Fat bike on order!

This past Saturday I popped into my local bike shop; Race Pace Bicycles and had them order me a 2014 Trek Farley.  The Farley is a performance fat bike.  If you are asking yourself what a fat bike is; it is basically a mountainbike, designed and built around very wide (fat) rims and tires for the sole purpose of flotation.  The much larger footprint (surface area) allows for the bike to be ridden on the surfaces that would ordinarily gobble up and bog down standard width tires (Snow, sand & swamplands).  This makes the fat bike, the ultimate, go-anywhere bike!  

The origin of fat bikes came about years ago when Alaskan bicycle explorers and Iditabike racers would weld and sew together rims and tires to create their own custom fat wheelsets.  Typically fat bikes have been used for snow racing as well as deep, back country exploration & touring.  Though, with the recent hoopla, major brands are now adding performance fat bikes to their catalogues.  These “performance” fat bikes lack the pannier & bottle mounting points on the frame & fork and feature lighter, more aggressive frame geometry.  This is the category into which the Trek Farley falls.  It’s not the ideal fat bike for touring on a multiday adventure (though you could); the Surly Pugsly and similar fat bikes have proven to be the bee’s knees for that purpose.

The Farley is selling out quickly.  From what I have read and heard in talking with guys at bike shops, complete bikes are hard to come by, as most shops have sold them all.  Framesets, on the other hand, are readily available.  Although this information is plastered all over the internet, oddly enough, I had no problem ordering a complete Farley in my size (19.5”).  Lucky me!  

Fat biking is one more niche of the biking world that I am eager to get into.  It’s funny how many areas of the sport you can explore.  My cycling evolution looks something like this:

·         XC riding & racing

·         Urban Assault

·         Freeriding

·         Road

·         Fixed gear commuting

·         Alleycat Racing

·         Road racing

·         XC riding

Pictures of the day

Nice day today: 43°F, so I threw the bike in the back of the Tacoma, grabbed my GX-1 and cruised in to Westminster.  I wanted to check out a small consist of freight cars that has been parked on the CSX line for several months.  Usually, I find some pretty interesting graffiti tags on railcars.  This wasn't the case today, I wasn't too impressed.  But it was “warm” out and the lighting was good so I decided to have some fun enjoying my two most favorite hobbies; cycling & photography.  I rode down the ballast along the tracks until I reached the cars and then just took my time exploring under the overpass. At one point, while making bike portraits, my bike blew over and the rocky ballast punched a perfect hole in my bar cap; nice.  

Ass pain & commuting

I may have mentioned that the building where I now work, at Knorr Brake Corporation is only 7.5 miles from my house. As such, I could not wait to begin riding my bike to work. Riding to work always guarantees a great day. I always feel fantastic after spending a half hour or so, on the bike in the morning. I commuted to work in NYC a bunch of times which was really exciting; blasting up Broadway through the Bronx and into Yonkers. And years ago, from 2003 to 2007, when I lived in downtown Baltimore, I carried out my longest streak of bike commuting ever; four years. I was a machine. I was regularly racing crits and I rode my fixed gear to work in rain and snow; my body was über race-hardened. Very unlike my body today which is … über slug softened.

This week, my first week at the new job has been awesome. Though I do not have my own office yet (I’m waiting for the guy who I’m replacing to retire in June) my temporary cubicle is pretty sweet. The people I work with are awesome and professional. And I could not wait to top all that awesomeness off with the added bonus of riding to work. So, last night I prepped the fixie. Nostalgically, I prepared my bike the night before. I dug out my lights and mounted them to the bars and seat tube. I slapped my fender on; lubed the chain and aired the tires to 90 psi. I blew the dust off my messenger bag and pulled my U-lock from its shelf. After I ironed a set of clothes and packed them neatly in my messenger bag I settled into bed with visions of a chilly but fun ride to work; just like the good ol’ days of my hipster, in-shape youth.

In the morning I squeezed into my winter riding gear.  Over the years, my chamois have managed to shrink somehow, but I fought myself into them, like pork into a sausage casing.  I wrapped my feet in tinfoil, for an extra layer of wind protection & reflective heat on my piggies.  One day, I'll have to break down and buy a pair of booties.  As I pedaled out of the porch-lit driveway and into the dark and arctic 14°F morning, my ass and rock-hard saddle, "Rocky", were painfully reunited. “Mamma mia!” I sucked it up and pushed my 48 X 17T combo up the first hill where the road then leveled off gradually, and pleasantly descended through the darkness. Though my ass bones got sore quickly, I got used to it and I settled into a comfy rhythm. Under my face mask, a smile stretched across my already snotty, snorting face as I enjoyed my silent propulsion though the chilly dawn. The fixie is dead silent; no creaks; no chain noise at all. Total silence.

