Is Trail Work as Fun as Riding?

I love riding my bike. I have always enjoyed parking at the trailhead, mounting up on the bike and riding off on the sweet singletrack. I never really thought about all the hard work that was involved with getting those sweet lines into the woods. I passed a crew working on the trails I was riding and stopped to tell them how good of a job they were doing. I chatted with the small crew for a few minutes then rode off. After that ride I started to feel a little guilty for not helping more. So I decided to jump in with both feet!

Fitbit Surge Review

I typically talk about cycling related things on this blog, but today I want to write about a new product I bought. Being as I am still active with the military in a state guard capacity the need to run is always lurking. I have a great love/hate relationship with all fitness activities besides cycling. I use a Garmin Edge for my cycling but didn't enjoy carrying the unit on a run. Of course I have to track my activities. I feed off information! The reasons stated above as well as a great curiosity with my sleeping habits lead me to research a fitness tracker.

I had been looking at getting a fitness tracker for quite a long time before pulling the trigger on the Fitbit Surge.(Purchased by me) When looking at other brands Fitbit stood out to me for many reasons. The design was very simple and felt sturdy. I am a mechanic by trade and I have never been able to wear a watch without messing it up. I will cover this a little later. I researched the app and liked what I saw. I had set out to buy the ChargeHR but went with the Surge in the end. I really wanted the GPS.

The first day wearing the watch I almost took it back. I am not a watch or anything on my wrist kind of guy. I wore a RoadID for a while but even that had to go. Now I just put it on before a road ride. I stuck in there and kept wearing it. I believe it has been 3 weeks and it has become as necessary as underwear. The only time I take it off is to shower and that's when I charge the watch. That leads me right into battery life. I have had no problems with the battery life yet, I do charge a little most days and either run, bike, hike, or some sort of activity everyday. Got the battery halfway down one time on a road ride using GPS. I hadn't charged it the day prior and my ride was after a long day chasing my kids. The Surge was busy that day! I really like all the information that is at my fingertips during a run or hike or bike ride. Its also nice that it syncs right away with Bluetooth on my phone and PC. I was worried about the HR being off but I have tested alongside my Garmin with the strap and they are usually within 1 beat of each other.

Mucky Nutz Face Fender Review

I was down at Eastern Panhandle Bicycles the other day just looking around shooting the breeze with Brian the owner about a big group ride we were organizing and I saw the Mucky Nutz fender on his bike on the stand. Of course I ask him about it, next thing you know I bought one! Rushed home right then to install on the bike.

The Mucky Nutz Face Fender is such a simple yet effective design. Very easy to install on the fork. Package included nice velcro straps to secure the fender most likely every fork out there. After just a few minutes including time for pictures and off/on of the front wheel the fender was secure and ready to roll. Luckily for me it wouldn't be long before I tested it. To make things better there was a light rain that evening followed by unusually warmer temperatures in my area giving me a tacky riding surface. It was a day to have a fender!

200+ Mile Review Trek Top Fuel 8

I wanted to start this post with a picture from one of the many adventures I have taken with this bike. This picture was taken at Raystown Lake, which fortunately for me is about a 1.5 hour drive away. Its great to be able to ride epic trails like that so close to home! I wrote my initial review back in September. I know to most of you only having a little over 200 miles on a bike in 6 months is pathetic but for me being a father of 2 young boys and having a job with alternating shifts as well as my military obligations I am happy with that!

I can say that everyone of those miles have been great! Even the grinding out of the climbs we have here in the mountains of WV and surrounding areas. Speaking of climbing, I had always rode a hardtail in the past. I had some reservations spending up for a full squishy...NOT ANYMORE! This bike climbs better then my hardtails. Maybe some of that is because my legs don't take the blunt of the descents anymore but I'll get to those later. I am running a 1X set-up on this bike. Yes I am in the stone age it seems only running 10spd with a normal sized cassette but may upgrade soon! My fitness has improved so I am able to pedal more consistently on the climbs. With the geometry of this bike and the stiffness I do not get the "hops" while climbing. Its tuned well for me by the awesome guys down at EPBC so I don't need to worry about locking/unlocking at all. I can just go ride this bike!