Son Of Ice Bike

Yesterday, I got two and a half hours on Ice Bike. That's Son Of Ice Bike, not This Ice bike.

(clickie makie biggie)

Son Of Ice Bike is a circa 1997 K2 (Pro-Flex) 3000 FS with a Girvin Elite fork. I got this bike when I broke the swing arm on my first racing MTB (1993 Pro-flex 753). Pro-flex had been acquired by K2, and they no longer made real cross country bikes. The local rep gave me a wicked good deal on the 3000, but it was a few pounds heavier and not as nimble. In short, it wasn't cross-country-race-worthy. I gave it to my wife, who swung her leg over the saddle exactly once, and didn't leave the drive way. I let her have it since her bike was an old non-descript tank that was heavy and uncomfortable, allegedly the reason she nover rode it. This thing is beyond plush, and I even gave her a wide soft saddle and wide 26" city tires to smooth it out more. I mean, this bike was a barcalounger with 26" wheels.

So, it's been sitting in my basement for about ten years. Last winter, I went on a ride at the end of the winter in WinneKenni park, after riding the old ice bike on the heavily rutted frozen trails a week earlier and getting the shit knocked out of me. I remember looking at the 3000 thinking 'shit, she isn't going to ride that thing, and what better bike to ride on frozen rocky hilly trails than a early free-ride bike?'

So I swapped out the 'wife' saddle, the short/high reach stem, and city tires.The bike is heavy, especially with the custom made IRC pirannha Ice Tires (loaded with 220 #6 3/8" stainless steel sheet metal screws per tire). It glides over hill and trail like a hovercraft.

Yesterdays ride was sweet. The snow was 2 - 4 " deep with hard pack/ice underneath. I had no problems hooking up on any terrain, and rode the entire route having to dab once, when crossing an intersection on the way home and having to make a sudden diversion over a new snow bank as the approaching car couldn't stop.

So now I'm STOKED/AMPED/PSYCHED/PUMPED/HYPED for the up coming season. I'm only about two weeks behind on my weight lifting schedule, not bad considering how I got sidetracked in december.

The focus of my energies is going to be the 2010 Harpoon Brewery Indoor time Trial. I'm the current fixed gear record holder for the event.

Let's be perfectly clear - they have no fixed gear category. Saying I'm the current fixed gear record holder carries about as much weight as saying I'm the current record holder for guys in their late 40s who live 30.8 miles away with a family, two mortgages, a full-time job, and who have never won a sanctioned time trial.

But hey, it's all I got and I'm gonna hang onto it for dear life.

I leave you with a photo montage of my MTB ride through winne kenni park yesterday (ala CBS Sunday Morning). All pictures are withing the park boundaries, except for the jewish cemetary.