While a few may decide to give up on riding their bikes during the winter months, the ones who know how to ride while staying warm will not let the weather mess up their biking plans. The most important thing to remember in this case is to dress in a way that is appropriate for the weather. By appropriate, it is meant that you choose your gear carefully so that you do not end up with heavy waterproof jackets as the excess weight will become a real hindrance for you after a while. Apart from the weight, it should also be kept in mind that cycling is a heavy cardio exercise which will make you sweat too much if you are wearing one of those heavy jackets. The wise choice is to choose a base layer like a wicking, full sleeves thermal vest of high quality (merino wool, if you can afford it).

After you are done with selecting the proper base layer that suits your budget and allows you free movement without being too tight, it is time to choose a jacket. Choose a light windproof jacket like the North Face jackets and do not worry about the light nature of the material as the effort of cycling itself will keep you warmer than you imagine. Protecting your hands from the cold wind and occasional showers is very important as they tend to freeze up the most along with your feet and to do that, select waterproof liner gloves (silk is a cheap yet effective option). Waterproof cycling overshoes are simply THE option when it comes to winter biking as the freezing water will otherwise cause you some serious problems as you ride. The insulating nature of these shoes will also serve to keep your feet warm even when the temperature goes down more than expected. We lose most of our body heat through our head and therefore wear a closefitting cycling hat under the cycling helmet to stop the body heat from escaping through your head. In fact, to find all of these necessary winter cycling gears and more, head over to http://www.evo.com/shop/clothing/outerwear/jackets/the-north-face.aspx

How to improve your Judy.

So are all you Judy owners wondering how to make that expensive Judy work better. First get it set up for you, there is no point in getting the ‘latest improvements if the fork isn’t even set up for your weight and riding style. Refer to your manual for the proper way to tune your fork. But some times the manual doesn’t tell you every thing you need to know about tuning it right. So here are few tips which I found useful.

Set up for heavy riders
Go for a harder MCU set up if you are a heavy rider, this would prevent the fork from bottoming out too often. You may also want to get a long travel kit (75mm), this would allow you to have more travel to play with, giving a smoother, better ride.

Steel Springs
Steel springs is a must for serious riders, as they offer a wider range for tuning. For example with Mountain Speed springs ‘Heavy’ are for riders 140lbs to 200lbs. You can change the weight of the springs simply by turning the preload adjusters. 0 preload will give you 140lbs springs, while full preload will give you 200lbs. This lets you tune your fork according to the riding condition you are in. I have been using the ‘Heavy’ Speed springs with my Judy Sl for about 6 months and it offer much better compression over MCU, while I have to increase damping for cross country riding, which gives me more control. The best thing to do is to use steel springs with a rebound damper. (Offered with the 96 Judy DH, Risse and White Brother.) Steel springs are offered by Mountain Speed and White Brothers.

Replacement Cartridges
As to now there are 2 readily available cartridges. One by Risse and the other by White Brothers. They are both very good in performance, while I have yet to try out the White Bro’ cartridge. The Risse offers rebound damping, for 2.5 inch (96XC and 95/96SL), 3 inch (95DH and offered as a long travel upgrade for XC and SL) and 4 inch (Long travel upgrade for XC, SL and DH) They offer a great feel especially when used with Steel Springs. They offer custom tuned cartridges for use with speed springs. While the White Brother’s one offers Compression and rebound in the same cartridge, it also offers them in a verity of lengths, 60mm, 75mm and 80mm. More info will be added once I get to try the White Bro’ and compare the difference!

