More questions and answers, this time thanks to Josh Cohen of The Bicycle Story. Curious to know about my next touring bike, where we will be riding later this summer, and how we started touring? Check out the full interview entitled Nicholas Carman: Pedaling the World as a Gypsy by Trade.
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Photos: Lael Wilcox, Przemek Duszynski, and Nicholas Carman
My 2014 Salsa Mukluk 3 is for sale in Anchorage, AK. The 19″ (L) bike is mostly stock, with some unique customizations including 1 1/2″ drilled rims and tubeless Surly Nate tires, a combination which saves over one pound per wheel. The bike has been ridden for five months and maintained by a professional mechanic. The sale also includes a custom Porcelain Rocket framebag, Revelate Designs Gas Tank, Redline Monster pedals, and about 150 Grip Studs for winter riding. The steerer tube is uncut to fit a variety of riders. $1500 for the bike, studs, and framebag.
Contact me if interested.
The only antidote to working seven days a week is riding seven days a week. Of course, you can imagine the resultant sleep schedule, especially as days grow longer than eighteen hours, technically. On a clear night, the sky never goes completely dark. On one night after work, I rode laps around the network of trails at Kincaid with some friends. As they turned towards home, I pointed my tires towards the beach to revive a smoldering campfire. Out of my framepack I revealed a pack of sausages, buns, a bunch of carrots, and a small brick of cheese. Lael rode out the Coastal Trail after work– after midnight– for a late evening dinner. We enjoyed a never-ending twilight until turning home past 3 AM. This is summer in Alaska.
This past week, I’ve chased trails every night of the week. The riding is different and fun. Dirt is different than snow. Everyone I know was riding trails for the first time last week, except I was riding for the second, third, fourth…
Thanks to everyone who joined me last week, including Kevin, Lucas, Rob, Ryan, Henna, Jeff, Dan, Abe, Hobbs, Clint, Daniel, Brian, Charlie, and of course, Lael. May the season be rocky and rooty for all.
Kevin is especially committed to riding. We partnered on several rides to the Campbell Tract, Kincaid, and the Kepler-Bradley trails in the valley. He’s putting some serious work on his new All City Macho Man Disc cross bike.
If only so I don’t forget what a great week it has been, and what great fun can be found in town, here is a quick tour of the local trails and characters.
Day 1: Work to Campbell Creek Trail, Campbell Tract trails, and home; with Kevin Murphy
Day 2: Work to Coastal Trail, Kincaid STA trails (round and round and round), home via Raspberry and C Street; with Kevin, Abe and Hobbs
Day 3: Work to meet at Tastee Freeze for ice cream cone, to Kincaid STA trails (round and round and round), to the Bluff Trail, then home via Middle Earth and the Coastal Trail; with Kevin, Rob, and Ryan (Abe, Hobbs, Erin; Clint and Laura on the trail)
Day 4: Work to Kincaid STA trails (round and round and round), then home via Raspberry and C Street; with Dan Bailey
Day 5: Work to Kincaid STA trails (round and round and round), then down the Bluff Trail to the beach at midnight to revive a smoldering fire, roast hot dogs and drink beers with Lael until 3AM, home via Coastal Trail; with Jeff and Henna, Lael meets after work past midnight, walks through intertidal waters to find me
Day 6: Work to Coastal Trail to Kincaid STA trails (round and round and round), then home via Raspberry and C Street to Campbell Creek Trail, swimming in Campbell Creek; with Lucas O’Loughlin
Day 7: Work, then catch a ride out to Kepler-Bradley Trails in Palmer to ride melange of trails amongst kettle lakes and glacial moraines, including buff flow trail, rooty singletrack, and wide XC ski trail; with Kevin Murphy, Charlie, Brian, and Daniel
Anyone planning to come up to Anchorage for Singlespeed World Championships (SSWC) in July? The event will be held out at Kincaid, which hosts miles of fun trail and epic in-town scenery.
Anyone looking for a 19″ (Large) Mukluk near Anchorage? It’ll be for sale next week.
The snow is gone, no longer lingering in piles in the shadows; the trails are mostly wet, closed as a general rule until June 1st; and the pavement is dry, if a little dull. But if we go looking, there are more than enough places to ride.
