Sunday Funday

Jen, being a non-mom, picked up an overtime shift at her air traffic control job today, so we biked in together, as I was wanting to go on a longish ride, anyway. She asked if I was going straight home or on a long ride and I said I'd take a 'kinda indirect way home.' I should have realized there would eventually be more emphasis on the 'kinda indirect' than 'way home.' What started as a casual ride with Jen and then turning around to go home and get things done quickly became a pleasant 50 mile exploration, taking full advantage of the beautiful weather.

I got a good amount of dirt & gravel in, along with hopping some logs and splashing some puddles. All in all, it was an incredibly nice day with lots of enjoyable, comfortable miles. I even passed a road biker who was cruising along at a brisk pace... except I was riding on the dirt trail parallel to the road... on a mountain bike with 2.25" tires... and fully loaded for four days of touring, including food & water. That felt great. I think I'm ready for Oregon.

Headed to the tower

Ready for the 360 mile Oregon Outback this week

Grumman Goose in town from Anchorage

Nice sidetrack and diversion from the pavement

Almost full leaves

A mid-ride drink sounded like a good idea. Finishing it on the hill climb leaving the store was even better.

What a nice day

Now to go surprise Jen at the tower and ride back home with her... and make it a 70 mile day.

Passing the Torch

The prototype venerable mountain touring steed is now at a new loving home in Fairbanks, Alaska.

Exits Cities (like Anchorage) Rapidly

A good weekend of social riding respectfully passed the Exploration Camping Rig torch into my hands, from Nicholas. It will become my dirt & gravel commuter for the rough route each day and will surely see some activity carrying growlers & a sleeping bag to campfires with friends.

Love at first sight.

You can find adventure anywhere. Jen & her Krampus.

Embraces Civilization Remorsefully

Beautiful night on the Coastal Trail.

The Gypsy.

Jen feeding the Krampus.

Nicholas v Mud

Nicholas the victor.

Jen v Moose

The reward.

Nick & Lael

Nick's fat 29 Mukluk, the 29+ ECR, & Jen's 29+ Krampus

Large ECR vs small Krampus

Photo by Nicholas Carman

Thanks to all who made it such a great weekend and especially to Nicholas for passing the torch.

Fatbiking the Kenai Beach

This trip has come up quite a few times recently, so I thought I should share the amazing experience again.
I was the only one on 29+ (Mukluk) and it worked just as well as the fatbikes, if not better!

Three guys from Salsa Bikes, one of their contest winners, members of the Homer Bicycle Club, & Jen and I from Fairbanks rode the Cook Inlet beach from Clam Gulch to Homer, Alaska in 3 days. The route is approximately 65 miles, which makes a very nice casual beach tour, especially since you have to wait out the high tides for a portion of the day. Great beginner route with lots of bail-outs along the way. Could be done in one long, fast day or even car-supported with all the beach access points. Highly recommended.

29+ Beargrease

I finally have a real 'mountain bike.' 

After months of debate, I decided to put 29+ on the fast & light Salsa Beargrease XX1. I had 29+ on my Salsa Mukluk for the past year and have loved it, riding it on everything from long paved road tours and hundreds of miles of gravel & dirt Alaskan roads to the beaches of Alaska's Kenai Peninsula.

Below are images of how the 29+ Surly Knards on Rabbit Holes fit on the Beargrease. Even with these Knards having stretched and grown over the past year of being tubeless, they still fit with room to spare. The tightest spot is the seat stay bridge, but I think there is still room for more aggressively knobbed tires, like the Surly Dirt Wizard.

The 29+ Beargrease will be my 'race' bike, not that I plan on doing any races with it, but it'll be used for light & fast(ish) summer bikepacking tours in Alaska and bikepacking trips downstates when winter gets negative... rides like the Stagecoach 400, which I hope to do in November.

Shown with a Becker Sewing & Design Triangle Sack from Fairbanks, AK.

Follow the stories of Adventure by Bike on the Salsa Culture Blog.

The Beginning of a New Path

I assembled my first bike without professional help, straight from the box.
The best part is that it's not just a cool bike; it's my dream bike: the Salsa Fargo Ti.

Just built. (c) Josh Spice 2014

With the roads still covered in ice and snow and the temp hovering just above single digits, I was a little hesitant to take it for its first ride today, but decided to deviate from normality and ride the road instead of the snowy fatbike trails.

I'm so happy with that decision. Step out of the box and experience something different.

As fast as my Beargrease Carbon is, it has nothing on the speed of the Fargo, even on ice and snow. The Schwalbe Racing Ralph tires do very well on the frozen hardpack, even lacking studs.

20 miles of smiles on day one. (c) Josh Spice 2014

I'm very excited for the years to come and all the places this bike and I will go together.