Cycling Thread 2

[Ryan Coke]

Anyone else use X country ski pants for winter riding? They work great for fat biking in winter, they’re windproof on the front and breathable on the back, really like them.

[RichieRich]

Originally Posted by Ryan Coke

Anyone else use X country ski pants for winter riding? They work great for fat biking in winter, they’re windproof on the front and breathable on the back, really like them.

I did but always found the crotch blew out after a season or so. Not designed for that type of movement. Moved something much cheaper - nylon cargo pants and put some elastics on the ankles and right calf.

[Deegee]

I recently returned from Saint George Utah and a few rides with a buddy and it's a must go for anyone who rides. We had rented a tank (Ford Expedition) so we could travel a bit with the bikes. We rode the Veyo Loop right from town, drove to Overton, NV and rode the Valley of Fire, drove to a suburb of Saint George and rode to Zion National Park and back, and lastly drove a couple of hours to ride up to the top of Bryce Canyon National Park.

The riding is outstanding, but it's a tremendous amount of climbing and outside of the Bryce ride you will face heat on every ride. That said, motorists were no worse than they are here, but you have to pay attention to the shoulders on busier roads as the debris is quite ridiculous.

The Veyo Loop starts off in cycling lanes in town with heavy traffic, and then a mixture of cycling path and roads until you are on the highway where traffic is quieter. Motorists were decent. Then you enter a mixture of canyons, rock, and some greenery by a river as you head towards the lookout for the Veyo Volcano (long dormant).

Valley of Fire is hot and full of rollers with some tough gradients throughout. Quite a bump to different pavement at the bottom of three of the bigger rollers too so you have to be careful with your bike. The rocky desert views were cool, but pictures online certainly have the saturation enhancing the images (think the red rock in Waterton) and by the end of the ride you are thirsty and hungry. Stopping at the visitor centre if you ride from Overton is smart as they have a free water station. Lots of liquid consumed on that ride. We actually skipped 200m of climbing and another 10k out and back branch off of our route and were toasted after 65km and 900m of climbing. Small entry fee to enter the state park on bike.

The ride from La Verkin to Zion starts off with a long climb, but then is fairly pedestrian. However on the highway to Zion can get busy, so if you are uncomfortable with cars you may not enjoy yourself. Found motorists more likely to pass close on the way back from the park than to the park. However the views in the park itself are unreal and the pictures do not do it justice. The climb is very gradual inside of Zion and the best part is there were no cars, just the free shuttle busses stopping at different trailheads. The best part was the descent because the views were completely different and being able to descent without fear of cars behind you was an incredible experience. Entry fee applies (20 a person I think) to the park.

Bryce you can park away from the park at a trailhead and there is a cycling pathway for several KMs until you pop onto the park road. They did not check for park passes there or we missed the gate. The start at Dixie National Forest is awesome seeing the mixture of red rock and trees we might see up here densely mixed. Once you hit Bryce it's a long climb with 7 "climbs" according to the bike computer. While I loved Zion more than Bryce, when you hit the top of Bryce the view overlooking the landscape is fairly incredible, and I hope to get the panoramic shot I took developed.

All in we rented a condo in Saint George in the Athletes Village community of condo complexes, flew into Vegas, and rented the tank for about $1,700, and it's a trip we'll remember for some time. The condo was pretty cheap, and allowed us to have a home base to wash the bikes post ride (the road poo is HORRID out there) and make our own food. End of October is best as we were told we were lucky we "avoided the heat" to ride in 28-32 C.

[calgarygeologist]

That ride in Bryce must be pretty both in terms of climb and traffic. I remember the road having a lot of blind corners and being really narrow with no shoulders. I saw a lot of vans dropping off cyclists at the top so that they could cruise down to the main part of the park which would be a lot of fun.

[Deegee]

On the highway out to Zion there was quite a fair amount of traffic and people passed fairly close when the shoulder was thin especially on the return from Zion. That was the only real time we felt okay this is getting a bit much.

Up and down Bryce we actually had no issues with motorists at all it was pretty good. The sites from the climb itself were poor, but there were several lookout points that were nice.

I will do my best to share a few photos, something I guess I should have done initially with my initial post.

Veyo:

https://www.amazon.ca/photos/share/1...6bhRXnymiRG4sx
https://www.amazon.ca/photos/share/3...1rbKLyt8vYSkZF

Valley of Fire
https://www.amazon.ca/photos/share/F...ginScC7esYlETc
https://www.amazon.ca/photos/share/U...xYg4oP4zEWkVys

Zion
https://www.amazon.ca/photos/share/j...qCAl2G9j3Kp6ah
https://www.amazon.ca/photos/share/q...k7eTuBvFDTKE4X

Bryce
https://www.amazon.ca/photos/share/g...ByZO3N4GitWOBN
https://www.amazon.ca/photos/share/I...3pq6viG7Ad937m
https://www.amazon.ca/photos/share/O...RxWCfb0XCnzGiO

I think if you click on the photos you will get the full one, which the last one linked in the panoramic shot from the top of Bryce.

