Ride Chatter

The 12 by 100 has been completed! My friend Derek came up with the challenge to do a century ride every single month for a year... in Minnesota. August was our final month and while we had our challenges fitting it into the schedule, we did in fact pull it off with smiles all around. The post ride celebrating would have been massive if only we'd given friends and family a bit more heads up on when the final ride was going to happen. As it was, Derek had to race home to take care of his kids and I had to work a close at the shop.

We were joined by Perennial Cycle salesperson extraordinaire John McConaghay. John rode a Surly Pugsley that he had recently built road wheels for. The Pugsley is a bike designed to take over 4" tires (think snow, ice, sand, mud and other adventuresome conditions). John fell in love with his Pug and thus set it up as a versatile summer ride to complement the hard core winter Pug (with HUGE tires).

Derek rode his not-so trusty Concord and I smoked anyone in my path on the zippy Bacchetta Corsa.

It was a Great Day, though at about 56 miles Derek's bottom bracket seized and we had to call for mechanical assistance. It was looking a bit touch and go for a bit, but the Hunter showed up with the right tools for the job and a few hours later the 12 x 100 was history.

The June century was scheduled for the last day of the month and was tagged "The Great Cargo Bike Century". Derek has a sweet Utilitarian Transports cargo bike. I have a most beautiful Larry vs. Harry Bullitt cargo bike.

The day before the ride I installed bar-ends, swapped on my clipless pedals, put on an XL stem and installed a cyclometer. Ready to Roll. I did add a few non-essentials for the ride: a couple of pink Flamingos and a cooler with ice, Izzies. San Pellegrino and a variety of snacks. I called Derek to see if he needed any help getting his UT ready to roll. The Heart of the UT is a Surly One x One (which we had converted to a One x Eight last week (see his new derailleur hanger here). Derek's response was to state the obvious in the world before the Bullitt: Cargo Bikes are not designed to do a century ride on. He's on for the ride, but he's going to pretend that his Surly Cross Check is a Cargo Bike : (

For a moment I panicked thinking that I might be setting myself up for more punishment than I could handle, but after a quick think (2 seconds) I decided I was right on track with the Bullitt as the day's steed. I thought for another 2 seconds about stripping off the deck from the Bullitt to save weight, but I decided that was silly and then as mentioned I ended up loading a cooler up (how often can I have fresh chilled grapes 80 miles into a century?).

The ride went smoothly and the Bullitt was a joy to be on, even at mile 99. I ended the day with 115 miles and put in a 5 hour day of work after the ride. The Gear range was perfect and the Alfine 8 speed hub shifted flawlessly all day long. The Bullitt is just a sweet riding bike that happens to be capable of carrying 200 pounds of stuff when I'm out and about.

This video is also available at our youtube page: Bullitt Century

See a Video of Derek's Utilitarian Transports Bike HERE

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.

I can be a bit foolish. I really thought that when Derek and I finished the January Century of our 1 century per month challenge we were on easy street. Ha! One and a half days before our last minute run at a February century (yes, we scheduled it for the 28th) we happened to get 6 inches of snow. I took the bus home rather than struggle through a ride home on Thursday night (the ride was scheduled for Saturday morning).

Derek e-mailed me Thursday late afternoon that he'd contact me Friday to work on a plan of attack. My response to him (Thursday night) was:

Leave early and stay late.
Yes we can.

Derek immediately responded to me:

we are on the same page.
-D

Wow! I think I'd be hard-pressed to find a more stubborn individual that was able to stick to the task. Derek didn't even hesitate. Our nordic heritage may be playing a role here (yes, we are in Lake Wobegon).

On Friday we discussed routes and because of the quantity of snow we were grasping for a route (with no agreement or argument), but then late Friday afternoon it was sunny enough that the roads were clearing fairly well despite the cold temperatures (around 16º). Thank goodness for that. We were able to plan on heading out of town 50 miles, have lunch and head back.

It was a difficult century for sure. Start temp at 4º with unknown road conditions, but the roads turned out to be pretty decent and the sun shined brightly enough that the afternoon was pretty speedy riding.

Mentally it was my biggest challenge yet, but we pulled it off and had fun throughout the ride. Good times.