Night rides...

This is my favorite time of the year to ride my bicycle. It is especially nice to go for night rides right now. The temperature is just about right, and to top it off, there are no bugs. All you really need is a decent headlight to make sure you can see the trail. Right now, I have not done any night mountain biking, but spending my night time on the Little Miami rail trail. The headlight I am using is from Harbor Freight. It is a cheap little light that actually lights up the entire rail trail at night. And it's only $6! That is a deal in my book. Click here to see the light! I haven't tried it in the woods yet, still not sure if I will. I am looking however at this light, seems like a deal: Magicshine.



For most of my road night rides, I have been riding my Haro Mary SS. I have two wheelsets for it, one road, one MTB, so switching everything over is a snap. I cannot stress how much I enjoy this bike. So get out and ride, soon there will be snow, which is fun in its own right!

Fat front, single speed, dual suspension...

Here is a bike I have been working on for my two and a half year old daughter. It started as a free "X-Games" motocross style bicycle, and here is where it stands as of now. First, I stripped off all of the dumb plastic parts that made it look like a motorcycle. Second, I had a larger front tire that I switched out to make it a fat front. Yesterday, I added the training wheels, which I need to modify a little more. It has turned out a little better than I thought it would. The tiny spec sheet:

25x16 gearing
Oury grips
12.5x3" front tire
12.5x2.25 rear tire

My daughter really enjoys this bike, I cannot wait until she is a little bigger so she can ride it for real! Everyday, she is like, "Daddy, lets ride my bike off road." Awesome!

Caesar's Creek State Park

Had a great evening ride tonight at Caesar's Creek. I have only been there once before, but I seemed to remember most of the system. It has great flow, and surprisingly quite a few hills. Also, like many trails here in Ohio, lots of roots to make things interesting. Its too bad that this system is around an hour from my house, but that makes it almost like a destination trail. Hopefully the next time I am there, I can pack a lunch, and spend the day exploring the entire system! Map below from the website MTB Guru. It does not have the connecting side trails, but you get the idea.

Haro stable...

Here is a pic of my trusty Haros. I cannot say enough at how durable these bikes are. The red and silver Haro V3 I have had since 2003. It is now in the waiting stage for it's next place in life, as a cargo bike. The Mary SS I just bought this year, but I have thrown quite a bit at her in the last couple of weeks. I'm sure she will be just fine. I just wanted to post these pics, just to give Haro props, they make great products, and I feel they do not get enough credit. Here's to you Haro, thanks for making awesome bikes!

Emperor penguin chick!

Congratulations to the bird crew at Sea World San Diego on the 21st hatching of an Emperor Penguin! This is the first emperor chick for them in around 8 years!

Sea World San Diego is one of only two institutions in the world to display these amazing animals, alongside 4 other species of penguin in their state of the art Penguin Encounter. Emperors (Aptenodytes forsteri) are the largest species of penguin on the planet, standing as tall as three and a half feet, and weighing as much as ninety pounds.

Normally, things like this would not get me all that excited. But this case for me is a little different. I used to work for Sea World, and am lucky enough to know how much these people in the Aviculture Department care for these birds. It is such a great thing to see good people succeed! Great job! Hopefully I can get back to San Diego before this little guy/girl gets much older! Sea World

Eastfork State Park

So week number two of putting the Haro Mary through it's paces in the woods. Every time I am on it, I am reminded how much I enjoy mountain biking. It was silly of me to stay away from it for as long as I did. Stupid road bikes. Anyway, East Fork is a solid trail system. If you ride everything, out and back, it is around 15 miles or so. Not too bad for the Cincinnati area. The trail is broken into 3 segments. An easy loop, intermediate loop, and the out and back "Tech Trail." Not much elevation gain or loss, but the last section does have some tricky, technical sections, and a few climbs. Nothing too crazy though, I am running a 32x16 single speed gearing, which is perfect for this trail. After clearing every technical section this trail had to offer, I then clip a sapling on an easy section, tossing me off of my bike into the brush. This trail can be tight and twisty. Also, lots of roots. I felt quite beat up after riding the trail on a rigid single speed.

I have to say, I am really happy with the Mary. It is a solid bike. A very solid parts spec for the price point. Also, the Mary handlebars really give an advantage to climbing. It takes the pain out of single speed, out of the saddle climbs. No longer are you sawing your way up the hills using only your biceps, but the bar angle makes you use your core, which has a little more stamina, at least in my case. These bars are awesome, and I think I am going to buy another set. Here's a link: Mary handlebars.