Custom Slingshot singlespeed

Between the snow, ice, and salt, winter can be pretty tough on a bike.  Rather than ride your best rig this time of year, many of us hobble together something a little more rugged, simple, and less expensive.

This year I built up an old Slingshot frame I had laying around.

I originally bought this bike as a demo bike.   It never really worked well for me as a mountain bike, so I rebuilt it as an urban cross bike.  That didn’t work, so I had Scott Quiring build a custom fork and replace the rear dropouts with horizontal ones.  We believe this was the second Slingshot with horizontal drops but the first to be built up.

I was a great singlespeed.  I raced it at the Iceman and won the MMBA CPS singlespeed series on it (back before the super fast guys started racing singlespeed.)

As a winter bike, it’s still a singlespeed with the following features:

• 44mm extra wide SnowCats rims made in Fairbanks, Alaska
• the front rim is custom drilled with half-inch holes (Thanks, Eric)
• the rear rim is the SnowCat SL with one-inch drilled out holes
• the front tire is a Nokian Extreme with steel carbide studs
• the handlebar covers were made by Schroeder Sports
• Cane Creek Direct Curve brakes which work well with wide rims
• Softride suspension stem – the best suspension for winter riding

Many MTB front fenders attach to the downtube, which is really not an option on Slingshots.  I’m using a fender that uses a star nut in the bottom of the steerer tube.

The day started, or actually didn’t start well.

I don’t drive all my little VW diesel all that often.  All that sitting around doesn’t help the battery in these below zero temps.  Despite the battery being just a couple  months old, it didn’t have enough juice to get the engine started.

I quickly tried untangling some frozen extension cords (which should be a new Winter Olympic sport) and ran a battery charger to the car.  Not fun.

So after work I took a spin on my main transportation.  My bike.

We’re in the midst of the Winter Ride Challenge Series.  Riders get points for attendance.  The colder the windchill, the more points one gets.  And there are bonus points if it’s nighttime and if you ride a singlespeed bike.

With the windchill well below zero, tonight was a huge night for points!

The roads were icy and snow covered, which wasn’t too bad, though I did nearly wipe out in Royal Oak.

While navigating a turn, my rear tire started to slide out.  Eventually my front studded tire started to do the same.  I rode the two wheel drift long enough for the front tire’s stud to finally hook up.  According to the guy behind me, sparks were flying off the steel carbide studs as they skid across the pavement.

Whoo hoo!

Instead of going up north over New Years we went to the west coast.  Michigan’s west coast. More specifically, Muskegon.

Muskegon State Park has a great winter sports complex, which is what drew us there.  And we made good use of the facilities.

On New Year’s Eve we went XC skiing at night.  The trails are well lit, groomed, and except for  a couple hills, they’re relatively flat.  The ski, boot, and pole rental was just $5 while the trail pass was $7.

We returned on New Year’s for ice skating.  The complex has a large outdoor rink and a short  ice trail through the woods.  The skating pass was just $4.

After the warmup on skates, it was time to do the luge.  The cost was $40 for the coaching, helmet, and sled.

The luge coaching wasn’t too exhaustive.  Luging seems to be a sport where you learn as you go.  After a run or two, you really get the hang of it.  Eventually you can improve your start from just letting go to something a little more Olympic.

And the basic premise it don’t hit the walls and maximize your speed through the turns.  On a good run with good ice (like we had!), you can hit 25 MPH.  That might not sound too fast for cyclists, but when your inches above the ground, it feels plenty fast.

Is it a workout?  You bet.  Every luger has to carry their sleds up the stairs to the start line, some of which weight nearly 40 pounds.

I highly recommend this.  We’re so fortunate to have such a great facility so close (about 3.5 hour drive.) It’s a great place to enjoy winter sports.

As for lodging we rented a house on the lake.  It was inexpensive for our large group due to this being the off season.  There is a 10% lodging discount available from the Muskegon County Convention and Visitors Bureau.

And here’s an article describing some planned enhancements to the Complex, including a wheeled luge track for the warmer months.

Some photos from Muskegon are on-line in addition to this brief video.

The Rouge flows through its concrete trough

I think I’ve only crashed two or three times this year.

One was in Birmingham.  There was slick ice on the roads and a thick layer of loose snow on top.  I was running studded Nokian tires, but the snow kept them from hooking up on the ice.  It wasn’t that bad of a crash since you can’t go too fast in these conditions and snow is fluffy.  My riding partners even noted that I was laughing as I fell.

So that wasn’t my number one crash.

It was in the middle of summer and I was on a long ride.  My purpose was to scout the planned Rouge Gateway trail extension along the Rouge River from Michigan Avenue to the Fort Street Bridge.

This segment of the Rouge River had been heavily modified through the years in order to accommodate large Great Lakes ore vessels on their way to Ford’s Rouge Plant.

Keeping the river in a more natural state was clearly not a priority. It had been dredged, straightened, and eventually placed in a concrete trough.

More scratches on glasses = less abrasions on face

On the bright side, that concrete is somewhat fun to ride.  It gently slopes towards the river and you just need to avoid the occasional dead wood.  It’s like the Dorais Velodrome with any turns.

My scouting ride was following some recent rains, so there were some wet spots where water was flowing over the concrete to the river.  It was no biggie — or so I thought.

One time it wasn’t just water.  It was a slimy, wet algae mix.  I was riding about 15 MPH when my front wheel hit that slick concoction and slipped sideways down the concrete slope.  My handlebar end was the primary contact point with the concrete and a quarter-inch of metal was quickly ground off.  My knees, hands, and face eventually hit the hard surface as well and I quickly slid to a stop.

I took inventory, swore, flushed the blood off my face with my water bottle and got back on the bike.  I really thought about continuing my ride, but all my cleanup meant I was nearly out of water.  Oh, and everything hurt, too.

I rode 15 miles home, cleaned up my wounds, and bandaged my knees and face.  My cut above my eye got a butterfly bandage and didn’t require stitches.  I got a tetanus shot just in case.

Yes, it’s premature to blog about your year’s biggest crash with three months remaining, but I’m an optimist.

Looking thrilled just minutes before the start

You know you’re going to be in a death march when bad weather prevents you from driving the posted speed limit on the way to a race start.

Running 100 miles at high elevation in the Rockies is tough as it is. Driving through freezing rain with the occasional lightning hitting the nearby mountaintops makes it surreal.

Fortunately there was only an occasional drizzle in Downtown Leadville prior to the 4 AM start. And unlike the Leadville bike race, there was no jockeying for a good starting position among the 466 runners. Everyone basically stands around nervously making small talk and waiting for Race Promoter Ken Chlouber to fire the shotgun. (more…)