Schwalbe Tires

I have to admit I'm a little smitten with Schwalbe tires. I've had a pair of 35mm Maraton XRs on the IndyFab for a couple of years and just installed a new pair of 40mm Marathon Extremes on the MonsterCrosser last week and the love affair continues. I build the MonsterCrosser with a pair of big 29er knobbies and now that I've logged a few hundred miles on them I have come to love the traction and comfort they provide. But they are a really tight fit in the frame and occasionally rub on the fork legs or on the front derailer in granny gear. So while the big tires are cool and work great on rides that are 75+% dirt, the Marathon Extreme model is a better fit for the frame and with a less agressive tread pattern provide a significant reduction in rolling resistance. Their smaller size dramatically changes how the bike handles. With the big knobbies it rides just fine, but doesn't provide particularly sharp feedback to the pilot. With the Marathon's it feels more like a road bike with crisp feedback and reduced steering effort.

BMC MonsterCross with 40mm Schwalbe Marathon Extreme tires

Last Saturday I rode a 70 miler with about 25 miles of dirt. The large size (700cx40) of the Marathon Extreme still provides great traction and comfort but being slightly narrower and a lot smoother. They have a little more agressive tread than the Marathon XRs but seem to roll about the same.

BMC Monstercross with 29x2.0 Kenda Kharma Tires

I just checked and my Garmin says I have ridden 2734 miles on the Xrs on the IndyFab but I've had the bike a year longer than the Garmin so I suspect the true mileage is more like 3500. There is no visible wear on the front tire at all and the rear has developed a little wear in the center of the tread but I'd estimate that wear is in the 10-20% range. Based on the wear I'm seeing on the IndyFab I expect to see over 7000 miles from the Maraton XRs which is more than three times the milage I get from the Michelin Pro Race III tires I use on my lightweight road bike. Based on a discussion with a Schwalbe product guy at the Sea Otter event, the Extreme's have the same rubber compound as the XRs so I expect comparable wear from them.

Final shot showing the beautiful Nitto lugged stem and bar tape detailed with a little orange electrical tape. Too bad the stem is totally hidden under my Garmin GPS when it's installed.

LiveStrong.com

I've been wearing a bright yellow Livestrong bracelet since I was diagnosed with skin cancer 4 years ago. I have worn it with pride, both for my support of Lance and his incredible performance as a cancer survivor and to support what the organization stands for.

I feel gutted after visiting the site last night in search for information on ischial tuberosities and bicycle saddle fit. I was stoked to see the site had a large number of articles on the topic. I mean it's organized by one of the greatest cyclists of al time so they must take cycling topics pretty seriously. As I began reading the site I realized that all the articles were almost the same and actually provided no information about the topic. I saw that there were many articles on bicycle saddle fit. but when I read them, that were all the same article with just a few words changed. They seemed to be just like the useless articles on ehow.com. Then, on a hunch I went to eHow and found the same articles there.

Then I googled "Livestrong.com" and "Content Farm" and there it was. The brand I had so identified with, and was so proud to support is in fact just a greedy business making money on ad placement and not at all focused on the things I thought it was.

That why after wearing-out 5 different bracelets over 4 years, I took mine off for good today. Goodbye Live Strong. I'll be making my donation to another organization from now on.

Zyclara Treatment

Having recently experienced another recurrence of skin cancer, my Dermatologist suggested I try the new anti-skin cancer drug Zyclara. Zyclara causes the auto-immune system to attack pre-cancerous lesions under the skin and may reduce or future outbreaks. It's a topical cream that is applied to the skin for 14 days, then a 14 day break and then another 14 day treatment. Sounds easy enough.

Many new drugs have some crazy side-effects, Zyclara has some side effects, but what you really need to respect are the direct effects. The primary direct effect is the eruption of itchy, scratchy, inflamed, puss-filled sores. It got so bad at the end of the first week I started to worry that I was allergic to it -- the symptoms of allergy ARE "swelling, redness and rash". I Googled "Zyclara" and after looked at the images I realized that my experience was pretty typical. At the end of the first treatment I had over a dozen scabs and sores on my face, under my eyebrows and along my hairline. I was a mess.

The sores healed quickly after the first treatment and after the 2-week break I only had a couple of light pink patches to remind me of the worst sores.

The second 14-day treatment was a little easier but I still broke out pretty bad. This time the sores were on my cheeks and jaw line and were generally smaller and less agressive that the first session.

My second session ended 2 days ago and my face is now starting to heal. I had planned to add pictures of my face taken during treatment but after uploading them I've decided they are a little too gross and deleted them.

New Garden

One of the things we enjoy most about being back in California is the consistently beautiful weather. While we miss the snow of Colorado a bit, the temperate weather here provides a long growing season to grow a healthy vegetable garden.

We built a couple of small raised beds in the back yard and installed a simple irrigation system controlled by a battery powered timer. Last night we planted tomatos, cukes, zuks, peppers, basils, cilantro and Garbanzo beans.

BMC on the Bayshore

I've got about 400 miles on my new Black Mountain Cycles Cyclocross bike including a couple of rides over 50 miles. What an awesome machine. Thanks to Mike at BMC for an excellent frame design and meticulous assembly.

It's configured for long, comfortable, all day epics on multiple terrain types. It has large, lightweight 29er knobby tires and wide 52/42/28t front and 11-36t 9-speed rear drivetrain.

I'm currently running a hybrid brake system with a TRP Mini V-Brake on the front and Avid Ultimate cantilevers in the rear. I chose the Mini-V in the front to reduce the front brake shudder that plagues many cyclocross bikes. The shudder happens as the front fork flexes and the brake cable tightens/slacks.

I've done a couple of white-knuckle decents and I'm really happy with the results so far.

Check out the killer Timbuk2 seat-bag in orange and brown! A score from the bargain-bin at the local REI. The spare 29er tube is so large it needs the large-size seat bag. Since these pictures were taken I swapped in an old Nitto lugged seat-post which has a huge amount of set-back to match the Brooks saddle and and fits much better than the 5mm setback one shown.

My what big tires you have...

One of the biggest reasons I picked this bike is the tire clearance. During the build I installed Kenda Karma 29x1.95 (50mmx700c) tires. These are massive tires for a cyclocross bike and just fit -- they had to be carefully massaged to properly fit. I love those big 29ers but they are best when used on long dirt-centric rides. For more road-centric (but still multi-terrain) rides I'm looking for a slightly narrower and smother-rolling tire as an alternative to extend the range to 75 miles and beyond.

I've been riding a pair of Schwalbe Marathon XRs on the IndyFab and LOVE them. They may be the best tires I've ever owned. They are incredibly durable, have a stiff carcass that prevents pinch-flats and some magical belt under the tread to prevent punctures. The tread is smooth rolling but offers enough traction to handle anything including hardpack and mud.

As for reasons beyond understanding, Schwalbe only made them for a a year and stopped a couple of years ago. I have the last two I own on the IndyFab and don't know what I will do then they are worn out.

So if you know of any light-weight, large-volume, fast-rolling, thorn-proof cyclocross tires in 38-45mm, drop me a note.