Tiger Mountain, Seattle Washington

I spent this past week at a customer’s location in Washington state. As painful as it was to take a 6:00AM flight on a Sunday morning, with the time zone change it got me there early enough to have time for a bike ride.

Nice view of the Cascades as I flew in

I did some searching and consulted with some folks on MTBR before deciding on Tiger Mountain as the riding spot. I called a few bike shops and found one that had demo bikes. They had two large bikes in their demo fleet (Yeti 66Rc and a Salsa Horsethief), but wouldn’t allow me to reserve one so I had to take a gamble. If I got there and they didn’t have a bike for me I would have been unable to ride as I wouldn’t have had time to find and get to another place. I have to try to forget that it essentially cost me $30/hour for the bike, but given the mental break it gave me that was money well spent.

The Yeti is a 6” carbon 26er and the Horsethief is a 4.5” 29er. I would really like to try out another longer travel 29er so I was hoping for the Horsethief, but I figured either would be fine. After inhaling a burrito at a small Mexican place nearby (one of hundreds I saw out there) I stopped by the bike shop hopeful to get a bike. The Horsethief was out, so I took the Yeti, complete with a KS Lev dropper post. I took the front wheel off and jammed it into the back of the rental, it was a tight fit, but not too bad.

I had a map of the trail at Tiger Mountain but I was hoping I could find someone to tag along with, I struck out on MTBR, a guy I know in town was busy and I couldn’t find anyone gearing up in the parking lot – solo time!

I have a pretty good sense of direction, and following a map is easy, but for some reason looking at a map, putting it away and remembering the next turn is challenging. I validated my riding plan with a group who had just returned and I was on my way. Right out of the parking lot I took the wrong road – I had TWO choices, someone five minutes ago told me “take the road on the right, then your first left” it gets confused in my head and I take the road on the left. Ugh. No big deal, I quickly realize my mistake and jump on a crossover trail that puts me back on track.

After that slight detour I was on my way up the mountain. While I didn’t really know this going in, the ride is basically a 3,000 foot, 4 mile slog up a maintained dirt road followed by a long descent mostly on singletrack. I met an older guy on the lower road and I talked to him about going up to the top he suggested against it asking me how much time I had and advising that “as soon as you think you’re at the top, there’s another hill, it goes on FOREVER!”.

The parking lot is right on a two lane highway and the road was VERY busy and loud – Seattle-ites getting their nature on I guess. Within a few minutes of pedaling the road noise disappeared and I got deeper and deeper into the pine forest. On the entire climb up I saw only one group of hikers, The solitude felt really good and found myself pedaling along at a moderate pace taking deep breaths of the clean, pine scented air. I forgot about the tough week ahead and relaxed into the moment, taking a few breaks along the way, not because I was tired, but just to enjoy the surroundings and contemplate life.

By the way, if there is such a thing as a real Yeti, this is the forest he would live in, dense, dark and covered in moss.

The old guy was right and the climb did go on forever, but it was never very steep, I was in the middle ring the whole way up and I never felt like I was pushing hard. About a quarter mile from the top of the road climb the trail I was about to descend crossed the road – I stopped and looked up and down the trail – do I see berms? Whoa, this is going to be fun!

It was fun. This is a mountain bike specific, non-technical DH trail, lots and lots of berms and bumps, a few tables and small drops. The lower trail has got to have the most 1-2’ drops per mile of any trail I’ve ridden. I imagine after learning the trail and being on a familiar bike you could really rip down that thing. I had a BLAST, I stopped for some pictures along the way, and again just enjoyed my time in the woods – clearly evidenced by my Strava segment placing (there are more than 800 riders on those segments!).

When I was stopped taking pictures at one point a guy on a 29er HT caught up to me, he was shaking his hands saying it was his first ride on a HT in a long time. We talked for a bit and as we headed down the trail he told me to go first, assuming with this bike I would be ripping it up. He was pretty much on my wheel for the next section of trail. I let him pass on a flatish part and he was off, though I did catch him again on a short dirt road connector climb, it was fun to surprise him like that – he figured he had dropped me hard.

I am terrible at reviewing bikes, but here it goes. The Yeti was really light and it was a joy to pedal up the mountain road, I locked out the front and rear for the road climb, but I didn’t notice much bob even when it wasn’t locked out. I fully expected to notice the 26er wheels but I really didn’t. I guess by the time I got to the trail I was used to the wheels, I also suspect that this being a pretty smooth trail there weren’t a lot of bumps to feel that rolling resistance that I usually notice on 26ers. I did notice the rake on the front end – wow that front tire was waaaaay out there compared to my RIP9.

