seat post allowing JD to move side to side of the bike. Rather disappointing as the reason I liked this design was due to keeping him on the non-traffic side of the bike and up next to me where I can keep an eye on him, not back behind me. It was dark and cold out so I didn't spend much time with it, preferring to wait for my day off to get involved deeper.

The plastic liner of the clamp is just too slick for my seatpost so when I mounted it to the Moots post I used a piece of inner tube to help grip. It worked perfectly. The leash didn't swivel at all. Another change I'll try next time is to order a spare clamp and use the 2 halves with the connector so I can swap sides easily to give equal time to each of JD's leads.

The pole easily snap connects to the mount in seconds, which is the second reason I liked this design. I can ride to the trail head, snap off the leash and stash it in a pocket or frame bag, then ride without any real hardware to have to remove with tools. Return to the trailhead and snap it back on and ride home. They also make a lower mount that hooks to the dropout for smaller dogs.

The Walky Dog and JD in action.

Another piece of gear acquired is the Gulpy Pet water bottle.  JD is really good about drinking out of a typical water bottle so I normally carry a bottle for me and one for him. But much of it gets wasted and when he's really thirsty it's not easy for him to get a good drink. Plus Dish is scared of the water bottle (probably dating back to me chasing and squirting him but that's just one crazy, wacky, highly unlikely theory). The Gulpy Pet bottle has a flip down drink partition that fills when you squeeze water out of the bottle. Giving the pups a larger area of water from which to drink.

It folds up and easily fits into a standard bottle cage too, making it convenient for portage. Hopefully these items will add to JD's ride time and enjoyment. The next item that interests me is the cooling vest. That looks like a good thing to keep in the cooler at the car for cooling him down after a trail run when a pond/creek/lake isn't available. But we're far off from over heating temps at the moment.

Extra Sprinkles

The box finally arrived today. 

The orders were succinctly specified. 

The extra sprinkle of Moots love request was granted in full. 

Long live Mr. Moots!

Here We Go To Another Candle I Know

I got some Dirty Moots, yeah Dirty Moots baby

After several rides on roadie type bikes, it was time to get out and get off pavement. A few friends had heard tale of the gravel grinder rides we do and convinced me to get out for some adventurin'. Yesterday's high was predicted to be 52, but we hit near 70. Today was more of the same, what was to be 35 was 54 and warming up nicely. That was until we got to the start location. The clear blue turned to full cloud, but luckily temps stayed warm.

Eric B. fashionably euro (aka forgot his helmet)

We rolled out on the 5 mile pavement run to the gravel and found wet, soggy slop. No worries, this is the lowest point on the route soon we'll be hitting the hills and the higher elevation. Which continued to be soggy and wet. Meh. The ground must have been really saturated from the recent rain-turn-snow storm early in the week to be this wet atop the climbs. Crazy. Though I'm sure it's only because John was out riding his brand new bling bike for the first time.

John and his new ride, all muddied up.

Ran into the Duke. 

Other than the occasional local out hunting or muddin', you don't tend to run across many other people out on the roads. Today was the exception. We came across 2 horse and wagon teams complete with dogs taking a rest at an old cemetery followed shortly by a group of guys blocking the road with cars and tractor moving some heavy machinery. Then as we crested another hill we saw cyclists heading towards us. It turned out to be none other than the infamous Jeffy the Duke and Pumptrack Jim.

PTJ

The road had some fast descents coming up and I didn't think it wise to let the slower moving horses get ahead of us only to come screaming upon them on the downhill. So after a short chat we took off to keep from being passed by the horse and wagons. Continuing on our gravel journey.

John up one of the day's many climbs.

Stephanie enjoying her first time off pavement. 

Stephanie, dirty but still smiling.

John's not-so-shiny-now new bike. 

With no creek crossings on today's route, only the inside of my shoes stayed clean.

On our way home we ran across one of the horse and wagons (perhaps mule team?) coming up the shoulder of the highway. I wanted to snap some photos of them along the gravel road, but didn't want to risk spooking the horses and causing a catastrophe in the slick, wet, gravely clay. This one was covered, the other was just a wagon. Similar to something out of Little House on the Prairie.

New connecting roads were discovered today and a few other course improvements noted making today's outing not only fun and entertaining, but educational too. Soon the ultimate gravel loop will be plotted and enjoyed just in time for them to pave it all, put up some McMansion subdivisions, and shopping malls. Until that happens, I'm really grateful to get out of the hustling, bustling city and explore the quiet, natural beauty and unpaved backcountry roads with friends.

Train-ing

How I roll. 

With all the fancy schmancy smart phones and touchscreen enabled GPS units around, I still prefer my topo maps and compass. I enjoy the adventure of getting lost, checking maps, exploring unnamed roads to see where they lead (it's how I've discovered my most cherished routes) rather than just following an arrow of when and where to turn. Yes sometimes I could really have used the GPS, but for now I prefer my old school methods. That is until I'm lost and calling you smart phone/gps users for directions.