This week, Lael and I discovered a 3/4 mile section of gasline singletrack along the Alaska RR, following Fish Creek down to the Coastal Trail from Northern Lights Blvd. After passing through a break in the fence– and a Posted sign– we connect to the paved Coastal Trail. From there, a web of natural dirt tracks wander through the lowland forest near the coast at Earthquake Park, the result of many decades of dog walkers, bike riders, and homeless camps.
Moving towards my own concept of a dream bike, I pass the Surly ECR to Josh Spice, a friend from Fairbanks. Josh is an avid fatbiker who thinks that rigid 29+ is the best thing ever for all kinds of riding (isn’t that right, Josh?). As a Salsa-sponsored rider, he also owns a new carbon Beargrease and a Ti Fargo. In the past, he has also spent time on a steel Fargo and an aluminum Mukluk, which alternated seasonally between full-fat and 29+ wheels. His girlfriend Jen owns a Krampus and a Beargrease. The ECR is set to become the everyday grunt, in contrast to the svelte Salsas in his stable.
It its final iteration the ECR is dressed with Supernova dynamo lighting, powered by a Shimano dynamo hub; full 29×3.0″ Knard tires and Rabbit Holes rims, which make the most of the 29+ concept; a Surly OD crank ensures chain-to-tire clearance, even with a full range of mountain touring gears; Velo Orange thumb shifters power an 8sp Shimano drivetrain; BB7 brakes, Velo Orange Sabot platform pedals, Ergon grips, and a comfortable handlebar round out the build. Josh immediately set about to improve the bike by adding a short-travel Thudbuster seat post, a rear rack, a King Cage top-cap water bottle mount, and a carbon Origin8 Space Bar OR.
In it’s final iteration, this bike is stable, solid, and surely Surly. Most of what I said back in December is still true. I’m looking for something a little more playful.
Josh and Jen are in town for the weekend to pick up the bike, and visit friends. Their visit coincides with a picnic I organized at The Bicycle Shop.
Josh and Dan Bailey talk about cameras and Fargos all night. Josh loves his Fargos, and Dan is buying one this week. Dan knows cameras better than the rest of us, and is working on publishing a book on adventure photography before setting off on some long-term bicycle travel. Everyone has something to share, and everyone has something to learn.
Local rider Kevin Murphy has excelled in several winter races this past season, despite a background in DH riding. He and I have been talking tubeless, 29+, suspension forks, carbon rims, and fatbikes all winter long. Come summer, I should have a bike as a result of our discussions.
The group gathers for a ride.
We shoot for the dirt track near the RR. It is some of the only dry dirt in town.
Eventually, it ends near the Coastal Trail. A little fence-hopping keeps things moving.
In search of more dirt.
Kevin is riding his new All-City Macho Man Disc, a drop-bar disc road bike with big tires, set-up tubeless of course.
The ECR seems to be a good fit. I am amazed at the Thudbuster. I’ve test ridden a few on Fargos, and they never impressed me, but on an upright bicycle it remains very active for a plush perch.
We race out to the bluffs at Pt. Woronozof, just in time to catch the sunset over Susitna.
The next morning, we ride over to Dan’s house to inspect the Fuji X-T1 camera. Hot scones are waiting, but only a couple of blocks away, we run into this alternative Alaskan school bus. Eric Parsons is riding his son Finn to school on his Pugsley! Finn’s Yepp seat even has a Mountain Feed Bag attached. They have just returned from a short overnighter at Eklutna Lake. Recently, they spent several weeks riding and traveling in Guatemala.
Check out the Revelate Designs blog for some of the most heartwarming bikepacking photos ever. See Finn wave at horses, see Finn ride singletrack, see Finn fist pump proudly after a long day and a big descent back to town. (Photo: Eric Parsons)
Earlier in the week I also ran into Eric and got the chance to test ride his new Salsa Warbird Ti. The combination of titanium, carbon, and 35mm tires makes for a supremely comfortable road bike. This may be the perfect Alaska road bike.
Thanks to all for a great weekend! I am also glad to find such a good home for the ECR. Anyone looking for a Mukluk?
gypsy by trade 