Black Dog Adventure Team

IGH.

2011-08-01T21:58:00.000-04:00

As in Internally Geared Hub. Been interested in trying this for quite some time, the concept always made complete sense to me but options were limited. Shimano's Alfine 8 has been getting rave reviews by off-road cyclists and is a fairly affordable option with some smart shopping. I picked up a rear wheel with Alfine hub and Velocity rim by Handspun (QBP's handbuilt wheel brand) from Bikeman for about $40 bucks less than the cost of the hub alone and the rest of the Shimano parts from Amazon for short bucks. The only part I couldn't get a deal on was the Jtek barend shifter. Goodies should begin trickling in this week, I'll post pics and first impressions once everything's come together.

What a long, strange trip...

2011-05-19T17:34:00.000-04:00

...it's been. Well, sort of. About a year ago I rekindled a love affair with hockey that had lain dormant for quite a while. Further fueling this was my son's interest in the game that rapidly became an obsession which led to countless hours playing outside and league hockey. In short, I've become a hockey dad. Being the obsessive type I am, I threw myself completely and totally into hockey while neglecting just about all other interests. With the Philadelphia Flyers early departure from the playoffs, the old pursuits (cycling for one!) have been creeping back into the periphery. Should be interesting to see if I can actually juggle more than one passion at a time.

Finally, Fargo.

2010-03-01T14:10:00.000-05:00

It's been quite a while since I mentioned my acquisition of a Salsa Fargo. During the ensuing months, the build was stalled by the holidays, incompatible parts and more snow than I've seen in I don't know how long. Anyway, it's finally done. Still tweaking and dialing to be done and I'm not sure if the Woodchipper bars are staying or being replaced by my tried and true Midge. One thing that's definitely going is the ugly Shimano bashguard, to be replaced by a somewhat less obtrusive Salsa model.

This bike seems to look more mountain bike-like(say that 5 times fast) than most Fargos I've seen. This probably is due largely to a 5'4" rider with a 49.5cm shoulder width and some lower back issues on 29" wheels and drop bars.

It comes...

2009-12-26T17:14:00.000-05:00

...and it goes. All the insanity leading up to "the day" and it's gone in the blink of an eye. Hope everyone had a good day and had time to reflect on what's most important to them. I'm by no means a religious person (many might easily term me a heathen) so don't take this as a religious rant. For me, it's family and the overwhelming need for peace on earth and good will toward each other. If we as a species/planet can acheive these goals, we'll all be in a much better place.

Buon Natale.

Moe, Larry and Curly.

2009-12-01T16:22:00.000-05:00

Group shot of the four-footed members of the family. Charlie (the puppy) has settled in as though he's been here forever. Gotta love dogs!

Gentlemen, we have ignition...

2009-11-13T15:45:00.000-05:00

Launch sequence has been engaged, rockets are firing. After much agonizing and deliberation, I pulled the trigger on a Salsa Fargo today. All parts from the Inbred 96er will swap over with the exception of the rear wheel which I'll need to build. Since I'll use the existing XT hub, I'm only looking at the cost of a new rim, spokes and nipples. Build pics to follow, for now this one from Salsa will do. All you guys out there, here are some words to live by from a man who's lived by 'em through 18+ years of marriage...It's easier to ask forgiveness than to ask for permission.

As fate would have it.

2009-10-29T16:12:00.000-04:00

We've always had dogs, Labs specifically. Big surprise, I know. For a while now my wife and I have been thinking about rescue/adoption but hadn't really moved beyond the conversation stage. As fate would have it, the little guy pictured here basically landed in our laps. (We're not certain what his bloodlines are exactly, definitely some German Shepherd, possibly Rhodesian Ridgeback, Viszla or Pit Bull) Charlie, as we've named him was rescued from the streets by Happy Tails Rescue in Morrisville, PA (big props) and fostered by a coworker of my wife. Coincidentally, my kids are taking horseback riding lessons from the daughter of this fantastic lady and as fate would have it, Charlie was visiting the stables during a lesson. There was an instant connection and once I discovered he was being fostered, the wheels began to turn quickly. As fate would have it, Charlie was available for adoption and our application was approved, he's been with us since Monday.Take a look at the pics, in the first taken on October 3 , Charlie had just come off the streets weighing 12 pounds. In the second pic, taken October 26, Charlie had just come home with us at hit the scales at 32 pounds!!! He's a sweet, gentle little guy and he's adjusting to life in the nuthouse just fine...as fate would have it.

No snow.