The frame felt very stiff, no flex whatsoever, much like the RM I tested at NEMBAFest, it didn’t feel plush at all though, and I was surprised at how much of the rear suspension I had used when I looked at the o-ring. There’s probably some reason for that, but it felt different than the more plush CVA suspension on the RIP (it could be the bike set up too). I should really study suspension designs more so I can talk intelligently about them.

The bike had a Kashima coated Fox fork and it continued my dislike of Fox forks. The bike shop spent a decent amount of time setting it up for me, checking the sag etc and I even let more air out of it on the trail (dangerous I know), but it still didn’t feel plush. Ok, I didn’t hit anything huge, but I hit a few jumps that had me a decent height in the air (I’d name a height, but I’m sure I’m way off), the landings were harsh and the fork had barely traveled through half its travel, I feel I really should have used up more travel.

The KS Lev dropper post worked great – though on a ride like this its not needed at all, you ride with the post fully up then drop the post once at the top. It felt a lot like the Reverb on my RIP, the actuator was on the opposite side from my bike leading to me pushing an imaginary button on the right hand side a few times. By the time I was done adjusting I had the post at its minimum insertion line, I guess a large Yeti and a KS Lev post are not in my future.

All in all a great 3 hours in the woods riding a bike, I love this sport! I am going to try harder to get a ride in when I travel for work, it’s a great way to break up the stress of my job and traveling.

Here's the route I took:

Back to semi-normal

My shoulder is getting better. I'm really happy about that, I was starting to think there was serious internal damage. I guess there still could be, but I figure if it continues to feel better its probably ok.

Dawn and I did her birthday ride at Case on Saturday, it was a really nice day for a ride. We did the long route around the reservoir, Dawn did great and we had a nice time.

We saw this guy hopping around in the leaves

And a pic from the ride - we took a selfie, but I guess its on Dawn's phone, great summer for plant growth.

On Sunday I went out for a crank at Snip. 

I figured this was the real test for my shoulder. Its painful to do certain things and I should probably have just taken another week off riding, but I couldn't do that. I stubbed out on a rock and endo'ed just a bit - any other time this would be a non-event, but yesterday it was extremely painful, seeing stars kinda pain. Despite the pain it was a good ride and it felt great to be out hammering even if I had to back off a bit. 

Shoulder woes

I guess its only been four days, but my shoulder is still pretty sore from Sunday's tree encounter. I did a road ride last night and certain motions really hurt. It was probably good that I wasn't in the woods, but I'm dying to get back out and will do at test run Friday (maybe). I guess I'll give it another week before going to the doctor, it does feel better than it did a few days ago, but not as good as I had hoped!

Salmon River ride

We rode at Salmon River this morning. Great ride with stunning weather and trails. Unfortunately it also included to pretty severe crashes - both happening within 10 minutes of each other. I avoided serious injury, but my left knee and shoulder are pretty sore, I'm sure sleeping will be a chore and I'll be pretty stiff in the morning.

New RIP - update

As I posted before, I ordered the wrong front derailleur so my first few rides on the new bike were all in granny as that's where the chain settled. Not a big deal, but not ideal either.

I just moved the 100mm stem off my old bike onto this bike when I built it. I never felt like the old bike (medium) was cramped at all, and I'm sure some of that had to do with the relatively long stem. The long stem also meant the steering was somewhat slow - again not something I noticed with the old bike.

The new bike (large) was missing some of the snappiness I remembered from the demo bike, I put a 70mm stem on (stolen from Disch's bike) and the snappiness was back, although my brain needs a little retraining - I hit more trees with my bars at Hale on Wednesday night in one ride than I would normally hit in a whole season of riding. By the time we got to the Punisher I was starting to get the hang of it.

I bought a 70mm stem of my own (from Storrs Cycle - apparently the only bike shop in CT that actually stocks anything), I got the front derailleur working perfectly (another learning experience for me). So this weekend should be the first rides where I can get used to the new bike. I got it in the air a few times on Wednesday and it definitely lands with more authority than the old RIP.

So far, I'm very happy, will be ecstatic after this weekend, I expect. I guess in the back of my mind I was thinking the transition from the old RIP to the new one would be seamless, like riding the same bike, its not. Like any new bike I have to get comfortable on it and probably do a bit more tweaking to get things perfect.

How bike shops have evolved - my take

When I first started riding mountain bikes the internet didn't exist, there were some mail order places where you could get bike parts, but we got most of our stuff from the bike shop directly. We used to have a saying that it was a good day if you could get out of the bike shop for less than $30. Most of what you could get from mail order was overstock or last year's stuff. If you knew what you wanted it could be a good deal, but a lot of times you were buying old stuff that bike shops couldn't sell.

