Good is Good

It has been my fortune to be able to ride some nifty bikes lately, most recently the Specialized Epic Marathon. This has let me compare a more modern approach to a 29er FS to my trusty Lenzsport Leviathan 3.0.

The Epic has slightly shorter chainstays, a longer toptube, a much stiffer front end/fork combo, the correct offset and fork height for the frame, hydroformed tubing, and the super Brain Shock tech working for it, all backed by the might of a mega bike company with cutting edge resources and multimedia all over the place.

The Lev has old geometry, 18" chainstays, a 3/4" shorter top tube (also an XL frame), a pretty stiff front triangle paired with a noodly old Reba, was never meant to run at 100mm (designed around 80mm) and has the wrong fork offset for the slacker HT angle, no hydroformed tubes, but plenty of hand formed and nicely welded aluminum pieces, and Propedal is required to keep it from being a bunny rabbit when pedaled vigorously, all backed by one man...Devin Lenz from a one man shop in Colorado who has not updated his website since WWII.

The Epic is more agile, steers more precisely, has the amazing Brain, and has better overall balance.

But.

It is amazing how well the aging Leviathan holds up to times passing. I rode it again last night on the group night ride. I could feel the flexy Reba and the slightly slow steering when it needed to dance a jitterbug and not a salsa beat. And, I needed to do the Propedal Boogie to keep it climbing well AND descending well, but honestly other than that, it is a great bike still. If I upgraded the fork, say to a Fox 100mm with 15QR, that stiffer front end and increased offset would be a big improvement. I can't help the longer rear stays and shorter TT nor can I do much about the RP23 needing Propedal to perform well, and frankly, that is not a big deal to me, but it goes to show how well done the Lev was from the get-go.

Devin at Lenzsport continues to push the envelope of 29ers with his Milk Money FS SS and the PBJ 7" travel 29er models. I know the new Levs have shorter chainstays, tapered HTs, and longer TTs available. It goes to show how a little fish can still be relevant in a big pond.

Besides that, he is a darn nice guy.

Mr. Lenzsport, Devin Lenz

To Ride, Perhaps to Ramble.

So, it came to me in a word. Ramble.

intr.v. ram·bled, ram·bling, ram·bles

1. To move about aimlessly. See Synonyms at wander.

2. To walk about casually or for pleasure.

3. To follow an irregularly winding course of motion or growth.

4. To speak or write at length and with many digressions.

The other day I was speaking to Ed The Tall and we were batting about the age old question: "Where do we ride this weekend?" We were a bit stymied trying to decide on the 'perfect route'. Then frustrated by our lack of inspiration, Ed said something profound in its clarity and vision - "This should not be this hard". I agreed.

So it was later that I was mulling this over in my mind and the word 'Ramble' floated up out of the mist of my little gray cells like one of those Magic 8 Ball things.

And just like that, I had it. However, as clear as it is in my mind, it seems to be devilishly hard to get into words. But basically, it likely involves beginning the ride in an unlikely place; perhaps a city location or parking lot of a convenience store; maybe someone's house. A ramble is not pretentious and does not need an auspicious beginning. A ramble could mix in bike paths, pavement, fireroad, trails, whatever, but would end up a patchwork of sections that, taken on their own, are not a ride you would look forward to but when all mixed together become a mosaic for pedaling a bike across the landscape.

Now this may not be an original thought, in fact I am sure it is not, but for me, it has been a refreshingly new way to look at the question of "where to ride". The Wiki definition gets it for sure, and I think numbers two and three pin it down perfectly.

Will it be the revelation it seems to be? Perhaps not. But I am quite ready to ramble a bit and see.

Resolutions...if I have to.

The blog-o-sphere is full of New year's resolutions and I have to admit that some have come to mind for me as well. A bit late perhaps, but here are some thoughts.

I want to read more. Real books. Autobiographies, fiction, spiritual growth, travel experiences/adventures, etc. I have one started now; Fearless by Max Lucado.

I want to give more to charity, both from myself personally and financially. I already do some things with my time through the year...food banks, homeless shelter, etc. But I should be doing more with the money I have. I does not really belong to me anyway.

I ride a lot, really. But I want to realize the promise of bikepacking this year. I have most of what I need except anyone else who is serious enough about doing it with me. That makes it a solo effort, which, sometimes is preferred, but not always and not for this type of experience. Regardless, I need to do this.

