Getting Through A Not-So-Long Winter... And Introducing, Kung Fu Panda

Last winter was a harsh battle against endless snow and bikes were stored in sheds never to see the light of day. This fall, I braced myself for another long dark winter, which included splurging on huge studded snow tires for the Tank (who has since been reborn as The Abominable Snow Tank). No more cross country skiing to work, I would ride my bike this winter. Much to my joy, and sometimes chagrin because studded bike tires were overkill this year, the pendulum swung the other way. We had just a few days when the snow stuck and there was not a single day I couldn't ride my bike.

With the weather warming up, explorations east to the Alvord Desert on the far side of Steens Mountain called for bikes. We relished crisp mornings in the Alvord Hot Springs and tooled around the pristine gravel roads and explored every inch of the playa. My mind raced at night as the stars twinkled at us about putting together a dirt road bike tour here...

Leaving the van behind to ride to the Pike Creek trailhead for a lovely hike up Steens Mountain.

Tooling around the playa is an otherworldly experience.

In other news, I made a life changing decision this year. I decided it was time to retire the Tank from her status as my "go to" touring bike. She was built to be indestructible in far off lands, but I often found myself wanting a more nimble setup for exploring the Pacific NW. Once her transformation to The Abominable Snow Tank was complete, I could not imagine her being anything other than my winter commuter. And so, with the help of the amazing bike mechanic Tory Sox from Bend Velo, I started building a custom gravel bike. Originally, I had started the build from a Surley Straggler frame and fork, but Surly launched a new gravel bike called the Midnight Special which made even more sense... more stable, slighter better geometry for my midget self, and more options for upgrades later. So I made a last minute crazy switch, praying that my custom frame bag would fit the new frame.

Behold, I call her Kung Fu Panda... in addition to the Rogue Panda custom Cascadia frame bag, it will include two small Ortliebs up front, a Rogue Panda seat pack, a Rogue Panda top tube bag, two Revelate Designs feedbags, and a Revelate Designs harness. 

Mother Nature can be cruel. We had a number of fronts come in dumping regular snow and rain on us right after my bike was done, so I haven't been able to properly test out Kung Fu Panda. But that hasn't stopped me from scheming! There's been a lot of local bike touring momentum coming out of the Central Oregon Adventure Cycling group that I started last year, and slowly but surely, we are connecting with each other and growing.