2009-10-20T19:45:00.000-04:00

Well, it didn't snow this weekend past. Just rain. And more rain. Then rain again. You get the picture, consequently we cancelled our ride, went back to sleep and hung around the trailer most of the day. We did eat chili and drink hot cider and I sucked down a few Pumpkin Patch Ales, none for the kid, he's only eleven. We'll try again next time.

Let it snow.

2009-10-16T11:57:00.000-04:00

The season's first Nor'easter has hit (where else) the Northeast. Low temps and rain where I live just outside Philadelphia and snow to the north in Jim Thorpe where I have a weekend place. The kid and I are planning a leisurely, 25 mile singlespeed (he on his BMX, me on the MonsterX) jaunt down the Lehigh Gorge Saturday AM. When I say down, I truly mean down, it's a very easy 2% downgrade, perfect for my son's first long ride. A little snow will just spice things up a bit. Speaking of spice, Momma will have chili, hot cider and Pumpkin Patch Ale waiting for our return. Yum, delicious!

Tom Morello

2009-09-29T14:08:00.000-04:00

Thanks to the wonders of Youtube, I recently witnessed a performance of "The Ghost of Tom Joad" (quick Steinbeck reference there) from a 2008 Bruce Springsteen concert with Tom Morello of Rage Against The Machine/Audioslave/The Nightwatchman. I've been a HUGE Springsteen fan for over 30 years, undoubtedly he's my favorite artist but to term Morello as "sitting in" would be an injustice. Tom drove this performance to new heights, his passion, with both guitar and voice have left an indelible impression on me. This was my first true exposure to Tom Morello, for some reason his work, both musically and morally flew completely off my radar. Suffice it to say, we're locked in now.

Where did the time go?

2009-09-14T19:47:00.000-04:00

Damn, it's been almost 4 months since my last post...I blame my job, sucks up to friggin much time and energy. It also provides creature comforts for me and the rest of the Black Dog Adventure Team as well as a convenient excuse for not writing.

Anyone who knows me, knows the regard in which I hold John Steinbeck, both the works and the man. Ever since reading an excerpt of The Red Pony in a school textbook as a young kid, I've been hooked. That small snippet steered me onto a journey that's lasted close to 40 years, even my honeymoon led me to the the central coast of California, site of much of Steinbeck's works.

Without a doubt, my favorite work of Steinbeck's and quite honestly a book I've grown to love more than anything I've ever read is Travels With Charley: In Search of America. The book, one of Steinbeck's few works of non-fiction, chronicles a trip the author took with his standard poodle Charley, starting from Long Island, NY and basically traversed the entire perimeter of the country in a pick-up truck mounted camper. Steinbeck's observations and reflections on the American condition in 1960 still ring fresh and true, almost 50 years later. If you've never read it, I HIGHLY recommend it.

Pictured here, Rocinante, Steinbeck and Charley's home for 3 months and over 10,000 miles.

Black Dog Adventure Team World Headquarters

2009-05-17T20:17:00.001-04:00

Located in Jim Thorpe, PA this is where we spend every other weekend between April and November biking, hiking, canoing and kayaking and just hanging around the campfire. We'd be here every weekend but I work on alternating weeks.

We call the little fellow in the last pic "The Sentinel", he guards the place when we're not around and uses his net to trap trespassers.

Today's ride.

2009-05-09T17:15:00.000-04:00

Left work today with the NEED to ride. Not, I want to go for a ride or I need a training ride (hell, the only training related activity I indulge in is the choo-choo variety) No, I needed to ride to get sweaty, dirty, muddy and bloody and experience the joy that comes with all of that shit. And I did. I'm badly out of shape but I had a ball and that's all I give a shit about.

Happy Mother's Day to all the mommys!!!

As the bike turns.

2009-05-08T15:44:00.000-04:00

For the past five years I've been riding singlespeed about 95% of the time. I sold off all my geared rides except for the Potts and been satisfied with things as they were. Coming off a winter of next to no riding and a spring that's been pretty much the same, I decided it was time to gear up. An XT/Mavic rear wheel, XT derailleur and cassette and a Dura Ace shifter later, I'm once again amongst the geared. Never one to set my bikes up conventionally, I run BB 7 brakes front and rear, which are finnicky to set up on the slot drop Inbred and require the rear wheel to be set more toward the rear of the drops than front. Okay running SS with a bolt on hub and tuggnuts, not so easy geared with a QR. Due to the brake restrictions, the rear wheel can't be run all the way forward and I need to use the tuggnuts still. Two tuggnuts and a QR make installing and removing the wheel a bit of a pain in the ass (yes, I tried it with one tugg only and the wheel cocked under load) The extra width of the twin tuggies effectively (or ineffectively) shorten the skewer length so that it's threads are not completely engaged by the end cap. I haven't lost my rear wheel yet so it should be okay...I hope!

