Here is the YouTube Video from Ash canyon.
Bike Smith Video of Ash Canyon
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Monthly Archives: April 2008
What to Wear for Your Bicycle Commute
From the Muscle Powered Blog…
Bicycle Commuting Series – Chapter 1
What to Wear for Your Bicycle Commute
In preparation for Carson City’s Bike to Work Week, I’d like to begin a series on Bicycle Commuting. The target audience for this series will the beginning bicycle commuter, riding round trip distances of 1 – 12 miles. Bicycle commuting in Carson City is actually quite easy, but if you’ve never done it before, you may have questions or misconceptions on what riding to work is all about.
Continue reading this article over at the Muscle Powered Blog HERE.
Trail Update
Our first hike of the proposed KC-AC trail with Alex and Keith from Walk Carson
Last night Jeff Moser and I attended the Open Space Advisory Committee meeting at the Carson City Community Center. There was a long agenda, but Juan Guzman was thoughtful enough to move the citizens’ participation portion of the agenda first, so we wouldn’t have to sit through their entire meeting.
I could tell you what was said by the other presenters’ who went before me, and what they were presenting, but I don’t remember what was said. All I could think of was, what am I going to say? I’m going to be on TV, I have to speak into a microphone, I have to speak in front of a lot of people. I WAS NERVOUS!
I know it’s hard to believe, but I have a fear of public speaking. Most of you who’ve met me on the trail probably think I never shut up. But I was nervous. Fortunately for me, Jeff M. was there for support, and every time I stuttered or paused, Juan stepped in and filled the gap with pertinent information.
So the long story short: most of the Committee members have used the Creek Trail and they like it. They all recognize its value to our community. When the meeting started, I was informed that our trail project was designated as a low priority. I was surprised when the Committee voted unanimously to move it to the top of the priority list.
This doesn’t mean we’ll break ground tomorrow. It does mean the process will now move a little quicker. There are a few reasons this happened. The staff at the Department of Parks and Recreation support this project, the Open Space Advisory Committee recognizes the “quality of life” this project brings to Carson City, and most important, Muscle Powered is involved. If I would have approached the City and said I wanted to build a trail, I don’t think they would have taken me seriously.
But because of the support of such a respected organization, and it was acknowledged by committee members that Muscle Powered has stepped up to the plate in the past for projects such as this, they voted unanimously to approve moving forward with the Kings Canyon to Ash Canyon Trail project.
Thank you Muscle Powered!
Bike to Work Week is Coming
At January’s Muscle Powered meeting, Jeff P and I took on Carson City’s Bike to Work Week as one of our main projects for the year. After months of discussions, research, and meetings, we are pleased to announce that we finally HAVE AN EVENT PLANNED!
Thanks to all of our generous sponsors, there will be Bike Clinics, a Movie Night, Social Rides, Free Coffee at commuter stations, Free Bus service on JAC for multi-mode transportation, and a final event with live music and a prize raffle, including a brand new commuter bike!
You can help us promote this event by distributing the Bike to Work Week Flier and Brochure found on our Bike to Work Page. Post these documents at work. Share them with your friends and coworkers. Help us make this event BIG!
Resources
- Bike Carson’s Bike to Work Week Page
- Bike Carson’s Interactive Event Calendar
- The Muscle Powered Blog. Check the MP blog for further information on Bike to Work Week, and stay tuned for a Bicycle Commuting series.
Rest Day
Today was a rest day. A day to let the body heal from all the week’s activities. I still managed to fill the day with bicycle related activities though.
Scott R and I headed down to the Bike Habitat to get a few things, and see what was new. Scott and I took turns on the Kona Paddy Wagon out in back of the shop. The Paddy Wagon is a single speed road bike, with a flip-flop hub that allows you to run it either free wheel or fixed. The bike was a blast to ride, and left a lingering impression in our minds long after the visit.
The Bike Habitat has a nice website. Go check it out if you haven’t seen it at bikehabitat.com.
The next stop was Marcus’s house to see phase 1 of his new pump track. Phase 1 included lots of brush clearing. I think even the Brush-Clearer-In-Chief from Crawford, Texas would have been proud of Marcus’s efforts. We helped him play pick up sticks after he went nuts with the Bobcat. Personally, I would’ve used a Daisy Cutter, but I think you may need a pesky permit for that.
After our ears and noses were full of dirt, we departed for Red’s to drink a couple pints of Icky. Once I got home, I put the final parts on the Kona Coiler. It’s ready to roll!
