New Shiny and Things

New shiny!

Scott helped me pick out a new all purpose commuter/grocery/beer getter/bar hopper bike. It is a Surly Cross Check Complete, the only stuff I had to add were the Crank Bros Egg Beater pedals, rear rack, and the Ortlieb Back Roller Classic panniers.

Rode it to work today and I have to say it has probably the most comfortable ride I have ever experienced. I am really digging this bike.

Pictures:

On to other business. Wednesday Night saw a few of us hit up Murphy. It was in awesome shape, and lots of people out there. Mikey, Matt, Kris, and myself did nice lap and then drank a beer in the parking lot. It was a very nice night out.

Thursday I missed out on what sounded like an awesome Thursday Night Ride at Leb and then after party at Old Chicago. Next time!

Looks like there is some trail work at Murphy Sunday and also a group ride. Details on this post.

Have an awesome weekend! Looks like it is going to be a good one!

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

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.

Work Time

Rainy day once again and my bikes were in need of some attention. So I grabbed a beer and went to work. I finished up my single speed conversion on my old Rockhopper. It is now setup perfect for the trails around here at 34x18. I had to add the Surly Singleator back on to the bike since 34x18 isn't the magic gear and I don't have either horizontal dropouts or a eccentric bottom bracket on that bike. It is setup in the push down position since I destroyed the spring that is used for the push up position. I may have to order a new one if the chain starts skipping.

Cleaned up my work bench area a bit too and sorted chain chunks into areas with their similar brethren. This week looks equally crappy in the weather department with rain from Monday through Friday with Wednesday being a maybe for a nice day but trails would be closed. Road Ride. Looks like MORBID is going to turn into Minnesota On Road Bikers Into Drinking. Eh, at least I would be riding.

See ya out there.

On the Trainer...Again...

Fucking rain. More trainer time. More Kettlehouse, this time the IPA. At least the beer flows well and stays in the cage without exploding. You ever tried pouring beer into a bike bottle? I have never burped so much in my life.

So what do I think about the Floyd thing? Honestly at this point I don't really care, it was fun to watch. Does a person ever win the appeal? No. The only team I care about now is Chipotle/Slipstream. Hopefully they maintain a clean program. Will I watch the tour next year? You bet. Can't wait to see Andy Schleck tough it out.

Over and out.
-pete