Back and Rolling with Good Habits

Yesterday, 4:30AM

I cannot fall back asleep. For the 3rd or 4th time. I’m hungry. As someone who has a terrible time waking up I actually like jetlag on the return trip, wide awake before 5AM? Yeah, okay.

With being awake I had enough time to not only get some thing done around the house (dicking around) but to ride to work arriving an hour early. See, jetlag is productive. And what a ride it was. Not pushing particularly hard I bested my pre-BTG2018 commute time by 2 minutes! How do you like that?!

Bike on trail in redwoods.
Dirt cool down on the final stretch of the commute.

My commute is great even if just on the edge of difficult to do daily. At about 12.6km (7.8mi) and 475m (1560ft) when not in the best of shape it can be a chore. But the end in the Redwoods is worth it, so just keep the fitness up right?

Unkown wooden structure in Redwoods
What is this thing?!

I was treated to this oddity on the final stretch of West Ridge Trail. Rumors around work is it’s some sort of closet burner project, sure hope not.

Sooooo….. Ya know how I was talking about Shitty Hike-a-Bikes, well seems ol’ WOW Airlines is a fan of my work and read that, then decided to do me a solid and loose my bike so I didn’t have to schlep it on BORT. Geeee, thaaaanks. They also decided to not tell me, so I waited nearly 2 hours at the hell that is SFO  with not an employee to be found. Finally got someone on the phone to put in a claim, but it still feels like they just punted me off to shirk responsibility. No update as of yet. OK, being that I’ve been up since 5am again, time for some other early morning productivity. Have fun and fuck WOW Air!

Mini Tour with Thomas and Oli – Day 2

Our second day was fairly straightforward, beautiful forest paths, vineyards, cycling paths between small villages, a couple wrong turns.

Thomas descending with Oli in background

Thomas descending with Oli in background

Oli on the descent from the tower

Oli on the descent from the tower

Best part of sleeping up by a tower is the descent first thing. Thomas and Oli seem to be enjoying it.

A fine example of some of the lovely forest paths we rode out.

We stopped in the small town Bühl for lunch. We had only wanted a bakery and coffee but for several small towns in a row everything was closed so Chinese food it was.

Sadly, Oli had to depart us after lunch to get back to Karlsruhe early but Thomas and I rode on with some detours here and there. Including to Schloss Favorite.

But who's Favorite?

But who’s Favorite?

So… I’m a pretty big fan of rodents. I’ve kept pet rats most of my life, I’ve had hamsters and (while not rodents) rabbits and guinea pigs*. So when Thomas asked if I knew what Nutria were my whiskers started to twitch.

(* The title of this BLARG predates my guinea pigs by 8 years)

I MADE FRIENDS WITH THE NUTRIA!

I MADE FRIENDS WITH THE NUTRIA!

It didn’t take long for my little rodent friends to find me. And oh boy these two weren’t shy at all. They were happily munching on grass as I approached but then decided I looked far more interesting. This was my first time seeing a Nutria up close. With the exception of the round, rat-like tail they appear to be very similar to beaver, including GIANT incisors. Bye my big ol’ water rat friends!

Most of the route from here was increasingly in dense forest with mixed single track. Thomas pointed out one of the local plants (Kleines Springkraut) and told me to squeeze the stamen and…. POP! It’s amazing to witness how some plants have adapted to travel. If my fingers had a nice fur coat (gross) this part of the plant would have happily hitched a ride.

popping stamen of Kleines Springkraut
POP!

With this we were back on the path to Karlsruhe. We passed a nice looking CX/DH-ish mountain bike trail that really had me wanting to make a future trip with my cross country (or future trail) bike.

Aaaand that’s it. Next planned is a solo overnight to a favorite local spot.

'FUCK COPS' on back of road sign. I agree with this message.
I agree with this message.

Tour Divide 2015 Pack List 

This has been sitting in my drafts for a year, publishing without much editing or consideration.

Bike

  • BROAKLAND Super Buritto
  • Rolhoff to Blunt 35
  • SP to Blunt 35
  • Ikon 2.45 tires
  • Cambium 17 saddle
  • Wide bars with small knob bar ends
  • Airstryke aerobars
  • SLX brakes
  • Surly SS chain ring

Bags/Mounting 

  • Handlebar: Porcelain Rocket MCP
  • Frame: Custom/Weaver Bags roll-top
  • Trunk: Revelate (big one)
  • Top Tube:
  •   Revelate Jerry Can
  •   Janky Topeak bento
  • Feed: 2 x Revelate
  • Fork mounts: standard water bottle holders
  • Downtube: Salsa Anything Cage with 40oz Nalgene

Sleep kit

  • OR Helium bivy
  • Nemo Zor quilt
  • Nemo Zor pad

Cloths

  • Capo BRKLND jersey
  • Capo BRKLND bibs
  • Icebreakers 120 leggings
  • Icebreakers 120 long sleeved under-shirt
  • 2 x Wooly Booly socks
  • Showers Pass rain jacket
  • Cycling cap
  • Gloves
  • 2 x bandana

Electronics

  • Basic Android Phone
  • Garmin Edge 705
  • NOVA dyno light
  • … flashlight (janky helmet mount)
  • Sinewave Revolution USB charger
  • Amazon special battery pack.

Extras

  • Swiss shammy cream
  • Talcum powder
  • Small medical kit
  • Water filter
  • Watch
  • MP3 player
  • Ear buds

Spares (none used)

  • Cleats
  • Break pads
  • Rohloff shift cable
  • 2 x 2oz Stans sealant
  • 2 x tubes