First 29er ride

Epic Biking just got a new demo XtC 29 1 in. The big wheels are great for rolling over things. I made the hard corner in the bike park. I have only done it twice before and this was by far the smoothest time. Also on the hill just before the water tank, where the rocks usually grab the front wheel and stop me, I just rolled right on up. Nice bike.

Eagle Mountain Bike Park

I have been working on creating a google map of the Mountain Ranch Bike Park in Eagle Mountain. I was planning on taking my bike out and getting some more gps data. However it has been raining all night, and it is just too much work to get the bike clean after riding in these conditions. So I think I will just walk a couple of trails with the GPS.

Anyway here is the map.

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msa=0&msid=105197178069041208077.0004681131257dfe8fddb&hl=en&ie=UTF8&z=15

Join our Tour de Cure Team

Epic Biking will be staffing a rest stop at the American Diabetes Association Tour de Cure on June 13. We would like to invite anyone who would like to help us in this good cause. You can join our team at http://main.diabetes.org/site/TR/TourdeCure/TDC530148030?pg=team&fr_id=5629&team_id=354888 or you if you would like to volunteer to help at the rest stop come into the store and talk to me, Dan.

Fire and Ice

Yesterday's ride to work was a mix of hot and cold. I left my Louis Garneau Vulcano gloves in the store and so I had to wear some walmart gloves. So my fingers were freezing. When I got to the Silver Lake subdivision I decided to try and come the rest of the way on the old rail road bed. Climbing an icy hill is a great technical challenge and very strenuous. So now my core is overheated but my fingers are still frozen.

Taking the train bed was a great choice. Trying to power through snow drifts, keeping speed up so you don't break through the ice, and keeping balance through tire ruts makes what would be an easy ride a real challenge.

I started to get lazy and ride on the side of the hill to avoid snow drifts. Then I came to a patch of tumble weeds and a snow bank. I wimped out and went through the tumble weeds, and carried a good sized one the rest of the way to the store.

I should have dropped off the train bed early but instead continued through Coyote Creek Ranch. The problem there is they have this quagmire of mud and horse manure that I have to go through. Thinking it was frozen I tried to ride on the frozen, um... stuff, it didn't work, I broke through the ice and coated my tires in the stuff. Then comes a nice downhill that flings all of the stuff off the tires. Well anyway today I made the wiser choice not to go through Coyote Creek and now my bike doesn't smell like the name of the Kona bike that is in the repair stand, "stinky".

2008 Inventory Reduction Sale

Special sale from January 21 through January 31. 20% off selected NEW 2008 bikes. This is limited to the following in stock bikes. Click on the model name to see full description of the bike. Brand Model Size Retail Price Sale Price Savings Giant OCR C3 Triple Road Medium $1,900 $1,520 $380 Giant OCR C2 Road Large $2,300 $1,840 $460 Giant TCR C3 Road Medium $1,900 $1,520 $380 Giant OCR C3 Double Road Large $1,900 $1,520 $380 Scott CR1 Pro Road Medium $2,834.99 $2,267.99 $567 Scott Addict R4 Road XL $3,674.99 $2,939.99 $735 Scott CR1 Team Road Medium $2,099.99 $1,679.99 $420 Scott CR1 Team Road Large $2,099.99 $1,679.99 $420 Giant TCR A W Road Medium $1,500 $1,200 $300 Giant TCR C W Road Small $1,900 $1,520 $380 Scott Ransom 40 MTB 6.6" full suspension Medium $2,939.99 $2,351.99 $588 Scott Ransom 40 MTB 6.6" full suspension Large $2,939.99 $2,351.99 $588 Giant Reign 1 MTB 6" full suspension Large $2,400 $1,920 $480 Scott Spark 30 MTB Carbon full suspension Medium $3,569.99 $2,855.99 $714 Scott Scale 30 MTB Carbon hardtail Large $2,519.99 $2,015.99 $504 Giant Reign X2 MTB 6.7" Full Suspension Medium $2,100 $1,680 $420 Giant Trance 1 MTB 4.2" Full Suspension Medium $2,400 $1,920 $480 Giant Trance X2 MTB 5" Full Suspension Large $1,900 $1,520 $380 Giant Trance X2 MTB 5" Full Suspension Small $1,900 $1,520 $380 Giant Reign 0 MTB 6" Full Suspension Medium $3,100 $2,480 $620 Giant Reign X1 MTB 6.7" Full Suspension Large $2,600 $2080 $520 Giant Anthem Women MTB 3.5" Full Susp. Small $2,200 $1,760 $440 Giant Cypher Women MTB 5" Full Susp. Medium $2,000 $1,600 $400 Giant Cypher Women MTB 5" Full Susp. Small $2,000 $1,600 $400 Giant Reign X2 MTB 6.7" Full Susp. Large $2,100 $1,680 $420 Giant Reign X2 MTB 6.7" Full Susp. Small $2,100 $1,680 $420 Giant Reign 2 MTB 6" Full Susp. Medium $1,900 $1,520 $380

Hoarfrost Ride

Man it was cold this morning! I gave my toes frostbite last year on a winter scout camp, and now they get frozen real easily.

When I left the house the thermometer said it was 10˚, which isn't as cold as it has been on other days, but the humidity was a lot higher so the wind chill was much worse. Then as I got closer to Saratoga Springs the fog got real thick.

The hot springs in Saratoga Springs always makes the fog here worse. As I am riding through the fog I start to turn white as the hoarfrost builds on me and my bike. So today's picture shows a bit of the hoarfrost stuck to the brake/shifting cables.

Cold Morning

It is amazing how out of shape I get after a little time off. I rode the mountain bike home yesterday and it showed how much I have lost since I quit commuting by bike because of the icy roads. This makes the commute by the Hybrid bike even more of a success (see yesterday's post).

This morning when I got up it was 8 degrees out side, but just before sunrise it had gotten up to 18. So I figured I would wait awhile before going to work so the sun could warm things up some more. However after the sun had been up for a while and it was time I had to leave the temperature had dropped back to 8. With enough layers though the ride wasn't bad.

Anyway it is great to be back to biking to and from work.

The Hybrid Bike Test

Ever since I got the new Giant Hybrid bikes in I have wanted to do a real world test, and commute to and from work with the bike. So I rode the demo bike home yesterday. I would have to say it was an outstanding success, because when I got home my wife asked, "How did you get home so early? Did you close the store early?"
Because the ride from the store to home is mostly up hill having the extra boost got me home faster then normal. Today I rode the bike back to the store. Even though I had given it a good workout going up hill, and spent most of the ride with the bike in the sport mode, I still had plenty of battery charge left.

Yesterday on the way into work I rode my mountain bike. Before I left I asked my wife if I should go on the road or the old railroad bed. Why are wives always right? The snow was still too soft on the railroad bed, so I ended up walking most of the way. I would try riding the bike as often as I could but it always ended up being a "stick it in the lowest gear and pedal as hard as you can to keep upright."

I can defiantly say that was the hardest workout of the year. So contrasting the ride in, in the morning on the mountain bike through the snow, and on the ride home on the Hybrid on the road, the Hybrid was a lot easier. :-) However, frequently after someone takes the Hybrid for a test ride they come back and question if you will really get any exercise on that bike. The answer is yes you can get as much exercise as you want. It just makes it more fun.