February 11, 2025
Kinney Trail and another visit to Fair Wheel
Barb has invited us on a trail ride that her husband Jim is leading. She put in a request with him for an "intermediate beginner" course, looking for some challenging terrain without going crazy on the steep rocky stuff. She and I are at about the same skill level so I'm excited, should be a good ride.
Both of them ride ebikes although Jim turned the power off on his. He is plenty fast without it. With her power switched on, Barb keeps up with him easily. Barry does great on his analog bike and is never far behind.
I’m bringing up the rear at a healthy distance, doing my best. This is definitely a faster pace than I do left to my own devices, which is good practice I guess.
On our way east we make a run at Ghost Gulch that goes about like last time for me; I get halfway up. Jim leads us on to Golden Gate, the rocky trail I struggled through last week.
This time the ride downhill on Golden Gate goes pretty well. It's not too steep and I practice trusting the bike, letting it roll down the rocks. It's good to follow faster people, gets me out of my head.
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From Golden Gate we turn on to Kinney Trail, a new one for Barry and me. Jim calls it by a former name, Teddy Bear. Sounds cuddly right? I'm pretty sure it's a reference to the Teddy Bear Cholla cactus all around us.
The trail runs parallel to Kinney Road so I'm curious to see if it's another gravel-bike-friendly alternative to the road. While I have fun riding this trail in both directions, this is definitely not a gravel route.
On the way back we ride back up the hill on Golden Gate and manage most of it without much hiking. Overall this was a fun ride with just enough challenging spots to make it interesting. I'm glad to have a new trail route in the collection.
After watching Barb scamper up the hills I can see the appeal of an e-mountain bike, although it hasn't risen to the level of n+1. For readers who may not be as obsessed with bicycles, the number of bikes you need is n+1, where n is the number you currently own.
N went from 5 to 4 for me last year when I sold my speedy but uncomfortable road bike. I don't care all that much about speed, and am quite happy with my stable of four - the two that came with us this trip plus my recumbent and the Bike Friday.
In the afternoon we call Fair Wheel Bikes to see if Barry’s Lightning R-84 will be ready to go today. Our service guy Patrick describes several potential causes he has found for the creaky crank noise.
The prime suspect is a loose bolt on the front derailleur clamp that he's not able to tighten or remove. Ordering a replacement mount will take a few days. Also the headset is loose and an adjuster ring on the bottom bracket is looser, actually wiggling back and forth.
The biggest issue he found is a crack at the end of one of the carbon fiber crank arms. The pedal thread heads are wobbling inside the left arm and in all likelihood the pedal will eventually break off. Goodness!
This is all a lot to absorb in a phone call. We decide to drive in to the shop so Patrick can walk Barry through all the issues. While we're at it I bring along the mountain bike since Hank recommended that I get the front suspension serviced. I won't need this bike for a few days so this is a good time to get that done.
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At the shop Barry signs up for all the recommended work. He needs a new crank that can probably be shipped from Lightning Cycle Dynamics by next week. Until then he'll get more saddle time on the gravel bike. That can only help with the training for Ireland in May since we're taking the gravel bikes there.
I'm glad to have such a great shop to service our bikes. We sure need the help!
Today's ride: 12 miles (19 km)
Total: 485 miles (781 km)
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