Gettin' Fat.

You have seen them, I bet, and thought "Hmmmm…maybe that would be cool?"  Fatbikes - those rolling Stay Puft Marshmallow bikes that are all over the snowy parts of North America and beyond.  As well, desert dwellers seem to love them as they make sand and loose rock just a slight annoyance.

But I was only curious, not smitten, and I had no immediate need, sooooo…..

What has been interesting to see has been the acceptance of these El Gordo scoots as 'normal' MTB rides.  It seems that there are riders, if you can believe the 'wilder-net', that once they get a Fatbike, they make it the go-to bike and the carbon/FS/Uberbikes just gather dust in the corner.

Huh!  Really?  Why would that be for a typical trail or XC rider?  Unless you spend big, Fatbikes are heavy and a bit slow.  The tires are $150.00 bucks a pop, not something you want to be burning out pedaling down some smooth trail somewhere. And we only just now have ONE front suspension fork on the market (although that will change this year) and there are three or so FS models out as well.  But most Fattys are rigid set-ups and that big tire only goes so far to absorb bumps, etc.

I have seen riders on these things pedaling them for a 100 mile gravel race.  Seriously?  I totally do not get that, unless you just love being odd and wasting energy.  Horses for courses, not mules for fools.

Time went by, but in the back of my mind was the thought that a Fatbike just might be the perfect adventure vehicle if you wanted to open up trails that were not that fun on a regular 29"er.  I lean that way, to the adventure side, although my life restricts that more than I would like but it is what it is for now.

So when an opportunity came my way to get on a Fatty for a while, I jumped on it.  Salsa sent out a 2015 Mukluk 3, not a fancy scoot, but perfect for getting my size jumbo feet wet in this weird world of 5PSI tire numbers and BBs wide enough to suit a bow-legged cowboy.

I will be experiencing this for myself and the actual 'review' of sorts…I do not consider myself a competent and confident Fatbike reviewer…will be carried on twentynineinches.com.  Stay tuned here for more of the personal experience of the journey.

I will be getting on trail and finding out some things.  Could I use this as my 'main ride'?  Will 3.8" tires woo me into a place where it's all I want to roll on from now on?  Can I go back to rigid bike or are the poofy tires really that comfy?

I will be setting it up for bikepacking for sure and planning some outings.  It's gonna' be interesting.

Granny is getting' fat.

The Salsa Mukluk 3 in all its glory.

Why is this so hard?

Well, posting has taken a biiig back seat to all the rest of my writing/testing duties and that is not likely to change soon soooo…..apologies, if you care.

But this gravel bike thing…oh man has this been a journey.  I have never found it so hard to get just what I want - price, geometry, features, construction, etc.  I could get really close, but having all the things I wanted in the right combo simply does not exist as far as I can see.

So this is what I was looking for, based on what I know and what others that I trust know:

• Geometry:  A low BB of AT LEAST 70mms of drop.  75mms would be better.  A head tube angle that will not be too scary at speed on the dirt.  What is that for sure?  Dunno', but over 72° is not it.  Lower stand-over, in that I mean a sloping TT so the seat tube length is NOT taller than my road bikes fer cryin out loud!  I am not shouldering this thing and running up steps and I do not care at all about your bias, speaking to the bike frame builders here, the bias that says a level top tube looks 'classic'.  So do steel forks and gum wall tires.
• Features:  Big room for big tires.  At least 40s with mud room.  I can always run a smaller tire if I want to.  Multiple WB mounts would be good.  Fenders or rack mounts?  Don't care.
• Construction:  A decently compliant ride, regardless of the material used. Most bikes I looked at were over-built for gravel use.  Has to have a carbon fork for weight savings and vibration canceling.  
• Price:  I'm not rich and this not my main ride for life, so a custom frame is not in the cards.  Frame/fork for a grand or so would be fine.

One of the issues here, maybe the BIG issue here, is the muddy mess that this gravel/all-road/any-road/dirt road niche has become.  Even the riders who are doing it cannot agree on what is good or bad for bike set-up.  The manufacturers are trying to figure out if the trend is worth the cost of all the R&D to jump in for real. Or they are trying to say that the cross bike they have is a great dirt road bike too.  

