Looks like a Trek Checkpoint. Should be a great bike for you. Considering how many frames from the 1990s are still kicking around I think you're fine with a used bike.
It is. It's a Checkpoint SL6 from 2021.
Unfortunately, I got a flat today on the first real test ride and forgot to bring a pump. So it turned into a 4 or 5 mile walk.
I brought my Salsa Blackthorn back to REI for them to look at a couple times in the last month because of a progressively louder cockpit creak. The first time, they noticed the headset was loose and tightened it up. This time, they took it apart and noticed that the headset was completely dry and greaseless. They corrected the issue after inspecting to make sure I hadn’t damaged the bearings or races so I’m glad of that but I’m a little concerned that it shipped from salsa that way.
Anyway, psa, don’t ignore creaking sounds. You aren’t being picky. It’s probably a sign of something you want to take care of.
So I finally went mountain biking somewhere other than my home state of Virginia. I had a business trip to San Diego and after asking around on a FB group, went and rode Los Penasquitos Canyon Trail network with a rented bike from REI. I might have done a different one if I had seen the video YT showed me right after getting back. That REI was no joke, though. It had a completely free standing rental building.
I would love to say I took that switchback downhill, but this was an uphill spot, so I took that opportunity for some photos.
Very much loose rocks, massive erosion ruts, and lots of sand. I definitely went down a trail that was too steep and narrow for my skill level and while I was basically right at the point of locking up both brakes and eventually went OTB. Twice. I walked the rest of the way down, and then had to hike-a-bike back up the route out as I collected myself, but the next downhill portion reset my mind and I was back in it. I should have skipped that trail, though, because at the top I said to myself, surely it would get less steep and easier. It did not. I know better than to think like that as trails typically don't get easier after the first feature. Except that wasn't just a feature, it was almost the entire trail that was stupid steep. Thankfully just got a scrape on my knee and elbow.
Glad I rode those trails, but definitely a weird place to ride and it looks like most trails are like that out there to some degree.
I noticed that my headlamp was indicating low battery so I took it off to charge. When I did, I noticed a thorn from what looks like a nasty wineberry bush had embedded itself about a quarter inch deep into the silicone power button. Not enough to damage it, but certainly enough to demonstrate to me how badly it would have messed me up if it had dragged across my forearm or worse.
Might have to invest in protective clothes.
I noticed that my headlamp was indicating low battery so I took it off to charge. When I did, I noticed a thorn from what looks like a nasty wineberry bush had embedded itself about a quarter inch deep into the silicone power button. Not enough to damage it, but certainly enough to demonstrate to me how badly it would have messed me up if it had dragged across my forearm or worse.
Might have to invest in protective clothes.
Ever since cataract surgery, I ride with eye protection. Finally found some comfortable knee pads (at a higher price than I wanted, though) with the Fox Enduro D30 knee guard. I have yet to make the jump to elbow pads, but if I get more into park riding, I'll probably get there along with a full face. I've only visited a single park once earlier this summer and just rented a full face helmet.
I have yet to think about standard clothes as a protective layer, though.
I just noticed that Salsa has reduced its prices on a bunch of bikes again. The Warroad is one I have had my eye on for a while and it looks like they reduced the price of the Shimano 105 equipped carbon frame bike to $1999.
I have been doing a lot of road riding lately on my older Jamis Zenith (105 equipped carbon bike) and enjoying it. However, I am definitely feeling every bit of the road as the bike features race geometry and 23c tires. I figure an upgrade to endurance geometry would drastically improve my comfort over distance.
Now I need to convince my wife I deserve nice things.
I have yet to make the jump to elbow pads, but if I get more into park riding, I'll probably get there along with a full face.
I know that the meta is that elbow pads are extraneous, but whenever I've crashed, my elbows and forearms are what end up getting thrashed more than anything else.
mrtomaytohead wrote:I have yet to make the jump to elbow pads, but if I get more into park riding, I'll probably get there along with a full face.
