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May was month #9 in the 12 x 100 Challenge (one century per month for a year). It was a busy month (as are all) and we scheduled the ride with a day to spare (whew!). So this past Saturday (May 30th) we set off early. For the first time in 9 rides we had beautiful weather (that's right, we were 0 for 8 as of Saturday morning). JOY!

Being that we have now completed the really challenging months I decided to add a theme to our May Century. I loaned Derek an Airnimal Joey D (drop bar Joey) and I rode my Airnimal Joey Explore 27 and we called it our Joey Century. The Airnimal Joey is a suitcase style folding bike with 24" wheels. I set up Derek's Joey D to match the fitting he has with his Surly Cross Check. I ride my Joey Explore every day as it's my daily commuter set up with fenders and  rack. I have fallen in love with this bike as it's a sporty rocket that can be nicely fit into a trunk with a simple 45 second "trunk" fold. I have suitcased it a couple of times to fly with it, but I don't travel enough to take huge advantage of that aspect of the bike.

The weather was absolutely beautiful  and the only hiccup in the 100 miles was me having a worn out rear tire and thus having to deal with those consequences (shame on me). Derek rocked out on the Joey in spite of the fact that he'd never ridden a folding bike. The transition was pretty seamless for him. I learned that my Joey is just as versatile as I knew. I've said many times that if I had to have one frame for the rest of my life I'd choose the Joey. I Love It!

We met up on the Greenway here in Minneapolis and we headed east through St. Paul and out to Stillwater. Then we followed the St. Croix river south to Afton before swinging west and making our way back to Minneapolis.

Bike Details:

Derek's Joey: 9 Speed Joey D with a bottle cage and a Carradice Nelson seat bag supported with a Utilitarian Transports UT Support Rack. 52 tooth chainring with an 11-32 cassette on the rear. Panaracer Pasela tires (24 x 1", 115 PSI)

Luke's Joey: 27 speed Joey Explore with Salsa Bar-Ends, bottle cage, rack and fenders. This Joey Exp;ore was built up with 520 wheels ("roadie" sized 24" wheels as opposed to the 507 wheels that are the stock Joey Explore size) with Intense Microknobby 24 x 1-3/8" tires.

Well, just as I anticipated Curt Goodrich Bicycle did very well at the NAHBS. The CG team cyclocross bike won “Best Off-Road Bicycle” at the event. Way to go Curt!

From NAHBS Website

I stopped by Curt's studio yesterday to hear tales. Curt said the event was a smashing success, and had him hopping all weekend. It was exciting to get some much deserved recognition for years of fine craftsmanship. And good to start growing the  Curt Goodrich brand. It sounds like Curt had a great time, but is ready to get back to work (as any good Minnesotan would be). He's building some great bikes and starting his own cyclocross team. Here are some photos I took yesterday, mostly of the winning bike:

One of my friends once commented that Curt Goodrich is the best frame builder you've never heard of. Be enlightened friends, that is changing. Curt has always built a few bikes on the side, but until recently he's spent most of his time building all the U.S. Rivendell bicycles. But now he's broke away from Riv so he can concentrate on Curt Goodrich Bicycles. Lucky for us, Curt's right here in Minneapolis. In fact, Perennial Cycle has partnered with CG for nearly 10 years now. He does our S & S coupler installations as well as our more involved frame repairs.

Well, this weekend Curt Goodrich Bicycles will be displaying some beautiful work at the North American Handbuilt Bicycle Show (NAHBS). In the past few weeks, Curt's been by the shop several times so we've had a chance to see the progress on his pieces for the NAHBS. Wow! He has some beautiful bikes. His studio is just a couple blocks from our warehouse space in NE Minneapolis, so I stopped by the other day to snap a few pics for you. Here's an All-Rounder frame in the paint booth. Sweet bike. NAHBS is a pretty awesome show. While I've not attended yet, I have seen many awesome and inspiring bikes through various galleries online. The event starts today, so in the next few days we'll see a lot of spectacular stuff in the blogosphere -- and Curt's frames will be among the best.

Minnesota is cold. So cold that we actually have ice. Lots and lots of ice and the ice lasts a long, long time. Pastor Paul (Minnesota also has a lot of Lutherans) wanted to use his new folding bike for more day-to-day riding in the winter (applause!) which he is well accustomed to doing in the warmer months (we have a few), but the heart of winter is a tough sell in Minnesota. Paul is an avid rider and actually was easily persuaded to winterize his Dahon Mariner with a pair of Schwalbe Winter Marathon tires. Sweet Ride!

Studded tires slow down the ride a bit, but not nearly as much as a serious patch of ice will slow you down when your not using studded tires (How fast am I going when I'm laying on the road?). We have some experience in regard to studded tires and we give a big thumbs up to the Schwalbe Marathon Winter Tires. These 20 inchers are 1.6" wide and take 70 psi. Nice! Chubby without being so wide that they'd cause you to float in snow and a high enough pressure to help you get to work on time (how civilized!). We also stock them in 700c as well as 26". We sell a lot of them and have a lot of happy customers because of them.