Despite all this, and working within the compromises in the market place, I nearly had the following bikes in my garage:

• Ritchey Swiss Cross disc - Nice steel, not heavy Surly-type steel.  Carbon fork, NOT overbuilt.  Will ride very nicely, I bet, based on the time on my steel Ritchey road frame.  Only room for a 38C tire and a BB drop of 63mm plus a semi steep HT angle had it on the iffy list, but I would have pulled the trigger except production delays had me passing on this one.
• Raleigh Williard -  Tics all the right boxes and is lighter than the all steel Tamland.  Big tire room, long and low.  Tons of BB drop.  Slacker angles.  The alu frame ride quality is a complete unknown though and I would have had to buy a complete bike (no frame option) and strip it.  Still, this was a contender and I think Raleigh at least 'gets it' regarding gravel bikes.
• Specialized Crux - Expensive in carbon, better $$ in alu and with a frame only option.  Maybe room for bigger than 38s.  Decent geo specs, but still a cross bike approach.  And besides that, they were out of stock, but I had ridden the carbon version and I liked it.
• Niner RLT - Every professional review I read on this bike mentioned the rough ride.  Overbuilt for its intended use.  High BB too, but big tire room and slacker HT angle is nice.  Good price too.  Pity.
• Ibis Hakkalugi - I actually had a great deal on a demo bike and had it in my house when the deal was just not quite right for me.  Still, the geo is very good, low and slack, and the frame is known for a smooth ride.  Only room for 38s or so, but this one was very close to ideal.  In the end, the $$ level of the deal was just not right.
• Salsa Warbird - Too much money in Ti and the alu one had a rep for a stiff ride.  Tire size is sort-of ok, and it could be lower and slacker too.
• Others like All City cycles, Black Mtn Cycles, Surly, and a Ti frame that cannot be named…either they were too heavy, too tall, too high, too something.

Sigh.

Then Frost Bike 2015 happened and the clouds parted a bit.  The new Salsa Warbird was announced and my ears perked up.  It was a bit lower at the BB.  It was more compliant than before, and even the alu model was better in that regard than the old Ti version.  It had tons of tire room.  It still was a bit steep in front, but the new fork was redesigned for gravel use, not 'cross use, so it looks like it is NOT overbuilt for miles of tiny bumps.  It was not too tall at the ST and it was tall enough at the HT for this old guy.

And, best of all, the alu one was available as a frame set at a just under one grand cost with a carbon fork.  Oh my.  Unless I want to wait for the next year for something else that may never come, this was very, very close to ideal.

And it's on order.

WRIAD accomplished.

When I first read about the ride that is the White Rim In A Day, a 102 mile long loop through Utah's Canyonlands National Park, it caught my imagination as the right mix of difficulty, scenery and remoteness, and yet was regularly done so it was attainable by experienced and fit cyclists. 

It also fit into my goal of doing a 100 mile mountain bike ride, something that would nearly double my longest ride to date.  So plans were made and a date was set.  I put in some long rides, rode the SS a lot to improve overall power, and experimented with the right combo of supplements for sustained hard efforts.  A bike was built, a ride partner was found, and the days flew by.

And then I found myself driving along the highway with 'FFW' Dave pointed toward Moab.  Oh my.  Are we really doing this?  I had some doubts after my debacle with leg cramps on the Antelope Peak Challenge ride in Arizona.  That was only 60 miles albeit a hard 60 miles.  Still, I had a plan that, were it to fail, would leave me in a world of hurt in the middle of a lonely place.  Once you get into the White Rim a ways, you are pretty much committed.  I was concerned but the highway rushed on.

cuz ya gotta have a hat

My partner for this adventure was 'FFW' Dave, a well seasoned rider and all around good guy.  We had done some training rides together and had the same basic fitness and skills so our pace was very even.  That would hold true for the entire ride as we were never more than 100 yards apart, typically within 50' of each other for 103 miles and neither of us had to wait for the other.  We left So Cal after work in FFW's Magical Mystery Machine (well seasoned Saturn VUE) and hit St George at 02:00AM, grabbed a cheap but clean motel, and were back on the road by 08:00 AM.  Funny the things you talk about on road trips.  We swung from bikes, epic rides, the meaning of life, and cartoon/TV shows we loved as kids.  Just what was it that Hobo Kelly used to say into that looking glass?  In any case we both agreed that Felix the Cat rocked and the Master Cylinder was a great name for a villain.