I know that the meta is that elbow pads are extraneous, but whenever I've crashed, my elbows and forearms are what end up getting thrashed more than anything else.
Yeah. My sister, who is way more serious a mountain bike rider than I am, says that elbows, knees, and hips are the most common contact areas and she wears protective gear religiously (along with a full face helmet). She's also a lot more technical than I am too though, so my mileage varies for sure. I have generally only gone out there with helmet, goggles and gloves.
I came real close to getting some moto hip pads after coming down so hard on my hip I thought I'd broke it. Still might spring for it if I found some that were light enough.
Had a busy weekend.
I don’t think I’ll ever ride a century. Plus aren’t you dragging along your Homebrew speaker setup and camping stuff?
If I tried that on my race setup, pretty sure my bones would be powder.
Had a busy weekend.
Awesome. How was it? Not a bad weekend for it.
Plus aren’t you dragging along your Homebrew speaker setup and camping stuff?
This was an organized ride and they had a luggage service you could pay for. Just drop your bags at the start and pick them up at the finish.
If I tried that on my race setup, pretty sure my bones would be powder.
I’ve been working up to it over the last ten to fifteen years. And put a lot of training into it this year.
Awesome. How was it? Not a bad weekend for it.
It went pretty well.
I spent the whole week before watching the weather and worrying about rain. A few years ago it went over a rail trail that was super slick after the rain and a bunch of people fell and I heard someone broke their collarbone. Thankfully the trail wasn’t as slick this year.
I took my new gravel bike too and it worked pretty well. I had only had it a week before the race and was concerned it might be a bad idea. Thankfully all that happened was that I got a slow leak a few miles from one of the rest stops. Rather then change the inner tube myself I just stopped and reinflated it until I got to a rest stop and had the SAG people swap it for me.
There’s a bunch of cool stuff on this route, including:
- one of the trails has almost a mile of railroad tunnels in it. Normally you have to walk them but they light them up and you can ride them.
- I ran into my old boss from ten years ago. I was super random. I was just in a group of people before the sun was up and thought I recognized him. Actually, I ran into him twice. He didn’t take the rail trails like I did but we grouped up again after them.
- early on the second morning the ride goes over Lake Wisconsin on a ferry. There’s an ice cream stand at the ferry stop and you get a free cone of your choice while waiting.
- thankfully it was not over 100 degrees, super humid, with a strong headwind this year.
Sounds like it was a lot of fun. How do they do the overnight? Do you bikepack a tent?
I haven't done those tunnels but would like to. Riding them would be more fun than walking so it's neat that they have you do that.
You are kind of in your own for lodging but all the hub cities are big enough that there is plenty of hotels for the 750 to 900 riders.
This year I got the transport from the finish in Milwaukee to the start line in La Crosse on Friday. I stayed in a hotel overnight in La Crosse and had them (for an additional fee) move my luggage to Wisconsin Dells.
I finished the first day then met up with my wife and kids. We stayed at a water park for the night. My wife took all my stuff home and I set out at 5am for the second day.
The algorithm has started feeding me people’s videos of this years ride. This guy is just posting some of his raw footage like him going through the first tunnel.
Ever have one of those mountain bike rides where you pedal just has to hit every single root, rock, and stump there is in the woods? That was me yesterday. Thankfully only crashed once, but it was a header into a wineberry bush that scraped me up pretty good.
Oh no! Get, and stay, well!
I would like to improve my climbing. I went on a ride last weekend and it was rough. It had a couple long climbs, and even though a lot of that climbing was only 4-5%, it went on for like five miles, with spikes nearing 10%. This happened relatively early on and made the rest of the ride less enjoyable.
I think one of the things that makes climbing harder for me is that when I feel my legs kinda burning out I stop to give them a short rest, and so over the course of the whole climb I'm subjecting them to the startup effort. I'm not sure--other than just doing more climbing--I can help with that.
Any tips?