The pic is worth far more than my babblings.

Update to yesterday's rant

2009-04-21T19:48:00.001-04:00

Okay, the guy who went postal on me yesterday came back over today and apologized. I appreciate it and truly hope it's genuine, not forced by his boss who was present during the "discussion" Ultimately, none of this shit matters anyway.

Now for shit that does matter, how about a Dogfish Head Chicory Stout??? Yum, delicious!!!

Rant

2009-04-20T18:38:00.000-04:00

I work for a home furnishings retailer managing the group who unload trucks and restock the store prior to it's opening. This past Friday, one of my folks was hit in the head by a steel divider(fortunately he wasn't hurt badly) used to keep mattresses standing on their edge from flopping over in the sales location(s) These dividers were supplied through a group within the company responsible for equipment used in all our stores. Monday AM, two of the individuals from this equipment group came over from corporate headquarters (located conveniently next door) to inspect the dividers that failed, etc. Before I get to the reason for this rant I'll explain how these dividers work: the mattresses are stored in steel racking and the dividers clamp (poorly) onto the support beams for the racking by means of a nut welded to the clamp and a thumbscrew. Suffice it to say, it's a poor design and the fabrication is as poor or worse. During my discussion with the two "experts", one of them repeatedly directed blame for the incident at "stupid coworkers" who loaded the racking, racking that is loaded by hand, one piece at a time and then unloaded by customers, by hand, one at a time. When I admonished him for his comments and pointed out this could have just as easily happened to a customer, he got loud and shitty. The balls of this guy, instead of acknowledging there needed to be a fix for this part, he foisted blame on a guy whose only crime was doing his job. Rare and special people, how do they manage to find me?

Where's the party?

2009-03-28T16:44:00.000-04:00

A question I've been asking myself quite often lately. Work? No party there, the poor economy has forced me to reduce (decision made far beyond me) the worked hours of the 26 folks who report to me, guess who gets to pick up the pieces at the end of the day? I was recently invited to join a private group populated by a small number of what I thought were like-minded individuals. What it's turning out to be is a closed door society where I'm very much the odd man out. Still not sure why the hell I even got an invitation.

What do I know? I'm just a guy who likes bikes.

Simpler times.

2009-03-16T19:56:00.000-04:00

Remember when a six or two of these led to a late night binge on these? I can still get PBR anywhere but the White Castle requires a 50 mile ride to the closest location to my home. Thanks goodness my wife and my roots are on Long Island, which has no shortage of the delicious "belly bombers" Makes the trip back to visit the in-laws somewhat more palatable.

Identity theft...

2009-03-14T15:36:00.001-04:00

Yep, I can now count myself as one more victim. Some rat bastard got hold of my credit card number and had him/herself a party. They bought themselves memberships from several different "by-the-month" services, the type that ship regularly each month and bill you accordingly, including one of the more popular acne solutions, little pimpled bastards. Fortunately my wife caught it before things got too out of hand but I'd love to catch the fuck(s) that did this.

MTB cool...

2009-03-10T19:27:00.000-04:00

...personified. Not only was he the most dominant multi-event racer of all time, he was one cool ass mofo, his choice of Coors Light not withstanding.

Internet nonsense

2009-03-08T19:13:00.000-04:00

As many are, I've been a member at mtbr.com for quite some time. My usual haunts are the Singlespeed, 29er and VRC forums and it's the latter that's driven this post. There's an ongoing bitchfest on the Vintage-Retro-Classic forum that's boiled into an all-out, childish, name calling, finger pointing war between two distinct factions. I'll spare you the rehashing here as this bullshit is easy enough to find and read for yourself. The whole mess begs a few simple questions, why is anyone getting upset about what's said on the Internet and, why can't the same individuals filter through what they're not interested in reading and move past it?

Here's a pic for you to enjoy while I ponder the world's problems. What would Joe say about this nonsense?

A tale of two love affairs...

