Occasionally we screw things up. This time we have some factory blemish hubs we're closing out. Here are the details:

- Rear New Hub, 135mm spacing
- Silver
- 36 holes
- Solid axle w/ nutz
- This is the blemished part, the threading on one side is for singlespeed freewheels, the other side is for fixed cogs and lockrings. It was supposed to have freewheel threading on both sides. Oops.

Only 50 of these hubs exist, they're going into stock today, once they're gone, they're gone. They will be discounted about 25% off the regular retail price. Ask your shop to order one NOW and to use HU0225 for the part number if you're interested. GO!

As long as we're talking about winter cycling, I thought I'd include something from Donny Q. from Des Moines Iowa. Donny maintains an insane race schedule, everything from 'cross to road to xc, and does his commuting and xc racing on a Karate Monkey.

"While all my cycling cohorts are clocking away on their indoor trainers and doing indoor races and using indoor bathrooms... I've been out in the snow for 18 hours a week training my ass off. On my Karate Monkey, my Trek road bike, and my fixed gear cyclocross rig I've tackled my way through every little bit of this Iowa winter in hopes that it'll make me that much better of a rider when the sun comes back out to play."

I asked Donny a while ago why he chose the Monkey to race, my point being that it's a fine frame and I'd recommend it to almost everyone, but due to it's heft as compared to stupid light race bikes, it seemed an odd choice for a Cat 2. Donny said he likes how he gets passing glances, some smirks and a bit of ribbing before a race, but then everybody wants to see what he's riding when he kicks their asses. Tilting at windmills? Not this monkey.

Now I know what Dave is talking about in the previous blog entry. Before today, I'd never ridden the full 16 mile commute to work below zero degrees F. I've been a little soft the past couple weeks, you know? Drive my car because it's below zero, drive my car because I'm tired, drive my car because my knee hurts. Whatever the excuse when I drive, it just boils down to being soft.

While sitting on the throne at 7a.m., I decided that I was going to ride no matter what the temperature gauge said. I'd just got done reading Lance Armstrong's book, It's Not About The Bike, and if he could suffer like he does when training or overcoming cancer, I could pedal the measely 16 miles.

I grabbed all the possible warm clothing I could and bundled up, big time. I wore goggles on my face for the first time. Although they started to fog a bit, they actually saved me from turning towards home and getting in my car. Two wool longsleeve jerseys under my Burley rainjacket, extra gloves inside my wool/gore-tex mittens, two toe heaters on each foot, two layers on neoprene booties over my Lake winter boots, including an extra layer of neoprene siliconed to the back around the heel. It was the second day all winter I've actually zipped every vent on my jacket and kept them shut.

The first 12 miles were a piece of cake. As a precautionary move, I jogged alongside my bike for half a block to get the blood pumping into the toes again. This trick has kept me from getting frostbitten toes on numerous occasions. When it's this cold, you completely loose track of where your snot goes after shooting it out your nose. It's only gross when it's slimey, and it's only slimey for about 3 seconds before it freezes. I tucked my thumb into the palm of my mitten once to warm it up. About 2 miles from work, my stomach started to get cold. Of all the things to get cold, the skin on my stomach and my heels get really cold and I have to watch them carefully. The last mile I was wondering if my nose was frostbitten or just fine. I really couldn't feel it at this point and it only takes a minute to freeze exposed skin.

I pulled into work after about 1 hour 30 minutes of pure focus on keeping warm. The warm shower was only minutes away. I was about to see if my nose was frostbitten or not. I was about to find out how cold it really was. That bowl of oatmeal and some coffee sounded like a meal fit for kings. My wheels rolled slowly from the cold grease and tight rubber seals (ask yourself, would the inside diameter of a rubber o-ring or seal get larger or smaller as it cools due to thermal expansion/contraction?) Inside my jacket was a thin layer of ice covering my wool jersey. My Ortlieb pannier bag was hard, like carboard. The whole time my Long Haul Trucker shifted and braked as necessary. Not smoothly, but good enough.