• Keep your chain clean. You don’t have to use their stuff, either. I use Simple Green, available everywhere, and clean all the grease etc. from my chain, dry it TOTALLY (this is important, make sure all the cleaner is gone, too) in the sun for a day, lube it up with Pedro’s Extra Dry and I’m ready to go again. Lots of people just keep throwing lube on there like there was no tomorrow. Bad idea.
• If you want to keep your drivetrain wear free and riding smooth I think you should replace your chain every four months if you ride hard. It’s relatively inexpensive (I pay about $13 for a Sachs M-55 chain from Nashbar) and prevents you from wearing out your chainrings and freewheel teeth in back. After all, it’s cheaper than replacing your freewheel casette, chainrings, AND chain.
• If you have an aluminium or carbon fiber frameset, watch out for chainsuck. They’re making frames from the lightest and most thin walled material ever now, and chain suck is becoming a big problem because instead of just scratching (like it did to your old steel frame), it’s eating through the aluminum. Keep your chain well adjusted, and buy a Ringle Anti-Suck Chain Thing. I can’t stress this any more. If I had a shop, I would issue an Anti-Suck Chain Thing with every aluminum bike sold. Props to Trek for including built-in, adjustable chain deflectors on their new frames.
• Wanna keep your wheels in true longer? Have them trued up well, just to the place you like them, and then apply some Lock-Tite or similar substance to the spoke nipples. Spin the wheel hard, and let the stuff work its way into the threads. Kind of the poor man’s solution, but it should keep you in true much longer.
• Take 40-60 grit sandpaper and sand your rims down. (Providing you’re not sanding a brand new ceramic rim down!!) Helps braking a lot. If you want to go super old school BMX, you can even apply Coca Cola to your rims and let dry. I wouldn’t rely on it as my new trick for optimum braking performance, but it works for a little while!
• Drill your rims for Schrader valves, and get a Presta adaptor for about a buck. Lets you ride a Schrader rim with a Presta tube, but then if you flat, you can use any style replacement. You can even get tubes at K-Mart if you need to. (Not to mention that schrader tubes are lighter, cheaper, and have less parts, so they wont break as easily.)
• Use good tubes. It pays off. Paying $10 for a tube is a little painful at first, but when you compare the quality of the product with that the standard cheap Taiwanese made rubber you usually buy for $5, it’s really worth it. Flat solution in your tubes also is a great way to stop flats from thorns, glass, etc… (but wont help with snake-bite flats. The only way to stop those is to keep your tires inflated properly.) Flat solution also only works with Schrader valves. (Well, not true. You can use stuff like Slime with presta valves if you take a knife, cut a hole in the uninflated presta tube, squirt in the slime, and patch it back up. I wouldn’t reccommend it.)
• Get a good bottom bracket. It’s worth it, and it won’t even cost too much. If you have a $500-$1500 bike, you probabaly have the standard, cheap Shimano bottom bracket, which only costs about $14. The XT ones are only about $30, and work a hell of a lot better and last a lot longer. If you’re willing to spend $50-$75, you’ll be riding with the pros.
• Wheel BS: Up until a couple of years ago, all wheels used to come with 36 spokes, but now it seems that 32 has become the standard. This sucks. I NEVER used to screw wheels up as much as I do now. The next set of wheels I buy are going to be 36 spoke. It’s worth it. If you’re concerned about weight, just use a half-decent hub and maybe alloy spoke nipples, and you should not see any weight difference between the 32 and 36 spoke wheels. Just a big strength difference. Some people have told me that 32 spokers hold up fine if you keep them constantly tuned up. This may be true, but most of us don’t have the time to sit down and true our wheels after each ride. (If you even know how!) Plus, slam a 32 spoke and a 36 spoke wheel into a big rock and see which one looks better.
• CamelBacks are cool. Very easy to drink from on the trail, and hold lots more water than a big water bottle. Try the CamelBack Mule. The resivoir holds 90 oz. of water and is sold with a snazzy little backpack which can hold your tubes, pump, tools, food, etc…
• Do you have a Shimano Hyperdrive C drivetrain? Yes? Do you spin your drivetrain out all the time? Yes? Then replace your lousy 42 tooth stock outer chainring, with a 46 tooth one (48 if you can hack it), and if you have an 11 tooth outer ring in back, change it to a 12 tooth cassette cog and watch your speed go through the roof. (Note that it may take quite a bit of tinkering to make your front derailleur work with the larger chain rings)
• Magura Raceline brakes must be the best brakes ever. People say they are so expensive, but think about it. They include the brakes, levers, and cables. Now add up the price for top of the line front and back cantilever brakes, decent levers, and great cables, and the two are equal. Now compare performance? The Magura wins every time. The downsides? The cantis will always be lighter, and if you’re not a pro mechanic, these things can be a nightmare to set up.
• Want really cool brakes wthout shelling out the cash for the Maguras? Get Onza HO brakes. They work very well, cost about $50 a set, and adjust to where you want them in a second. (If you can find them now that Onza has gone bankrupt!)
• Spend a few more dollars and pick up the Shimano V brakes. They work very very well and have a real positive feel that requires no pressure to activate. The only problem is that if you don’t already have Shimano brake levers, you have to shell out $60 extra. All in all, they’re probabaly going to end up costing as much as the Maguras, but they’re much lighter.