At about mile 4, reality struck; holy crap I’m out of shape. I wondered if any of the passers-by had a set of charged defibrillator paddles in their car. What I thought would be a 25 minute commute began its stretch into a 45 minute pain game. I had hoped to get to work well before my 7:00 start time so that I could hit the locker room, and shower before anyone got there. The goal here was limiting the amount of time I had to be naked in that locker room. The hills and my single fixed gear were working hard against me. They mocked me; laughed at me; became so vane in their very topography. Not only the climbs, which I attacked with all the speed of a slug on a salt lick, but also the descents. I flew down a long steep stretch of Route 27 with a death grip on the bars and flames shooting out of my quads. I thought my legs were going to jettison from my hip sockets and flail off into the bushes along the roadside. My tachometer was redlined as I tried to keep my RPMs down to a leg-sustaining cadence. Oh, how I wished for the freewheeling beauty of my road bike. To coast would have been divine. When I reached the bottom of the hill I was so exhausted, that I was already dreading the imminent Bataan Death Ride that would be my commute home. What have I gotten myself into?

Work ensued.  My ass bones taunted me all day.  BUTT, it was a great day, and I felt like a warrior for toughing it out on such a chilly morning.

The ride home, surprisingly; nay miraculously, was not as painful as I had imagined. Yes, I climbed the long hill on Route 27 at a walking pace, but I refused to quit. I have walked hills when mountain biking. This I will admit. But, I have never walked a bike on pavement. I couldn't let that happen. I just couldn't let myself be that guy on the side of the road, walking his perfectly functional bike home. I just put my head down and slowly pushed myself home. And, I made it! By golly, I made it! 

The road to fitness is a long one, I think I’ll take my road bike.

Bunyan Velo

I recently stumbled upon a fantastic electronic magazine called Bunyan Velo.  As their website states: 

FOUNDED BY LUCAS WINZENBURG IN 2012, BUNYAN VELO IS A QUARTERLY COLLECTION OF PHOTOGRAPHS, ESSAYS, AND STORIES CELEBRATING THE SIMPLE PLEASURES OF TRAVELING BY BICYCLE. IT'S COMPLETELY FREE AND WE HOPE YOU'LL ENJOY READING IT.

If you enjoy fantastic photography, great writing of adventure riding stories, I highly recommend you skip on over to Bunyan Velo and immerse yourself in a free read!  

Career Move: Knorr Brake Corporation

Most of you know that I work in the rail industry as a Quality Assurance Engineer.  I've been in the industry for about 12 years now, starting off my first five years as a QC Inspector at a Baltimore based supplier; RailPlan.  From RailPlan I went to a major car builder; Kawasaki Rail Car.  I worked as a QA Engineer for four years at Kawasaki, on various railcar projects with NYCT, PATH & WMATA.  In 2012 I left Kawasaki and took a job with the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) as a QA Engineer.  With each leap in my career came more responsibility, better pay and a resultant increase in my knowledge base for rail cars, components and quality management systems.  This career path has been good for me.  I have a genuine interest in trains (instilled in me by my father’s Lionel trains he would set up at Christmas time) and a detail oriented mindset, essential for anyone working in the quality field.  

Yesterday marked my last day of employment with WMATA.  Monday I will be starting my new job at Knorr Brake Corporation as the Manager of Supplier Quality.  I will truly miss the people that I have worked with in the Authority but I am confident that I will be successful and happier in this new venture.  I was given a great send-off the other night at a restaurant.  The Superintendent of Car Maintenance had a plaque made for me.  After he spoke very kindly of me he gave me the plaque, saying that the plaques were typically retirement gifts and that a plaque had never been given for anyone working at the Authority for such a short amount of time (less than two years!).  I was honored that I had made such an impression.  The plaque will be hung in my new office at Knorr.  I think it's fantastic, one of the coolest things I've ever received.  The machinists that work in my yard machined the wheel out of aluminum and ran a program to inscribe my dates of service and their gratitude.  I really love it!

Above: (Left to right) Hakim & Steve and Mike D and myself.

I will miss the friends I have made and worked with at WMATA.  My manager, Steve is one of the best men I have ever worked under.  As an assistant scoutmaster, he and I had several Boy Scout stories to tell.  He like myself, made the trip out to Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico and hiked over the Tooth of Time.  I respect him for his work ethic, moral character, guidance and genuine personality. There is a bond here that will always be. I’ll miss Steve, but we’ll keep in touch. 