WRIAD escape vehicle

It's a big desert out there

 I have been to Moab many times over the years so I knew the road and the town, but we had to get some supplies, drive to the park entrance and cache some water, then find camp at the end of a long dirt road.  We had decided to stage at the bottom of the Mineral Bottom switchbacks near the boat launch area and ride clockwise from there, climbing the 1000' foot gain early on in the dark, then riding into sunrise on the Mineral Road.  That was based on accounts I had read from other riders and avoided a big climb at the end of a long day.  I think it was a good plan although it turned out I had plenty of energy to get them done at the end of the ride, but who knew?  It would have been nice to camp up on the mesa for the views. 

Easter Jeep Week was spinning up in Moab so Jeepers were all over the place.  Cool.  I doubted we would see any of them on the White Rim though.  We hit up the City Market in town, grabbed a rotisserie chicken and chocolate milk for dinner and post ride recovery, then drove to the park entrance, cached some water and prepaid our $5.00 entrance fee per bike.  The ranger wished us luck and laughed just a bit as if to say, "silly, crazy mtn bikers".  We found our way to the river bottom area after winding down some pretty steep switchbacks.  This gave us a look at the opening 20 or so miles of road that would be the first leg of the next day.

Mineral Road

The Mineral switchbacks to the Green River

FFW

FFW, master tent builder.

A last quiet moment

Our home sweet home. Back yard landscaping by God

We set up camp down from the boat ramp area in a quiet spot and began checking over the gear and making the packs ready to go.  I was using my Osprey Talon 22 for the day and FFW had an Osprey Manta 30.  We both had two 100oz bladders and three bottles.  Add in food, tools, and some emergency stuff and we were packing heavy...likely 20+lb packs.  Ouch.  I did NOT want to be thirsty.  As well, the weather was changing and not for the better.  The temps had been in the mid 70s but now the ride day was to be 80+ and windy.  Oh marvelous.

Dave was on his Superfly 100 and I was on the new project Go-'Fish, a Salsa Spearfish with some Gucci but solid parts spec.  Both bikes were well suited to the task, but were we?  We dismembered the broiled chicken, then bat watched and star gazed next to the fire.  It was amazingly quiet out there.  I think we forget how quiet quiet can be.  City folks...bah!  The alarms were set for 04:00AM and we hit the tents with no small amount of apprehension of the next day.

We were rolling by 05:30 after some last minute "oops I forgot something" and a bathroom stop.  Pedaling out into the dark with our bike lights illuminating about 100 feet at a time, the Mineral Bottom switchbacks met us soon enough.  It is amazing how much the heavy packs weigh you down on a hill.  What felt OK just pedaling along a flat road was an anchor drag on that grade.  Still, we put those tight turns and the abrupt 1000' gain behind us and pedaled into the sunrise on the Mineral Road.  I think that was my favorite part of the ride.  Looking over at FFW as he rode beside me, the dawn gave light and shadow to the pastel hues of faded color, growing brighter and more vivid in the cool morning air.  It seemed quite surreal, all this.  And I was having a fine time.  We we actually doing this.

Magic time

We hit the highway to the park entrance, aware of the cows that looked ready to dash in front of the silly bike riders just to give us a scare.  Cow games!  Cows are such kidders.  Do they make party hats for cows?  But they were still waking up too so we were free of such merriment.  We tanked back up on water at the rangers booth and met another WRIAD-er from Colorado doing it solo.  Luck was wished all around and we rode over to the famed Shafer Switchbacks.  Oh my.  This is for real folks.  Once we drop down there, we are in up to our eyeballs in the White Rim.

Down there?

Really?  Down there?

Yes, down there.  And beyond.