After riding we always recommend to comprare cialis.

Framebreak Festival, Kentville Nova Scotia

Three degrees in late September.  Four laps including the stadium climb.  Twenty nine years old.  These would seem like three fairly disjointed statements were it not for me.  I had decided that this was the morning for my first race.

As I left the house my wife presented me with a Green Hippo horn, “on the off chance you pass someone.”  Thanks for the support.  She was just pissed because an ankle injury was keeping her from running.  So with that resounding vote of confidence, I loaded the trusty bike on to the Wagon and was gone.  It took an hour to get to the race.  More than enough time to convince oneself of ones own idiocy.  I went over it a hundred times.  I wasn’t a racer.  That wasn’t why I rode.  I didn’t need the competition.  But I wanted to do this to experience all of the MTBiking world.

Two large Tim’s coffees and a Boston Creme later and I arrived.  Young, fit bodies astride high-priced cool race rigs.  Then there was me.  Steel Breezer, rigid, with wool socks and my hippo horn.  Race teams, clubs, families and friends.  Then there was me, alone, but wait.  My budy Stu showed for support.  God love the man he tweaked my brakes and didn’t make one comment about the hippo.

Senior sport gets called to the line.  Stu turns on my flashing commuter light, “so nobudy runs into you on the downhills.”  It was like having my wife there.  I couldn’t help but notice that some of the kids were looking at me and giggling.  As were waiting for the start I remember thinking just finish.  Go!  That’s when it hit me that it had rained last night.  The gorge was going to be slick.  Stayed mid pack on the climb.  Got held up in the singletrack, some of the kids had a hard time with the conditions.  Made a huge mistake and went for the granny with a muddy drivetrain and chainsucked my way to a broken chain half way through the first lap.  No problem, just pull out the Ritchey tool and fix it.  Wrong that’s back on the step at home where you were fiddling with your peddals that morning.  So I ran it out to the start/finnish and borrowed a chain tool.  I got passed by nearly everyone.  Lost about 15-20 minutes.  But I kept going.

Reeled in some of the kids on the third lap.  Overheard one say to another as I passed them on the grass climb, “that old fuck with the hippo and the light just got us.”  Cool.  Finnished 18 min out of first in my division.  The course was outstanding. Moral: It’s OK to challenge yourself now and again, and never underestimate how much MTBiking can make you feel IT.

Keeping your chain clean is the best way to keep your drivetrain shifting smooth and to prevent premature wear on your components. We suggest that you purchase a chain degreasing box (we use the one produced by Bebox) to speed your degreasing process. These sandwich your chain between brushes that clean with degreaser as you slowly turn the pedal of your bike backwards. The poor man’s solution is to by a spray on degreaser or use a rag and a toothbrush with degreaser.

While you are waiting for the chain to dry, take this oppurtunity to check your derailler pulleys, rear cassette, and front chainrings for caked up grease. Use an old toothbrush to scrub these parts clean, if necessary — keeping these clean will help keep your chain clean longer.

After drying the chain with a rag, reapply lubrication to your chain. Degreasing your chain frequently will make your bike shift better and its drivetrain last longer.

Every couple of months (for a cyclist riding 2-3 times a week — degrease more or less depending on your riding frequency and the amount of grime in your riding environment), we recommend that you remove the chain from your bike and soak it in degreaser. Degreasing machines like the BeBox do a great job of getting the majority of the dirt off of your chain, but soaking your chain in degreaser is the best way to get all of the dirt out. Use your trusty old toothbrush again to scrub away any remaining dirt stuck in the chain.

A little good can be overdone, however. Every time you rejoin a link in your chain, that link becomes a little less strong, so don’t remove your chain more frequently than you need to for cleaning.