Lamb Chops with Garlic Please
Much like last year, the sheep started off cute, a welcome addition to the sights and sounds of the trail. As the days have progressed though, the presence of the sheep has grown tedious.
I think we can all appreciate fire suppression, but trail suppression is no fun. Many of the trails require special attention to the “obstacles”, the hundreds of piles of sheep poop. The sheep dip also gets kind of steamy on the warmer days. Since I keep my bike in my office, I’ve been trying had to keep my tires clean. Sheep poop encrusted tires are a horrible way to sell bicycle commuting and convenient bicycle storage to your office mates!
But I guess it’s best to just wait it out, and be happy. It will be good in the long run. I think after our woolen friends have left, it’d be a great idea to rake some of the trails. In addition to all the droppings, the sheep have kicked rocks around everywhere. The singletrack could use a little TLC.
In the meantime, I recommend visiting one of the Basque restaurants in Gardnerville. The JT in particular serves of some of the best Lamb Shoulder Steaks and Lamb Chops! It’ll be a good and healthy way to take out your aggressions. Ask for extra garlic.
CYCLING TIP #1
Welcome to Cycling Tips.
Bike-To-Work Month is fast approaching. To help prepare for B.T.W.M. I thought I would start a blog filler series to help us celebrate Bike Month. Please feel free to add your comments and ideas for future Cycling Tips. Tips don’t have to be road bike or mountain bike specific, here at Bike Carson we love everything bike. BMX. Cruiser. Single Speed. Track. Tandem. Commuter. Penny Farthing.
EVERYTHING BIKE.
Today’s tip is for the novice road cyclist, otherwise known as, MOUNTAIN BIKER.
Cycling Tip #1
When riding with a group of cyclists it is customary, required, demanded, that you point out ( extend right or left arm and point in the direction of the object you want to avoid ) road obstacles that may cause injury and/or bicycle damage to your fellow cyclists. This includes, but isn’t limited to; glass, potholes, roadkill (especially roadkill), pedestrians, parked cars, 2×4′s and 4×4′s, etc.
Several years ago a couple of friends’ of ours, who are married and are avid mountain bikers, decided to give road cycling a try. With encouragement from friends, they did their road bike research and settled on a pair of matching entry level road bikes. Smart decision. They are life-long dirt bike aficionados and didn’t know if they would turn into part-time pavement lovers.
Off they went on their first road ride together. It was everything we told them it was. Riding together was a little easier, mph were a little higher, descending was almost as fun as mountain biking, and drafting was a blast, until..
About two miles from home the Wife, enjoying the pleasure of increased speed and the efficiency of drafting, didn’t want this moment to end. The Husband, riding in front, was focused on the task at hand, setting a comfortable pace so as not to drop his wife. As they were pedaling towards their destination, the Husband spotted an obstacle in the road that they were fast approaching. He decided at this moment to apply his well-honed mountain bike skills to his growing arsenal of road bike skills. He recognized the obstacle they were approaching was a 2×4. He quickly, effortlessly, and with pride, dodged the 2×4. The Wife wasn’t so lucky. She was in the draft, not a care in the world… until she hit the 2×4 that her husband quickly, effortlessly, and with pride, dodged a split second earlier.
Apparently no one told him about Cycling Tip #1.
Luckily she escaped serious injury. Just road rash and an aversion to riding in a draft, that’s all.
Her husband wasn’t so lucky. He rightfully heard an earful from the Wife, “you’re supposed to point that S**T out Dumb-Ass!”
We’ve all been there. One of the many times I’ve been there, was when I took Amy on a Jeff-Ride. This may be Cycling Tip #2; Don’t go on a Jeff-Ride. I took Amy, with only a couple of years of mountain bike experience under her belt, on a ride in the nearby Pinenut Mountains. I showed her the Topo with the double-track that connected Como Rd. to Illinois Canyon. All Jeff-Rides start like this. A long-forgotten double-track on an expired Topo. But she trusted me. She shouldn’t have. Many hike & bike miles and eight hours later we returned to our car. And I experienced the first love-drought of our relationship. The same love-drought the Husband would soon experience.
On a group ride shortly after their accident, the Husband was riding off-the-front by five hundred feet. He didn’t realize he was so far off-the-front. Those of us behind him observed, what appeared to be, the Husband furiously pointing to the ground every few seconds. We were riding on new asphalt and we didn’t notice any unusual road debris that warranted his frantic pointing. It took us about five minutes to realize he was pointing out the flexible reflective markers that NDOT places every fifty feet on newly paved roads, hardly a cycling hazard.
The Husband had learned a hard lesson.
So, if you have any cycling tips you’d like to share, please send them to us.