It was about here that FFW's rear tire decided to be an airless tire.  FFW tried to make it seal by sheer willpower (and Stan's goo) but to no avail.  Stupid Small Block 8s.  WRIAD is no place for a racy, wimpy tire IMO.  Anyway, he fixed while I stripped clothing layers as the temps climbed a bit.

FFW can fix anything

We bottomed out and I have to say that it was here that I felt like I was in the game for real.  We were at a place where turning back would be a hard punt and we were 30 miles or so along.  Time to go.  The dirt and the miles sped by.  And it was grand.

We stopped only to mix some bottles of drink mix or take a very quick pic or two.  We intended to keep a 10mph average pace so there was little time for dawdling.  Lunch was at about 11:00 or 50ish miles.  Still to come was Murphy's Hogback at 60+ miles.  That was a suggested lunch stop and it would have been great, but when the dinner bell rings, you should answer.  We did not want to run a deficit energy wise.  The wind was a factor though.  It was a head wind or cross wind and was costing us energy and time.  I bet we were off one or two gears for 30 miles or so due to the wind, but it was what it was.  It did keep us cool.  I was wearing a long sleeve jersey from Alpinestars over a tank base layer and wool shorts.  It was a good set-up and I never had to change anything the rest of the day.

Mmmmm...Chunky Chicken spread and a salted nut bar from the dollar store.  I roll that way...cheap.

29ers rock WRIAD.  We had chosen wisely.

 

FFW sez':  "Hey grannygear...can we go already?"

The views never stopped for long.  Sometimes I had to say to myself, "hey dummy, look up!"

Canyonland's Stonehenge

We did some ups and downs and generally climbed for quite a few miles.  I kept wondering about Murphy's Hogback.  Had we already ridden it?  It seemed like a formidable obstacle in the reports I had read so that was unlikely.  It seemed like we should have been there by now, running around the 60+ mile mark.  Then we passed by a sign that said Murphy's Wash.  Oh?  And there it was.  The Hogback.  You have got to be kidding!  This pic does NOT do this over 20% grade justice.  Ride that?  Nope.  That would overdraw the leg bank and frankly, pushing the bike was just about as fast.  Not long, but 'wow!' steep.

Really?  What crazy person graded that road?

65 miles turned to 75 then 85.  The legs felt good and the supplements were treating me well.  I really struggle with leg cramps.  If I do not cramp, I can pedal long and strong.  So I was dropping three Endurolytes every hour and I had a light amount of Citrus Elete in my bladders.  I was mixing three bottles at a time from one of the bladders:  two were Fluid Performance drink mix and one was Clif Shot drink mix.  I have found that the Fluid Performance drink does a great job of supplying long term energy and I hardly needed to eat any solid foods.  It keeps depth in my legs, but it lacks a bit in electrolytes (as I found in Arizona).  So the third bottle of the three has the Clif Shot mix which I prize for the salty-ish goodness but does not fuel me as well as the Fluid.  They seem to get along in my stomach and I never had any bloating or upsets all day.  And not ONE CRAMP, even when trying for a trophy run at Hardscrabble Hill.   Yep...more walking.  No shame in that.

Soon enough we were in the home stretch as we dropped to river level, negotiated the sand traps of the last few miles, then hit camp.  I had one more swallow of water left and then I was empty.  great timing.  We actually ran into that young guy from Colorado about 10 miles from the end and invited him to our camp to stock up on water.  He had only 10oz left and several hours of riding left to get back up to Horse Thief campground.  He was a grateful lad, that one, when we filled his Camelbak.  Fare thee well, brother.  He was stoked to know that he had chewed the biggest part of the challenge off and had the bit well in his teeth and the end in sight.

We were in camp and happy to be there.

Near the end, FFW contemplates a long day, a good ride, and world peace

103 miles and 12.5 hours overall with 2 hours of that off the bike.  I had in mind a 12 hour time so we were right in there.  I was very grateful for all the gear that worked so well.  The Salsa Spearfish with the SRAM XX drivetrain and the Roval carbon wheels with Continental X King Protection tires was a smooth, fast, and efficient beast.  The Fluid Performance drink along with the Clif Shot mix, Elete, and Endurolytes kept the cramps away.  I expected to be pretty shattered by the day, but while I was weary, achey, and ready to stop pedaling, I had good energy at the end and legs that were still putting out the horsepower.  Sweet.  Thank you God.  You sustain me.

