Gravel adventure in Chiliwack - Tamihi challenge

Ride for Water is a charity that raises money to help Ethiopians with  getting fresh water.  The fund is raised by charity bike rides and runs.  The pandemic didn't them from raising money and they are doing it by setting up gravel ride challenges in Fraser Valley.    There are 3 challenges, and I did m first one today.  

After breakfast, I loaded my bike and gear to my car for a 85km drive to Chilliwack.  It had been a a long time since I last headed east on Hwy 1.  Morning traffic on Saturday and I let my Mazda3 loose  for 40 minutes.  It had been a while I drove on the fast lane.  I backed it down to a more manageable speed not because speeding ticket, but to save gas.  

Once I was off the highway, the windows and sunroof was open.  The early spring air was warm and mixed with manure smell.  I was in the country side after all.   I was just glad that I was able to be out riding my bike.

The ride started from the the coffee truck at Vedder Park in Chilliwack.  In the next 30km, I explored trails on the Tamihi area.  The trails are mainly used by dirt bikers and ATV, but you also see the mountain bikers in the area too.  Because this is a gravel ride, there was no technical trails.  Just fire roads climbs and descents.  It reminds me of the early mountain biking days.  We only rode fire roads as our bikes had no suspensions and had geometry similar to the road bikes. 

Before I started my ride, I was afraid that my bike may not have low enough gear to tackle the climbs. After I settled into a pace, I realised that I was able to ride all of them.  At no point that I needed to get off the bike and push.  The climb was also short and punchy.  I only had to use my lowest gear at a one spot.  I was able to settle in a steady pace for the majority of the climb.

What goes up must comes down.  My drop bar mountain bike didn't preform too badly.  My hands were on the drop, and my butt was hanging over the rear tire.  Without any suspension part, my body was loose enough to take the bumps.  I was very comfortable on the bike and I was grinning from ear to ear.    The large volume of the 29" tires had something to do with it too.  The big tires were so much better than the 26er.  More traction and more air.  They were awesome, but this down hill also killed my rear tire.  The side wall wasn't very strong and the side wall was gone.  I managed to ride back to the car without have a flat.  I must thank my lucky star.

The ride back to the car park was just on the road.  It was kind of boring because I could only go so fast on the mountain bike.  Also, the side wall is giving out and the ride wasn't very stable.  But the view was good.  country side.  Green grass.  Quiet life.  Beautiful day. Then I heard gun shots!  WTF?  That's because I was near a gun range.. lol

The rest of the ride was okay.  Before I head home, I got cheap gas in Abbotsford and a donair..Hopefully I will do another ride next week.

#upstreamchallenge #rideforwater #gravelbike #trekxcalibur #dropbar29er #dropbarmountainbike #partypace

 

The Evolution of Mrs. Batty Cee ( What is it?)

Because of the drop bar and rigid fork, lots of people think she is a cyclocross or a gravel bike.  

It's true that I thought about getting some gravel tires for her, but I still prefer mountain bike tires.  That's because Mrs. Batty Cee is a mountain  bike with drop bar.   She will always be a mountain bike. She is a homage to the golden days of mountain bike of the 90's.  She is an All Terrain Bicycle.  All Terrain Bicycle is a throw back and that's what these bikes were called in the late 80's..  since I will be riding this bike on road and dirt, I am going to call her ATB

It's true that she isn't going to handle the gnarly trails but she handles old school mountain bike trails very well.  I have fun riding it and I love the position.  I can go for a 3+ hours ride and not have any comfort concerns. 

The gearing is 1x9 and is geared for the lower end.  It doesn't have a high gear but riding on dirt never demands high gearing like my road bike.  A fast enough gear is good enough for me.  She may be slow but I will be doing  Ride for Water with her.  It's because my single speed cross bike isn't the best bike for riding that.  However, I may attempt it with a single speed in the future.  

She is also longer than my cross bike and I think that smooth out a lot of bump for me.

Many people will think the lack of a suspension fork, the bike will not preform as well.  It's true, but I am not a good descender. .Suspended or not, I am still slow.

 

Evolution of Mrs Batty Cee (On One Midge)

I always knew that the Jones Bar was only going to be a temporary set up. Although I love it but it still was a drop bar.

As  I mentioned on a previous post, the Kona P2 fork changed the bike's geometry.  Not only the head angle is steeper, but the effective top tube is about 2 cm shorter.  The changes made the bike perfect for the drop bar conversion.

OnOne Midge is my top choice for off road drop bar.  I tried a few, but none feels as good as this one.  The reach is 65mm and the drop is shallow and short.  The 560mm  width is perfect for this application.  Also with the short and high rise stem, this bar offers 3 different positions and they all help during the ride. 

Because of the drop section is short, it also the perfect bar to run barcon shifters.  I have fast access to them as I spend lots of time in the drops and I can shift through the cassette in one action.  It is also not a complicated like the STI shifters.  

For a while, I took Shiggy's advice on drop bar set up, but I realised that his advice didn't suit my need. I want my drop bar to offers me multiple positions and I want to ride on the hood.  He didn't think mountain bikers should ride in the hood and he thinks people should just ride in the drop exclusively.  It makes sense but I feels like it is a waste of the bar if I am not going to use other positions.  Also, this bike won't be riding lots of technical trails, as Mrs. Batty Cee will be the All Terrain Bike.

During a ride, I would spending my time on the 3 different positions.  It depends if I am going up, going down or cruising on the flats. I am comfortable on the drop and it is my go to position

 

 

Evolution of Mrs. Batty Cee (how it finally became a Drop Bar 29er) Part 1 - Kona Fork

 Not sure I crossed the line or blurred the line with my 29er.  I got her a few years ago to to experience the 29" wheels.  The bike definitely roll a lot faster than the 26" wheels.  I can't say that I was in love with it in the early stages, but I have grown to love it.

However, I never really liked the high front end and the slack/relaxed angles.  The stock 100mm front shock was supple but the front angle changes too much and I much prefer bikes with less changes. My fork eventually needed service and I decided it was time to retire the fork and get something different.

Sourcing out a rigid for in 2020 wasn't a easy task.  They are out of stock in lots of places because factories were shut down around the globe.  In December, I found one.  Not an ideal one but the price was right.  I got myself an Kona P2 29er.  The fork was designed for one of Kona's 29ers bur the fork is very different than the Rockshox XC30.  For one thing, the Kona is about 40mm shorter and have 5mm less offset.  The common belief is that the frame is designed for 100mm fork and I should replace it with a fork that is similar in length.  But I have a different idea.  

The suspension forks are designed to move during the ride and the angles of the bike will be different depends on how much the fork moved.  I also feel that the fork are often compressed more than 40mm when it is ridden down hill.  So instead of pursuing a 480mm fork, I opted for a 460mm

It was somewhat a gamble.

The fork arrived and I nervously  installed the fork.  I really hope that it would work.  I didn't change anything at first.  I ran the bike with a 60mm stem and a 700mm flat bar.  I tried this combo out and I didn't like it. the steering was way too quick.  The wide bar had too much leverage.

To slow it down, a 70mm stem and a 600mm flat bar went on. It slowed the steering and I liked it.  It worked and I rode like a 90's XC bike.  It was a fun bike to ride on the easy trails.  But needless to say, the flat bar didn't stay with the bike long. It was replaced with a Jones bar