RR: Two new rides

http://www.2fortheroad.net/soma3.jpg

Bought a new ride on Saturday, figured I'd take it out to Laughlin for a
spin and brought my other new ride along.

On the way home I stopped off at Mojave Natl Preserve and did some on- and
off-road riding. Started off on the road to Mitchell Caverns with no plans,
eventually spotted a big ass watertank near those hills in the background
and figured that was as good a goal as any. Figured I'd get there whether
there was a road to it or not, whether it was sandy as hell and I had to
carry my bike to it or not. It turns out there was an alternately sandy and
hardpack road out to it and I was surprised that even though I haven't
gotten any fat tires for the Soma yet that I was able to clear all the sandy
sections. I just sank a lot more than with 2.4s but was still able to move
forward. When I arrived it turned out the tank was for the water supply of
a currently running range cattle operation, they had tapped a spring and
there was a huge trough full of water for the quite shy longhorns roaming
through the creosote bushes. Other than the ranchers and the occasional 4
wheeler I don't think these cattle saw many humans.

Now that I hit my goal and turned around I had a nice 15mph tailwind and a
long gradual descent back to the car except for a couple of side trips out
some doubletracks and cow trails. What was 10mph on the way out was, except
for those side trips, an easily maintained 30mph on the way back.

In addition to the longhorns I saw one big ass barn own owl fighting with 2
ravens, a coyote, a roadrunner, and 2 foxes. A weekday in the desert turns
up plenty of surprises.

Oh yeah, the newer ride was just as nice as the Soma in it's own way. The
already installed Nissan iPod adapter helped keep the ride full of tunes.

Greg

G.T. wrote:
Oh yeah, the newer ride was just as nice as the Soma in it's own way. The
already installed Nissan iPod adapter helped keep the ride full of tunes.


So, you took the plunge. Cool.

JD

"JD" wrote in message
oups.com...

G.T. wrote:
Oh yeah, the newer ride was just as nice as the Soma in it's own way.
The
already installed Nissan iPod adapter helped keep the ride full of
tunes.


So, you took the plunge. Cool.


I won't worry so much now about getting stranded in the middle of the Mojave
or in some seldom visited campground on the Lost Coast of California.

But, damn, it's a lot taller than the Cherokee, I'm really flirting with the
idea of getting a hitch rack for it rather than a roof rack.

Greg

Now that's old school.

Jobst Brandt would be proud of you -- you've gone retro. Jobst was (and
maybe is) famous for taking people out on long road bike rides that
ended up in the middle of nowhere on dirt trails.

If you are going to buy wider tires I recommend the Ritchey ZED Pro
700x42 tires which work surprisingly well on singletrackand mellow the
ride quite a bit from the700x32mm on washboardy dirt roads.

Dave
the Minister of Misinformation

Cool, that's quite a wildlife report, too. Love the new bike. I've got
Geax Blades on my x bike and they're pretty good when the going gets
tough, and roll well on pavement.

CDB

wrote:
Now that's old school.

Jobst Brandt would be proud of you -- you've gone retro.

Thanks, but I don't think Jobst would be caught dead with brifters.


If you are going to buy wider tires I recommend the Ritchey ZED Pro
700x42 tires which work surprisingly well on singletrackand mellow the
ride quite a bit from the700x32mm on washboardy dirt roads.


I'm thinking about them for the rear but I'm set on the Bontrager Jones
XR 1.8 29er for the front.

Greg

--
"All my time I spent in heaven
Revelries of dance and wine
Waking to the sound of laughter
Up I'd rise and kiss the sky" - The Mekons