There used to be a time, before Fat Bikes, when all I rode was a single speed bicycle but then the mistress that is the fat tire lured me away to the plump side... and gears, gaaaah! The Santa Cruz Highball replaced my Redline Monocog near the end of my single speeding days and has gone mostly un-ridden since I got my first fat in 2015. To put it into better perspective, the Santa Cruz has 525 miles on it and I got it in August of 2014, by comparison the Journeyman I picked up in November of last year already has 225 miles on it. Oh how things have changed; instead of single track and 2 hours rides, it's gravel and 5 plus hours of saddle time.
Earlier this year I went and signed up for the inaugural C.O.G 100 in Iowa, put on by Guitar Ted and N.Y. Roll. When I signed up I thought to myself that I better start getting the ole Highball out on gravel and see about getting some of that single speed leg back. Well, that event is next weekend and time has just flown! Winter was especially crappy for most of the mid west in February and a good chunk of March, so those longer rides to get the legs up to par didn't really happen.
Saturday was deary and sprinkling a bit so it was not exactly ideal either but I had to get a few things dialed in on the Highball before riding it for real next week, so it was now or never. A few of us, who are also signed up for the C.O.G., decided that this weeks SMNDFBR would be a single speed version so that if nothing else we could get a shake down ride with any tweaks or changes we had made. I had changed a few things I needed to run a bit to see how they would work, gone were the Kenda Small Block Eight tires for a set of Racing Ralph tires. Probably a bit more tire than I need but they were tires I had that I never mounted up, so they got the nod. I also put on a set of Ergon GS3 grips with the small nub of a bar end. I figure these will help keep the hands from going numb as quickly compared to the round Lizard Skin grips I had on there and the bar end would offer a alternate hand position. I had been running these on the Pugsley for a year or two before switching that bike over to the Moloko bars, so I knew they would do what I wanted so dialing in the correct angle was all that would be needed.
The plan was to head out on the gravel towards Malcolm for a longer 42 mile loop, the forecast was calling for rain near the beginning of the ride and then becoming mostly just cloudy and miserable the rest of the day but staying dry. Rain it did at the start, nothing too awful but enough to let you know that the forecast wasn't wrong this time around. Gravel was in surprisingly good shape even with the drizzle falling it was mostly firm if not entirely dry.
I have to admit that riding the single speed again was a bit odd at first but by the time we hit the gravel, the legs were mostly getting used to the idea of not having gears to bail them out on the hills.
Of course it wouldn't be a Saturday ride out to Malcolm without a stop for a bridge beer, matter of fact Bluff road is closed a little bit up the road from here so we had to double back on the next road to get back to McKelvie and our way through to Malcolm so we actually did a few extra mile just for this bridge stop. The things we do for traditions.
The bridge we were on seemed to survive the recent flooding pretty much unscathed but you could see how high the waters were not too long ago from all newly deposited mud and the trampled vegetation.
We hadn't seen much rain at all since we hit McKelvie but as we rolled into Malcolm and got onto 55 M, you could tell that we timed things just right as the pavement was still wet from the rain that had passed through not that long before we got there.
The Malcolm General Store is always a welcomed sight on a hot day or on an overcast and dreary day, like Saturday. I almost can't imagine Malcolm with out the Sac-O-Suds as we affectionately call it, a little homage to My Cousin Vinnie. She's an old gal (built in 1897) but she looks like she's undergoing a few renovations, which is a good sign that she will be around for years to come. Fun little factoid; I used to stop by the Malcolm General Store on my way home after biking Branched Oak Lake's Area 7 in my more mountain biking days... there used to be a little town called Crounse in the area around Area 6 and 7 of Branched Oak Lake until the lake came about in 1967 and the town was flooded. There is still a marker out there in Area 6, or at least there used to be, marking the spot near where the town used to be if anyone has any interest in that sort of historical stuff. The town was named after Lorenzo Crounse, a former Nebraska Supreme Court Justice, Congressman and Governor. Some of the buildings in Crounse were moved to Malcolm when the town was abandoned and before it was lost to the lake. I'm not sure where they ended up in Malcolm or if they are still around but if someone was at all interested, a little digging would probably reveal that information. Any way, I guess the point is that it's good to see the Malcolm General Store weathering all these years of change and still going strong today.
Refueled and warmed up it was onward and upward to our next regroup spot over the interstate, I always get a kick out of how amazed some of the people traveling on the road below get by seeing bicycles on the bridge. Several of them honk and wave as they pass underneath us on there way to or from where ever it is that they are heading.
One final push after the Interstate and we were back to the pavement on the edge of Lincoln. The smooth rolling blacktop and cement trails were a welcoming sight for my weary legs. Single Speed legs aren't quite there yet and probably won't be 100% by next weekend but this ride did remind me how much fun a single speed bike can be. I may look into the idea of finding a rigid front fork for the Highball and converting it into a gravel/around town bike and getting a few more miles on her regularly.
Back in Lincoln we decided to stop at White Elm to warm up a bit and share some conversation over a libation or two before eventually ending up at Yia Yias again for food. Good group and great times on a less than ideal day. No ride next week as most of us will be in Grinnell Iowa for the C.O.G 100... one ride on the single speed should be more than plenty to prepare for a 100 mile race, right? Guess we will find out next week.
Speaking of upcoming rides, get signed up for the American Legion Post 197 Gravel Mission out of Eagle Nebraska. Entry into the even is free, it just requires a post card and there are 50 and 100 mile distances available to register for and then come ride on May 25th. The organizers are the same folks behind Tour of Dirt Roads and Gravel Worlds so you know it'll be a well run event and a great time. For more information about the ride and how to get registered go to their Facebook event page which can be found HERE!
