Steed Update

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  Steed is clear and ridable.  The cruel summer killed many trees, but fortunately for mountain bikers the weedeating from last January and February has been preserved, the grass is still dormant from last year.  I have not seen all of it myself yet.  Corey has ridden it and the parts he saw were clear.  I wonder if the green brier area deep in the East loop grew back at all.

   An old shortcut has been reopened.  When you start at the bait shop, go left at the Y, go right at another fork as you come downhill (grassy), this takes you to the base of a technical steep climb next to a rock wall.  A lot of you will remember this one.  You then cross a high meadow and come out at the main trail.  Or if you stop just short of the main trail, you will see a short link going left (east) that takes you over to the trail that comes up from the park road.  This is where that trail crosses the rocky creek and kicks uphill towards the Two-Way crossing / Step-Drop area. 
   A small loop has been cleared that we call the Altus loop, after some Altus riders who first marked it a few years ago for a warm-up.  Go left at the Y, then left at the next fork (rock), and you come out behind the pavilion.
   So if you park near the pavilion/bait shop area, you have small and medium sized loops if needed.  I see plenty of tire tracks out there already.  Tell your non-biking friends it’s a nice hiking trail as well, with a big rocky hill to climb.  A map of the main trail can be found at ridesteed.com.
   Tracy T

 

Oklahoma FreeWheel 2012 Information

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2012 FreeWheel RouteThe 2012 FreeWheel route has been announced. Here are the host communities for each day and the approximate daily mileages NOTE that mileages are APPROXIMATE but should be within 3-6 miles, plus or minus, of the actual route.

Day 0, 6/9 – 36 miles, Frederick to Red River and return Day 1, 6/10 – 75 miles, Frederick to Elgin

Day 2, 6/11 – 61 miles, Elgin to Anadarko

Day 3, 6/12 – 72 miles, Anadarko to Watonga

Day 4, 6/13 – 71 miles, Watonga to Guthrie

Day 5, 6/14 – 55 miles, Guthrie to Drumright

Day 6, 6/15 – 79 miles, Drumright to Ponca City

Day 7, 6/16 – 36 miles, Ponca City to South Haven, KS

via Oklahoma FreeWheel 2012 Information.

SRAM Apex

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Tested out the SRAM Apex shifting on my bike last year.

This group allows for compact crank gearing and large rear cassette options in effect allowing near triple crank gearing ratios without the hassle of three front chain rings.  Using a 34 tooth small chain ring on the front and 32 tooth on the large cassette cog gives a near 1 to 1 ratio on the drive system allowing for seated steep climbing.

The shifting itself is done with one lever instead of the Shimano two lever system.  There is a short click to shift to a higher gear on the right hand shifter and a longer slower click to shift to an easier gear.  While initially not as smooth as Shimano shifting it is very positive and quick.  Smoothness can be learned by the speed of the shift to an easier gear on the rear dérailleur.  The shifting sounds complicated but is actually easy to learn.  Another side benefit of the single shifting lever is being able to pull it in to the drops when your hands are there making shifts possible while in the drops of the handlebars.

Ergonomics of the shifters is good.  The tops of the hoods are much more level with the handlebars and reach out longer so it will stretch you out in your position on the bike.  One thing that happened at Hotter’n Hell was that the left hood on the shifter became lose and rotated around which was frustrating on a longer ride.

Overall this shifting group is good and reliable.  Shifting itself never needed new cables or adjustment in a years use.  It offers more gearing choices for a double crank than any other group available now.  Although there is no electric options for SRAM now, this group is one of best values out there now.

Johnnie