Hey, I am in Colorado With bikes

Two days of driving landed me in Lyons CO, a town of ~2000 just north of Boulder.

Dave Chase, of Redstone Cyclery, invited me to join the regular Tuesday night ride, which has been going every week, year-round, since 1999.

Being it is the first week of daylight savings time we had glorious sun for the start. Twenty riders gather and roll off to Hall Ranch. This is a daytime-only county park, so up and down before dark. The main feature here is the Rock Garden, up the natural rock of the ridge. A challenge in both directions. I was suffering with engine trouble on the climb, though the On-One Carbon 456 with Mary Bars was handling it well. Felt better coming down--with three step over the bars endos. Need to blame the cockpit nut again!

Wednesday again was a pleasant day. Chad was my guide for Picture Rock Trail, again starting from the bike shop. Fairly smooth easy grade, then the rocks started again. Colorado has rocks. Rocks in the Rocky Mountains, who'd a thunk? But I like rocks. Just takes some getting use to. There is a different rhythm to rocks I find fun and interesting. On the Titus FTM Carbon with On-One Midge dropbars this time. First ride out and I seem to have hit the suspension setup fairly well. Ran the Pike U-Turn fork at 120mm and never changed that on the trail. No crashes. A few Woo-Hoo moments, and a break to help a cute woman with a broken derailleur hanger/RD.

Tomorrow is the Front Range Cyclist Bicycle Show in Colorado Springs. I will be setup with six bikes, frames and bars from On-One and Titus. Stop by and we can trade stories.

Titus Factory Store Now Open

Visit the new Titus Store.

Titus has new owners. As part of our plan to grow the company we are clearing the old frames from an incredible $999 (+ $223 for a custom-tuned Rock Shox Monarch shock.)
This should give you something to chew on whilst we line up some new bikes for later in the year. Please bear with us, quality takes time.
The New Titus Team

Titus Rockstar 29 Review on 29er Online

The crew at 29er Online recently put the Titus Rockstar to the test in North Carolina.

See their thoughts and video about the full suspension 29er here

Titus Cycles Sale Coming

The sale of the remaining new-old stock Titus bikes is about to begin. Great prices and full warranty. Details to follow soon.

The new Titus lineup will be available after mid-year as we choose from the best of the old and the new models.

Logos for the "Out There" Van

It is not easy to apply vinyl at 15 degrees F. At least the weather is dry. I am still working an removing the raingutter company lettering from the sides. Five hours of heating and scrapping almost (almost) cleaned off one side. I really need to get a good heat gun. Not a big deal as I am waiting for the black vinyl for the new side logos.

I do have plenty of white vinyl. Perfect for the windshield logo. Ended up half obscured by the tint, but I like it.

The rear doors also received the logo treatment. I did have just enough black for the back.
On-One Bikes, Titus Cycles, shiggy's Out There logos and a PSA:
"SEE BICYCLES  //\\  Ride Bicycles"

The Ups and Downs of Buying a Used Van

I had been searching for a van for the shiggy's Out There Tour over the last couple of months. Several reasonal vehicles showed up, but few have the combination for size (full size extended cargo), engine (V-8),  condition (few repairs needed), at a price I could handle.

Last week this appeared to meet most of my needs.

Late '90s E350, V-8, good body and chassis, no rust, good tires, semi-finshed interior with lots of room--and lots of miles.

Made the bus trip to Spokane chased by a snow storm for the inspection and test drive. It looked even better in person. A very easy driver with good manners and a strong, smooth drivetrain. No apparent leaks. All fluids in good shape.

Half an hour later the paperwork is finished and I have handed over an amount well within my budget. Funds leftover to make repairs and outfit it for life on the road hauling me and bikes around the country. Happy me!

Homeward bound through the dark snowy, slushy streets of Spokane. A not-so-quick gas stop swallows $60 without filling the tank (YIKES! almost full), though I was expecting that. It does have a 35 gallon tank. A few more miles to I-90 and I am pointed west and homeward bound. Just 3hours to go.

I like this van. Drives well, comfortable, not even very noisy. I stop only to give myself a break after getting through the slushy conditions in the east.

Backlit at the rest area halfway home. Looks a little sinister with the road grime and the dark cracked headlight (still worked).

I am still grinning.

The roads cleared, the sky opened and the moon shone bright. Nice drive home.

Next day I schedule a safety check with my mechanic.

So I drive it around town over the next few days. This thing is big. BIG. BIG! Still learning where the corners are and erring on the side of leaving too much room. Busy parking lots are interesting.

Fix the headlight, replace the wipers, clean out the back, start scraping off the old gutter company decals. And I still have half a tank of gas (215 miles from the gas station). Still happy me!

At the mechanic this morning. They are finding no major issues. Good brakes, shocks (both almost new), solid suspension except for worn ball joints (a bit expensive to fix), clean fluids though it could use an oil change. Sure, do it.

"We have something to show you." Uh Oh. Metal on the drain plug magnet and you can lightly see it in the drained oil. Something is wrong inside. The engine still runs well, but for how much longer? No way to know. Sad me. Even a pre-sale inspection would not have found this. Oh well...

Going to check on replacement engines. Best case would push the cost to the upper end of the budget. The rest of the van is solid. Even if I had found a lower milage, and more expensive, van, there is no guaranty it would be trouble free.

I will see how it goes.

See you Out There.

The Best Bikepacking Routes

Adventure Cycling recently posted their top ten bike packing routes in the western US.

I have ridden parts of several of these as day trips. Riding them as self supported, multi day trips changes the experience. Which is better? Day rides vs trips. Instant thrills vs continous adventure? Full support vs self sustained. Group rides vs solo journeys.

There is no right or wrong answer. It is all about the ride.

See you Out There.

Getting ready for the New Year

The snow is on the ground and riding is limited. Getting prepared for new adventures in 2011. New trails, new bikes, and a new road trip ride.