We ate what our tired bodies would handle, washed as best we could, and hit the sack in earnest with no 04:00 alarms this time.  The next day we broke camp and drove into Moab after grabbing our water cache.  Breakfast at the Jailhouse cafe and a long drive through snow flurries had us both satisfied and on edge, but we were headed home satiated by the experience.  We had drenched ourselves in and soaked up the red dirt of Canyonlands until our bodies and souls could not absorb any more and we were all the better for it.  FFW, you are a fine fellow and I would ride with you anywhere.

But not for a couple of days :)

More WRIAD thoughts to come as I reflect a bit and think of what is next for me.

The vacant stare of the zombie..or is he asleep?

"Yes waitress, I would like everything in column B, stat!"

"Well, it is a good start, anyway"

Headed home in 29* weather.  Utah is awesome.

Go-'Fish

WRIAD looms large

Last weekend was a bike build in the rain.  Today is raining again and I spent quite a bit of time packing, organizing drink mix bottles, etc.  Rain seems to be a curse laid on the weekends making long training rides difficult.  Sigh.  The bike still has not been ridden due to a stripped bolt in the crank spider.  That concerns me a bit as I wanted to burn the bike in better than that before heading out into the near-unknown.  Oh my.

With the parts on the way, I grabbed the Carve SS Pro and clicked off some laps in the local hills to the tune of 5 hours and 40 miles with maybe 5K' of gain over that.  I felt good enough at the end to do one or two more laps with no real suffering and then a couple more if I wanted to walk the steeps so I think I am decent shape.  Gotta love the cruel training partner that singlespeeds are.  They make you strong.  I do kind of wish that I was taking it to Moab, but it makes more sense to first-time it with gears and full squish.  Maybe next time?

SO...the parts should be here by Monday.  Then I can finish the bike and get it out for a couple of rides so things shake loose and settle in.  One good thing is that all the parts are proven.  Nothing is truly new except chains and such so that is in my favor.  If I cannot get it working well enough to be happy with, I will grab the Camber and use it.  Heavier, but proven in battle.  Hopefully though, I will be riding this:

I think I can get everything in the awesome Osprey Talon 22.  The new Escapist 30 would have been even better, but I shipped that to Guitar Ted to play with.  I will be carrying 2 100oz reservoirs and 4 bottles at the beginning.  Then, I will mix bottles of Fluid Performance mix and Clif Shot mix as I go along from one of the reservoirs.  The other reservoir will be pure water.  I also have Elete drops and Endurolytes to go along with all that.  It looks like temps could be into the high 70s.  Too bad.  I would have preferred temps in the high 60s to low 70s but there is no call for rain or wind, so I will take what I can get.

Besides the water and mix, I have an emergency bivy (fancy space blanket), a bike light for the first two hours of the ride (and in case something goes wrong and the day turns to night), 2 tubes, chain lube in a tiny sample bottle, the GPS, printed map, real food and trail food, sunscreen, and the dear to my heart iPod Shuffle.  Of course all the normal tools, pump(s), first aid kit, clothing as needed and a song in my heart.

That ought to do.

We are going to break up the drive by overnighting in St George.  That will get us into Moab in daylight with time to shop, grab dinner, cache some water at the park entrance if we care to and head out to camp at the bottom of the Mineral Bottom switchbacks.  It seems that the best way to do this is clockwise, getting the first climb and long dirt road/paved road section out of the way in the dark.

Then, we pay our money and take our chances.

Adventure By Bike

"Adventure By Bike", says the screened on logo on the underside of this frameset.  How marvelous.  Not Winning By Bike, Get Fit By Bike, The Meaning of Life By Bike, Feed Your Adrenaline Need By Bike...nope.

