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From the American perspective, hard not to be excited about Matteo Jorgensen. Finishes 8th overall in the GC race and shockingly was 4th in the Time Trial today even though he crashed which cost him about 10-15 seconds.

A good future for an American rider! Sean Quinn had a pretty solid tour as well, helping Richard Carapaz to the Polka Dot jersey.
 

I'm currently spending a few days here in Duluth. Weather permitting I'll be getting rides in on the Munger trail and the Gitchi Gami section between Beaver Bay and Gooseberry Falls. I highly recommend the latter if you're interested in some great views as part of your ride.

Earlier this week I got a ride in on the Heart of the Lakes trail that runs between Perham and Maplewood State Park. The trail is in great shape and as the name implies runs you through a number of those nice Lakes out there. I also like the fact that it isn't straight and flat. I know the plan is to ultimately hook it up to the Central Lakes trail so a person could get a lot of miles in that way
 
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Even with some of the big names not racing (Pogacar, Vingegaard, Remco), it's been a fairly entertaining Vuelta.

Shitty day today, with Wout van Aert crashing and having to abandon while leading both the Green and Polka Dot jersey competitions. He was on his way to hammering everyone in the Green jersey competition.

I expect Primos Roglic to finally catch Ben O'Connor in the next couple stages and also to put in a great TT effort on the final stage to win the Red jersey.
 

It may not have the big names but this Vuelta is turning out to be a pretty exciting race, wrapping up in the next 3 days; 2 mountain stages and a Time Trial on Sunday to close things out.

The podium couldn't be more wide open; I still like Roglic's chances but Enric Mas and Richard Carapaz aren't going to let him have it easily and who knows, maybe Ben O'Connor can find a time to hang on to the red jersey but I really doubt it.
 


The weather has been fantastic for riding the past few days. Embarrassed to say that in spite of living relatively close to the Luce Line, have never been on it. (Figure a comment like this will force me to ride it.)
 

fan of Ray Williams said:
The weather has been fantastic for riding the past few days. Embarrassed to say that in spite of living relatively close to the Luce Line, have never been on it. (Figure a comment like this will force me to ride it.)
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I ran my premarathon 20 miles on there. All railroad grade except that odd asphalt 30 foot twist and rise.
 

fan of Ray Williams said:
The weather has been fantastic for riding the past few days. Embarrassed to say that in spite of living relatively close to the Luce Line, have never been on it. (Figure a comment like this will force me to ride it.)
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I have done a couple 15 mile rides the past two days. I live on the bluffs above the River and ride down to the trails along the River where I can ride for miles in either direction without riding the streets. Of course what goes down must come up so the interval training has been great.
 

Ogee Ogilthorpe said:
It may not have the big names but this Vuelta is turning out to be a pretty exciting race, wrapping up in the next 3 days; 2 mountain stages and a Time Trial on Sunday to close things out.

The podium couldn't be more wide open; I still like Roglic's chances but Enric Mas and Richard Carapaz aren't going to let him have it easily and who knows, maybe Ben O'Connor can find a time to hang on to the red jersey but I really doubt it.
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I was too busy to watch la Vuelta de España when it was going on. I still have the last 3 days to watch so I don't know if Roglic came back. I highly doubt O'Connor hung on.
These tour riders have to be some of the best athletes in the world when it comes to leg strength and VO2 max lung capacity. Riding up grades averaging 10-15% for miles is just insane. The highest grade I have to climb is about 12% and it's only for about 100 yards. Even then I am gassed, at the top.
 




Yesterday was pretty windy riding, but the temps didn't seem too bad. Today however was a different story. Like a damp cold. Guess a person needs to get climatized. Do have a new saddle coming in the mail that will be here shortly. A Brooks knockoff.
 


fan of Ray Williams said:
Today it was so nice riding that wearing a long sleeve shirt seemed over dressed. Unreal.
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Got a nice ride in along the river and Victory Memorial Parkway. I had the week off so I wish I would have got some other rides in but I overdid it pheasant hunting. I felt a hundred years old on Wednesday
 



fan of Ray Williams said:
Today it was so nice riding that wearing a long sleeve shirt seemed over dressed. Unreal.
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Snuck in a very easy e-bike ride yesterday, still recovering from this stupid broken ankle. Big ortho appt later this week, hoping for good news. It's time to start ramping up the miles to get the legs back in shape, I'm looking at a fairly decent schedule of events for 2025.
 

Ogee Ogilthorpe said:
Snuck in a very easy e-bike ride yesterday, still recovering from this stupid broken ankle. Big ortho appt later this week, hoping for good news. It's time to start ramping up the miles to get the legs back in shape, I'm looking at a fairly decent schedule of events for 2025.
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Injuries always make things difficult, but an ankle injury would be very rough. Hopefully the prognostication favors a quick return to full health.
 

fan of Ray Williams said:
Injuries always make things difficult, but an ankle injury would be very rough. Hopefully the prognostication favors a quick return to full health.
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This week is SIX months since the break, so definitely not a quick return to health. Doesn't bother me at all, and they said bike riding is "okay" (although they probably don't know what I mean by bike riding!), but I want it to heal. Frustrating as hell. The X-rays at 12 weeks and 18 weeks barely looked different to me, but I'm no doctor. Not a load-bearing bone, but clearly the movement is preventing it from healing very fast. And I haven't hardly been doing shit either, a lot of laying around the house. WTF...
 

