This next week is going to be a busy one for MEATengines. I mean, assuming I can keep it in gear. My writing style has always been stream-of-consciousness-based, and this week I sorted out a couple of pieces I needed to get out of my brain that will go live in the more distant future. One of them is scheduled for six months from now. SIX MONTHS!
I also had a lot of correspondence this week from readers. I’m nearly positive that I’ve answered everybody so if you e-mailed me this week and I did not get back to you then please drop me a refresher. Like everyone, I get messages through several platforms and I do try to answer them, but e-mail is always my preference.
The second most common thing I was contacted about this week is Fromme Friday rides. Yes, you are absolutely welcome to come along assuming you can make it from Braemar up to the top of the No Quarter Climb under your own steam & you bring the patience for folks for whom it is a proper slog. This time of year I stick to #TrailsForWeather unless we’ve had a few dry days in a row. I always try to be rolling promptly at 9:15am but if anyone wants to pedal hard and catch up they’re welcome to.
Fromme Friday will be almost every Friday but sometimes life gets involved, so I’m starting a BCC e-mail list for folks that want a confirmation we’re riding and maybe even a trail plan. How do you get added to the BCC e-mail list? Fire me an e-mail with Fromme Friday in the subject line.
Alright, housekeeping out of the way. Here’s this week’s MEATengines SBTISAOAF.
Helene Hopefulness
I know that tens of thousands of folks will be struggling to get out from under the turmoil, tears, and terror wrought by Hurricane Helene for years to come. More folks are dying every day from the 320km wide storm, its 225km/h winds, the massive walls of water flooding the coast, and heavy rains washing out roads and causing slides more inland. It’s overwhelming to think how many people are still having supplies airdropped to them on a day when I found my center by going to play in our local cloud-soaked forests.
I’m not trying to make light of the ongoing challenges people are facing and will continue to face, by chasing some silver lining narrative. I just want to say how nice it was to go online and see customers reaching out to brands affected and checking in to see if all their employees were okay instead of whether they were shipping products. To see brands checking in on competing brands. It was a reminder that the cycling world is not all that big.
DeFeet is one brand whose operations are still going, and they’re raising money for local relief efforts with a sock fundraiser. I don’t know any mountain bikers who don’t need another pair of rad socks, so here’s the link.
“In September 2024, Hurricane Helene left catastrophic devastation across many states, throughout the Appalachian mountains. Our friends and neighbors are without electricity, food, and water and are struggling with the aftermath of damaged or destroyed homes and livelihoods. Support relief efforts and show love for the beautiful towns and people affected by wearing our MTN Strong socks. DeFeet will donate 100% of the proceeds to relief efforts.“
Invader Season
I am going to be writing on this subject down the trail when I have processed it a bit more, but I received an e-mail this week with “Maybe a little hyperbole in the subject line” titled ‘You Saved My Life!’ The e-mail was about “walking away” (in a helicopter airlift) from a horrendous crash after using “the chin bar as an emergency brake.”
And look, mountain biking, like life in general, can sometimes be dangerous. Shit happens. Stuff goes wrong that has gone right nine hundred and ninety-nine times before. We all know this, yes? And I am certainly not telling you what to do or preaching some unproven magic about how helmets prevent all brain injuries, etc. But, full-face helmets absolutely will help to keep your teeth where they belong and, in this case, “save massive facial injuries.”
I know I’ve been regularly preaching about my Kali Invader for years. Talking about the excellent airflow and the open-lid-like acoustics, but if you’ve been on the fence about one, the cooler weather makes for the best time to get used to wearing one. Despite all the vents, it absolutely runs (manageably) hotter than an open lid in the summer going forward from October I don’t feel there’s any tradeoff*.
*{Drewitors Note: I wear both the Invader 2.0 and Invader DH. The 2.0 is more comfortable for long, hot, climbs.}
(Above Photo: VikApproved)
(Above Photo: Steve & Meg @Hardtail.Life)
How To Single-Speed
Congrats to Peter Haile and his family on the addition of a healthy future single-speeder this week. Linked above, Peter is a math teacher and a fabricator who has also been creating bikes, and bicycle-related things, since 2015.
