Da Unit: First Impressions

Hooray! New bike! After successfully destroying the drivetrain on my mountain bike and lobbying my wife for the funds, I bought a new bike last weekend from Oasis Bike Works in Fairfax. I've been riding as much as the first week of the school year has allowed and it's been fantastic.

Drinking the 29er Kool Aid

When I bought my Motobecane Outcast 29er last spring, I bought it as a commuter. It has eyelets for a rack and fenders, big wheels to smooth out the road, and a single gear to simplify maintenance. Of course, since it arrived just as school was ending and was set up as mountain bike, I decided that I'd ride it as a mountain bike, at least for the summer.

As a mountain bike, it was adequate. It had some weird quirks (170 mm cranks, 42T chainring, spaced out rear track hub, bolt on front hub) that required "adjustment." I was disappointed to find that the factory had bolted down the rear wheel so tight that it stamped a good sized dent into the aluminum dropouts; ever since then it has been tricky to tighten down the rear wheel without the hub gripping against the dropout and "crawling" forward a bit, throwing off the chain tension. I was never satisfied with it as a mountain bike, which was fine - I had a mountain bike I liked and this bike was meant for the commute.

However, riding the Moto all last summer taught me two things: I like the challenge of riding single speed and I LOVE 29" wheels. Riding with just one gear is fun. Want to go faster? Pedal faster! Need to get up that hill? Hammer down! It forces me to ride more aggressive, to maintain my momentum, and keep up my speed. And it pairs up perfectly with 29" wheels.

In my experience, the 29" wheel platform has two advantages over a tradition 26" wheeled mountain bike: traction and roll-over ability. When you stand on a climb, you get all the traction you need to really hammer. Maintaining momentum is easier with the big wheels since they make trail obstacles relatively smaller. It's amazing to roll through a rock garden at speed on a 29er.

I was really enjoying the Moto as a mountain bike until I rode Fountainhead. For those of you unfamiliar with the rooty, rocky regional park, tucked in among the steep hills of northern Virginia, let me say this: Fountainhead is not for the faint of heart. There are more rocks and roots, impossibly steep climbs, and fast sketchy downhills than you could imagine in an 8-mi. singletrack loop in the middle of a posh suburb.

Because the trail is so rough, it was very difficult to hold speed on the Moto. Rigid and stiff, the aluminum frame communicated every little (or large) bump and dip to my body. Braking like crazy to maintain control on the downhills left me with little speed to carry me up the steep uphills. Fountainhead had schooled me before, but this time I finished battered and beaten.

That was perhaps my last mountain bike excursion on the Moto. Since then, it has acquired a larger gearing, narrower tires, and a rack. (I used it on our Pitt-to-DC bike trip this summer.) Still, the pleasure of singlespeeding offroad on those big hoops kept me dreaming of a new mountain bike.

Doing the Research, Finding the Ride

Flash forward to the beginning of this summer, when my wife started dropping hints that I could buy a new mountain bike. I did my research, visited the local bike shops, and perused craigslist and the MTBR classifieds daily. I wanted a steel 29er that could be set up singlespeed or geared, rigid or suspended. I figured I'd start out rigid and singlespeed, like the Moto. When I lost my first filling, I'd get a suspension fork. When I got tired of walking too many hills, I'd throw some gears on. Versatility was key.

A number of opportunities presented themselves and I decided on a 2008 Kona Unit. (I got lucky too! At the end of the season like this, it was on sale. Plus, it's the last of its kind; Kona has switched to a lower quality steel for the '09. Unit) It's just about exactly what I wanted. I intend on buying a suspension fork eventually. I'd like a nicer wheelset. But, even stock, it's a sweet sweet ride.

New Bike Smell

I bought the bike last Saturday after having test ridden a half dozen times and peppering the guys at Oasis with a salvo of questions. (Dave, Jan, and Tim deserve a huge shout out for their help and patience!) On Labor Day, I took it on its first ride, the classic Tour de Wakefield. Cali and I cruised the trails down by Accotink and played on the singletrack at Wakefield. It was a blast!

The Unit has all of the pluses of the Moto, without the harsh ride. Big wheels? Check! Singlespeed? Check! It's amazing how much smoother it is than the Moto. While it's still a rigid mountain bike - it's hard to forget that when blasting down a rough trail - it's never been as jarring as the Moto. The steel frame and fork have a nice feel to 'em. I am very pleased with it!

Finale: Proof of Excellent Purchase

I LOVE my new bike!

5 Reasons I'm Glad To Go Back To School

Folks, it's time for an attitude adjustment. I've been having pretty mixed feelings about returning to school. At times, I'm OK with it. At other times, I'm hating life. At yet other times, I'm excited. I'm tired of the mood swings. (It's like I'm pregnant or something - no, wait, that's my wife.) So, in an effort to pull myself out of the funk, I'm going to write five reasons that I'm GLAD to be heading into a new school year.

...

Uh, number one...

Number oNe...

*sigh*

This is going to take a bit of effort. Alright, here we go:

1. I'm excited to try out some new ideas. I've had some cool lessons percolating on the back burner for a while now. Last year, between grad classes and Robotics, I didn't have time to pursue them. Now I do. It'll be great to finally take them off the drawing board.
2. Fresh starts are refreshing. In few other professions do you really get a fresh start so often. Most gainfully employed people need to switch jobs to really start anew. Teachers get to do it every 12 months. Had a miserable sixth period class? Wait a few months and you'll get a new one. Messed up a perfect lesson? Don't worry - you can try it again next year. Fresh starts are one of the hidden benefits to teaching.
3. I'm on the best part of the learning curve. As a fourth year teacher, I'm in a great place. I've been teaching long enough that I'm no longer in survival mode. But, I'm still learning a ton - AND I recognize it. It's a great feeling.
4. I no longer feel obligated to do ALL of the housework. Of course, I didn't do ALL of the housework, but it sure felt like I did. Since Cali had to work like normal over the summer and I had all this "free" time, it fell to me to do the laundry, wash the dishes, clean the house, etc. At the beginning of the summer, it wasn't so bad. But by the end, I hated doing dishes. Could I mention this to Cali? Nope. She'd give me the "I'm pregnant with your baby and I have to work every day while you ride your bikes AND NOW YOU WANT ME TO PITY YOU?!?!" look. No, thank you. I'll do the dishes.
5. I'm getting a Smartboard. Actually, it's in my room right now, just waiting for the software to be installed on the presentation computer. Cool!!!!! I borrowed one a few times last year and really had fun with it. But this one should be MINE. I've got some great ideas on how to use it.
6. BONUS! I'll get to bike commute this year! No grad classes half way across the county any more! Hooray!
   

Honestly, I feel a little better now. Let's hope it sticks. If not, well, ...hey, just have 10 months 'til summer break!

Podium!

I finally won something! I entered Fatty's "Design Kenny's Tattoo" Contest (see here, my "entry" was in the comments section where I go by "Spiff") on a whim. Apparently Fatty liked my tattoo idea so much, he decided it was worthy of a tube of Dave Zabriskie's chamois cream, DZNuts. Whooo! Chamois cream! Yeah... *sigh* I would have much preferred to have won the Ibis Silk road bike in one of Fatty's earlier contests.