FinnGopher said:
I live on the bluffs above the River and ride down to the trails along the River where I can ride for miles in either direction without riding the streets.
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Used to roller blade those, great trails, the scenery gets better as the leaves fall.
 

Did not go out yesterday, just too nasty. Today was actually ok. No ice, no wind. Not bad.
 

Full Speed Ahead said:
I have a love/hate deal going with e-bikes...

The hate part:
  • They're heavy and cause a lot of damage to dirt trails, especially this year when the trails have been soft from the rain.
  • People who ride them on trails generally have no idea how to ride them on trails. You get a lot of idiots out there stopping in blind spots and such.
  • People who think they're getting exercise by riding an e-bike are equivalent to someone taking the escalator and thinking they've just climbed a flight of stairs.
The love part:
  • I know quite a few folks that will ride an ebike to work but not a regular bike (as they'd be sweaty and mess if they rode a regular bike). Much better for them to be riding the e-bike vs driving a car.
  • The whole "my partner can keep up with me now" deal is nice - that way groups of people can bike together which is more fun and improves safety.
  • Increases the number of people riding bikes, which in turns helps in getting more trails built and more visibility for biking.
So, I went with the "love" part and signed up for the Minnesota E-Bike Rebate deal this morning. I'm one of the 18,000 or so that applied. About 1,300 people will qualify. It took about 15 minutes for them to get 18,000 applications, and then they shut down the portal.
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I have to say, I continue to be amazed at the number of people I see on the bike trails riding e-Bikes without helmets. At the risk of sounding like a fuddy-duddy, it's just not worth the risk. I can handle my bike better than most with all the riding I do and I wouldn't think of going out without a helmet.

At the speeds even a modest e-Bike travel at, a squirrel, a rabbit, a cat, a dog, a rock.... any one of those things and you can be ass over tea kettle and dead on your ass. As sappy as it sounds, I say wear the helmet not for you but for the ones you love. I tell people I wear my helmet for the wife.
 

I had forgotten to post a pic of the mountain bike I picked up this spring. It's a Salsa Selma I got for $400 on FB Marketplace. Prior to getting it I had never heard of Scandium frames. The frame itself was worth $400. It also has a carbon rear seat/chain stay. It is insanely light.

I'm never going to be a serious mountain or winter rider but this bike makes it a joy when I do get out.

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Frink said:
I had forgotten to post a pic of the mountain bike I picked up this spring. It's a Salsa Selma I got for $400 on FB Marketplace. Prior to getting it I had never heard of Scandium frames. The frame itself was worth $400. It also has a carbon rear seat/chain stay. It is insanely light.

I'm never going to be a serious mountain or winter rider but this bike makes it a joy when I do get out.

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Fixed gear?
 

fan of Ray Williams said:
Fixed gear?
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The newer MTN Bikes are all single chain ring up front for the most part; like 1X11 or 1X12 if I'm not mistaken. Before picking up a new Trek Fuel eXe E-MTN bike recently, that last MTB I had was 3 different chain rings on the front.

Bigger gaps between your gears, so you're much less likely to find the perfect gear for whatever grade you're on, but it's a lot simpler to ride, no shifting on the front, just shifting on the rear cassette
 

Ogee Ogilthorpe said:
The newer MTN Bikes are all single chain ring up front for the most part; like 1X11 or 1X12 if I'm not mistaken. Before picking up a new Trek Fuel eXe E-MTN bike recently, that last MTB I had was 3 different chain rings on the front.

Bigger gaps between your gears, so you're much less likely to find the perfect gear for whatever grade you're on, but it's a lot simpler to ride, no shifting on the front, just shifting on the rear cassette
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Yeah, I'm well aware of that, but look at the rear cog. Looks fixed gear to me.
 



fan of Ray Williams said:
understood, I like the color also
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Yeah this has got me interested in salsa bikes now. I learned that due to some Black market fakes and quality control issues among other brands they stopped using the term Scandium. The same alloy is now sold as 7005 or 6160.
 


Frink said:
Yeah this has got me interested in salsa bikes now. I learned that due to some Black market fakes and quality control issues among other brands they stopped using the term Scandium. The same alloy is now sold as 7005 or 6160.
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What are your plans for it? Going to keep it single speed? Not seeing brakes. Does it have any?
 

fan of Ray Williams said:
What are your plans for it? Going to keep it single speed? Not seeing brakes. Does it have any?
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Disc brakes are there.

Damn, that looks like a hard tail, at least; can't even see if there's any suspension on the front. Those days are long behind me, getting beat up without full suspension!
 

Ogee Ogilthorpe said:
Disc brakes are there.

Damn, that looks like a hard tail, at least; can't even see if there's any suspension on the front. Those days are long behind me, getting beat up without full suspension!
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Sure are. That’s why I thought it was fixed gear because I was too blind to see the discs.
 

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