[powderjunkie]

Thoughts on studded tires? When do y'all like to switch? I just put one on my front wheel for the first time and found the handling even worse than I expected. I'm sure I'll get used to it, but maybe I should have held out even longer...

[ken0042]

I tried the "front tire only" method one year. Worked well until it didn't and I jack-knifed and almost bailed. I would say the front tire could maybe be used like mornings like now when there's going to be the odd slippery spot.

A few years ago I switched to having a dedicated winter bike. So depending on the weather of the day I take either my summer or winter bike. I did that after one sloppy winter where I did a lot of corrosion damage to my good bike. I ended up buying a $160 mountain bike from Sportchek for my winter bike; with the expectation that it will last me about 4 winters and then time to replace it.

[Fuzz]

Ya, handling can be skittish but they will bead in
I have separate wheels, so I don't switch until I need them, and occasionally switch back if it dries out for awhile.

[powderjunkie]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

Ya, handling can be skittish but they will bead in
I have separate wheels, so I don't switch until I need them, and occasionally switch back if it dries out for awhile.

Ya I'm thinking this may be the way to go. Unfortunately it's a 20 inch wheel on my rear-loader so it's not going to be cheap or easy to procure.

[Bigtime]

I'm spoiled and have a dedicated winter bike, so I'll roll whatever bike is needed at this time of year. Idea with studded tires is to roll them with no aggressive braking or accelerating for about 35km to set the studs, should help with the handling on them.

[powderjunkie]

Originally Posted by Bigtime

I'm spoiled and have a dedicated winter bike, so I'll roll whatever bike is needed at this time of year. Idea with studded tires is to roll them with no aggressive braking or accelerating for about 35km to set the studs, should help with the handling on them.

They were much better after a bit of riding this afternoon - I didn't know that and had done zero research on it as the tires came with the bike. I guess my 350 lb payload helped set them pretty fast!

[Bigtime]

Also jealous of everyone getting to ride today, super rare event (an airport drop-off) had me drive today. What fresh hell is this?

[Icantwhisper]

Originally Posted by Bigtime

Also jealous of everyone getting to ride today, super rare event (an airport drop-off) had me drive today. What fresh hell is this?

Phone said two degrees, was like ten, so hot which was great, but I over dressed. Also seemed like the sun was up earlier so all my opinions are moot.

[Bigtime]

Yeah, it was like 8 degrees in Gods chosen community of Sunnyside at 5:30 this morning. Criminal to have to drive instead.

[cral12]

GROW Kananaskis update on the planned logging:

Update on the WBC/Moose logging from the advocacy group

https://growkananaskis.com/west-fras...november-2024/

FB:
https://www.facebook.com/GROW.Kanana...933MR9LqxbNebl

[DoubleK]

Good to know that the advocacy groups will settle for nothing less than a complete moratorium on logging these areas.

SMH.

[Bigtime]

For anyone that toughed out the commute today things are looking promising for the ride home. All going to depend on if your pathways got some love from a plow.

[Icantwhisper]

Originally Posted by Bigtime

For anyone that toughed out the commute today things are looking promising for the ride home. All going to depend on if your pathways got some love from a plow.

On the ride in I saw a couple sweepers unloading from trailers, so I think it'll be good. Fingers crossed

[Treycal]

My wife and I are heading to Hawaii (Big Island) later this week and are looking to rent some gravel/road bikes and doing some riding while we are there.

We're looking for roads with a little less traffic (no Queen K highway) and are okay with "some" climbing (no Mauna Kea/Loa). I've been looking at some rides on the north side (Honokaa/Old Mamalahoa Highway) or east side (Puna Trailhead) but would appreciate any advice on routes, etc people have done.

Cheers!

[Ryan Coke]

I haven’t ridden very many areas there, but I have ridden out of the Waikoloa are several times. While I totally get the desire to stay off the queen K highway, and I usually opt for quieter roads, the ride on that up to Hawi is my preferred route.

That first section of the Queen K highway is somewhat busy, but the shoulder is massive, like basically a full lane most of the time. Then once you get on Kawaihae Rd (don’t ride that going right, I did it once and it sucked, follow it to the left) the road progressively gets quieter. By the time you get to Hawi (and past it) it is not busy at all.

The evolution of the climate zones and geology on that route is impressive….from hot and black lava fields, slowly getting greener, to eventually almost rain forest past Hawi.

Also there is a great coffee shop for food and drink there, and I always like a destination with good food.