Setting Up The Ice Bike

Since it was 5 degrees when I woke up with a -10 windchill I thought tonight might be a good time to get the Ice Bike setup. My Ice Bike is built off my old 1997 Specialized Rockhopper FS. It is now setup as a single speed with a Surly Singleator tensioner and the rest is kinda tossed together. The tires were made by MORBID Member Minnesota who moved to Texas where they have no need for studded tires. Thanks Chris! Here are the pictures:









She isn't the prettiest but she works well. Only minor cuts while mounting the tires.

Drinks & Dirt!
Pete

Stickers For You.

Stickers have been ordered, vinyl, weather proof. Nice and small at about 1.25 inches square-ish. So it will fit on a seat tube, down tube, forehead, bike tray, nipple, etc. They should be in house a little before X-Mas. I will let you know when I get 'em.

29er Single Speed Fun

Location: River Bottoms, Bloomington, MN
Time: 6:30 p.m
Bikes: Check
Beer: Check
Lights: Check
Temp: 33*
MORBID Members: MikeyB, Petey

Petey & I broke out the 29er single speeds for their maiden voyage. Pete riding a Surly Karate Monkey and myself riding a Raleigh XXIX. We started out at the Indian Mounds Elementary School at the east end of the trail. It was a little different at first not having any gears. Gears just complicates things. On top of no gears we had no suspension. Yup we were rolling fully rigid. After a couple miles we were in the groove. The new Kenda Small Block 8's on both of our bikes were sticking like Velcro on the dry single track. Once we got to the raft at 9 mile creek we still had a lot of energy in us so we decided to cross and go the distance (He's going the distance, he's going for speed). On the ride we saw 8 or so deer and an owl flew out just in front of Pete which almost made him crap his pants. We also crossed paths (trail) with another 10 riders tonight. The hills near the Indian Mounds Elementary School were killers on the single speed. After 3 hours of riding we finally made it back to the cars for a beer. Tonights beer was brought to us by Kettlehouse Brewery. Mmm...Cold Smoke Scotch Ale.

-MikeyB

So You Want to Join MORBID...

Do you meet any of these stringent requirements?
- Live in MN.
- Work in MN.
- Once lived in MN.
- Have ridden in MN and plan to ride again.

and you must
- Like the booze

and
- Like to ride your bike in the dirt.


Questions I have received:
Q: So what does a MORBID membership get you?
A: Nothing physical, only membership in to a kinda exclusive group of people who like the bike and the drinks. And loads of Karma. Oh, and you can send us rides/bikes/drinks/stuff to have posted to the site/links/etc.

Q: Will stickers or other crap be offered in the future?
A: Probably.

Q: What if I don't meet the above criteria?
A: Send us an email with sufficient justification and I will see what we can do. Deal?

Q: Great, how do I join?
A: Send an email to pete@peteryan.com with these details: 1) Name you want listed. 2) Web address you want linked to(if you have one) 3) email address for secret MORBID communications 4) What connects you to MN and drinking.

See you on the trails!
-pete

Leb Night Ride

Location: Lebanon Hills, Eagan, MN
Time: 6:30 p.m
Bikes: Check
Beer: Check
MORBID Members: MikeyB, Petey




Nov. 13th, 6:30pm, 55 degrees outside. Perfect temp for a night ride! Thanks global warming. Pete & I hit up Leb last night for a night ride. When we arrived there were roughly 20 vehicles in the lot. Many people taking advantage of the warm weather and there was also a MORC group ride meeting up at the same time. We let the group ride go ahead of us since we knew we would be dragging some ass. Leb is a totally different animal at night. If you haven't biked Leb a lot you forget were all of the rocks and logs are at and you start to become disoriented in the dark. You have to be very cautious or you will end up with Pete's bike tire ramming up your ass. The trail was in good condition except for an abundance of brake bumps. There are parts on the Dream Trail where it would be a fast single track if it wasn't for the brake bumps. You have to watch your speed on the bumps otherwise you risk a nice wipe out.


