What a ride! Amazing turnout for both days; I estimate about 90 riders in total – even with the rain. The group I Super Domestiqued had 20 people! Everyone had the right sense of adventure about Diverged: fun, fun, and fun.
This is the perfect image for the day: incongruity. Tandem on singletrack; all smiles; four hours into the ride.
Here’s a quote from Austin S. – he describes the ride better than I could:
I found the ride was reminiscent of childhood adventures. As such, it revealed new sights around every turn […]
When it seemed like I was utterly lost, I’d focus my eyes through the trees to some road and realize I recognize it. The backside of a church, a high school, a hardware store, all the daily sights are seen from different eyes. It does take on an out of body Keanu Reeves ‘whaoh’ sort of experience at times.
Getting ready for Diverged 2.0. Well, not really ‘ready’ but it’s happening nonetheless. Scouting is ‘complete.’
True to the spirit of the original Diverged Ride, we are taking the road less traveled.
“This ride doesn’t really go anywhere, but it seems to go everywhere.” – Rob V.
You’ll know what I mean if you ride with us.
Sponsored by Honey Bikes. Hosted by Ride Studio Cafe.
Get all the details. Here are some of the basics:
High-Level details:
When: Saturday AND Sunday, April 26 & 27 at 10am
Where: Ride Studio Cafe
Rain Date: We’re riding on Saturday no mater what. However, we’re riding it again on Sunday so if a little Belgian weather gets you down, come out for the Sunday ride!
Route ‘Details’:
Comparing To Last Year: This route has 50% different trails, we’re riding clockwise, and the trails are in amazing condition. So, it feels like an entirely new route.
Distance: 43.6 miles. The route stays within a few miles of the Ride Studio Cafe so it’s easy to make the ride a lot shorter if you’d like.
Expected Total Ride Time: Fastest rides will be about 3-3.5 hours – Belgian style weather will slow this pace down a bit. Typical riding will take about 4-5.5 hours. Some riders – like me – will take 6-7 hours. Settle in for a good long ride.
Dirt To Asphalt Ratio: It’s about 50:50 this year. More fireroad than last year – I believe it’s more rideable overall. However, there are a few goat trails so be ready for a bit of technical. One or two hike-a-bike sections and two or three downed-tree-hop sections.
Trail Conditions: The trails are in amazingly good shape. Not much in the way of downed branches and sticks. The water table is really high right now but the trails are still very dry; there are only a couple places of true mud.
Ideal Bike: For this Diverged, with the likely weather, I’d suggest a cross bike or something that allows a minimum of 35c tires with room for fenders
Ideal Tire: Saturday: With weather, something like a Clement MSO 32 or 40 would be perfect because those have a bit of a raised center for roads, and good knobs for trails. Sunday: Depending on Saturday, if the trails are as dry as I expect, something like a Clement LAS or a Clement USH might be perfect. If there’s some water, I’d stick with my Saturday suggestion. I say it’s 99% rideable on 23c road tires but some would curse me for saying that.
Fender Situation: This is tricky. Saturday may feel like Belgium so a rear fender for the rider behind you on the road will likely be appreciated. At the same time, riding woods with fenders can be problematic. I recommend a rear fender if it feels like Belgium on Saturday.
That’s all I got. Hope to see some people there!
A few more images after the jump.
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The group Made To Break played at Seven Cycles this evening. Nate Wooley opened with a solo first set. My brother Ken put this group together. He came through town last year with a different group. Both shows were completely different and completely mesmerizing.
“Made to Break moves mountains.” – Gapplegate Music Review
We sold out of tickets and had standing room only.
Amazing music all around. A great evening.
Thanks to all that came to the gig! More to come.
A sneak preview of the special edition jersey from Ride Studio Cafe for their 2014 Mallorca trip.
The jersey is a Rapha Lightweight. Punto Tours is managing the trip – similar to this trip. the trip begins today!
Wish I were going!
Roger sent me this awesome visual of where no one lives in the United States.
A Block is the smallest area unit used by the U.S. Census Bureau for tabulating statistics. As of the 2010 census, the United States consists of 11,078,300 Census Blocks. Of them, 4,871,270 blocks totaling 4.61 million square kilometers were reported to have no population living inside them. Despite having a population of more than 310 million people, 47 percent of the USA remains unoccupied.
So many places to ride! The map reminds me of how I felt on a recent flight.
Thanks Roger! Originally from here.
Had a great late night photo shoot for a Seven Cycles project this evening. The images are going to be memorable. Of course, I took photos of the photo-taking.
More images after the jump.
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I got to work on the Rasputitsa winners’ jersey for Honey Bikes. Just got them back in time for the race this weekend. This has been a great project with the awesome team at Rasputitsa and Dirty 40. It’s going to be a great ride this weekend!
It’s Tumblr time. I’ll be tracking my rides in New Zealand.
Project: New Zealand Traverse
If I can get my phone to work properly in the opposite Coriolis effect I’ll be posting to the Tumblr for a week – in real-time.
Thanks to Seven Cycles, Ride Studio Cafe, and Honey Bikes for letting me sneak out for a week. They won’t even notice that I’m gone.
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