I mention the above under the heading ‘How To Single-Speed’ because Peter made me a simply beautiful – or beautifully simple – BB-mount single-speed tensioner and I’ll be writing about it, and other upcycled options in a piece next week on How To Single-Speed your hardtail frame that doesn’t have sliding or swinging dropouts or an eccentric bottom bracket.
The reason this made SBTISAOAF is I received a (albeit small) pile of correspondence this week from folks who are working at trying single-speeding this winter and need an ISCG ’05 or BB-mount tension option but are looking for a more affordable option than the (awesome) MRP G5*.
Thanks for the messages. I love hearing from folks who have been (at least partially) inspired by MEATengines to try #1FG riding. I hope I was helpful.
*{Drewitors Note: I find it a bit weird to link to non-MEATengines content of mine but plan to continue doing so where I think it adds value}
Cylutations
Have you checked out Cy Whitling’s new web (and in the future, print) ‘zine? It’s all About The Ride and unlike MEATengines, hamstrung by its Luddite editor (me) and GoDaddy’s shitty de-Disqus-ing after I signed up, ATR actually has reader comments.
Being Cy’s site (“Cy’s Fault”), ATR, of course, is bounteously stocked with bicycle-themed expressions of his artistic talent. Definitely check it out when you have a few minutes.
ProGroming Perseverance
I’m a little bit worried about this coming across as some kind of ode to a toxic toughness mantality and if it does hopefully you’ll accept that it’s poor communication on my part rather than some just-suck-it-up sensibility.
If you’re a ‘rent and read much about the struggles kids are having these days then you know one of the most common concerns is a lack of perseverance. It can be hard for any of us to know when to push through discomfort and when to listen to our bodies. When to charge ahead and when to pivot. But, if we don’t spend some time being uncomfortable and failing at stuff we try, then how do we learn these limits?
Claire and I went riding with our friend Penny after school on Wednesday and after (way too much of) a hard effort on our first climb Claire was struck with a stomach ache that would not go away. We’re chill folks and to be clear, Claire had the opportunity to turn around at any time. But she decided she could push through it and came up with a modified (shorter) route. By the ride’s end, the ache was gone and we had a fantastic time in the forest taking longer breaks and covering a bit less distance.
Attitude is everything, and there’s a reward in seeing The Clairebarian confidently process this through her pedals.
Dave Days & Jerry Days
Jerry Willows hates my bike (and I mean #JerryWillowsHatesMyBike) but if you went out and shredded some steep, saturated, dirt trails today he hates your bike even more. Today really should have been a Jerry Day.
That is, I should have gone up with my rake and my rain gear and cleared drains instead of going for a pedal. Even sticking to trails armoured against weather and clearing a few drains as I went there were definitely a few I.O.U. moments. However, I do feel that I have a decently healthy balance sheet when it comes to paying those debts. And I plan to improve my credit rating a bunch this winter.
Anywho, I always default to thinking of days like today as DSDs (Dave Smith Days) because some of my favourite images of me riding are among the handful captured by Dave years ago, shooting for gear reviews on properly wet days just like this one. Soaked. Riding in the deep, dank, dark, damp, forest completely surrounded by the low hovering clouds.
So I arrived home, dealt with my soaking wet gear, made a coffee, then sat down to write this edition of SBTISAOAF, and proceeded to burn over an hour just poring over some glorious photos on Dave’s Instagram.
His #TheShoreProject captures riding in this place beautifully, honestly, and I don’t know, I sort of ran out of things to say here other than if you have a few minutes you should check it out. I heard that at some time next year, he’s going to be selling a coffee table book so I’ll try and keep an eye out for that and let you know when it’s live.
Cheers,
Welcome to MEATengines, I hope you enjoyed this piece. If you did, please consider buying me a coffee. Any questions, concerns, or comments – or to order a MEATengines water bottle – feel encouraged to drop me an e-mail, or join us at r/MEATengines.