Beer of choice tonight was some Pick Axe Blonde Ale from Keweenaw Brewing Company. The beer was just as good as it was out of the tap last weekend. I think we will need to take a road trip to upper Wisconsin and purchase as many 6'ers of KBC as we can fit in the car. I'm telling ya this beer is just that good. I think it even tastes better than New Glarus (oh yes I went there).


-MikeyB

Nothing wrong with Mondays

Location: Theo Wirth Park, Minneapolis, MN
Time: 2 p.m
Bikes: Check
Beer: Check
MORBID Members: Scott, Slim

Slim and I made use of a nice chilly Monday afternoon to get out on our bikes at Theodore Wirth Park. Theo Wirth is a trail that is truly unique in that it almost falls in the shadow of downtown Minneapolis. I can’t imagine there are many trails that allow you to hit dirt so close to a major metropolitan area.

The weather was brisk and the first bits of snow we’ve seen this year fell upon us while riding. But the leaf strewn trails were fast and we only saw one other rider the entire time we were there. It was great to be out.

I also made use of my new remote camera trigger and took my first ever self portrait mountain bike shot (see the last image). Of course I set the shutter speed a bit to slow and I ended up with a blurry shot. I’m hoping to go out again on Friday and give it another shot. I’ll try and take some close-ups of my setup as well.

Post ride beers were courtesy of Town Hall Brewery in Minneapolis. Beers consumed: Hope & King Scotch Ale on cask and the seasonal Belgian Raspberry Brown.

Work Then Play

Location: Murphy-Hanrehan, Savage, MN
Time: 10am Trailwork, 2pm Ride
Bikes: Check
Beer: Check
MORBID Members: Pete, Mikey, Aimee

I (Mikey) started early today at 10am showing up for the Murphy trailwork. 5 workers armed with picks, shovels, rock bars and a rock cart. Our mission, to finish the rock garden at marker 63. First problem, we have no rocks. Up the hill we went with the rock cart and rock bars. After a few minutes we found biking gold, a good plot of land with rocks peaking out of the ground. It took 8 trips with the rock cart to get the old giants back down the trail. After that it was gravy with the end result being the finished rock garden.

After the trailwork I met up with Pete & Aimee in the parking lot for a ride. There were a lot of people on the trail today with 40+ cars in the parking lot. The trail was in pretty good shape with exception to fallen leaves causing some slick spots around corners. I was 2 for 3 on the log ride today. Petey was 0 for 1 (weak). After the ride we enjoyed some Kettle House brew.

-MikeyB

BTW don't forget to check on Petey's Karate Monkey build.

All I want...

When I was a kid I loved Winter, snow outside, the possibility of school getting canceled, and XMas. I couldn't wait for the presents. I would literally shake with excitement from December 1st until I got to open those perfectly wrapped little boxes of happiness. I was so filled with joy while opening them and then it would happen, clothes. Aww (insert relative), why did you get me a shirt? I couldn't play with it like the shiny Matchbox or Hotwheels cars or make them fight like my Ninja Turtles...I HATED getting clothes...

How times have changed...All I want for XMas follows:

Fisher 29er Short Sleeve Jersey - Men's - Fucking Hot.


Fisher Long Sleeve Merino Wool Trainer - Cause I am a wuss in the cold...


The Masher - Cause two different blues really bring out my eyes...


SPEEDY T - You always need more stylish t-shirts with your hometown on 'em


DELUXE Sock - Mmmm Sock Guy Wool


Rapha New Winter Hat - I hate when my head is cold.


Rapha Race Bag - I know, not quite clothes but it will hold these items...


Swobo Men's Organic J-Mak Knicker - Gotta have bottoms, the pantless look just doesn't look good on men.


I would actually be happy with any of the stuff these companies produce but these are some of my favorites. Better start making your lists.

-pete