Foot Straps

I rode up to a shop in NE Mpls today to pick up a pair of these:

Beard Foot Straps are made locally, and are a nice option... easier to use with large shoes than toe clips and straps, more convenient (and cheaper) than clipless pedals, and more secure than just plain platform pedals.  This is actually the second pair of Beard straps I've bought - the new ones are for the Poor Man's Pug.  I've been using a pair of Beard straps on my Errand Bike since last fall, and I really like them.

I've used Power Grips in the past too, but they're much more difficult to adjust if you switch to a wider or narrower shoe.  The velcro makes the Beard straps really easy to adjust.

I bought the straps at a shop up in NE Mpls called Behind Bars.  It's one of the better shops in town, and has a lot of cool bikes in stock and on display.   My route up to NE followed the paved paths along the Mississippi River.  These paths make for a really nice ride, and bring you by some interesting sights...

Pioneers Statue in NE Mpls

Downtown Mpls from the Stone Arch Bridge

The Guthrie Theater

Receding Waters

It's been a rainy weekend, but yesterday I was lucky enough to sneak in a ride between storms.  I had planned on a short ride to run errands, and maybe head over to Fort Snelling and back.  I ended up riding for 3+ hours.  I explored some trails in Fort Snelling State Park that I'll likely include in my Bike Path Metric ride, and then headed over to Mendota to check on the condition of the MN Valley Trail.  The river had receded enough that I could access the trail, and surprisingly it was rideable from Mendota to at least Interstate 494.

The river was still covering a section at the beginning of the trail, but that was easily ridden around via a sand bar that had formed between the river and the trail.  

Once on the trail there were a fair number of puddles and quite a bit of sand, but it was easily rideable on the fat tires of the PMP.  The relatively smooth Hookworm tires would spin out if I pedaled too hard in the slick areas, but it wasn't much of an issue on the flat trail.  I'm beginning to wonder if a low profile knobby tire might be a better option for the summer, or if I should just stick with the Hookworms.  I might try an Endomorph, or even an Innova Spider, up front along with a 2.35-2.5 low profile knobby in back... the added height of the large volume front tire would be a nice side effect.

On my way home, I stopped to take some photos of the flowering trees along the Minnehaha Creek Trail.  It's always a neat section of trail this time of year...

Earlier in the week I installed a different stem on the PMP... one with less rise and more reach.  Not sure which stem I like more, so I'll probably keep experimenting.  The bike seemed to handle a bit better with the longer stem, but I'm not sure if the lower handlebars are worth it.  I am having a lot of fun riding and tinkering with this bike, but I'm looking forward to getting out for a long ride, or a singletrack ride, on one of the Fargos.

Bike Path Metric

Between yard work, family gatherings, and being busy at work, there hasn't been much time for riding this week.  But I've been looking at maps and planning a fun ride for the near future... a bike path metric.  The Minneapolis/St. Paul area has an extensive network of bike paths and I've always wanted to connect them on a nice long ride.  Ultimately I'd like to create a true century (100 mile) route that is entirely on the local bike paths, but I'll start with a metric (100 km).

I might even throw in some easy dirt/gravel trail, but that'll depend on the river levels.

I'm looking forward to trying this route.  It should make for a nice ride with a good mix of urban and natural sights along the way...

Midtown Greenway Graffiti

View of Downtown Minneapolis from Sabo Bridge

Crosby Farm Regional Park

Minnehaha Falls Park

Pudgy in Summer Mode

I took the Poor Man's Pug out for a ride yesterday hoping to explore the Minnesota Valley Trail.  When I first arrived I was hopeful...

But after riding a short distance past the tunnel, it looked like this (the trail is under that water)...

It was still a fun ride on a warm day... and seeing the highwater mark was pretty cool.  The river has receded a lot, but has a ways to go (it's still 6 feet over flood stage).  Pretty crazy.

This was the first time riding the PMP with the Surly Open Bars.  I like them, but it took a few adjustments to get them so they felt comfortable.  I had set the angle of the bars and the Ergon grips to where I thought I wanted them when I installed the bars, but after riding for a while they just didn't feel right.  I ended up rotating the bars so the grip section was nearly flat, and also flattened out the angle on the grips.  That did the trick,  and the bars felt much more comfortable for the remainder of the ride.

The bike handles a bit like an old cruiser bike... the front end had the tendency to feel floppy at slow speeds, and pedaling out of the saddle was done at the expense of stable steering.

Part of the reason the front end felt floppy was the rack trunk... with the weight being both high above the wheel and far out from the steering axis, it definitely impacted the handling.  After the ride I removed the rack, switched seatposts, installed a second water bottle cage, and added a Banjo Bros. Saddle Trunk.  This pack should be plenty big for some snacks, a few beers and a rain jacket... a similar amount of cargo that I would normally put in the rack trunk.

The shifters are currently mounted in the center of the bar so I can use the forward curve of the bars as an alternate place for my hands.  I'm not sure if this will stay like this... there will be some experimenting before I settle on the final set-up.

I went for another ride today, and while the steering is still slow, not having that extra weight out front was an improvement.  The feel of this bike is a result of the taller Pug fork, the short, tall stem, and the short reach of the Surly bars.  I might try a longer stem in the future, but I'm not terribly concerned about the handling at this point.  This bike isn't seeing technical trails, and is more or less being used as a sort of cruiser anyway.  Like today - a leisurely ride along the creek, with a beer stop at a nice spot on the water's edge...

30/30 and an Anniversary

Yesterday was the last day of the 30 Days of Biking campaign, and I went 30 for 30.  Granted a lot of those rides were 5 minute rides around the 'hood, but I rode my bike every day in April.  It turned out to be a good motivator to get my butt out riding... and early season miles are always a good thing.  I figured I was stubborn enough to go the entire month, but it was actually much easier than I thought.  I had hopes of going for a long ride yesterday to commemorate the end of the 30 days, but between crappy weather and me being sick I just took a short ride around the neighborhood.  Next spring I may try and do 61 days of biking (April and May), or even try multiple months of biking.

Tomorrow is the one year anniversary of starting this blog.  A look back at that first post shows just how late spring is running this year.  The trees don't even have their leaves yet this year (although they are budding).  Below is a pic from May 2, 2010... what a difference a year makes.

Since I'm under the weather, and the weather sucks, I spent most of yesterday working on bike projects. I recently used my tax return to pick up a couple cool parts from Hiawatha Cyclery... I bought a Surly Open Bar for the Poor Man's Pug, and a Civia Market rear rack for the Fargo All-Rounder.  I installed both yesterday and I'm really pleased with them... I'll post some pics and info on 'em in the near future.