Finally, under normal wear and tear, your chain will slowly stretch. If this stretch becomes pronounced, it will wear your chainring and cassette cogs in such a way that it will be necessary to replace all three if you ever need to replace your chain. To prevent this, measure your chain every so often. 12 links should equal 12 inches out of the bag. If it measures 12 1/8″ or longer, replace your chain with a new one.

Tips and suggestions for avoiding poison oak exposure

• Learn to identify poison oak in all its forms. I go by the stem which doesn’t change from season to season. Poison oak main stems are orangy-tan and smooth, usually a little wider than a pencil, and the side branches are thinner than a pencil, between 1/2 and 4 inches long, and sometimes slightly rough or bumpy. Side branches never come off the main stem in pairs, rather, they alternate positions along the stem. Also, leaves usually come off the main stem and side branches at the ends, not along the length of the stems. We all know about the three shiny leaves, but that only helps when there are leaves, which is about half the year in arid regions. The stems have oil too, so you can get it even when there are no leaves.
• Ride around all foliage and bare twiggy branches when you can. When you are climbing, you have time to look at what you are brushing through, but if you get in the habit of dodging all branches when you are able, you will cut your exposure, especially downhill.
• If you know you’re going to hit some on a trail, try the Technu pre-exposure lotion. It helps form a barrier that slows down the oil’s penetration into your skin.
• Carry prepackaged wipes like baby wipes. When you know you’ve hit a branch or two on the last run, stop and wipe all exposed skin surfaces. A squirt from your water bottle will really help too. Put a towel and little bottle of Dawn in the car, and when you come in, wash. Getting the invisible oil off A.S.A.P. is the best treatment, because it takes a little while for it to get into the skin.
• Remember you can get the oil on your otherwise unexposed skin by transfer from exposed surfaces. Get in the habit of keeping your hands and sleeves off your face and other delicate body parts. Wear a sweat band so you don’t wipe your eyes with the back of your gloves (Big mistake!) Also be careful when you go behind that bush! Always assume your knuckles, gloves and sleeves have been hit, and keep them away from your legs and fly too. Ladies need to take care when pulling down shorts not to rub your exposed shorts or sleeves down your hips or thighs.
• Wear long pants and sleeves when the weather permits, and learn how to take off your clothes when you’ve been out in the poison oak. You want to keep the outside of the fabric away from your skin! Don’t forget on laundry day what you are handling! Assume your shoes are always contaminated. Wash your hands after tying the laces.
• Whenever you can, shower A.S.A.P. in cool water, because heat opens your pores.Use a lot of suds and scrub gently.
• Scratching makes the blisters worse, and really doesn’t make it feel any better. Once you’ve washed the oils off, scratching won’t make it spread, even if the blisters are oozing. Some areas may take a few days to erupt in blisters, but it’s from exposure to the oil, not your body fluids. Try an ice cube instead of your fingernails for relief.
• Go see your doctor and talk about your chronic poison oak exposure. Having a good strong steroid cream like 2.5% hydrocortisone on hand to apply early can reduce your reaction. Apply several times a day and try not to scratch. It will help dry it out. If you really get nailed, like from landing in a bush, you may want a cortisone injection or oral steroids, and it’s better to get treated early than when you are really miserable. Antihistamines like benadryl also help reduce your allergic response. Note: steroids inhibit your immune system. Keep them out of dirty wounds that may get infected, or you could end up with a run away infection. Cover last week’s cuts and scratches with a band aid or bandage to keep poison oak out. Beware of hot, red and very tender wounds and use an antibiotic ointment, not cortisone.
• Call out when you see it to warn the riders behind you to take evasive action.
• Go volunteer to work on trail days if you don’t get poison oak! We need you to help cut it back off the trails for the rest of us, and you earn lots of bonus points for your community service. We will love you for it, really!

Sponsored By: tour de france odds

Tools and Supplies Needed:

Chaintool

Directions:

Mountain bike chains require a chain tool to take off your chain. This tool takes several forms, from a plier-like device to a small screw tool that slowly pushes your chain pin out. Although more difficult to use, I’d suggest that you buy the smaller screw-type tool, allowing you to bring it along on rides.