When I logged onto my computer at about 9:30, it read 10 below zero F, with a negative 30-something windchill. I wonder if Lance could suffer through that?

Thursday was cold....-9F when I passed the bank at 7:03am. Finally, we get some weather that tests man and machine.

There wasn't much snow, and I had an hour and 15 minutes to get to work, riding into the wind. So, I grabbed the Long Haul Trucker. I have 700 x 42 Maxxis Wormdrive tires (Semi-slickish) mounted on each end. They are rated at 75psi , I think, but I pumped 'em up to to 85psi to get a faster roll.

Whenever I ride below zero degrees F, I notice the grease thickening in my hubs and bb. It doesn't matter if I'm riding one gear or 27 gears, I feel the drag of the cold grease pudding. As an added bonus, I'm riding a Shimano dynamo hub on the front. Might as well add a little more drag to the system, right?

I have 21 gears on the Trucker, but barend shifters rarely fail me. Thursday was no exception. All systems were "GO" for the entire commute.


My thumbs were cool until the 5-mile mark. Then, they warmed up to the same temp as my fingers...plenty warm. I was wearing thick, rag-wool mittens covered by Outdoor Research mitten shells. Regardless of my hand position on the drop bars, my thumbs point into the wind, so they chill before my fingers. Plus, they don't get to share body heat with my fingers. My rag wool mittens are pretty beat, so some of the insulating quality is gone. I bought some nicely-priced Thinsulate/fleece mittens, this weekend, from Thrifty Outfitters in Minneapolis. They'll replace the woolies on my commute this morning (Monday). I think they'll provide more insulation. And, I'm hoping they'll dry a bit faster than my wool mittens.

After 10 miles, the moisture from my breath froze on my eyelashes, and my eyelids occasionally froze shut. I'm still searching for goggles that work well for commuting in cold temps. Mine have always fogged, so I do without. If I didn't have to stop for signs and lights, goggles would probably work fine. But, I tend to follow the rules of the road.

My toes chilled after about 12 miles, but they never got to the point of being really cold. I was wearing my 3-year old Lake winter shoes, mid-weight fleece socks, Gator ATB booties, and Sidetrack toe covers over the Gators. Regardless of what I put over my shoes, those damned brass Time ATAC cleats (and their hardware) are going to suck some heat away from the bottom of my feet. Grabber heat packs probably would have been the ticket, but I thought I'd go without. A couple years ago, I made some electric insoles that run off my NiMH Marwi battery packs. But, it's rarely cold enough to warrant their use, so I seldom entertain the thought of using them. Besides, they are best left to times when I might be standing around, instead of riding. If I'm pedaling, I'm usually fine without the assistance of electrical and chemical heaters in my shoes.

The commute home was easy. 5 degrees F and a tailwind. Child's play.

We're getting snow as I write this. If the weather gurus are on target, we'll see 4-6 inches by evening. I'll ride the 1x1 Large Marge rig to work this morning. A local news crew is going to follow me home, from work. They filmed me a couple weeks ago, but the weather was too nice for good TV, so we're trying it again. Of course, they want to watch me flounder in the white stuff. Maybe, I'll fall on my ass in front of the camera. Probably not. My super-fat 1x1 isn't as fast as my other bikes, but it will keep me upright on the slick stuff. I'm still runnin' the 3.0 Gazzalodis, so I have plenty of footprint. I'll knock my tire pressure down to 15psi, if it's really slippery. If the snowplows do a good job of clearing the roads, it might be a relatively painless ride. If they don't, my homeward commute could be a 2-hour affair. I'm ok with that.

This is what Wendy Simms' Crosscheck looks like all built up and race ready.

Wendy Simms is a girl. Like you. Except faster. She races cyclocross. She won the Canadian Nationals and she rides a Crosscheck. She will continue to win on her new Crosscheck which is the color of bubblegum. Pink is fast. Check it out.

