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Camping With Bikes

06 Saturday Jul 2013

Posted by Stonehog in Cycling

≈ 10 Comments

Tags

a. homer hilsen, acorn bags, active volcanoes, ahh, albatross, B17, bicycle, bike, Bike Camping, cycling, cypres, drop bars, dureme, Gran Bois, hilsen, homer, Hunqapillar, LHT, Manny Principle, mountain rides, mt adams, rando, randonneur, rivendell, sam hillborne, schwalbe, Seattle, snow, Snow Bike, Snow Cycling, Surly, underbiking, volcano


Seattle vs. Portland Riv Rumblers

Last month, I met up with some fellow north-westerners for a couple mountain rides between Seattle and Portland.  The goal was a nice weekend with a potential shot at going over Babyshoe Pass early in the season.  If nothing else, we would see some snow and avoid the bugs that start swarming a bit later in the summer.  The 2-hour drive south reminded me why I live here.  Lots of wilderness very close to home.  I was driving to a rendezvous between 3 active volcanoes in the Cascades mountain range.  We would be closest to Mt. Adams with possible views from the ride, but Rainier and St. Helens were nearby, as well.  As I got close to Randle, WA, I lost all cell service – this was a signal that vacation time was ON!

North Fork Campground - Randle, WA

North Fork Campground – Randle, WA

We had reserved a group site at the North Fork Campground 12 miles out of Randle.  I arrived around the same time as Charlie (from Eatonville), and we started setting up in the reserved spot, but when the rest of the group showed up (Andy, Chris, and Aaron from Portland), we explored a few other sites, and chose one that was right next to the river.

Campin’ by the River

Not too many people were camping the weekend after Memorial Day.  With 4 tents and 1 hammock, we were spread out nicely.  Our camp could normally accommodate 20 tents!

Chris and Aaron’s Tents

The setting was beautiful Northwest – lush, green, and budding with spring.  Ferns, moss, and huge evergreens all around us.  It had rained quite a bit before the trip, but we were into a short spell of dry weather.

Full Camp?

After we set up camp, we set off on the first ride.  We chose FS 22 heading east, and it was a good immediate climb on gravel.

Day 1 Ride

We rode up leisurely as we all got to know each other.  A fair amount of time was spent off the bike taking in the scenery, and just geeking out on our setups. All but one bike was by Rivendell.  There were 2 A. Homer Hilsens ridden by Andy and Chris, a Hillborne ridden by Aaron, and Charlie’s lone Surly Long Haul Trucker.

Bikes of Day 1

I took the Hunqapillar on this ride.  Since it was an unofficial “Rivendell ride”, I had both my A. Homer Hilsen, and the Hunqa packed.  I wanted to see how they both fared on the rougher mountain gravel roads.  I had changed out the Nomad tires for my 50mm Duremes with their more aggressive tread and larger volume.  We didn’t get into much nasty trail, but the couple areas of “rough stuff” we hit made me appreciate the mammoth bike’s capacity as a real mountain bike.  It rode nicely over everything I threw at it, and it brought back memories of my early ’90s rigid Stumpjumper Pro.  The Albatross bars and front V-Brakes proved to be great on the rough trail.

First Day’s Apex

We took a side trail up an overgrown trail to a nice meadow with a great view back down the valley we had just climbed.  We rested for a bit, and had a snack before making the quick descent down to camp.  On the way down, we took another side trail down to the river.  This one was an older, overgrown jeep track and made for some fun riding over roots and blow-down.

Trail Riding on Day 1

Singletrackin’

After the nice descent back to camp, the Portland crew set about making a superb dinner of pasta and white sauce with morels and a great salad, while I walked around soaking up the camping atmosphere and helping Andy get a fire started.  His chopping knife was a trip!  We used that and a hatchet to make up the kindling.  Some of the wood was a bit wet, so it was a smokey end to the day.

Woodsman

Portland Crew Dinner

After a late night around the fire, and a great sleep by the roaring river, I felt refreshed as ever.  I set about making breakfast and coffee for the campers, and got most of my stuff packed up for a quick getaway after our day-2 ride.

Chilaquiles, anyone?