Ever have one of those mountain bike rides where you pedal just has to hit every single root, rock, and stump there is in the woods? That was me yesterday. Thankfully only crashed once, but it was a header into a wineberry bush that scraped me up pretty good.
That was me Wednesday, and I was not feeling on top of my game, so I cut my ride short despite a couple better than ever before flow sections, including berms. But the roots and rocks were getting me.
By the time I pulled into the driveway at home after the ride, I was feeling pretty bad. I put everything away, took a shower and fell asleep for 15 hours, only getting up to use the bathroom. I ended up running a temperature, had aches, chills, and sweats until yesterday. I probably should not have gone for that ride, but at least I didn't push to do my originally planned distance.
Paleocon wrote:Ever have one of those mountain bike rides where you pedal just has to hit every single root, rock, and stump there is in the woods? That was me yesterday. Thankfully only crashed once, but it was a header into a wineberry bush that scraped me up pretty good.
That was me Wednesday, and I was not feeling on top of my game, so I cut my ride short despite a couple better than ever before flow sections, including berms. But the roots and rocks were getting me.
By the time I pulled into the driveway at home after the ride, I was feeling pretty bad. I put everything away, took a shower and fell asleep for 15 hours, only getting up to use the bathroom. I ended up running a temperature, had aches, chills, and sweats until yesterday. I probably should not have gone for that ride, but at least I didn't push to do my originally planned distance.
Oof. Hope you are feeling better.
I went out this morning with that neighbor kid again. This time, it was just a 14 mile road ride through the hilly part of the county. 1200 ft of elevation gain in one hour. Felt really good.
It is clear, however, that my current race geometry bike is not exactly age appropriate for me. It is nimble and fun to ride, but 23c tires at 105 psi are definitely beating me up. I really need to look at all road, endurance geometry bikes.
Prices on bikes are falling and I imagine will fall further as the season wraps up. I am thinking I can probably get a lot of carbon fiber endurance bike for $2500 or less. I mentioned the Salsa Warroad earlier and am still very interested, but the field looks wide open.
Anyone else go through this exercise recently and have any suggestions?
I would like to improve my climbing. I went on a ride last weekend and it was rough. It had a couple long climbs, and even though a lot of that climbing was only 4-5%, it went on for like five miles, with spikes nearing 10%. This happened relatively early on and made the rest of the ride less enjoyable.
I think one of the things that makes climbing harder for me is that when I feel my legs kinda burning out I stop to give them a short rest, and so over the course of the whole climb I'm subjecting them to the startup effort. I'm not sure--other than just doing more climbing--I can help with that.
Any tips?
Not much advice other than to keep doing hills. The other unhelpful thing I have is that you can't substitute for hills. Biking flat distances doesn't help you. Doing hills on an exercise bike doesn't help you. In my experience, you just have to do the hills. At least where mountain biking is concerned.
The other thing is, maybe don't push until your legs are burning. I go slower and slower until either my legs won't push down or I can't keep balance. For training distance, that may be better than the interval thing you're doing.
Yeah. The only advice I can give on that is downshift and spin. Stay in the saddle and drop into it so you can pinch it and use your leverage if you need to and settle in for a long, slow effort. Don’t try to keep up with anyone or a pace. Just go high leverage and stick with a pace you can maintain.
I find that this is an area in particular where road riding for fitness and form really improves your mountain biking.
Does anyone have any suggestions for a pair of over glasses goggles that works for them? I have dry eyes and anytime I go over 25mph, I can barely see for the wind in my eyes.
muraii wrote:I would like to improve my climbing. I went on a ride last weekend and it was rough. It had a couple long climbs, and even though a lot of that climbing was only 4-5%, it went on for like five miles, with spikes nearing 10%. This happened relatively early on and made the rest of the ride less enjoyable.
I think one of the things that makes climbing harder for me is that when I feel my legs kinda burning out I stop to give them a short rest, and so over the course of the whole climb I'm subjecting them to the startup effort. I'm not sure--other than just doing more climbing--I can help with that.