Adventure.  Now tell me that, really, when you strip away all the other cool things that encompass riding a bicycle, among them the ability to improve, compete and win, the way it raises your fitness and restores a youthful outlook, the way it brings us outdoors and gives us something good to focus on, and the way it makes us go "wheeeee!" when the trail tilts in our favor, when all that is pared down, that what is left and what really attracted us in the first place is the potential for adventure.

From the first time we, as a small wide eyed child turned loose from training wheels and the limits of the yard, wobbled out from underneath our parent's wings, turned left out the driveway and on to the waiting sidewalk and thus the world; when the paperboy bike took us into the back alleys, woods, country roads, and lamp lit streets, the horizon limited only by our legs and the length of the apron strings that tugged at us for dinner and homework duties; when we topped one hill only to see another dozen in the distance and thought "why not?", a bike has meant adventure.

So what begins is a new bike build from the company that penned this saying and plastered it over the product they make.  Now that could just be a great slogan from a big, paid advertising firm to grab a bit of the marketplace pie.  Or, it could have come from the hearts of a bunch of bike nuts who's eyes still widen just a bit when they pedal out the driveway and turn left.

I like to think it is the latter, but that is just me.

Going Fishing.

Magic Salsa, Hold the Chips

SO, what is it with Salsa bikes these days? In my opinion, they are getting a lot of things right for 2008. In fact, right now I could satisfy my bike longings with:

A - A beautiful SS in the new Selma. Very sexy bike. Gotta be fast on that baby.

B - An XC FS bike in the new Big Mama, and depending on the build, be there for everything but rides where weight is more important than comfort, like maybe 24 hour racing.

C - You know the 24 hour stuff the Big Mama may be too heavy for? How about a Dos Niner, maybe the king of affordable soft tail 29ers. Would make a killer 1x9 fireroad bike.

D - The Fargo. Wow, has this hit a niche that was untapped except for custom frame offerings!

E - Podio. A road bike even I would like to own.

F - Chile Con Crosso. I am not sure what I would do with it, but I bet I could find a spot somewhere.

And I have not even mentioned the Mamasita and El Mariachi and I hear they even make 26" wheeled bikes too, but this does not concern me as it is just a nasty rumor.

Now I could possibly come close to this with, say, Trek brand stuff if I mix Fisher in there too. Specialized....ahhh, almost, but no Fargo. Anyone else? Nope.

And it is not just variety. They could all be mediocre bikes and be varied, yes? But as much as I can tell, folks love these things. Very happy owners. And, they don't seem to break a lot either.

Good combo, all that. But there is more that sets them apart and it is a bit of an intangible.

I remember when Salsa Cycles was Ross's baby. I first knew them from custom stems, then the Ala Carte. Then a veritable outpouring of stuff that always had a cool factor to it. The little Pepperman guy, etc. I remember the Mangos De Amor, the Handles of Love barends. Still makes me smile.

So, 'back in the day' there was Salsa, Ibis, Fat Chance, Ritchey, Yeti, etc, all still made, if not by hand, at least in limited production numbers and captained by the guy that began the company, usally by accident cause he loved bikes and one thing led to another...voila, a bike business is born.

With most of the boutique bikes either swallowed up by big box type corporations or faded into history, there is Salsa, owned by a huge-ish entity, QBP. And there is Salsa, no Ross as far as I know, and yet still cool and innovative. Huh. How come? Why do I still want a Pepperman t-shirt and not a Yeti t-shirt (I don't own either bike brand)?

Must be in the hearts and talents of the guys running the show and I guess the folks that write the checks are smart enough to let them be dreamers and inventors and bike riders and bike nuts and whatever else separates them from Trek, Cannondale, Specialized, etc.

I think the brand appeals to riders who know what they want, are educated in cycling ways and do not need the bike shop to do the thinking for them. Maybe not first time buyers and maybe not the buyer looking for the Seven Cycles custom Ti or Litespeed, but there is a huge middle ground of seasoned riders with a medium budget and a desire to buy a niche brand that makes them feel like the old days when it was cool to ride a homegrown bike brand, even if they are too young to have been there 'back in the days'.

To sum it up, Salsa has remained cool and relevant and THAT is well...cool.