A Great Wild-Play Day With C...

Nope, this aint a bike blog post, but I had just as much fun the other day following my youngest daughter through the trees at Wild Play just south of Nanaimo.  For 42$ you get 2 - 3 hours of real fun, with dash of pseudo danger thrown in!  She was remarkably brave and led me through a maze of tree-born obstacles which tested my waters...There were several calls of "Bring me my brown trousers..."  But C kept me focused with questions like: "What do you do, Dad, when a man attacks you with a raspberry?"...(Monty Python...it stands the test of time)

 

 

 

And some videos thrown in:

 



Siouxsie Is A Banshee: Great Circle Route Test

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Great Circle Route to Rhodo Using the Powerlines All The Way

 

So today, after completing my chores, I got to zoom out and subject myself and Siouxsie to a baptism by fire test of her front forks...  Today's ride was very rewarding: all the hard work on the front forks has really transformed the bike.  The ride up through Doumont was amazing in that I thought they had graded the road; the bike coasted over it like a magic carpet: no more is the bike clanking, wheezing and smacking me around when I hit pot holes - it just glides over them.  I was bracing myself for the usual abuse and it never came.  I am very impressed with the new springs and emulators and just how much they've changed the bike.  I found myself unconsciously hurtling down the approaches to the tank traps with the front end soaking up everything thrown at it, so much so that I forgot about it and just revelled in the speed, and relative comfort. 

I've always been skeptical about "improvements" to bikes, especially when you read internet rider reviews - it seems every Tom, Dick and Harry have to rave about their farkles and fettles, but really - this works.  It's worth it!  I was half expecting just a rough ride given the springs and nothing else.  But I have to say this is the best bang for the buck I have ever spent on a bike.  It is night and day.  What really struck me is how little I now have to work the bike, bracing myself, or slowing down to circumvent pot holes etc.  I was worried the forks would be too stiff, but they are amazingly compliant up to a point, then they resist.  I was also worried that the forks would be so stiffly sprung that they would buck me: it's not an issue.  The emulators are on a low setting, and they release before the bike pushes back.  I can't believe I've nailed the settings first time, perhaps I can fiddle, but I'm not sure I want to given the improvement.  So here are my settings: Emulators 2 winds; fork oil is 6.5 inches from the top (10 weight);  1/2 inch of preload; 0.55 straight rate springs.

Detail of the approaches to Rhodo via the power line

The ride itself was amazing: I decided to work the bike the best way I knew how, and that was to take it all the way to Rhodo lake via the powerlines.  This is a very rocky trail in places, particularly near Rhodo, with some real grades, many of which I would be going down.  It was a test!  Just before turning left at the bridge and reaching the spot where Andy and I were stopped by snow last May or so, I came face to face with a bear.  It was quite funny.  He stayed on the road and hid behind a tree trunk and peeked at me for minutes.  I was 40 metres away, so stopped the bike, got off and madly tried to change my camera location.  I had it fixed to the rear of the bike, and frantically unscrewed it and tried to screw it into my helmet.  Finally I had to take the helmet off to reattach it.  All the while the bear was taking peek-a-boo looks at me, curious and a little fed up that it had to stop grazing and wait for this noisy idiot to get by, no doubt.  Finally, just like Murphy's Law dictates, I got back on the bike, reached down to press the remote, looked up, and the bear slowly walked into the bush. 

View south down between Blackjack and Decosmos to 2nd lake

The ride itself was fairly easy going up, down was difficult, and very slow going, and it has been really chewed up by quads since the last time I was there with all sorts of loose river rock and large boulders strewn over the surface.  Below are some pictures of what you can expect...

Finally at the lake, I used my magic lure and got nothing in five casts, so I changed to a different colour one, same size and shape though, and bingo: a trout - a good sized one too.  Delicious.
 

Every Trail Flash Map

Aug 15 Markus via Key

EveryTrail - Find trail maps for California and beyond

DR650 Front Fork Upgrade: Suzi transformed to Siouxsie...

My new local test ride route - dirt on the way to work: can't beat that!

 

 

Just like when you hear about that woman down the road who got the boob job, Suzi has had her front end done, and is feeling much perkier than before! 

