Author: MikeMcGuffin

I recently learned two new words: vindskydd and raststugor.  Both are Swedish words for a type of backcountry shelter.  A vindskydd is a three-walled, roofed lean-to style structure, while a raststugor is a fully enclosed hut.  A vindskydd can either be floored or bare earth, the former suitable for sleeping the later being simply a […]

I’ve learned that if you’re gonna ride here in the Pacific Northwest you’re gonna have to adopt a regular bicycle chain maintenance program.  Few things in the cycling life are as irritating as a crunchy chain. Chain lubrication does two things: reduces friction between moving parts and prevents corrosion, neither of which require large amounts […]

Over the past ten years I’ve developed a love/hate relationship with bicycle road racing.  I love the camaraderie, the thrill and the on the edge of your physical limit intensity of the sport, but what I hate is the built-in duplicity. There’s a saying in bicycle racing “don’t work harder, work smarter.”  In other words, […]

A Pseudo Review I’ve been a subscriber to Bicycle Quarterly for upwards of eight years now (I read each issue cover to cover), and when I saw that editor-in-chief Jan Heine was publishing a catch-all book entitled The All-Road Bike Revolution I submitted my preorder.  I was stoked when the blue hardbound book arrived.  At […]

As is the fashion of the current day I ride tubeless on my gravel set-up.  This past weekend I picked up two shards of glass early in the ride, after a bit of latex spray both holes sealed and I was on my way.  There while waiting for the ferry there was some discussion with […]

This past Saturday Ryan, Joe, Mykenna, Mike and I took the ferry over to the Kitsap Peninsula to ride the Bremerton Gravel Grind.  The BGG is an individual time trial wherein the clock starts when you exit the Seattle-to-Bremerton ferry and stops when you return to the ferry dock.  The route was posted the day […]

In short it’s not as easy as it would seem. For the past fifteen years my wife and I have been building a cabin in the woods.  The access road is unplowed and impassable from early November until at least late April.  The road is a popular ski and snowshoe destination, and the steady beat […]

I like how ideas form in the mind.  They get in there, roll around a bit, they grow and mature, and before you know it you have a plan.  My latest plan combined two goals: do Rapha’s Festive 500 (500 km between Christmas Eve and New Year’s Day) and complete a 500 km brevet (500 […]