Monthly Archives: November 2008

Pushing Single Speeds

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Jesse recently bent his rear axle, so while his bike was down, I seized the opportunity to push single speeding on him.  I lent him my On One Inbred, a rigid (no suspension) steel framed single speed with 32×16 gearing.

Until someone has given single speed mountain biking a shot, you may get comments from them like, “I don’t get it…” or “Why not just stay in one gear on your geared bike?“. Most are valid questions, since it seems counter intuitive to give up suspension and 27 gears!

Jesse on the Postal Route
Climbing Postal

After the ride, I gave Jesse a few questions to get a feel for his single speed experience.

Bike Carson: What were your thoughts about single speeds before you tried one?

Jesse: Before I tried riding a single speed bicycle I had high anxiety. I was afraid it was going to be slow on the level ground, and then that I would have to sweat through laborious climbs. The fact that this particular bike has no suspension also made me nervous about descending the trails, especially on the rough and rocky portions.

Jesse on 7 Steps
Descending 7 Steps

Bike Carson: What were your first impressions once out on the trail?

Jesse: Once I hit the trail, the first thing I noticed was that I was very in control of my breathing. The climb was more of a muscle game rather than a cardio workout. My spinning was slower than on a traditional geared mountain bike in low gear which helped keep my heart rate down and my respiration to a minimum. To be honest, I didn’t even feel too much of a burn in my quads like I had expected. The bike itself was geared in such a way that I didn’t have any spinout on the back tire, even when I had to stand up and really muscle down on the pedals. When other people on the ride were fiddling with gears in the sharp transitions, all I had to do was simply stand up which made the ride simple and refreshing. This bike was also very lightweight and easy to maneuver.

Jesse
Descending the Vicee Rim Trail

Bike Carson: How was the overall experience? Do you think you’ll end up getting one?

Jesse: I guess you could sum up the ride by looking at the smile on my face the whole time. I had too much fun on a single speed bike. Coming back down the single track was different than I thought it would be, much smoother and controlled than I had expected. The gear ratio was a such that I could get a quick little burst of speed by doing some rapid pedaling on the straightaways as needed. Overall, you aren’t going to win any land speed records on a single speed but you will have more fun than you ever expected. A coworker of mine (who is an avid rider) looked at the bike and just “didn’t get it.” Once you try it for yourself you will “get it.”

I think that after I have a little more cash on hand I will definitely look into purchasing a single speed to have around for those days that you want to change up the routine a bit.

Bike Carson: Another soul saved!  Hallelujah!

Riding Carson City’s Parks

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On Saturday, Charlie and I decided to go have a look at the Linear Park Trail. Earlier in the week, the Nevada Appeal was working on a story about this trail for Saturday’s paper, and asked me for my thoughts on the recent trail construction near the 5th Street Round-a-bout. I don’t usually go to this area of town, and didn’t have much offer. It was time to do some exploring.

Linear Park Trail
Linear Park Trailhead at Governors Field

We parked at Governors Field and rode over to the trailhead on Roop Street. From there we rode east, and then crossed Saliman near Fremont School. It wasn’t long after this that we hit a dead end. This section of the trail is closed while the construction is under way it appears.

No Pase
iNo Pase!

We rode back to the car, loaded up the bikes, and drove down to Riverview Park.

Linear Park Trail
Linear Park Trail Heading Southwest

There is a lot of construction on the Freeway at 5th street and Fairview (formerly Edmonds), and we could see where the new bike path will go through. We continued on to the end of 5th street and parked at Riverview Park.

Riverview Park / Mexican Ditch Trail System
Riverview Park / Mexican Ditch Trail System

There is a good map of the trail system near the parking area. As you can see from the map above (click on the map, and then click on “all sizes” to see bigger versions), you can see how all the trail systems connect. The Linear Park Trail will soon connect to the Mexican Ditch trailhead at the Moffat Open Space Area. From this trailhead, you can connect to Riverview Park or continue on the Mexican Ditch Trail. The Mexican Ditch Trail will soon go all the way to the Silver Saddle Ranch, further extending trail possibilities on the ranch’s trail network.

Charlie
Full Loop Trail

Charlie and I rode the Riverview Park Trail “full loop” in a counterclockwise direction. The trail is hard packed, free of stickers, and great for kids! There were a lot of dog walkers on the trail that we had to ride around. A handlebar mounted bell is good to have in situations like this.

Charlie
Charlie at the Carson River

We made a quick stop when we first saw the river, and took some pictures. I knew of a better spot to take a longer break, so we kept riding.