• Unscrew the chain tool, so that the chain can fit on the last groove on the tool.
• Place the tool on the chain, so that when the pin the chain tool pushes out will be facing out, away from the bike. Although this will make screwing the pin out more difficult, it makes the task of rejoining the chain much easier.
• Slowly turn the chain tool until the pin is nearly out. DON’T PUSH THE PIN FULLY OUT! From experience, it is nearly impossible to get back in (if you do — don’t worry — just remove the link and start over on the next link. Just remember to check your chain length before you shift into the largest chainring and the largest cassette gear on your bike to make sure the chain isn’t too short) . It may be necessary to unscrew the chain tool and check your progress from time to time. Try wiggling the chain from side to side to see if it is loose enough to split apart.

Why should I wear a helmet?

Fact: Thousands of cyclists around the world die in crashes each year. Hundreds suffer permanent brain damage. Many of these are experienced, careful riders– riders like you. Most of these head injuries can be prevented if people just wore helmets. If you think that wearing a helmet is a hassle or just isn’t cool, think about how “cool” it will be to be in a wheelchair for the rest of your life. Today’s helmets are lightweight, fashionable, cool and inexpensive — especially compared to an emergency room visit.

Helmet types

There are two basic helmet types, hard shell and soft shell. Hard-shell helmets have a thin plastic surface, while soft-shell helmets have only a soft foam surface. Hard shells are preferable over soft shelled helmets ‘cuz when a hard shelled helmet hits rough ground it will skid rather than catch on the ground – which could possible break your neck.

If you have a crash and your helmet takes a significant hit, replace it right away. An impact can damage a helmet’s foam core, meaning that it may not protect you as well as a new helmet could.

What to look for in a helmet

Rating: Look on the inside of the helmet: It should have a green or blue Snell sticker meaning the helmet passed the Snell Foundation‘s safety tests.

Fit:You must have a good fit. A snug fit means that if your head hits more than once, the helmet will stay in place. Most brands of adult helmets come in two or three sizes, and you can make them fit even better by adjusting the straps or putting the included foam pads around inside. Note: Do NOT wear your helmet tilted back on your head, it won’t protect your skull in a frontal impact.

How to Check For A Good Fit

1. The helmet sits level on your head.
2. If you move your head while the helmet is fastened, it does not move around on your head (side to side, front to back).
3. With the straps tight, you can’t possibly get the helmet off.

If the helmet fails any of these, either adjust the straps, put in bigger pads, or try another size.

Ventilation: A helmet’s ventilation depends on front-to-back flow. Good air flow comes from long, wide air vents, and air passages (otherwise known as troughs) between the vents.

Weight: Less expensive helmets are usually only ounces heavier than expensive ones– and most cyclists notice no difference. If you think you need an ultra-light helmet, test-ride a regular one to make sure.

Aerodynamics: Many cyclists worry that some features, such as sun visors, will increase wind resistance. Don’t worry; a helmet’s design won’t slow you down unless you’re going Mach 1.

Cost: You can get a good Snell-rated bike helmet for $30 to $80. Hard shells cost a little more than soft. More costly helmets usually aren’t much safer, but they look cool, have better ventilation, and weigh less. Note: Before you buy a helmet, always try it on or have your bicycle store’s staff fit you.

Fresh snow, blanketing harder – older snow below. The sun’s new found warmth turns it into the consistency of gravel. The need to ride has become oppressive. Just can’t seem to spend the time on the trainer like last year. Must be spooked by all the press on impotence. “You said that when the dog hit a year you would take him for his first ride.”

Trying not to listen he ties his riding shoes and searches intently for his helmet – the helmet directly below the feet that moments before he laid said helmet between. He is so looking forward to this ride; the conditions probably won’t be this good again for months. With spring fastly approaching there could be 2 – 3 months of mud and virtually unrideable trails.

“Here’s your water bottle, and your dog,” she says, handing him a bottle and a blue leash; attached to one very excited 1 year and 2 day old Chesepeak Bay Retriever.
MUCH, MUCH, MUCH MOPING AND DRAGGING OF FEET… “Come on Chester, were going for a ride,” muttered with less then obvious enthusiasm.
“Oh come on, who knows you both just might like it?” He can’t help but notice the calculation in her eyes when she says this – the house empty and to myself.