2009-02-11T18:44:00.000-05:00

Steve Potts...artist, craftsman, visionary, fly fisherman, and all around nice guy built this for me 17 years ago and it remains my most treasured cycling possession to this day. With memories of the WTB-equipped Potts and Cunninghams drooled over during a visit to the long since gone Pt.Reyes Bikes still fresh in my head, I gave Steve a call and talked bikes for the better part of an hour. At the time I was riding a Wicked Fat Chance, tricked out with every hot rod part available, including the then new and rare, Rock Shox. I had quite a few bucks sunk into that bike and was newly married, so prospects of me getting on a Potts were grim...or so I thought. Talking over dinner with my bride that evening, I mentioned my conversation with Steve and she immediately asked "Aren't those the pretty bikes with the cool brakes we saw in California?" When I answered in the affirmative she then uttered the words I'll never forget..."Why don't you get one?" After regaining my composure, I asked her if she was kidding and she assured me she was in fact, quite serious!

The next few hours were a blur, phone calls to my LBS, another great, but long since gone shop, Breaking Away Cycles on Long Island. Over the succeeding weeks there were several conversations with Steve regarding the build spec and after about 6 weeks, this beauty was delivered. I've owned many bikes before and since but this one remains, and always will. It's a beautiful bike and it rides like a dream but to me it will always represent the selflessness and support displayed by my wife, then and now.

I titled this post "A tale of two love affairs", one for the bike and the other for the woman I share my life with.

Happy Valentine's Day Susie.

Saturday AM ride.

2009-01-24T18:08:00.001-05:00

Took the MotoMonsterX for it's maiden dirt voyage today, just a little singletrack that runs along Neshaminy Creek(about a minute's ride from my house) My lack of fitness aside, it was a fun ride although I need to relearn off-roading on skinny tires. Low temps, scattered snow and icy patches with a few hurdles and run-ups thrown in for good measure, damn I felt like Roger De Vlaeminck!!! I even had my Brooklyn cycling cap on under my helmet! Going to try to get out again tomorrow, maybe on the Inbred which has been renamed "The Jerry Springer Bike" by Fatbob29er.

MotoMonsterX

2009-01-17T15:44:00.001-05:00

My take on the whole monster cross thing, definately not as monster as some, more so than others. Ah, what do I know?

Fat front Inbred...

2009-01-16T11:34:00.000-05:00

Man, that sounds like someting you'd hear on Jerry Springer..."Get outta mah trayler, ya dang fat front Inbred!!!" Nothing quite as lurid here, just got around to taking a few pics of my Inbred with Pugs fork/LM/Endo combination. My good bud Fatbob29er has politely nudged me a few times to do this and I really feel bad about the delay.

Got a few finishing touches to put to the MotoMonsterCross and I'll post some pics of that as well, just waiting for the arrival of Brown Santa.

Hell, where are my manners? A belated Happy New Year to all.

A sad ending.

2008-12-14T16:43:00.001-05:00

Just got the news my uncle died at the age of 82. My uncle by marriage, he was married to my father's sister(who died almost 37 years ago) He'd been in a veteran's nursing home for the past few years, it'd been quite some time since I'd seen him. He was an odd sort of guy, a true eccentric and pretty much a loner. His house burned down about 7 or 8 years ago and he really started slipping badly, my father took total responsibility for his care and managing his finances but after my dad died a couple of years ago my aunts took the torch as best as they could. He's being buried Monday AM in Brooklyn, the only people in attendance will be my three aunts, my only surviving uncle and my brother. The damn family's spread all over the place, myself included. I was gonna make the drive up but my brother counseled against it, basically the entire service will be about five minutes of talk at the gravesite by some priest. A sad ending indeed.

Take it easy Uncle Willie.

A road bike!!!

2008-12-13T13:12:00.001-05:00

Recently acquired my first road bike since the Pierce Arrow Tour de France my parents bought me when I was 12. First, a disclaimer...the new ride is a SS, fattish/knobby-ish (are those real words?) tired, track spaced number that'll probably see as much time off-road as it will on. That said, I couldn't resist pulling the trigger on a Motobecane Fantom Cross Uno. $400 bucks complete, shipping included, how the hell could I pass that up? Swapped the stock bars, pedals, levers and saddle for some Nitto Dirt Drops, Suntour Superbe Pro trackies, Shimano 105 and SDG something or other I had in the parts bin and away I went. Not too crazy about the Avid Shorty cantis so I'll be replacing them with some classic looking Tektros I grabbed on fleaBay. I'm thinking a higher rise stem and some Ritchey Speedmax rubber and I'll be good to go.

Alright, the techie shit is out of the way, how's it ride? Pretty damn nice! I don't ride anything but steel and this frame dosen't disappoint, I don't know how they afford to deliver a bike this nice at such a low pricepoint but I'd glad I bought it. Yeah, I put some bucks into immediatly but even with that, it's still damn cheap. Not gonna bullshit here, if this was my main ride, I'd have gone for something like a CrossCheck but for what I'm using it for this will be fine.