The guys at the bike shop (the good ones) had definitive opinions about what parts were good and which ones weren't. Looking back there was a certain mystery in what they knew and I felt like I could never learn. The bike shop had a huge stock of items, it was pretty rare that they had to order what you needed. Most of the time when they ordered something for you, you had no obligation to buy it since they figured they could sell it even if you didn't buy it.

As the internet started to boom the bike shop's inventory suddenly became available on line.  You'd pay less for internet parts, but you would still have to wait for it to arrive. So, even though the internet shops were cheaper, I often bought at least some of my parts locally. Ok that didn't happen often, but if I bent a chain or a ring on a ride or I was in the middle of a build and realized I forgot something I'd just drive to the bike shop and get it.

Now I guess the only reason for a bike shop to exist is to sell new bikes and do repair work with ordered parts. For my most recent build I needed a particular (though very popular style) front derailleur, I would have gladly paid bike shop prices for that part. I called five shops that were in a reasonable driving distance, NONE had the derailleur in stock.

Today I thought I'd like to try out a shorter stem on my bike. I called the closest shop they had ONE stem in stock !ONE STEM! I didn't measure mine before I went down there, but went to see what they had (sometimes a quick ride in the car can break up the day). I just wanted to kind of hold it next to my bike and see the difference. I got down to the store and the one they were going to sell me was on a display bike. It was way too short, but still, that's the only stem they have? Insane. I wonder what they would do if someone wanted a shorter stem on a bike they were selling?

Every time I call a shop for a part, they offer to order me the part (whatever it is), but its a special order, I'm committed to buying it if they order it. I can order a part and get it delivered to my house, and even if I pay for second day shipping, its still probably cheaper than what I'd pay at the bike shop. I guess I'm nearing the end of calling shops for parts anymore. The guy on the other end of the phone feels bad, I feel bad, no way to win.

Let's talk about the experience level at the shops - if you're lucky (really lucky) the guy there will know something about the bikes they carry, but even that's not a given. Maybe I'm entirely too obsessed with bikes, but its rare when I can have an intelligent discussion with a bike shop tech or floor guy.

I don't mean this to be a rant about how bad bike shops are, I know its a tough market to exist in. Kudos to the guys who have figured out how to make money and stay in business.

New RIP9 in the house

After a few well documented ups and downs I finally got my new frame on Thursday. I was thinking about it a lot while in Canada - I asked the bike shop to call me as soon as the frame came in, just so I would know it made it - I was willing to pay the $0.89/minute for a call up there to get the update.

They never called, so as soon as I got on US soil (Chicago) on Wednesday I called the bike shop. They came back to the phone after putting me on hold and said "yep, it came in yesterday", score another miss for the bike shop. I told them I didn't want them to build it, which came as a big surprise to them, they told me on the phone they would start building tomorrow. This despite the fact that they didn't have the wheel conversion kit, the derailleur or the headset to do the job.

The bad thing about traveling is that while I'm away and concentrating on the meetings I'm in, no one else is doing my regular job. I looked at my schedule for Thursday and its booked completely solid from 9:00 straight to 5:30 - meaning I'd have to go get the bike after work. That's not that big of a deal, but it would mean I probably wouldn't get to start building until Friday. Luckily one of my calls got canceled and I had a free hour, just enough time to get down there and get back. As long as I didn't run into any problems with the bike shop I would be fine.

I got the bike without too much drama - they charged me $100 to do various things like stripping down my old bike (I could have done that, but that $25 was probably money well spent). I'm a bit upset they figured out a way to charge me for a warranty replacement bike, whatever.

I had the option of getting a black or a green frame, since my last bike was black, I went for the green - really happy with it. I strapped the frame in the back seat like it was a baby on its way home from the hospital

Ready to start: 

Guard installed: 

The build went ok, starting with putting in the headset and fork:

Then the cranks:

Almost done:

And complete:

I'll put up another post with my comments on the ride.

The build problems:

• Despite having a comp day off on Friday I ended up working 4 or 5 hours, which was frustrating. 
• I had some issues getting the brakes to center - I can't explain why the brakes wouldn't hold the calipers in place while I was tightening, but after futzing with it for a half hour got it done. 
• Converting the Hope hub from 135 to 142 - the Hope hub is about the simplest hub out there, five bearings, an axle and two end caps, how hard could it be. The conversion went flawlessly and was done in a matter of 30 minutes, but the wheel wouldn't freewheel. I took it apart and put it back together probably 5 times. I was about to bring it to a bike shop out of sheer frustration when I found a spacer that had popped out when I took the axle out - ugh, I wish I saw that piece. 
• Front derailleur - I ordered the wrong one, doh! I didn't realize there were two types of direct mount derailleurs, I got the one that has a slot and a bolt, when I needed the one that mounts on two posts. I probably should have researched this further, but even after I went back and looked at the RIP9 stats on the Niner page it wasn't very specific (as far as I can tell).  I ordered the right one, but I'll be riding it without it for now - think of it as manual shifting. 