A little about Knorr:

Knorr is a very large supplier in the rail industry, manufacturing brake systems, door systems, HVAC systems and inverters.  I will be responsible for controlling their suppliers through auditing and other best practices.  I am really anxious to make a name for myself at Knorr.  

Appalachian Brewing Company

Nice day today.  Snowy.  Cold.  Scenic.  Rife with adventure.  Debbie and I took a drive up north, past Gettysburg, to Chambersburg, PA.  I needed to pop in to Gander Mountain to pick up something I had on lay-away (More on that at a later date) and we wanted to just drive around and see the sites while everything was so beautifully covered in snow.  I threw my growler in the truck, because I like to stop by Appalachian Brewing Company whenever we pass through Gettysburg.  We ended up grabbing lunch at the brewery and filling the growler with their Hoppy Trails IPA (so tasty!).  In addition to great beer, they also make fantastic food there.  I do not know why I always order the honey habanero wings.  They hurt soooo good.  After lunch we pushed on north through Michaux State Forest and into Chambersburg, checking out the sites and popping in to antique stores to look around.  It was a great day.  

EAT

I've been meaning to post about this great little "truck stop diner" that I love to stop at when I make the trip to visit my folks back home in upstate NY. It's called the D&H Penn-Can Restaurant, located on Route 81 in Harford, PA about an hour south of Binhamton, NY. You can't miss the giant "EAT" sign as you make your way through the mountains. I always read the sign and think: good idea. I typically stop in and order the same thing: a simple burger; cooked rare with one tomato and a little mayonnaise. It's cheap, good food and the atmosphere alone, is worth the stop. The interior is quite retro. Oranges and dark browns are the main color scheme surrounding wooden beams and drop ceiling tiles. Showers and payphones are located in the back room. And at each booth there is a phone jack from the days when land-lines were the primary means of phoning anyone. In addition to their quality cheap eats they've got an impressive selection of beef jerky; the huge rectangular pieces that look like as if they were made by squeezing ground meat out of a tube and running it over with a tractor trailer: The good stuff.

Update on the Winchester Model 63

I have been working on the old Winchester, .22 that I picked up a while ago; the Model 63 made in 1939. Though I did put quite a bit of work into removing the rust from the receiver and barrel using four-ought steel wool, a flattened brass shell casing, and that wonderful smelling Hoppes No. 9, there were other parts of the gun that needed replacement. The front sight for instance, was badly bent. My father helped me to replace this sight with a proper Lyman sight of the correct dimensions and vintage (thanks dad!). Also in need of replacement was the rusty old butt plate. Perhaps this gun stood on end in a damp basement or garage for some time. Whatever the cause, the butt plate was so heavily rusted that removing the rust from it would thin the material too much. Turning to Ebay, I was able to find a beat up stock, containing the butt plate I needed, and in much better condition to boot.  Still, the new butt plate will require a bit of work to remove the light rust on both sides of it.  I'm just glad it has some of the original bluing left on it.  Looks a lot better already.  

The last piece of the puzzle was the elevator for the rear sight. When I bought the rifle, this elevator was missing. I didn’t want to just throw any old elevator in there. And I certainly wasn't going to follow the advice of the gentleman I bought the rifle from:  "Throw a dime in there!"  (Yeah, thanks buddy)  I wanted it to be correct for the rifle. A Winchester factory original is what I was looking for. Again, turning to Ebay I was able to find an entire set of correct sights for my 63.  At any rate, I am having fun restoring this rifle as best I can.  I am eager to get it to the range and sight it in and think it will be a lot of fun for squirrel hunting next season.

Plowing forth

Yesterday was fun.  Lots of snow.   Lots of shoveling.  Lots of looking out the window, wondering if it was ever going to stop.  We ended the day with two feet of snow.  This morning, we woke up to another five inches (Mother nature’s valentine’s gift to me?).  Seeing as how the roads out in the boonies where we live were so bad, I decided to drop Debbie off at work on my way down to DC.  It’s a good thing I did.  Her Honda CRV handles great in the snow, but there is no way it would have made it through some of the un-plowed roads that she takes to work.  That snow really did a number on the roads and dropped a whole bunch of “beautiful” everywhere.  We stopped several times to snap pictures out the windows of the Tacoma this morning and had a good time doing so.  They way that bright red sun punched through the plum colored morning sky was really quite striking.