But I am just a pilgrim on this road, boys
Until I see you fare thee well
-Steve Earle, Pilgrim

Saturday, January 3, 2009

Frisco High Line

For a change of pace, Tom and I rode the Frisco High Line this morning on mountain bikes. I recently built up a new single-speed bike using a steel Peugeot frame manufactured in Canada. I have not finished building the wheels yet, so I am running the original wheels with the 7-speed cog on the rear. I have it set up with a 46-tooth chain ring and the 15-tooth cog in the rear (the 15 provided the best alignment with the chain ring). I felt like I was riding up hill the entire way, particularly on the return with a 20-mph quartering crosswind gusting to 29 mph!

We started at the trailhead on West Kearney Street and rode to Walnut Grove, where we had pancakes and coffee at D. J.'s Diner. The pancakes were good, and the coffee was so so. The ride was about 34 miles round trip. My rear wheel slipped forward a couple of times on the way up causing the chain to drop. I finally got it tightened down good for the ride back, and we only stopped once to tighten it a little more. The trail was pretty soft in a few places because of the recent rains. It would have been a difficult ride on our road bikes, even with 32mm tires.

This afternoon, I stopped by Queen City Cycles and bought a 17-tooth cog and spacer kit to make the ride a little less intense.

Trailhead on West Kearney Street














Trailhead in Willard














Walnut Grove

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