The parking lot is deserted. Thank god. Dog and Bike are unpacked. Chester digs the woods, and knows these trails. Every second day without fail Chester and Owner decend upon Randy’s Trails for much romping.

What a day. Traction is as good as it gets, with only a couple of icy bits. The dog preforms flawlessly. He picks ligns like a pro and has the endurance of Overand ( due to almost daily runs at Point Plessant with running-wife ). Until, apparently it becomes hunt for stick in middle of the trail time. Of course, right at a sketckthy downhill, off-camper, right-hander. Tic the dog and stack hard into a thankfully forgiving 10 foot alder. Chester is a bit freaked. As man, dog and machine shake it off a moment of ‘connection’ occurs. The dog and MTN Biker bond. This is wicked. Back at the car 1.5 hours later there’s nothing but good feelings. It was a blast. A great day, and another great ride.

Since then the dog and I have shared the trails another couple of times. Not always that perfect, usually always fun. The dog really pushes me in the technical sections and its a blast to pass him on the downhills. He’s a great training partner; a bonus when busy lives keeps my usual riding bud tied to a desk. But the largest bonus of all – get home and he’s destroyed – sleeps the rest of the day. Peace! Yes! Those of you with Retrievers know what I mean.

Steel is real, and may the Redsox win the pennant in my lifetime.

Brent “getting used to being a dog owner’ Nicholson

Not so much Road Trips: Porcupine Rim Trail Adventures

Not so much Road Trips; “Eight hours into the Porcupine Rim Trail and we decided to pick up the pace.” This sentence leads me to two conclusions; one they are aliens, and two, even given that weird kind of ability, I’ll never be allowed to have that kind of vacation. Think about it. “Honey, can I take all the vacation money and head across the continent and possibly kill myself in some remote MTN biking Mecca?” he asked from behind the fridge door cowaringly.

But this is the scene I am inundated with every time I pick up a magazine or watch alittle Fattrax. I am sure that there is epic quality riding in Moab, Crested Butte, etc., but that I’ll probably never see it. Does that mean that I should feel less then fulfilled as a MTN biker? Yeah probably.

The need to travel is endemic to all of us who MTN bike. If not the North Shore in Vancouver then where? News Flash! Maybe you can find adventure closer to home. In my own province of Nova Scotia, there are two rides I have heard lots about but had never found the time for. The first is less then two hours down the road in the Wentworth Valley, and the second on Cape Breton Island in a town called Mabou.

Man is not an Island unto himself. Plus I don’t carry any tools. Therefore an accomplise was called for. Every hero needs a sidekick. I the Calfless Wonder have, dun dun dun dah, Mango Man. After noticing the Ride Beacon was in the sky our two heros loaded the Yellow Submarine and hit the road. (The Yellow Submarine is a classic 91 Toyota Previa.) Apparently the marriages were going to surrive our little adventure for we had tacit approval from our ever understnding and tolerant Life Partners.

“Mango, did you remember the beer, the tools, the tent, the bags, the food, the pump, the map, the cell phone, the ball gloves, the Sega, the beer, the mud tires, the beer, and the lights?”
“Why yes Wonder I did.”
“Cool, I got my lucky hat, I guess we’re good to go.”
“Yes Wonder it appears so, but did you remember your Tony Kid Calf Shaper?” snickeringly jabbed Mango Man.
“Funny man! But who’ll be laughing when your broken down on the trail and you have to come crawling to…(it was that second that The Calfless Wonder realized he couldn’t even change a tire and relied completely on his sidekick for mechanical asssistance and stammered…)”Just drive.”
“Yes of fearful freak.”
“For the last time it’s fearless friend!”

Two pastry breaks and one hour and fourty minutes later our heros arrive in Wentworth at the Valley Inn. A weirdly tucked out of the way joint, reasonably priced and used to the antics of Sky-bums and Dirt-Heads. Unloading the Yellow Submarine our heros could not contain they’re glee and performed the little known, soon-to-be-mountain-biking-on-an-unknown-trail-staying-in-a-hotel-room-drinking dance.

Well that its it so far. I’m actually going to ride the trail. Stay tuned for the continuing road trip adventure of The Calfless Wonder and Mango Man.