Another healthy meal

Charlie had to get home, so we bid him well, and took our group photos.  Ready for the next adventure, we set off on FS 23 with a destination of getting close to Babyshoe Pass and some scenic views of Mt. Adams.  Today, it was the Hilsen’s turn at gravel.  This bike was set up with standard rando gear – trod with Gran Bois Cypres tires, and carrying 2 cameras, rain coat and food in a Boxy Rando bag.  We hit the mountains on 3 AHHs and a Sam Hilborne.

Joy Riding!

Today’s ride was a bit more ambitious.  If all went according to plan, we would double the distance and elevation of the prior day with around 40 miles and 5000 ft of climbing.

Wing formation

With a bit more shade, the day was perfection for a long ride.  Amazing views around every corner helped to keep everyone jazzed.  Destination snow or Babyshoe.  Most likely snow, but who could tell?

Destination? Who cares…

After a while the road turned to gravel, and we started climbing in earnest.  We finally hit snow within a mile of our destination at around 4300′ elevation.

End of the dry road

Andy noticed that there should be a fork within a quarter mile, and after a short committee decision where we invoked the “Manny Principle”*, we forged ahead to the adventure that awaited us all!  It ended up looking something like this:

Pushin’ on…

And this:

More pushin’…

Until we found a meadow, the fork, and paved road again.

Meadow

Fork

It was a short respite as we turned around heading NW on the north slope that didn’t seem to want to start declining too soon.  We ended up pushing/straddling our new snow bikes for a mile or so before we ended up back in the mostly snow-free but still very wet next phase of our ride.  During the snow phase, it was great fun to see how far you could bike in the tire tracks that had been lain some unknown time prior to our arrival.  Most of the time, you could sit on the saddle and paddle along with your feet on the raised snow, but if you pedaled, your feet sunk into the banks.  I had a successful ride through one of the snow fields, and my confidence was raised enough to try to ride the next one (larger and deeper unbeknown to me), so I got some speed up for the attempt.  As I started across it, things went sideways – my front tire started out riding up on the old tire tracks, but quickly sunk in.  Once that started, it was only a few seconds before it swallowed the wheel enough to catapult me over the bars in a spectacular (to the watching jays) endo, spilling me and my entire bag’s worth of food and camera gear into the snow.  Nothing hurt in a snow landing, and the bike checked out.  After a hasty re-packing and snow dusting, I was back on my way.

Snow cowboys!

After Andy’s toes had thoroughly gone numb in his sandals, the road finally turned back to gravel, but it was not much of a road at that.  This was definitely less-traveled with snow melt ruts, random sharp fist-sized stones, and lots of overgrowth to keep you busy.

Descending

Recalling the joys of descending on a mountain bike, I quickly rode far past my current bike tire’s capacity hitting speeds around 30mph, and suddenly felt my rear tire go limp.  Yes – a pinch flat will kill a descent faster than a broken regulator.

Testing the kit in the wild

After the break, we got back to the art of the fast mountain ride, and had a great time with over 5 miles of glorious downhill under-biking.  I had no idea a rando bike with skinny 31mm tires could handle terrain I usually ride on a front suspension MTB.  Still, the Hunqapillar may have been a better choice for day 2.  I had pushed, and perhaps found the limits of the AHH.  With no real harm done, at that.

It’s like skiing in the summer!

Back on the pavement, I appreciated the final minutes of the ride with new friends.  When we got back to camp, we all congratulated each other on an excellent adventure, and vowed to come back in years to come.  I am hoping that this was the first of many trips to the volcanoes.  With the beauty of the rides, and the amazing lack of population and drivers, it’s a treasure close to home.

Snow tires!

The path on Day 2

The path on Day 2

* Manny Principle – according to Smitty:

“Mere uncertainty and tardy-ness are not sufficient reasons to abandon an adventure. Unless danger is imminent, the adventure must move forward.”

Middle Nomad

30 Saturday Mar 2013

Posted by Stonehog in Cycling

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Tags

bicycle, bike, cycling, dureme, Hunqapillar, Nomad, Resist, rivendell


My continued adventure on the Hunqapillar.  Today I put Resist Nomads on the beast, and removed the 50mm Duremes.  Although I love these tires, they are heavy, and make my ~1000ft ascent home tougher than I want it to be.  These Nomads may be a good medium.

