Yesterday I showed up to a gravel ride out of Castell, Texas, sponsored by Velo View Bike Tours. I've written about them before and as always, they get an A+ rating from me. They were all (12 total riders) on 'cross bikes, I had the only mountain bike. Several folks remarked on my 26 inch wheels, several other folks commented on the heaviness of the bike. When new, compared to other mountain bikes, this was lightweight. Compared to the new 'cross bikes, it's a Clydesdale. I'm really not into gravel rides, so when I do one it has to be on what I have, which is the KHS.
There is a race next week, so this ride was a pre-race recon to familiarize or re-familiarize those racing with the course. I don't know what I was thinking, but I didn't quite anticipate the pace. This wasn't the casual ride I envisioned. But Dan said at the outset we would re-group at the turns, unless those who knew the route wanted to carry on by themselves. I brought up the rear on all re-grouping, but not by a lot. I'd gear down in the deeper sand and carry on. When traversing the never-ending washboard in the opening miles I briefly considered taking off the lockout to soften the beating my shoulders were taking. But the ruts in the sand made by the riders ahead convinced me I needed firm control of the front of the bike. I'm sure in a few days my shoulders will stop aching.
I would love to give you the stats for the whole race, but eight minutes (or 1.8 miles) from the start my computer decided it was time to update firmware. For the next nine miles it updated, not recording any data. Those miles happened to be uphill, in sand and washboard, against a stiff wind. Fortunately, the course consists of two loops, north and south, with a refuel stop back in Castell. There was no way I would be doing both loops. As it turned out, that was the thought of about half of us.
But I really want to describe the bike a little. In 2003 I rode my first mountain bike on the John Wayne Trail in Oregon (see account in Bicycle Journeys with Jerry). Deciding that rail-trails would be in my future, I asked my friend Ray to build up a bike for me. The KHS soon came into my possession. I had to replace the fork, but everything else is the same as when Ray built it. I've ridden it sporadically on rail-trails, never on a mountain bike trail, and last year did a gravel ride in Arkansas with Velo View. See posting June 21, 2017.Last week I saw an advertisement about car tires which indicated they should be replaced at least every four years no matter how many miles were on them. That got me to thinking about the tires on the KHS. Fifteen years and they still look good. But I began to worry. Perhaps they have dry-rotted and will leave me stranded fifteen miles from the van. Pook, they may be permanently stuck to the rims. I have a replacement tube in the saddle pack. Oh! That tube came with the bike in 2003 and hasn't been out of the saddle pack since. Then came a follow-up thought: I've never (NEVER) even changed the tubes on these tires. True, they don't have a lot of miles (maybe 2,000), but how long do you figure a tube can last? Well, let me tell you, I have a kid's bike that is over thirty years old and it has the original tubes. I air them up when the grandkids come.
Tomorrow I'll clean the bike and hang it up until the next wild hare (maybe wild hair,) induces me to join a ride that isn't on a firm road.
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