B.S.M.E.

Here we are, finally done with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and wondering/looking for what to do next!

(Incidentally, this is a really good time for any of you to order custom sewing - turn around times can be really fast since I'm out of school and looking for work.)

Before spring semester the commuter bike speedometer read 8,456 miles... but I really wanted to hit 10,000 by the end of the semester, so I took the long way on the commute whenever possible and it worked!





After finishing a senior design project involving a scale model oilfield automation system using MATLAB and Arduino, then driving to Denver to take the Fundamentals of Engineering exam, I needed a brain dump day in the woods.... Corcoran Peak was the goal - a small peak with a long approach with a vehicle or a shorter distance but harder approach on a mountain bike.

I set off from Grand Junction towards the Bookcliffs north of town, rode through the desert to the end of 25 road, and had some entertaining hike a bike up the Tellerico trail to the top of the Bookcliffs.  My Hike a Bike Shoulder Strap came in really handy.  It has two side release buckles that attach with webbing and a tri glide buckle to either end of the top tube, then a removable padded shoulder strap clips into that.  Let me know if you want to order version 2 - $20 shipped.  It would be easy to just tie on a piece of webbing, but this thing is really easy to deploy and adjust...

Once on the Ute Trail, there's some great but short lived singletrack winding through the junipers, but then the trail kinda disappears for a little ways... more hike a bike ensues then eventually the trail comes back and turns into a dirt 2 track with wild horses.







Ute Trail joins a nice dirt road that goes up and down some hills towards Corcoran Peak.  Near Corcoran Peak are some weird formations labeled "hoodoos" on the map that were fun to check out.  I parked the bike near the hoodoos and went on foot from there, through a bunch of sharp, scrubby bushwacking that would be nearly impossible without elk trails to follow.  I was getting low on water so upon finding a small patch of new spring snow, I crammed my bottle full of the cold, wet goodness.








Then I had to come all the way back home.  Its good to feel tired again!

The Two Towers

Over my last spring break probably ever, I worked 4 days but went climbing on Friday.  Five of us climbed two classic desert towers in Colorado National Monument, Kissing Couple (5.10, 5 pitches) and Otto's Route on Independence Monument (5.8 4 pitches).  We had a great crew and perfect weather.
Here's a few pictures.

Cleaveland Mountaineering bags have more fun than I do.

Here's a blog post by a Cleaveland Mountaineering customer on tour in Patagonia, Chile.

http://runoutoffroute.wordpress.com/2014/02/17/postagonia-3-real-big-glaciers/

Yep, my bags, thanks to some intrepid customers, go more places than I ever will.

Fatigued Fisticuff

Way back in 2009, Vassago had their legendary Black Friday sale, and I picked up a Fisticuff.

Last month, after about 11,000 miles, I noticed a 1 inch long fatigue crack in the weld at the top tube - head tube junction.  Rather than risking a catastrophic failure, I contacted Vassago (now under new ownership). They still carry the same crash replacement policy, so I picked up the latest Fisticuff and built it up to replace my old Snickers Brown friend.

Here's some of the adventures the original Fisticuff survived.  The write up will finish with a brief comparison of the new and old Fisticuff frame sets.

The build up was very simple, dinglespeed with mostly spare parts.  I even ran a v brake on a Mavic A317 disc only rear rim.... and it worked great.

The bike was inspired by the spare parts pile and the screaming deal, and as a commuter/do everything bike.




The bike was soon clad in my third or fourth frame bag ever.  My first ever seat bag came along for a 120 mile ride in January from Lake City to Gunnison, CO.



Then a great deal on a Phil Wood bottom bracket and DT/S-Works rear hub led to a remake of the bike - new handbuilt by me wheelset, gears,.....



During the summer of 2010 a soft tissue over training injury in my left calf inspired the development of a one legged bike system.  It turns out that a 31.8 mm stem clamps perfectly onto the downtube of normal steel bike frames.  Then cut the steerer tube off an old junk fork for a peg for the left foot, add a toe clip on the right pedal, and you've got it.





And then I went back to school for Mechanical Engineering and needed a commuter bike.  I swapped the 32 mm cross tires for 35 mm slicks, an Old Man Mountain rack, and (embarrassingly) a math study sheet.
I soon found out that the math study sheet was distracting while biking in traffic.



The Old Man Mountain rack was "graced" by a Cilogear 40L backpack rigged up to be a pannier (freshmen do weird things... especially former mountain guide freshmen).



Somewhere in there my calf healed up well enough to go back to a normal two pedal bike.  I also got smart and made myself a pannier bag/pack.





There were two advantages to the Snickers Brown paint job....
An uglier bike is less of a thief magnet.
The bike looked best covered in mud.



Cold hands on a wet road/dirt road ride?  No problem.... just find some scrap plastic on the side of the road.



















And then, soon after making a new frame bag for the Fisticuff, I noticed the fatigue crack.... oh no!



Vassago customer service (the new owner himself) responded within hours to my customer service request and set me up with a new frame at a nice discount via the crash replacement policy.

The new frame fixed everything I didn't like about the first version.  The color options (graphite or white) are much better than Snickers Brown without being too flashy.  The rear dropouts were much improved by including built in chain tensioners and an adjustable disc brake mount for the singlespeed crew.  The head tube is taller and the top tube and down tube are spread apart more for better aesthetics and reduced fatigue stress in the junction.
The parts swapped over seamlessly from the old bike and the bike rides really nicely.
As a nice bonus, the frame bag also swapped over nicely.  Not a perfect fit, but good enough to not make another one.




So there you have it.  The first edition Fisticuff did everything you could ask for from a multipurpose adventure/commuting bike (unfortunately most of the miles are commuting).  The bike worked great and without the fatigue crack I would have kept on riding it indefinitely.  The second iteration of the Fisticuff fixed all the problems I had with the first version.  Anyone who wants a steel do everything adventure/commuter/cyclocross/road/dirt road  bike and wants the flexibility to run ANY type of drivetrain or brakes should take a serious look at the new, improved Fisticuff.  This combination of options is not found on any other cyclocross style frame to my knowledge.

Yesterday I rode the new Fisticuff 14 miles (each way) to go on a 12 mile trail run in the snow.

Cleaveland Mountaineering Christmas Sale!

Cleaveland Mountaineering Christmas Sale!

Custom frame bag base price - $90 (save $20).
Everything Bags - $50 each WITH P clamps (down from $60) or $45 each without P clamps.

Things in stock right now:

1 new blue VX42 seat bag - $90
1 used blue VX42 seat bag - $70
2 new blue VX42 Everything bags - $100 for the set with P clamps
1 really really used(9,000 commuter miles) black VX42 frame bag for a 54 cm cyclocross frame (Vassago Fisticuff) - has new #10 WR main zipper, tapered front, left map pocket.  $30.
1 gently used frame bag for a 15" Motobecane mountain bike, main zip and reflective only.  VX42 white side out.  $40.

The two used frame bags MIGHT fit your bike too - I can get you frame measurements so we can compare the fit.

Here is the black used frame bag next to its replacement for my daily commuter bike.



And here is the commuter with the new frame bag - tapered front, fully padded, dual compartment, map/lock pocket, white side out for better visibility, and bright green webbing and reflective for more visibility.

There and Back Again, A Moots Tale

Here's a fun little story my wife and I wrote about her new to us Moots YBB frame.  Its a major testament to Titanium as a frame material that it lived at the bottom of a lake for about a decade and emerged in great riding condition.

Check it out over at the Moots blog:
http://moots.com/afternoon-ti/there-and-back-again-a-moots-tale/