MTB Time!

This weekend I got to ride some trails with Pat and Jason over at Veteran's Park. It was 80 degrees and, whoa, was that steamy! First ride of the year that had me sweating profusely and gasping for cool air. It was, of course, insanely awesome.

Three guys, one rigid 26er, one suspended 29er and one 29er+. Yet we rode together peacefully and we rode together. I will say that that Krampus is hard to keep up with on the downhills. Those tires just grab hold of the trail and allow him to just hit speeds that I can't hang with on the Troll. It's pretty awesome to watch.

But we rode hard and fast and panted our way through. Hopefully, I'll condition my lungs for this heat and be well adapted soon. In the meantime, I'll just get that pukey feeling every time I ride.

Get out there.

Fam Time!

We made a fun run to Lowes with the kiddos. Always a good time!

Get out there!

LHT is Back!

Well, I'm happy to say that the Long Haul Trucker is back in action! New build looks quite different but is gonna be lovely.

• swept back On-One Mary bars wrapped up with some cotton bar tap for grippage.
• front basket (of course)
• front low-rider rack (to be installed soon!)
• Brooks Cambium seat (I wanted to keep a Brooks but this is gonna be a rain bike. Solution? Cambium!)
• SRAM i9 internally geared hub (perfect for all weather commuting)
• a set of crappy, brown cruiser tires that were free (because why not?)

I'm going to use this bike as a loaner MTB and foul weather commuter. I'm super excited about it!

Get out there.

Recluse

I've recently been spending a lot of time in meetings and surrounded by people. I love being a pastor and I love meeting with people. But every once in a while the introvert in me begins to die a little bit if I don't fight for some alone time.

So I walked out of a meeting yesterday, hopped on the bike and pedaled into the nearby wilderness for some solitude. It was only for about 20 minutes. But I shut my eyes, pulled my cap down over my face and just listened to the sounds of the birds chirping and wind blowing.

And, with batteries recharged, I headed back into the office for more meetings. But that little break was everything I needed. It made me appreciate my bike. It was a simple time and easy to get to with a bike. The bike lures me outside more than I know. I'm thankful for that.

Get out there.

Day Off!

I'm working this Easter weekend so I got to take the day off today. That means I get to get in some family riding! (Anyone see anything new on that Troll? More to come on that.)

The little fella and myself headed to the library in this nice, 60 degree weather! We soaked up the air conditioning for a bit and read a few books together.

Then headed back out for a lap around Nicholasville. Not a bad workout! It's also a great way to spend a day off!

Get out there.

Lunchtime

Now that the weather is a bit more pleasant, it's easy to throw on shorts and t-shirt and do a lunchtime ride. At least, that was the case yesterday. Jason and I headed out of my office parking lot and did a little new-road exploration in Woodford County.

We saw, for the first time in a long while, some green grass to grab our attention.

Jason pedaled the do-anything Troll. This is such a different bike than my Troll. I love the versatility of this frame. Our Trolls certainly show how you can build them up in such different ways.

And we got to see Lil Sebastian.

Get out there.

Explore Kentucky

At the risk of stealing a hashtag from some Kentucky folks, I'd like to celebrate the value of wandering through our bluegrass state. Exploring Kentucky is, by far, one of my favorite things to do.

Yesterday I set out on a route that I've ridden a few times before. But as I pedaled towards my destination, I decided I'd bypass my usual point of interest and just keep going straight onto some new roads. Aimlessly exploring Jessamine County has led me to some really great places. So any time I have an opportunity, I figure I should take it.

And of course, yesterday's ride was no different. I found some great sights along Little Hickman Creek. The photo above, for instance, was some cool architecture. Anyone know what it is? It's built into the side of the creek bank and has irrigation that runs through the building. My wife's theory was that it was some type of cold-storage. Everything is cooler when it's underground and surrounded by flowing water. Any other ideas?

Get out there.

The Old LHT

I am super excited about this. In fact, I may even be nervous. Since the Disc Trucker is in play nowadays, the old LHT is getting a makeover. I'm throwing on the 2.3" Kenda K-Rads, an On-One Mary Bar, a Brooks B17 and most notably, the SRAM i9 internally geared hub. This thing is going to run front and rear racks and throw down on fowl weather commutes, dirt rides and all-around horseplay.

So why am I nervous? This bike has been my favorite bike of all time. I replaced it with the Disc Trucker. Yet I'm afraid that this touring dirt klunker may still climb the charts to be my go-to fave. The way it's coming together sure is getting my attention. It'd be a shame to walk past that purty Disc Trucker to grab this crappy ol' thing. But I think it may happen more often than you'd think!

Get out there.

New Daddy Ride

About a month ago, Jason became a new dad. So my go-to riding buddy has been on the business end of a diaper change instead of catching mud in his face from my back tire. Yesterday, though, was a reunion. We met in the morning, started the drive to Capitol View, ran out of gas, got gas, started riding, got a flat, changed a tire and pedaled for the rest of the day. Took a while to get going. But eventually, going we got.

There weren't many photos of the ride. It rained on us for about 20 minutes early in the day, thus rendering the iPhone confined to a ziplock in my frame bag. But Jason was running his GoPro. So if anything stellar happened, he'll send a pic later.

I did snap a Honzo shot under the bridge. I love that bike. We were chattin' how it's basically the exact same make-up of the new Surly Karate Monkey Ops. It's Kona's 1x10 steel 29er hardtail. Very sweet ride.

Otherwise, nothing too interesting to report. I was pooped on the ride. Riding dirt just feels different than pavement and with Kentucky's wet winters, I'm pretty out of practice for it. But it sure is fun anyway.

Get out there.

Kiddie Trails

Yesterday I got to hit the trails with the three oldest kids. We loaded up a couple of kids bike, a half bike and a grown up Surly Troll onto the car and headed over to Veteran's Park for some Spring Break dirt.

Riding with three kids between the ages of four and eight can require a lot of patience. We stop a lot and have to really work on communication with one another. But, man, is it fun. It's probably one of my favorite things to do with my kids. I can't wait until all of us can go together!

Things like riding through the little creek get them SO stoked. They feel so much accomplishment and thrill when we ride dirt.

And they do occasionally have to hop off the bike and walk it.

We do, inevitably stop at the big creek for some R&R. A long break of skipping stones and getting muddy always gives the motivation needed to pedal back to the car.

We rode for a good two hours. They were POOPED by the end of the ride. The joy of riding was beginning to get tipped off the scale by the grumpiness of fatigue. We made it back to the ol' Subaru just in time.

Get out there.

Spring Break 2014!

Spring Break started yesterday! I'm taking the week off of work to do this type of thing with the family. Jealous? You should be! Yesterday I hooked up the trail-a-bike to the Troll and spun around Nichvegas for a good 45 minutes. Super tough workout. I forget you gotta develop them kid-haulin' legs. Hopefully we'll have more days like this for the rest of the week!

Get out there.