Ride Chatter

Lucky for us, the largest distributor of cycling parts and accessories in the country is located in the 'burbs just south of Minneapolis. Every day we see the advantages of getting speedy delivery of bits from Quality Bike Products (QBP) for our customers. On Sunday, we saw the true beauty of QBP being in our back yard was so we could ride our bikes to their annual trade event, Frostbike.

Thanks to a late start, the temperature was up to 5º when we hit the road at 10am. (They do call it Frostbike, afterall.) The roads were mostly clear and the Sunday morning traffic was fairly light. I realize not everyone would have enjoyed this, but we're all native midwesterners. It rocked.

The event was packed with dealers, vendors and famous industry types from all over the world (Greg Lemond walked past at one point). Being that Surly is owned by QBP, the Surly booth was a happening place. Civia and Salsa (also Q brands) were showing off their shiny new product lines. We got to see the new QBP brand for '09,  All-City Cycles. This brand is built around a steel frame that is track legal, but is designed to be sold as a hip city bike. The Minneapolis skyline is in the All-City logo as well as lasercut from the rear dropouts. Too cool.

After geeking out on the bike goods and having an awesome lunch (thanks, Steve) we jumped back on the bikes for the 16 mile ride back to the shop. Today, I love my job.

Here's a little video of the gang at Frostbike '09:

Ride details:
-Departing Temp: 5º
-Bikes: 1 Pugsley, 1 Bauer fixed gear road bike,1 Raleigh fixed commuter, one mountain bike and my handmade steel recumbent commuter
-Technical Issues: 1 flat tire (Sara!)
-Mileage: 32 round trip
-Best Schwag: Sigma Hiro Taillight

Peter Eland, bike culture aficionado and editor of VeloVision, has published eight years of top-notch articles. The issue with Dale and Mary has everything from bikes in Phnom Pennhe, to reviews from Cycle 2008 (the major bike show in the UK), some bike reviews, a bike light test, an interesting article on how people pedal their children to school and other eclectic cycle stories.

Velo Vision Issue #32 Article

We're always excited and inspired when the new VeloVision arrives at the shop -- every issue is filled with great pictures and stories that you just don't see anywhere else. In fact, we're so fond of VeloVision that we're the U.S. subscription agent! We also stock back issues. Check out VeloVision on our website here: www.perennialcycle.com/velovision

You can see Velo Vision here: Velo Vision Website

Check out the Gallery of some bike rides Dale and Mary have been out on:

I have a good friend that came up with the idea that he and I ought to do a hundred mile ride each month of the year. I think I might have been dizzy from cough syrup when he mentioned it, or actually I might have been in the middle of that soaking wet 200 mile ride we did in September (yes, the 200 miler was also his idea). Well, I don't recall what my weakness was at the moment he mentioned it, but I let the idea pass without telling him that he was talking as though we lived a lot farther south than Minnesota. I can't say that I really reacted to the idea at all, but anybody in Minnesota will tell you that doing a century ride in January is out of the question... Downright Crazy!

The average low AND HIGH are way below freezing for the month of January. Well, no surprise then that our January century ride turned out to be cold...Really cold. We met at -5° F and at lunch time we were still in single digits (I think it was 7° by then). Thanks to both of us being purebred Minnesotans and me carrying an extra layer we managed to knock off the 100 miles without suffering hypothermia, or even frostbite.

To be honest, it was a blast. I saw a  gorgeous sundog (cold weather rainbow from bright sun and ice clouds) in the morning. The sky was a beautiful, bright blue and the snow was pure white. The farm houses looked cozy and the farm animals huddled together giving off clouds of steam from their breathing.

Check out the movie of the ride below. Sorry I didn't get more pictures, but I was definitely risking frostbite every time I took off my mitten to snap a couple pics, or videos.

The Details:

I rode a Bacchetta Giro 20TT and Derek was on is Surly Cross Check with Moustache bars. I used Schwalbe Marathon 1.5" tires and Derek ran 1-3/8" IRD Crossfire tires. Derek used clipless pedals/shoes while I opted for platform pedals and some thicker boots. We both suffered a bit from cold feet.

I started with 6 upper layers and 3 leg layers and Derek started with 5 upper layers and 2 lower layers. At the half-way point I had shed one layer and Derek needed one. Teamwork. While Lobster Gloves are pretty darned warm, they don't match the warmth of a pair of choppers (old school leather mitten outers with a pair of wool mitts inside). We switched these around a bit.

Winter commuting by bicycle in Minnesota can be  challenge. Last week was a full on battle. It was below zero most of the week and we've had a few snowfalls in the last 10 days. This mix of super cold temps with snow makes for huge patches of extremely slippery ice. I can hear most of you chuckling over my comment referring to this weeks ice as being more slippery than last weeks ice. Funny, Yes. True, Yes.

On Monday I was struggling through my commute with fresh snow falling and my eyelashes froze together on one eye. Moments earlier while walking my bike as I walked my daughter to her morning Spanish Class I mentioned how I thought the snow gave a romantic feel to the cold temperatures. At the time I wasn't thinking about how the moisture in the air could melt on my eye and then freeze as the wind blew across my face.

As I got within a few blocks of the shop I was riding out in the lane because the side of the road was too chunky and icy for me to ride on. I had a truck pull up alongside me and I was sure that I was going to get yelled at for, well it could have been so many things actually, but my main thought was for riding in the lane of a busy street. The driver rolled down the passenger side window and let me know that my kickstand was down. As he pulled away he said he just didn't want me to get hurt. How sweet is that! It's 10 degrees below freezing, it's snowing hard now, I'm sweating from the challenge to stay upright, I can only open one eye and here's someone looking out for me. "Thank You" I yelled to him as he drove ahead.

He didn't know that I wasn't going to catch my kickstand this week. The only way to have the kickstand catch the ground would be for me to lean the bike into a turn. Riding on city streets that are a sheet of ice does not lend the luxury of leaning into a turn. Bummer.

I have always muttered to myself on the best and worst of commuting days that a day I can ride to work is a good day. It's true. I was lucky enough this week to be healthy enough mentally and physically to ride to work. Sweet!

Wednesday the temperature didn't get higher minus 5 degrees. Early in the afternoon a kid named Jason came in needing air in his tire. He was chatting with the mechanic a bit as he got air and he talked about making music and what a great party he'd been to last weekend, ect, ect. When asked where he worked he said he was working now, delivering sandwiches by bike. In fact he had to get going because he was on a delivery. As he started to the door he mentioned that the job was great and he was feeling good about being lucky enough to have a decent job. Unbelievable! He wasn't dressed all that well and his bike was a 70's Schwinn running the original tires and he didn't ever mention the ice or the temperature! Rock on Jason! It's a good day.