Post turkey day blues.

2008-11-28T19:15:00.001-05:00

In general, I hate working the day after Thanksgiving. Today was doubly miserable, I had to tell 26 people that due to the current state of our economy(thanks Bush) they were going to lose anywhere between 8 and 16 hours of work each week, effective immediately. The decision came down from above, I had held it off for the past 6 weeks or so hoping things might turn around enough so that the cuts wouldn't be necessary but that wasn't to be. As bad as I feel having delivered the news, my people(and every one of the other 300 or so hourly employees where I work) are feeling it where it hurts most, their pockets. Great timing, right in the middle of the holiday season.

Taking the family to Hawk Mountain to watch the migration in the AM and trying to get in a ride in the PM to take my mind off this shit.

Saturday AM ride

2008-11-01T16:19:00.001-04:00

The wife and I got out today for a ride minus the kiddies today, can't begin to recall the last time that happened. Short and sweet (just like her) but we had a good time, my wife couldn't stop raving about how much fun she had and how we need to do this more often. God, I love that woman!!!

The road back...

2008-09-27T18:34:00.000-04:00

Been relatively pain free the past few weeks so I've been trying to get in some rides whenever possible, as work and the bathroom remodel allow. Excited to say I pulled the trigger on a Pugsley fork and Endo/Large Marge wheel build to rock the "fat front" Just waiting for my wheel to arrive from my favorite wheel builder(Mean Todd at Webcyclery) to throw it together and experience the joy of being fat. Well, the bike gets to experience it, I've personally experienced the mirth of girth for quite a few years now. Pics to follow...of the bike, not me!

Fun, fun, fun...

2008-09-07T18:23:00.000-04:00

Well, my doctor tells me I'm probably aggravating my condition by pushing too hard to get back to work and normal activities. Probably. Spent a Friday night and all day Saturday cooped up in the camper while the skies emptied all over Jim Thorpe. Sunday dawned, sunny and mild while we packed up and headed for home. Oh well, we'll be back up there in two weeks, hopefully with a clean bill of health. There's plenty of good riding time left and we'll probably be able to sneak in one or two canoe/kayak trips as well. I know I sound like I'm whining(I guess I am) but it's been a frustrating season. Ah, better days are around the corner...

Heredity is a bitch...

2008-09-01T19:36:00.001-04:00

Born with a predisposition to produce excessive amounts of uric acid, I've enjoyed visits from my old friends, The Kidney Stones over the years. This Summer, their close relative, Mr. Gout has come by three times in a month and a half, always using the left ankle/foot guest room. Consequently, my riding/kayaking/hiking time has been seriously curtailed as I hobble about. I have a very active and often physical job, I've been pushing myself to get to work and beat the crap out of myself (gotta put food on the table) with no energy for the fun stuff. All this down time has me reading and rereading old issues of Dirt Rag, logging onto mtbr.com almost fanatically and buying gear online that I'm not getting much of a chance to use. The treatment so far has been medication, that dosen't seem to be working, tomorrow I'm off to see my doctor(again) with a list of demands. We'll see what happens...

2008-09-01T16:32:00.001-04:00

Since our "team" was named for our Black Lab, the blog isn't complete without a picture of the fellow we call Shane. In the interest of fairness, there should be a pic of The Brown Dog as well, Murphy.

The (new) Inbred

2008-08-29T18:38:00.001-04:00

Here's my newest toy. Swapped over the parts from my old Inbred. Yeah, there's a lot of red on this bike!

The road to hell...

2008-08-29T18:05:00.000-04:00

...is paved with good intentions. When I started this blog in August '07 I did so with the best intentions of updating it regularly. Here we are, a friggin' year later and a whopping two posts, it's embarassing. Anyway, I'm gonna try this again, hopefully with better luck...

Welcome....

2007-08-04T20:11:00.001-04:00

....to the Black Dog Adventure Team blog. Actually, "adventure team" is more than a little tongue-in-cheek. We're a small group, (named for our Black Lab, Shane) consisting of my wife, 2 kids(ages 9 & 7) and my wife's brother and sister-in-law and myself. We camp, mountain bike, hike, canoe, swim, drink beer and generally enjoy the outdoors. This blog is just something we're all going to try to update fairly regularly, hopefully you'll find it entertaining and from time to time, moderately informative(I pride myself on being a tremendous wealth of useless information) Check back for pics and updates.