Going Long and Hard.

Saturday.

Long ride today. I got to work out a route I've had in my head for quite a while, which was how to get from here to Sandy Hook on the Fatty off-road.

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Started by hitting the train tracks, but headed in the other direction. Looking on Google Earth I found some trails through Edison and into Perth Amboy. There IS a railroad bridge in Perth Amboy but I decided not to push my luck and headed over the Raritan via the Rt35 bridge. From there it was a short road ride through Walter's hood and onto the Beach!! It was about 12 miles for my tires to hit sand.

From there I did one of my normal routes on and along the beach using various trails, roads, and the Henry Hudson. Eventually hitting the Bayshore trail and Sandy Hook.

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The wind was pretty brutal and the sand was SLOW. But someone was there earlier and I got to follow some tracks...

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Someone was on a Fatboy. Or was at least riding the Ground Control tires from one. All of the sand whooped me pretty good. I was on the bike for about 5-hours at this point so I decided to jump on the road to head home as I figured I still had 3-hours to go.

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I cut through where I went to school so I stopped to take a breather. Haven't been here in over 20 years. Damn, I'm old now.

Ended up with 8-hours on the bike, just under a century. Next round I'll do an out/back or add in Hartshorne/Huber to keep it all off-road...

http://www.strava.com/activities/219605548

My week is a tad short so I'll try to get out today if my wife gives me the thumbs up.

-Jim.
 
I'm sure I've offered in the past, but if you want my phone # or home address lemme know, in case of emergency or a poop break or something.
 
Wow! Exceptional! You have really built up a solid endurance base to be able to push those big tires on a single speed through the sand all day! Wonderful!
 
I don't really have a diet other than being Vegetarian. For long rides I eat something every hour, and drink a bottle every 2-Hours. After long days I might eat a little more but at this point my body is used to doing them so it doesn't hit me too bad...I'm about 15 pounds heavier than my XC racing days but I've also spent a ton of time in the weight room (basement) the past couple years rebuilding my shoulder...
 
Great stuff, as always. So I see BFL's in all of these long distance, road & rail type rides. They're light for the size 4.7ish so they probably roll pretty nice. How are they on the trail? How about the slop?
 
They're my favorite all around tire. Pump them up a tad and they're fast in the woods or on road, etc...Deflate them and they're equally good in the bad stuff. On packed snow especially. In the later months I'll switch to a more aggressive set up like the stock Ground Controls or a Bud/Lou. And even though the BFL is a 5", it's the lightest tire on the market.
 
Have you ridden a Black Floyd on the beach? I'm curious to know what they ride like, but not enough to actually buy a pair 😀

-Jim.
 
Yes, Ive ridden on Floyds all season this year
They ride great on the beach
They're my first choice for the pinelands, and it can be beach like in places
I run em kinda soft and find I have no problems with short climbs either, plenty of traction and fast rolling
There's a guy on MTBR that took second place in a 5 day (don't quote me on that) stage race across the Australian desert on Floyds
 
Tuesday.

HbMTB shop ride, started out as 3, and dropped to 2 REAL quick. Chris got a fat bike and was DRILLING it!! I may need to put gears on my bike now, or just run a 36x16 or something.

It was in the 20's when we started but we were surprisingly comfortable. I only wore my lightish Gore Phantom jacket and a normal pair of bib tights.

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http://www.strava.com/activities/220893654

-Jim.
 
I assume your tires have fairly low rolling resistance compared to others. Do you have another set and how much snow pack before you change over?
 
They're very fast. I switch almost as soon as it snows, these slip pretty easily if you're not on packed snow.

-Jim.
 
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