The cushion for pushin’

This tire is rated as a 45mm, but most folks measure it out at about 41mm.  I’m going to wait a few days for a measurement so it can stretch.  First impressions are good.  It rolls smoothly, has plenty of plushness, and less weight than the Schwalbe.  It’s definitely not as plush as the Cypres or Jack Brown Green, but for what this bike is for, I would like a bit more rubber on the road, and I’m always chasing the mythical Hetre in 700c.  This is a haulin’ tourin’ mountain bike.

Up Front

The tire is a wire bead.  It mounted on the Synergy with minimal finger pressure – no need for irons if you have a flat.  The sidewall is a bit darker than the light yellowish typical skinwall.  This works really well on the bike with the amber overtones of the shellac, and the mahogany wood fenders.

Tread

The tread is a square pattern similar to the Jack Browns, but without the slick parts.  It handled riding no-handed in my short test ride without unusual amounts of wobble.  I felt the street, but most of the hi-frequency vibration was absent.  The tires were inflated to 30psi front and 50psi rear.

Purdy

Next steps are to do some serious riding in the dirt and trail.  I will take them for a quick ride down my favorite dirt path tomorrow and check for grip.  Need some more mountainy bars on this beast.  The noodles are great for road riding, but this thing wants to be in the dirt, and I have a nice road bike.  Next up are either Midge bars or Albatross.  I may put the basket back on, too!

 

 

Lighten It Up?

27 Sunday Jan 2013

Posted by Stonehog in Cycling

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Tags

a. homer hilsen, abus lock, bike packing, dureme, Hunqapillar, jack brown, kickstand, light bikes, saddlesack, schwalbe, shopsack


In another post, I talked about tires, but I’m also going to plug keeping your bike as light as you can for city/general fun riding.  It really comes into play for me in hilly Seattle.  I live on a hill and have about 900 feet of elevation gain on my ride home, with maybe 400 feet on the way in.  This is where the weight hurts.  Climbing can be fun, but if the destination is work or home, it’s just not like a touring destination to put up with extra weight.

Lots of Carrying Capacity

Another personal preference is to keep the pack on the bike and off the back.  I don’t like sweaty-back, or the off-balance feel when I have a backpack or messenger bag, and long ago converted to using bike bags to carry my work clothes, laptop, iPad, keys, etc…

Dropped the Double Kickstand and Basket/Bag Combo

The Hunqapillar was pushing it in my comfort zone as it probably approached 35lbs in weight with the big back saddle bag, heavy lock, heavy Schwalbe Dureme tires, and double kickstand.  I also have a front and rear rack that adds some weight to the overall package. Now some of this I don’t want to give up – I like having the racks for unexpected loads, and the rear rack is the mount for my taillight.  The bag and lock are not entirely necessary all the time.  The tires are overkill unless I’m on the dirt mountain trails.  It’s like carrying your loaded camping backpack with you when you take the bus to work.  It may come in handy during an earthquake, but 99.999% of the time, it just makes you tired faster.

Things I’ve done:

  1. Dropped the double leg kickstand – single leggers are light and fine for the commute
  2. Swapped the SaddleSack Medium for the Xtra Small that just fits my tools – I am using the ShopSack bungied to the front rack if I need to carry big stuff
  3. Lost the Abus lock – will carry a small cable/padlock as a deterrent for the short coffee stops I rarely make on the commute
  4. Swapped out the Duremes for Jack Browns (green front, blue back)

Ahhh – Jack Browns and X-Small SaddleSack

Initial feel is that this made rolling along much easier and more fun for me.  I had similar average speeds on my Hunqa and Hilsen for my commutes this week. I noticed that the Hunqa still feels more “solid”.   I’m definitely not heavy enough to plane this bike without more weight on it.  When I take it camping, or up in the mountains, I’ll put what I need back on, but for now, I’m happier with the Hunqa-lite….