Riding in Calgary

I've been slacking on keeping up with the blog - its mostly the travel - I had probably the best work trip yet, where I had to take an early flight and I got most a day to rent a bike and ride. I wrote this up on the plane ride back:

This week I had a business trip to visit some customers in Calgary Canada. I’ve been there once before during the winter, it was extremely cold although that time I got some skiing in – perhaps one of the best skiing days of my life (not that I ski a lot, but…). Our meeting was on Monday and we needed to prepare for the meeting, so I needed to be there early Sunday afternoon at the latest. After looking through the flights, there was no way for me to get there before 6:00PM, and the only reasonable cost flights got me there at 11:00PM. The only way for me to comfortably get there would be to leave on Saturday morning. I really HATE giving up any kind of weekend time for work, but there was no way around it.

I went out to MTBR to see what kind of riding opportunities were there, figuring I could ride most of the day Sunday. I found a few places to ride and found a few places that rented bikes – even good bikes! Most of the riding was west of Calgary heading towards the Canadian Rockies. Unfortunately they had unprecedented rain a few weeks ago and it did serious damage, not only to trails but also to roads – luckily most of it had be reopened, though I was expecting to see some serious washouts. Most of the riding I found on line was out and back kind of stuff, its not like loop type riding we have in Connecticut.

After investigating a few options I decided on the Olympic training facility in Canmore. The trail system on paper kind of looks like a Kingdom Trails type place and they have a bike rental place right there on premise. It was built for the 1988 Olympic games and has been kept up by the Canadian government since then. It’s a beautiful facility where they train for XC skiing, biathlon and mountain biking. There’s something great about being around that many fit people who enjoy the outdoors. In my day to day life most of the people I interact with really don’t understand my love for the outdoors and mountain biking – just being in a place where I could relate to everyone is nice.

The drive out to the ride spot started off very flat:

...but you quickly get into the foothills:

I lucked out and found a local guide on MTBR ( what a great resource), brentP was a serious XC rider, luckily(?) he had taken a fall while riding in the 24 hours of adrenaline the weekend before and had to ride cautiously. I’m sure if he wasn’t injured (or being kind) he would have blown my doors in. The riding spot is at 3900’, that’s not that high, but high enough for this sea level dweller to feel it, exerting for even a few minutes lead to my heart rate soaring through the roof.

The trails were a bit like Kingdom Trails – at least in their density and general layout – the trails at KT are certainly better designed for mountain biking with more flow. It was a great 4 or 5 hours in the woods cranking along on the Rocky Mountain (what else) Instinct 650b wheeled bike. It was a bit funny when Brent warned me about technical sections – in Connecticut we would call those the smooth sections. Surprisingly there were no jumps, lips or drops of ANY kind on the trail – trust me I tried to find them! I did a lap with Brent then when he went off to join his wife on a mellow ride I wandered around the trails taking pictures and just enjoying the place. What a great way to spend a day!

I have found that I am a terrible bike reviewer. I feel like I can adjust to just about any configuration so even if I feel something different with a bike, that feeling is fleeting and in a few pedal strokes I’m adjusted and it just feels like “a bike”. So I liked that Instinct, it rode nicely, the rear suspension did what I thought it would do, when I thought it would, it had very little pedal bob that I noticed. I wish I noticed the wheel size more – I really didn’t notice that much difference between that bike and my 29ers for its ability to roll over stuff. I was expecting it to feel “snappy” compared to the 29ers, but I didn’t really notice that, of course having a long travel fork and a slack head tube angle meant its not an XC bike by any stretch.

The one huge negative to the bike – that stupid Fox Float fork. It felt exactly like the one that used to be on my RIP – it ramped up quickly and provided very poor small bump compliance (which is pretty much all there was out there – small bumps). I had my shock pump with me and I adjusted it a couple of times, I got it to work a bit better, but it still was very “jack hammery” when I got going fast on the rooty trails. If nothing else it made me feel a lot better about my White Brother’s Loop fork – its far superior to the two Fox Floats I have ridden.

They had a “skills area” as well and I did do a couple of table tops with the Instinct, it felt well behaved and under control in the air.  

All in all a really great way to spend 5 hours on a beautiful day. I convinced myself I could live there, forgetting for a minute about the common -25F degrees day in the winter.