Category: vermont

Great Day on the Pugs. Logged ~32 miles. We had a short section on road getting back to the house so Wil could take out the Soma in the snow – but the balance was the Intervale, some single track, plenty of bike path, and two different stretches of beach. Had full immersion of my feet on the beach getting around some high water – but I was close to home so the cold was more of a shock than anything I had to worry about.

I’m pretty close on the cockpit setup. Went back to the stock Salsa bar, adjusted the tilt and moved the levers. Went with a longer stem from the stock bike.

Lesson learned today: Railroad tracks under snow are very slick, especially when hit at an acute angle.

Another great morning on the Pugs. Rode into some rocky rooty single track and accelerated the learning curve of riding on snow. I’m sore – both in an aerobic / muscle sense – and also in a bruised arm and shoulder sense. Some lessons:

The front brake is to be used with care. Especially in soft snow on technical single track that heads downhill fast.

When going over the bars, be sure to check for all accessories before riding off downhill and scrambling over logs and roots while sliding further down said snowy hill. You will notice your missing light much later and need to retrieve it.

There will be hiking.

Tire pressure is a mystery as of yet. Running about 8 psi. Still a little bouncy when I hit a log or branch buried in the snow.

Climbing steep short pitches is a mystery. Hopefully as snow builds up and gets firm I’ll be able to clean more of the local trails… but with wet roots only inches away I’ve found myself stalling out, regardless of which gear choice I make.

Riding hard packed – trampled down, skied down, or ridden down – can be quick.

I’m learning that my first impressions of the shift levers aren’t as bad as I thought. After swapping bars and playing with positions, I think I’m close to getting the cockpit comfortable. New to me are the ‘2 way release’ Shimano levers. These operate like trigger shifters, but with the option of releasing the gear with 2 different presses of the lever. On the rear, moving to an easier gear is the same that I remember (its been 6 years since I rode my geared Yeti!) – a thumb push climbs the cassette. I’ve been fighting with releasing that all week – struggling to get my gloved hand into the space between the lever and the bar to index finger click the lever… but after some internet research I learned that I can also thumb press the lever… and it drops a gear! Much better with big mitts or lobster gloves. I still think thumbies with bar ends will be bomber… but until I can justify spending more coin on bike stuff… it will wait.

In other news, the Soma went through a rough patch after riding in the freezing rain last week. I thought the BB was destroyed – but after a good thaw in the house, removal, cleaning, and inspection – things seem to be spinning nicely again. I probably have 2-3 more weeks of life in the SS freewheel. It’s pretty crunchy right now. I’ve also re-cabled the bike. Front brake was OK with a solid run of housing from lever to BB7 – but I broke the run to the rear into 2 pieces of housing. This let in plenty of water, which froze. Tearing it apart I’ve found all sorts of dirt and grit inside. Lesson learned. Full runs only from now on.

*Edit – and it seems I snapped a tiny piece of the housing on my B+M Ixon IQ… the light has fired up after drying out – but the battery door will not stay locked closed due to a small piece of snapped plastic.