Green in the Front, Blue in the Back

27 Sunday Jan 2013

Posted by Stonehog in Cycling

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

a. homer hilsen, bike commute, commuting, cycling, cypres, dureme, flat tire, Gran Bois, Hunqapillar, jack brown, rivendell, schwalbe


I love Rivendell Jack Brown tires.  They are a great combo of cush on a 700c wheel and low rolling resistance.

http://www.rivbike.com/product-p/t100-g.htm

Hilsen with Jacks

I have had Jack Brown’s on my A. Homer Hilsen for a few years, with a brief fling using the also sublime Gran Bois Cypres tires. For the past 6 months, I’ve been regularly riding a Hunqapillar with heavier Schwalbe Duremes on my work commute of 10-20 miles, and I have been gradually come to a conclusion.  Heavy tires with tough sidewalls are great for avoiding flats, but I don’t like riding on them.  They feel really sluggish – like I’m constantly pushing and fighting to keep the bike moving.  Not fun to me.  Biking should be fun.

Hunqa with Jacks

With that in mind, I swapped out the Duremes for my extra set of Jack Browns and rode in the other day with this configuration.  Yes – it made a difference.  I also noticed the difference in feel of the bike frame going from the more flexy AHH to the stiffer Hunqapillar.  My normal cruising speed on the flats is 15-20 mph depending on the inclines/wind/legs on the AHH.  With the heavy Schwalbe Duremes (50mm) on the Hunqa, I was typically struggling to keep it at 13 mph.

Now, I’m not trying to set speed records, but I’ve found that the beauty of “road” bikes is that they typically feel more effortless on the pavement.  In my many years commuting with a mountain bike with roadish tires, I know that a lot of it has to do with geometry as well, but tires DO make a big difference.  That said, it’s not the diameter, it’s the weight, and the sidewall.  Big cushy tires can be AWESOME if they are light and have a supple sidewall.

Blue in Back

Green in Front

Yes, you will get more flats.  Only you will be able to decide if the rest of the time riding is worth the few flats.  I’m not in goathead country, so the biggest problem is road trash (glass, radial wires, nails).  This will result in a flat every few months.  I can live with this.  To avoid it as much as possible, I use the Jack Brown Blue (kevlar belt) as my rear tire, and the lighter, suppler Green on the front.  This keeps me pretty flat proof, as everyone knows that you always get flats on the tire that is hardest and messiest to change (rear).

Now I just need to move those fenders in a bit…

Hunqa Builder

08 Tuesday May 2012

Posted by Stonehog in Cycling

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Tags

atlantis, bike build, Bombadil, brooks, dureme, frame/fork, Haulin Colin, Hunqapillar, mammoth, marathon, Moustache, packaging, Rawland, rivendell, rSogn, wooly


It was time for a new bike for 2012.  This one is for the mountains!  It’s a wooly mammoth bike!  I rode one last summer at Rivendell World HQ and was smitten.  I just love Rivendell bikes.  Their design and execution is unlike any other, and Grant runs a great business. I decided to snarf up a Rivendell Hunqapillar.  It’s a 54cm frame, and will be set up as a mountain/camping/commuting bike with a front rack, fenders, and lights (like any proper bike for the NW).  This was in the original color scheme that is being discontinued.

The Rivendell folks are well known for their expertise in packing a bike – they even add doodle art to the packages – great personalized funk!

top face

stuck and safe

wrapped up tight

Here it is all uncloaked.  I love the color scheme on this model.  There is something about the kidney bean and gray combination that really classes out.  I felt lucky getting one of the last of the original runs.

profile

front quarter

love

tusks

 

The build out will be a moustache cockpit, brooks saddle, and marathon dureme tires (700×50).  This will be a working bike, and I want to take it anywhere.  I also want to be comfortable on the bumps.

kit

I’m adding a custom rack made by a local builder “Haulin’ Colin” Stevens.  This was originally designed and made for the Rawland rSogn, but I saw it on his site modeled on a Hunqapillar that a friend had lent him, and the image stuck.  The rack fits the bike perfectly.

haulin’

mounts were perfect

I have a few more parts to get or scavenge before this one is ready, but I’m anticipating a great new ride.  The frame and fork with headset weighed in the neighborhood of 7 lbs on my Wii scale (accurate??).  This is a stout tube bike, but it felt surprisingly light.  I recalled it being much lighter than I expected on the test ride, as well.  This model is a more robust touring bike than the well-loved Atlantis, and has similar gauge tubing to the Bombadil.  I can’t wait to do some exploring this summer!

Flickr Photos

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