Pretty much it.

New Years Day Ride, 2010

It seemed like a New Years ride was a good idea so I put out a few emails and phone calls. 18 folks showed up for a ride in Simi Valley on a gorgeous day for January. Usually this New Years ride is held on a semi-distant mountain top in the Angeles Natl. Forest, but I was kinda tired of riding in cold temps and, at elevation, it would have been in the high 30s and mid 40s for the normal ride. So not only was the Simi ride a change of venue, it would mean no cold fingers and toes and that appealed to me.

The ride begins among million dollar custom homes and then climbs 3.25 miles up an old wagon road on hard packed clay and sandstone rock. This is one of the rare smooth sections.

Tony I. flexes a calf muscle as he enjoys a January day in So Cal.

We had a big group and, like sometimes happens, there was a big gap between the fast guys and the slow(er) guys. But, it was all good since we were not in a hurry and we were there for everyone to have a good time. 45 minutes or so and we hit the 1st summit.

Pic stolen from JeffJ's camera.

There were are lot of other riding groups out as well. This pack of guys were wearing their colors for the day. According to their jerseys they are only Fast on Fridays. Good thing it was Friday.


It was good to see some faces I had not ridden with in a long time. That is always a sweet thing. Tony I. and I go back 15 years or so.

Tony I. at the summit looking disappointed the climbing is over with for a while. We had to talk him out of riding back down and doing it again. Animal.

Randy Boy was riding his freshly assembled Tangerine 2010 Rip-9. It is so light it wants to float away, so I had to hang on to it. Does his fork look bent to you or is it just me? Pic stolen from Randy Boy's camera.

I chose to ride the Epic Marathon over my Lev just to see how it worked on, what is for my area, very technical and rough riding. The Lev has lower gears and a bit more stability plus a higher BB. Was it a good fit for the day? More on that later.



The ride began on Johnson Mtwy, hit the summit on Rocky Peak fireroad, turned south to Hummingbird trail and dropped down on a section of winding, rocky, chunky, fun singletrack. Really better on a 5" plus travel bike, the Epic handled it fine, actually better in some ways than my Lev: stiffer front end, better balance and brakes, it danced along nicely behind Tony I. on his Titus Moto Lite and Ted on the Giant Trance. Would I have liked an FSR Stumpy version of the bike for this section of trail? Yes, yes I would. No pics...I was hanging on and having fun.

There is a trail in those rocks somewhere...right down through the middle to the bottom on the right.

You never know what you will see when out riding. Here some MUNIs (Mountain Unicycles) get ready to descend Hummingbird Trail. Seriously...that is soooo hard looking.

CA Descender (with camera on head) gives an interview to the MUNI guys.

Ummmm...really?

At the bottom, poor Scott had graciously waited for the slower guys to show us the way to the next trailhead through some construction areas. The building is shut down till the economy improves (ask Obama....any time now...just wait). Unfortunately it meant that Scott's buddies in the front of the pack were home sipping brews by the time we hit the top of the last climb. Sorry Scott. You get a gold star for that one.

The next part of the ride was a climb up Chumash Trail. Mostly smooth, but with a constant grannygear grade, Chumash has some techy stuff near the top that hits you when your legs are the most tired. I was worried about the Epic's SRAM XX 2x10 gearing and the 26x36 low gear but it was actually better than I thought it would be. Still, if I had been really tired, it would have been too tall a gear.

The boys get to the top of Chumash on a section of sandstone that is much steeper than it looks on camera.

At the top of the last climb. By now the clouds had come in and it was getting cool. Still, it beats freezing rain and snow.

The rest was a blast down the checkerboard rock and ruts of Johnson Mtwy till we hit the trucks again. 5 hours of riding and hanging out on a New Years Day. The Epic was very capable all day. I have come to appreciate the 2x10 gearing and I sure see how racers would like it. I still want deeper gearing, but it is almost good enough for me, and if I was a stronger rider, it would be.

I would have liked more travel and a shallower head angle for Hummingbird Trail, but really, the Epic continues to impress me as a very capable and fast climbing, agile, light to mid weight trail bike. I could have done it on the Lev, but I would have been giving up some steering precision and a bit of rear travel in the process.