I’ve been following a couple of events the past few weeks. A very exciting overall win by Lael Wilcox yesterday in the Trans Am Bike Race was beyond exciting.
The Tour Divide is also going on right now. Mike Hall is an amazing endurance athlete and has led the race from the beginning. Currently, as I write this, in second place is Chris Plesko from Colorado. Not only has Chris held second place for more than half the race, he is doing it on a single speed bicycle. He is trying, and most likely will succeed, at breaking the Single Speed Tour Divide record he set in 2009. Mike Hall’s performance is nothing short of amazing in this years race. Equally so, I have to say, is Chris Plesko’s outstanding performance on a single speed. He is within a day or so of the overall record for the route. You know, set on a multi-geared bicycle. Too many amazing performances to wrap my head around. Keep it going Chris!!!
The picture is one I took of Chris when he stayed at my house in January 2010 on his way to race the Arrowhead Ultra 135 in Northern Minnesota. And of course, it was on this single-speed Ti Fatback. I remember being thrilled to see the Surly Larry tire he had mounted on the front. It had very recently been released and was still hard to get. It was the first time I’d seen a Larry in person. Up until then the Surly Endomorph was the only tire available for fatbikes. Here Chris is still running an Endomorph on the back wheel. How times have changed. He also had a nice full-set of Epic Design bags and pogies. This is before Epic became Revelate Designs. I think Eric, the owner, was still doing most of the sewing himself back in 2010. You can see the fit of the frame bag is custom to follow the bend in the top tube. Nice!
four season cycling 