Speaking of old school, some of the fellas showed up at the farm for a hilly hell ride around the Highland Rim Friday. Plans were made, meeting place scheduled, then I was asked if it was ok that we were all meeting at my place. I love it when it's not my idea to leave from home, makes it feel less selfish.

It's been ages since I've gotten out on a road ride with the new and improved slimmer, stronger, faster 8ball. Our schedules couldn't really be farther apart, but as it turns out we have a window of opportunity on Fridays, we just never put 2 and 2 together until yesterday.

The Clarksvegas Duo made it out along with Jeffy the Duke and new comer Graham. We lured semi-retired for January Graham out on the promise of taking it easy, only to kinda stick to it. Trying to keep the route available to differing schedules (2 guys had to work that night) had us hitting pretty much every hill in the vicinity, saving the steeper ones for the later miles. Always a fun kick in the pants.

Highlight for me was an actual train at the single train crossing of my routes. Unfortunately it comes just shy of the top of a pretty steep incline. Combined with the length of the train it made for nice tight legs on the next couple ascents. It's all just money in the pain bank though. Considering recent exchange rates, we should double our pain payouts come April. 

Graham waiting out the train. 

KRS1 and MJ track standing at the tracks.

With so many recent stem changes, I started looking for a torque wrench set to handle 6Nm and below, which is pretty pricey. Then I stumbled upon the Bontrager 5Nm preset torque wrench. It handles all my stem bolt needs, comes in a handy t style shape, and matches the new Moots bits for added style points. Stem bolts and face plates beware.

Playing Pretend.

Imagination is wonderful.

I've always been an imaginative kid. The new work's schedule doesn't allow for the short weekend adventures I've been accustomed to my adult life. However, living in a kids dream yard combined with an over-active imagination has me playing pretend and I got gifted a magical day not to be wasted.

Currently I'm out in the wilds of Alaska.

Just me and my dog.

Soon I'll come upon another rider out in the frozen arctic tundra enjoying the wintry weather.

And we'll ride.

If it's too much to imagine, you can watch it in gloriously vivid HD here. Thanks for the adventure Mike.

More Snow Dogs

Awoke to find another 4" of snow greeting me and the pups. The boss had given orders to stay home if it snowed. I decided to abide.

After breakfast I suited up and headed out for a snow hike/run with the pups. They've been pretty cooped up since Saturday and when they realized I wasn't leaving the became very pushy about going out to play. Catahoulas never let you forget you have them. And can be quite persistent.

This snow started as rain, then changed to snow so there is a layer of ice and snow coating everything from the fence to the trees giving the back a feeling of living in an ice world.

After our hike it was back inside to snoots-lite up the moots. The powder out back is beggin' for some mtb. Thinking about mounting up the 2.6 Kendas for some snow action.

Salting Drives and Slippery Slopes

"What are we going to do today, Uncle Thad?"

"The same thing we do every Friday Claire, try to take over the world!"

The ice/snow storm last night set off a chain of canceled events for my Friday. So much for planning ahead. Luckily no one got stranded on the side of the road or wrecked a car trying to get out to the middle of BFE for a gravel grinder. Instead I enjoyed a leisurely morning, got to hang out with Miss Claire while Hannah did some chores, then suited up and headed out for what was to be a nice long snow day ride on the Highland Ridge.

The melting salts were doing a good job of clearing the icy ruts in the driveway and the main road looked pretty clear. My clothing choices felt good and the toe warmers were kicking in nicely. I was ready to enjoy the sunny blue skies and white powdery scenery.

That is until I started down on of the 2 road options from the house. Both downhills were solid sheets of ice. Several cars were abandoned along the ditch from last night, apparently unable to safely traverse the hill. It was dicey heading down, but my Aspens were holding a decent line as long as I stayed in the snowy shoulder. That is until I'd hit a snow covered ice spot. Heading up the hill the other side had more of the same. Up wasn't too bad, but I stopped and turned around before the top knowing the longer, steeper hills ahead were going to be even sketchier to descend safely. I cut my losses and headed back to the house with a measly 3.5 miles on the odometer. It wasn't worth risking a busted hip or elbow from losing to the ice. Meh.

 Abandoned car. The right side of the road is shoulder-less with a steep drop-off. Guardrails, wha?

Playing in the snow. Even old man Dish came out for a trail run. 

I went back inside and grabbed the Surly which was still sitting in mtb gearing from when I took Josh the vagrant mountain biking during his short stay in Nashvegas. I wanted to ride the Moots, but I didn't feel like swapping the gravel gear off only to reswap it again for Sunday. So I went old school 1x1 and headed out back with the pups for some snowy trail fun.

Rim brakes and snow. Awesome.

After riding, I swapped cold weather clothes and went out hiking for another hour and a half with JD. All in all getting a solid 4 hours of snowy fun in before heading in to cook dinner for the soon to be waking for work H. A decent day of improvisational activity if I do say so myself, which I do. Did.

Looks like even more snow is in the forecast for the coming week. This winter is starting to feel more like Northern Illinois than typical middle TN weather. It's been kind of fun, though I could do without the ice.