Landen Deerfield mtb trail

Today, switched the wheelset on the new Mary, and headed out to a new trail. Landen Deerfield, a county park in Warren county, just around 25 minutes from my house. This is by no means a "destination trail." Just around 2.2 miles of single track. But, what awesome single track it is! CORA (Cincinnati Off Road Alliance) has done a great job building this trail system. Lots of things going on, rock sections, flowing single track, creek crossings, and tight turns. This trail is pretty impressive, packed into just a 45 acre area. This was a trail that I did not mind riding laps of. Since I had never been there before, my first lap was a bit of connecting the dots. Luckily, I ran into a group of 3 other riders, who kindly showed me around the area. I had forgotten how nice it is to ride with other people! Good times!

Also, it should be noted that this was the Mary's first ride in the dirt. She did wonderfully. The On One Mary bars worked way better than I imagined. They really make things a little easier on the climbs. One thing though that I am not a fan of is the stock Mary fork. I had a hard time at the start just keeping the front wheel tight in the fork. Plus it looks a little cheap. I think a Salsa replacement is in the future...

After the ride, I came home to a fresh sixer from my wonderful wife. Tap Room No. 21 pale ale. Never had it before, my wife bought it just because it was on sale. For the price, its a solid, cheap, pale ale. Not the best, but not too bad. Such a great day! Ride, drink, be happy, and repeat!

Photos from Project Puffin...

Just realized that I have not added any photos from my time in Maine....

Matinicus Rock


Atlantic Puffin


Razorbill


Razorbill chick


One of many amazing sunsets


Such an amazing trip, hope to go back someday!

New Bike!

So here is a funny story: Back in 2008, while living in San Diego, I was searching for a new mountain bike. I went to my local bike shop, I forget the name now, and asked if they were planning to get one of the new Haro 29ers, and if not to see if they would bring one in for a test ride. I was going to buy it, but I wanted to see it, and also make sure that it would fit properly. Bike fit is crucial. Anyway, they would only bring one in as long as I would put all of my money down, sight unseen. I decided not to, looked around at other shops, and long story short, could not find a Haro Mary anywhere. That's when I found the 2008 redesigned Gary Fisher Rig, and the rest was history.

Fast forward two years, a cross country move, and two broken Rig frames later, and guess what pops up on the local Craigslist? A 2008 Haro Mary single speed! After a little negotiating, I ended up grabbing this bike for about 60% off of retail! And to top it off, this bike has only been "lightly" ridden three times. I'm still a little surprised and shocked at how clean this bike is.

So I have some big plans for this bike. My other Haro is becoming my cargo bike, but this bike will serve a dual duty. Since I have parted out the Rig, I did keep the wheel set, so now for the Mary I will have a road wheel set, and a mountain wheel set. Two birds with one stone.

I cannot say enough how durable Haro's products are. The Haro V3 that I have had since 2003 has been ridden to hell and back, and is still kicking. Great products, and their pricing is very reasonable. If you are in the market for a new mountain bike, definitely check them out! Now I'm off to do a little tweaking to the new ride...

Still moving forward with the current bike plan. Today had to drop off the Sun Rim singletrack front wheel at Bishop's Bicycles. The front hub on this wheel came with a 20mm thru axle, which I could not use. So, I dropped it off at the shop today along with a Shimano Deore QR hub to replace the thru axle. Should be a stable platform for the front end of my xtracycle conversion. Bishop's is a great shop, if you are in the area, check them out in Historic Downtown Milford!

Still have not ordered the Xtracycle conversion kit yet. Tomorrow I am taking the Gary Fisher Rig frame back to the Trek dealer. It is starting to look like there is a small crack right where the other frames have broken, right about the seat tube/top tube weld. Hopefully this frame is not cracked, it only has a little less than 100 total miles on it! If this frame is broken, it will be the 3rd frame that I have broken from them! Lets hope it's not.

Moving, moving...

Started yesterday adding parts to the Haro V3. Things are moving along very nicely. Crankset installed, new bars, new shifters, cassette added, etc. Everything is starting to fall into place. Also, big news on the mountain bike front. Not gonna dive into that until it arrives, just in case it falls through.

New plan!

So I seem to change my mind more than a woman buying shoes, so here is the new plan. Instead of the big dummy frame, I am going to buy an Xtracycle conversion kit for my old Haro hardtail.

Here is my reasoning:

-The xtracycle conversion kit, complete is around $500, half the cost of the big dummy frame!
-With my leftover cash, I can find another MTB to tool around on when I get the chance.
-After a while on the conversion, sell the xtracycle frame on eBay and then buy the big dummy frame, hopefully on next year's closeout.

So that is what I am leaning towards at the moment. I am going to wait and see what the new big dummy prices are going to be, once they are released after Interbike, which is in a couple weeks.

I am also excited to continue using and abusing my trusty old Haro hardtail that I have had since 2003. I would love to know how many miles this bike has on it! Not enough just yet!

Parts list for upcoming Big Dummy...

Here are the random parts that I have accumulated over the past couple months for another project, to now go towards the future Big Dummy. If the frames ever come back into stock. Parts:

-Truvativ Fire X crankset with BB
-Avid BB7 with SD7 levers
-Sram X7 shifters
-Sram X9 rear derailleur
-Bontrager big sweep handlebars with matching stem
-Sun Ringle singletrack wheelset
-Maxxis Crossmark tires 26x2.1
-WTB speed v or SDG tifly saddle (leaning towards the cush of the WTB)
-Shimano XTR or Shimano clipless/flat pedals (leaning towards the combo pedal)

Parts that I still need:
-double length chain
-Seatpost (leaning towards Thompson)
-Headset
-Cassette
-Front Derailleur
-All necessary cables

I think this will be a very functional build kit, I am really excited about the wheelset, such a great local craigslist score. Eventually they will hold either a Maxxis Hookworm 26x2.5 or Schwalbe big apples 26x2.35. Basically for this build I have been trying to save some cash by using parts that I already have, hence the randomness. Hopefully I can score a frame before too much longer, looks like it is going to be around November. Patience....