Any tips?
Not much advice other than to keep doing hills. The other unhelpful thing I have is that you can't substitute for hills. Biking flat distances doesn't help you. Doing hills on an exercise bike doesn't help you. In my experience, you just have to do the hills. At least where mountain biking is concerned.
The other thing is, maybe don't push until your legs are burning. I go slower and slower until either my legs won't push down or I can't keep balance. For training distance, that may be better than the interval thing you're doing.
Yeah, that’s what I figured. Thing is I’m okay at shorter climbs, and I know to work on just keeping spinning. But those miles-long inclines make it so even in
kazooka wrote:muraii wrote:I would like to improve my climbing. I went on a ride last weekend and it was rough. It had a couple long climbs, and even though a lot of that climbing was only 4-5%, it went on for like five miles, with spikes nearing 10%. This happened relatively early on and made the rest of the ride less enjoyable.
I think one of the things that makes climbing harder for me is that when I feel my legs kinda burning out I stop to give them a short rest, and so over the course of the whole climb I'm subjecting them to the startup effort. I'm not sure--other than just doing more climbing--I can help with that.
Any tips?
Not much advice other than to keep doing hills. The other unhelpful thing I have is that you can't substitute for hills. Biking flat distances doesn't help you. Doing hills on an exercise bike doesn't help you. In my experience, you just have to do the hills. At least where mountain biking is concerned.
The other thing is, maybe don't push until your legs are burning. I go slower and slower until either my legs won't push down or I can't keep balance. For training distance, that may be better than the interval thing you're doing.
Yeah, that’s what I figured. Thing is I’m okay at shorter climbs, and I know to work on just keeping spinning. But those miles-long inclines make it so even in
Back in the old days, there used to be a thing called a climbing saddle that road racers used to use on mountain courses like the Alpe d'Huez section of the Tour. They have gone out of fashion, but I used one on both Vail Pass and the Skyline Drive century and found it to be a godsend. Basically, it looks like a golf tee cut along the vertical axis and the inclined back allows you to exert extraordinary leverage against the seatback to utilize a powerful topstroke. You can get *some* of this benefit by "pinching" the saddle like I mentioned in an earlier comment. To do this, you bring your knees together to allow the back of your thighs to exert similar pressure to the curve of your saddle as you climb.
Anyone else go through this exercise recently and have any suggestions?
I have recently bought a couple of bikes like this, I think. They are both gravel-ish.
The ascendence of the gravel bike (and particularly road bikes with disc brakes) is a dream come true for me becaue I had always wanted a fast-ish road style frame but with fatter more comfortable tires (and maybe a slightly more upright riding position) and now finally this has been delivered to us.
I have a less fancy All-City steel bike with very fat tires (38C I think). Very comfortable, a bit slow.
Later I also got a fancier Specialized Roubaix carbon bike which as far as I can tell is just a straight up road/endurance-style frame but with 32C tires because you can do that now with disc brakes being pretty much ubiquitous. This bike has been a great for me and is even faster than the first carbon road bike I bought in 2012. I love it.
New bike!
Bike is a bit squished as the photo was cropped from a pano shot I took.
Anyway, it's a Priority 600HXT hardtail and she's pretty awesome.
I will say the tires she came with are not suitable for the rocky terrain out here, so I replaced those immediately, and installed some CushCore while I was at it, and she's a lot tougher now. She won't replace my full suspension bike for the really tough stuff, but she's absolutely great for moderately difficult trails.
The ability to mount a rear rack, combined with the zero maintenance internal gearbox and belt drive, make her a beast of a bikepacking machine, and I can't wait to get a few overnight trips in!
I recommend the Benetti's Defense tires....
The ability to mount a rear rack, combined with the zero maintenance internal gearbox and belt drive, make her a beast of a bikepacking machine, and I can't wait to get a few overnight trips in!
Nice! I'd like to do at least some sections of the GDMBR someday, and the Prioritys would be high on my list to tackle such a ride.
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