 

The DR has been fabulous off-road and a forgiving platform for me to learn how to ride dirt, crush and all the other obstacles that off-road riding throws up at us.  Forgiving is the word though; her front end was always a little saggy - which is just what you want when you're learning, but as I've got faster and more aggressive, I have bottomed the forks out occasionally.  Not a nice sound, and with an over sized gas tank, it was time to think about the next step.  So I contacted ProCycle and chatted with Michael Graham who specializes in DR's, among other bikes like the KLR and KLX250s.  He asked some questions and got back to me with what he thought would be the best solution for my style of riding.  I ordered a set of stiffer front springs (.55s which are 35% stiffer than stock and linear) and a set of Racetech Cartridge Emulators.  Fork dive under braking was a problem as was bottoming over rough crush at speed.  He also sent 3pints of 10 weight fork oil, new forks seals and custom springs for the emulators in case I found the stockers too stiff.   So a week ago the package arrived with some sketchy instructions. 

 

So a few days ago I decided to get my hands grimy and start tearing down Suzi's forks.  They were starting to squeak of late, and I worried that a couple of real clangers that I had heard at serious speed over some real bumps had perhaps done some damage.  The Suzuki is amazingly simple to work on and this was no different.  I had the garage floor covered in carnage in no time flat with every sort of bushing, shim, washer, spacer, seal, spring and damper rod known to man laying all over the show.  The shop manual is on line, and thankfully I had saved my copy via pdf and had the laptop running with pictures for help! 

 

 Some parts are deliberately left out of the picture to avoid overwhelming the viewer...and bringing back the flashbacks...

 

After removing the front wheel, brake caliper, and forks (quick and easy), the hard part begins - getting into the forks, draining the fork oil, separating the top fork leg from the bottom, catching the various shims,springs etc, and removing the damper rod.  There is an allen key at the base of the fork.  In order to turn this you must stop the damper rod turning inside the fork.  For this you need a special Suzuki "damper rod tool".  In fact it's so special, that, despite looking like a huge allen key with a T grip at the top - something that could be fashioned for mere cents, Suzuki want the princely sum of $75.  Kiss my armpit.  I made a substitute for less than a fiver using a few nuts...

 

The long hex nut is a 3/4", which measures 28.5mm across in new money.  The damper rod has a female size of 30 mm.  This works without chewing it up.  The 2 other 1/2" nylock nuts are to stop it turning on the 1/2" bolt and to allow me to get a socket around it.  Between the two nylocks is a split washer to add further pressure and to resist turning by the nylocks.  It worked a treat.

 

 

Once the damper rods were out, it was over to Ryan's shop (thanks, Ryan!) for the drill press and 6 5/16" holes in each rod with 7/16" centres.  Wow, the drill goes through these things like butter, the hard work was deburring the holes so none of those little metal fragments get into the fork and damage seals.

 

The bottom of each damper rod needs six holes drilled in them. They already have 4 each, but the diameter needs enlarging to allow for more oil flow up to the emulators.  The emulators sit on top of these and resist oil pressure on the compression stroke.  The emulators are adjustable, so they can open earlier or later, depending on how much resistance to compression you want.  Adjustable forks!  Awesome.

 

The emulators come with 3-4 turns preload.  I reduced them to 2, but, depending on how they work off road, will increase them if I need to. They are machined to fit right over the top of the damper rods, held there by the springs.  It's a nice fit, but I used the circlip to make sure they are oil tight. 

 

 The emulators are the gold items at the top.  One is seated on the damper rod.  The spring sitting out of the top can be wound tighter or loser with an allen key.  This does mean if you want to adjust them you must pop the top tube bolt off, pull the spring, grab the emulator, adjust and drop it back in.  About ten minutes, and quite easy.

 

 

Mid operation: Suzi deforked, and undergoing surgery for a more pert front end

 

Getting everything back together was a cinch, except for getting the bushings in.  I had to make a slide for a rubber mallet using pvc pipe as I was very worried about denting or scratching the fork surface where oil seals would be attempting to keep oil in the fork!  After a few hours, I got this right and and the forks came together nicely. 

 

Next is adding oil and preload.  The aftermarket springs are linear (not progressive like the stockers), and shorter.  I had to enlarge the spacer.  After a lot of reading, I decided to make my spacer two and half inches, giving a half inch preload, rather than the recommended 3/4" preload.  I did this because I got very firm straight rate springs.  If you add more preload, you will make the suspension firm immediately, and the bike will be too stiff for every day commuting.  I also filled the oil to 165mm of the top (6.5inches).  This is where Procycle recommend you start.  More oil makes it more progressive and resists bottoming at the end of the stroke. Less oil will make the fork action feel more linear.  I'm not really sure what I'm doing yet, so I figured it's easier to add oil than remove it (Clem doesn't like the taste - the first time with the straw worked, but...)

