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, […]
Author: MikeMcGuffin
The All-Road Bike Revolution
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 […]
A Tubeless Conundrum
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 […]
Bremerton Gravel Grind
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 […]
My First Snow Bike Experience
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 […]
Festive 500 Brevet Style
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 […]
Taillight Thoughts
I recently read a discussion on my local gravel riding Facebook group regarding rear taillights. One of the super experienced local dudes, made a solid suggestion: go AAA battery powered. In my experience batteries are the way to go. I have not had a positive experience with rechargeable bike lights. For headlights I have a […]
Green Mountain Tahuya Adventure
My recent ride through the Green Mountain and Tahuya State Forests hit all of the high points for a great day of cycling: great company, great terrain, great scenery, great (albeit cold) weather and great adventure. Mike, Ryan and myself boarded the Seattle-to-Bremerton Ferry with a kind of cursory agenda to explore the spit of […]
A New Life For Mr. Moots
My Moots PsychloX RSL and I have gone through a lot together. We’ve ridden the streets of Paris, the cobbled climbs of Flanders, the rolling hills of Iowa and the smooth gravel of Idaho, but, most importantly, it’s been my cyclocross racing steed over the past five years. Like any Moots it’s a head-turner, […]
Bicycle Speed Shop
When it comes to writing, or I suppose life in general, I’m an advocate of a balanced approach – to every ying there’s a yang. Today I hope to provide some positive ying to yesterday’s negative yang. Mellow Johnny’s left me flat, but the Bicycle Speed Shop in Houston’s Houston Heights district elevated my two […]