Father and Son
Father and Son

All along the way, there are outstanding, unobstructed views. You are also far enough away from houses to get a good “outdoors” experience.

Charlie
Nice Views of Slide Mountain

Break at the Carson River
Great Place for Throwing Stones

We stopped at a little beach where I used to come back in the 80′s. There were plenty of stones to throw into the river. They mush replenish them periodically, because I was pretty sure I threw them all into the river back then!

Before we made the final stretch back to the car, I had Charlie ride down the river bank for another photo. Before I could give him instruction, he took off and went for it. It wasn’t till I started looking at the pictures that I noticed how good his form was! Elbows bent, weight back, and in the attack position. That’s my boy!

Charlie Perfect Form

I highly recommend these trails for families with young mountain bikers! It is mostly flat, but the little hills along the way provide good learning opportunities for gear shifting. Once all these trails are connected, they will be an incredible asset to the city, providing many recreational opportunities for Carson City residents.

Soul Food

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Most of the time, Halloween is the turning point for the nice weather, but we’re in the middle of a warm streak with temperatures in the 60′s every day at ride time. It’s just about perfect in shorts and a short sleeve jersey!

Top of the Russel's Revenge Climb
Top of Russel’s Revenge

Yesterday was one of those magical mountain bike days. We had a small group, and everyone was having a good day. Everyone was climbing good, and was in good spirits. The senses were sharp, and we all had Jedi like control over the bikes. Scott R even made it up Russel’s revenge on his 1×9 (middle chain ring)!

When we all got to the bottom, you could see it in everyone’s faces. A look of amazement! We all just smiled and said, “Wow”.

Baldy Green Trail
Tom and Scott R on the Baldy Green Trail

It was definitely the high point of the work day.  There was nothing that was going to be more climatic, or anything that could shake the good spirits we had the rest of the day.  My tank was EMPTY upon returning to the office…it was a 100% effort.

Mountain Biking. Good for what ails ya. Or as Scott R said, “That ride was soul food!”

Baldy Green Trail
Jesse, The Dark Rider of the Apocalypse

Construction at Centennial

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V&T Encroachment at Centennial?, originally uploaded by Toby1Kanobi.

Bike Carson reader Toby1Kanobi recently took some pictures of the Centennial Trail, and wanted to share them (see more pictures by clicking on the picture above). This is the eastern portion of the trail network near Mound House. Notice the new road that was recently graded in!

Does anyone know if this is part of the V&T Construction Project? If not, what is it? Regardless of what it is, we may be looking at a trail reroute. This will be too bad, since this area was one of my favorite sections of the trail.

Additional Note: Vassago Jabberwocky 29er in the foreground. Lucky.

Bonus Trivia for Readers Outside the Carson Area:  The world famous Moonlight Bunny Ranch is just past the houses in the picture.  Looks glamorous, doesn’t it?

Tough Times Ahead

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This just in from NewsCarsonCity.com:

Governor Jim Gibbons, who for months on end has been repeating his mantra of “no new taxes” has been confronted with what many economists and government financial experts call the “point of no return” on even just basic state services like medicaid, mental health care for the seriously disturbed and running safe prisons. Gibbons told reporters in a meeting of his financial advisers today that Nevada is bleeding profusely and that tax revenues are plunging.

Possible new tax sources could include a first-ever corporate income tax, expanded sales taxes on services, like car repairs, dry cleaning, and more. Higher fees to register and transfer ownership of cars and trucks. A temporary state-wide boost to the sales tax. A shorter work week for state workers, bonding for the rest of the state’s tobacco settlement fund and other options.

Gas prices are currently down, but I don’t expect this to last. In fact, it will not be surprising to see shortages in 2009! And according to the above article, it looks like cost of ownership for cars will almost certainly rise in the coming months here in Nevada. Obviously driving less and eliminating a new car purchase will save you a lot of money down the road. Keep your old car going, and figure out ways to utilize your bicycle more. Bicycle purchase, repair, and maintenance will cost you far less than the cheapest Hybrid automobile, and besides, cycling is way more fun.

The “shorter work week for state workers” is also of special interest to me, since this may directly affect me and many of my cycling brethren. I’m already running pretty lean on the finances, but I suppose I could get by with a little less. It seems there is always some place to trim the fat. I’m not sure how many hours would be cut, but the thought of extra hours for a bike ride could be a silver lining. Mutli-hour Friday afternoon bike rides anyone?