Ore to Shore Marquette, MI

The 2009 Ore to Shore is this weekend. Some of our friends are racing it, others are riding it. We went out for a ride the Sunday before last and rode from our house up the railroad grade behind Econo to Northwoods Drive. After crossing the highway we rode all the way up Midway Drive/510 to the entrance to the trail. There sure are some long climbs on the way up. I was thankful to be riding my rigid 29er. Every pedal stroke was progress. At the trailhead we stopped for a break and had delicious BLT sandwiches before descending into Marquette.

The entire ride was probably between 25 and 30 miles and took around 3 hours. We got caught in the rain near the Forestville trailhead and just kept riding. It seemed easier to ride without sunglasses after a certain point.

There was some mucky muck and some sand but the 29-inch wheels really cruise over the sand so much better than when I rode the race a few years ago on my 26-inch Specialized Hardrock.

Now that was an ugly bike. Silver with black flames like a motorcycle.

Grand Island Cliffs

We planned to go biking today. Initially to Harlow Lake in Marquette. Then to Valley Spur in Munising. On our drive to Munising we stopped at the Grand Island Ferry and the ferry was going to leave in 15 minutes. We decided to go for it. A beautiful blue sky day, 70 degrees, almost no bugs, and a nice 20ish mile loop. We took the 12:00 ferry to the island and the 3:30 ferry back. Dairy Queen for the drive home.

2008 Trek Remedy 8

I held off on posting about the Remedy because I didn't want to jinx it. This 26-inch bike made by Trek arrived at our house one afternoon. I walked up to the back porch and said aloud "Huh, whose bike is that?" His friend had a big smile on his face...he knew what I was thinking.

For the record. I think this bike is the ugliest bike that he has owned. I think the rootbeer color scheme is horrible. The other sucky thing about this bike is the fork doesn't work with our roof rack system. So because it isn't an efficient hard tail that he can ride out to the trail head, he plops it on the back of someone else's car, drives to the trail, and rides. He's been riding this bike built for "highly technical terrain" mostly north of town near Harlow and Hogsback.

What's good:
He's been riding it.
He's been having fun riding.
It is a stiff bike -- no flexing.
Nice warranty help. -- fork issues after about a month
He's kept it more than 40 days.

Farmer Tan

I have a farmer tan courtesy of the Trek Factory Demo. I had to convince him that we should go to this--I think it was sort of reverse psychology--you know, tell her that you don't want to go so she insists...

We rode two sets of bikes:

First I rode the Trek EX 9 carbon full suspension bike. We rode up, up, up, then down a familiar section of trail to the parking lot. I had to keep reminding myself to sit down over the bumps. This bike was like a couch compared to my fully rigid RIG. I sat much more upright--the distance from the seat to the handelbars was much shorter than my bike. It was fine. I climbed the whole thing, didn't fall, and remembered to sit down more. I knicked a tree with the left side of the handelbar on the way down and was thankful that I only knicked it.

Then I rode the Gary Fisher HI FI 29er. This bike was WAY more comfortable. I think that I was stretched out a little more. I immediately said that I could breathe better. It was more like my bike--less squishy. We rode up a rocky section then went down a swoopy area. Usually on the downhill area my legs get tired from hovering over the seat. I sat down more again through this section and my legs felt much better. We crossed McClellon and rode through one of my favorite sections of trail then back to the parking lot.

I think the HI FI is much more of a cross country style bike--which is what I'm more familiar with than the EX 9. Would I ride a HI FI? Sure. Do I need a HI FI? No. I like my bike.

He rode something Trek and then rode a ROSCOE. On the drive home he said that the reason he didn't want to go was because he didn't want to think about a bike other than the one he is riding. He was thinking about the ROSCOE.

Madsen

This bike looks like fun!

OS Bikes Blackbuck

He's been looking at this bike frame for a year or so. Only pictures on the internet though. The story of this frame: one of the WTB founders designed the steel, single-speed frame. He had it shipped this week from California. On Wednesday afternoon it arrived and he put it together and rode it that night. The beauty of single speeds -- you don't have to mess with derailleurs. The picture really isn't that great...but you get the idea. It is steel, rigid with a carbon fork, single speed, and curvy seat stays.

Rode It: Gary Fisher Rig - RIGID

Other pictures of the RIG setup here and here. It has a creamy white Vassago rigid fork (45mm rake with the Vassago).

We rode the 29ers together last week. He rode the blue Niner and I rode the brownish Gary Fisher Rig. His bike was full suspension. Mine was fully rigid. His bike had gears. Mine was single speed. Guess what? It wasn't bad at all.

We headed out from our house over to Tourist Park, through the woods, on some "new to me" trail, under the bridge, up the hill, across the hwy, up the hill, along the normal trail, through some snow, down to the river, hike-a-bike through some sand, rode a little more, then turned around. I was able to ride through the quick sand much better on the rigid 29er than I would have on my *SOMA Groove* and better than Bill did on the Niner.

The bike was set up pretty well. I didn't have any problem with the singlespeed gear --I'm not sure how it was set up-- 32 x 16? I really have no clue. The gear was a little to small on the way back along Lakeshore so I grabbed ahold of his backpack and let him pull me until we go to Fair Ave.

The fork is a NEW carbon one from Lakeshore. My arms, shoulders, and wrists weren't sore or tired. The other end was though. I didn't think the seat was too high and it didn't seem bad when I was riding the bike, but whoa the next day was another story.

All in all, it was a good ride. Light, fast bike. No falls.

Quick Stop Bike Shop

Too convenient. Two blocks away. Quick Stop. I usually stay in the car. If he is in there for more than 5 minutes I get out of the car and walk in the store. Sometimes it is at lunch, sometimes it is on the way home from the grocery store, sometimes it is after work. Quick Stop.

Great service, nice people, and too convenient, Quick Stop has the best website and window display of all of the bike shops in town. And I like their sign.

You know how women's clothing stores usually have a comfortable chair for the men to sit in while the wives are shopping. Quick Stop has a chair too and it is comfortable. I'm sure it is one of Andy Gregg's chairs from bikefurniture.com. Could be this model http://bikefurniture.com/pagesSeating/lcmx.htm

Quick Stop sells:

• Gary Fisher Bicycles



• Kona Bikes



• Intense Cycles



• Lemond Cycles



• Electra Custom Cruisers



• Redline Bicycles



• Fit Bike Co.



• S&M Bikes



• Mirraco



• Fox Clothing



• Troy Lee Designs



• Smith Optics

Carbon? Aluminum? Steel?

WAY OFF! Sweet sweet TI. That's right...Hale gave me full clearnance to purchase a MOOTS.

I put the order in last night, and scheduled delivery is approximately June. A little long to wait, but I don't mind. It is being built exactly as I want it to be built. No compromises in desgin. The only compromise will be to my wallet.

Can't wait!