 

Then it was off for a test ride.  I headed over to Ryan's to help with a canopy; he'd done it.  So it was off to my local dirt test track - which I've never been up before, but Clem and Iringo had told me there was a dirt track from the top of our residential neighbourhood to my place of work.  Worth a try.  So I headed up and hooked up with the dirt road.  It was more crush actually, very large jagged crush, but worth a test.  I was very impressed!  The mushiness is gone, the forks are still smooth on the road, but incredibly fast and responsive on the dirt, and seemed to urge me to go faster.  The faster I went, the better they worked.  Now this was only a ten minute test, and I'm certainly not ready to call this a success yet, but first impressions are that it was well worth the time.  The trail itself is fun and challenging and takes me down to Long Lake Road.  Perfect!  It'll be my dirt fix on the way to work every day!

 

I'm off for a serious date with Siouxsie tomorrow (Saturday) to give her a real work out.  Her front end sits an inch or so higher now, and the sag is history.  Oh, Siouxsie, you're a bad girl...

 

 Suzi is no more: say hello to Siouxsie with the bodacious front end!







240km; 24 Hours; 24 Trout

Andy and I took a ride from Doumont Road to Lure Lake.  Starting at Doumont we tried the tank traps, but were skunked prior to the Boomerang Lake backside by construction of a bridge, and, possibly, a gate. The crew were hospitable enough, but wouldn't let us through.  We back tracked and worked around this by using an alternative way into the NWB logging roads, shown below (click for detail).

There is one area along this alternate route which has a steep descent through trees, over roots and around some large rocks embedded in the "path". I think you would call this a hiking trail really.  However, we made it down unscathed. 

We then rode via 142, 155 and up the "Ridge Ride" stopping for a brief blueberry pick, and views of Moriarty before continuing through the key trail and into the promised land.  From there we took the 4th lake connector and continued over the pass and out of the Nazi governed Nanaimo Lakes area and into shangrila...Cowichan district, following the Nitinat River down on tarmac roads!

Below are views from "the Pass" as Andy and I have christened it.  I took a side road of to the south (left) and snapped a few shots.  The road continued on and up for some way after I stopped.  I will explore this spur, which is an easy ride, next time out.

You can see the spur continues up for a while.  The views are staggering and my little fisheye lens does not do them justice.  This pass tops out at around 3000 feet.  If you look in the bottom two snaps, you will see the main "Pass" road winding its way through the valley down towards the Nitinat River Road and towards Lake Cowichan.

The access to the lake is even better than before.  The campsite was as we had left it a month ago: my sun glasses still hooked to the tree, and the logs still on the fire.  It was very hot (over 30C, even up there), so we were in the lake and swimming withing minutes.  Gorgeous!  It was absolutely pristine and silent up there.  however, after fifteen minutes or so, it was setting the camp up time and fishing...



Weird, but the trees up at Lure Lake are all rubber trees and quite bendy.

The fish are on average 12 inches long, maybe a pound and a half.  There seem to be two types: black looking trout that live in the depths (they're very cold to the touch) and light looking rainbows that are snapping up flies nearer the surface - and are warmer to the touch.  These fish are not used to fisherman, or other predators apparently, and don't seem to follow the normal rules.  Perhaps because the season is so short at Lure Lake, they are voracious and aggressive.  If you lose a fish, it will bite the lure within seconds again!  They will jump and fight like hell.  In fact, my reel's clutch broke, and I had a heck of a time getting the fish in, they don't quit.  They do, however, taste good, with flesh that varies from white, through pink to deep orange in colour.  I caught the first, and smallest one on my first cast with a Miracle Lure (patent pending).  They seemed to like it's censored colour.  Within 15 minutes Andy and I had almost limited out:

Andy had a keep net, and after dinner (trout) and some coffee (forgot the beer!!), we fished again.  Andy had a keep net, and we filled it very quickly.  The next morning it was, predictably, the same!  In total, 24 fish were caught with 16 or so released back. 

Andy doing his "Itsy-Bitsy Spider" breathing technique to calm down after repacking the bike. 

After packing we headed out towards Tuck Lake.  On the way, we stopped at a bridge over the Nitinat River.  The water was amazingly clear, despite, in places looking to be over 20 feet deep. The colour was stunning.  I had a great swim, and soaked my tee shirt and skivves. Despite the 34C heat, the ride back was air-conditioned; however, I was completely dry by the time we hit the pass again.

All in all, a great ride.  We have cached some supplies up the lake, so the ride in should be a little lighter next time.  Rumour has it, that Ryan and Sebastian would like to come?  Has to be soon!

Below are some Vids of various portions of the ride.

The Pass

Campsite

Swimming in the Nitnat River-Yes it's really that colour...