I just want you all to know I'd trade all my X-mas presents in for a few more epic rides like the one I had Christmas Eve morning. The trails near Dave's and my houses in MPLS are normally bland and pedestrian oriented in the summer. But in wintertime, they're all ours and they're all off road. Perhaps you all think I'm nuts for riding when it's cold or desperate to carve singletrack, but I'm telling you these winter rides are usually ranked among my top 5 of the year simply because there is singletrack, off camber ice flows, frozen creek beds, rivers and lakes, snow covered stairways, low people traffic and the dog poop is frozen. The 1x1 with Large Marge rims and my homemade studded tires set out early. It was about 8 degrees F above and the colder the temps, the harder the ice, the better the traction. This morning the Mighty Mississippi was giving off steam, which turned to ice crystals that drifted back down and shimmered through the morning sun. A particularly steep uphill section of the "homie course" that I normally falter in the summer time was no match for my studded tires. I pedalled the downhills and hit the corners almost as hard as I do on dirt. The shortcuts across the creeks tie so many trails together and are completely new trails on their own. I rode some of the same sections twice and kept telling myself that as long as my feet were warm, I was not going home. The grin on my face almost froze. Two and a half hours later I was on top of my favorite summer drinking spots a few miles up the river, the railroad bridge, looking out over MPLS and St.Paul along the river valley. It was stunning and cold. I wanted to see if my pee would steam all the way down from the bridge before it hits the water. It does. Coming home after such a ride is both an anti climax and a blessing. The ride was over but there is no better feeling than a hot shower after a winter ride.

Now THIS is more like it...recent winters in Minnesota have been relatively warm, including this one until recently. The last few days have been below zero during the day. I watch the news and see the folks in New York compaining about these bitter lows in the teens, then I throw on the quilted Carrhart coveralls and go walk the dog. Heck, this isn't even that cold for us...one february a few years ago held to temps around 15 to 20 below zero every single day...not including windchill.
Dave continues to ride the large marge 1x1, nick's been riding one too, and I have the Karate Monkey spiffed out with an extra headlight and a down tube fender. Then yesterday on the cover of the Star Tribune there's a picture of a guy all bundled up, flying along on his fendered, single speed crosscheck. Dave Buck of Saint Paul, we salute you, and all the folks who don't let a little weather stop them from riding. Even in cold, cold weather, cars remain the most dangerous hazard to a bicyclist on the road. Or maybe that's ESPECIALLY in cold weather.
On a different subject, we continue to field a lot of calls and emails from people wondering about the availablilty of the Long Haul Trucker framesets. Some smaller proto frames just got here and we'll have people testing these 26" wheeled versions. We still expect arrival of LHT framesets for sale sometime in April. We'll keep you posted if that changes. Large Marge rims are farther away...late summer, most likely.

Phat Lizard, director of (or at least email person for) the SSWC in Berlin sends more info. Here's the pertinent info:

"if you want to stay for the whole thing (10-12 days) you should look into flights to Berlin and home from Friedrichshafen (UK ryanair.com) or Zurich/Switzerland (for the US folks!) By the way what ever the US administration told you so far no we don't have terrorists hanging out in the streets and yes we still love you - even those cheating Brits!!!
Suggested arrival in Berlin: not too much later then August 18th/19th (We will be in the hostel from Monday the 16th on!!), suggested departure Monday 30th of August! The party on the 28th in Todtnau will be a very very long one ... ! So most likely you won't walk/talk on the Sunday!
Here are the highlights as far as we know them now!
19th - Bowling Tournament
20th - Pre-Party with live concert in a Punkrock Club (start-numbers for the race only available in that club 1am Saturday morning!!!)
21st - Race | After-Race-Party in the Hostel Victory Ceremony probably 1am again! We absolutely don't want people to show up for the race and disappear again! Why? Because we can!
22nd - SSp-Road-Race - either Team Trial style or Alley-Cat Race
23rd - Boy do we need a break ... !
24th - leaving Berlin
On every day from the 19th-24th there will be sightseeing tours and guided rides (great trials around Berlin thanks to 30 years of Berlin wall!)
It will absolutely be an event people can bring their better half! If they want to ... !"

So there you go. The webshite is not updated since the last time I looked, but (he sez it will be soon-ish), but keep this for referrence: www.sswc2004.com.