21 July, 2015

1111th blog post: Bro-vet

by Clint

There's not much going on at VO HQ this week so I figured I'd write about my weekend trip with the new Piolet and this other orange frame I can't talk about.  Met up with a couple buddies and we biked out to Harpers Ferry via C&O trail.  The campsites were buggy and the trails were muddy, but we still had a pretty good time.  The temperatures were in the 90s with high humidity all weekend which meant no sleeping bags at night and a lot of shirtless dudes.

Weekend Thighlights. For the ladies.
We set out Friday night and got to the campsite around midnight.  In the morning, we had coffee at the campsite with one of my coworkers who was also out on the trail that weekend with a friend.   Had to pack up camp pretty quickly with the oncoming storms.  We rode through the rain all morning.  From that point on, everything was covered in mud.
Found a big tree.
Good climbin' tree.
Quick swim to cool down and clean up.
We jumped in the water by Harpers Ferry; we needed to clean up before going into town for lunch. Didn't stay for very long.  Harpers Ferry was great and all, but we wanted to make our way back to the campsite.
Pretty Great Falls.
The next day we rode straight back.  Made a quick stop at Great Falls to see what we had missed on the first night out.  Made it back in time to crash on the couch and watch bad Sunday afternoon TV.
Post-ride hose down.
Both new frames were perfect for the conditions this weekend.  The disc brakes were fantastic for the rain and mud.  Andrew, who is primarily a mountain biker, was on the Piolet.  He described it afterwards as "a valiant steed shepherding you through grand adventures."  I was on the orange bike for the weekend.  It was stable enough to handle the load and nimble enough to navigate the city at the start and end of the ride.  Plus the porteur bag up front was filled with snacks!  Keep an eye out for more on the new orange bike.

11 comments:

billyhacker said...

There's a better than fair chance that my main ride will be that "orange bike," whatever it is, by Christmas. Anyone need a well-used pass hunter?

Pop Conspiracy said...

Disc road frame in the works, eh?

Pop Conspiracy said...

@billyhacker what size?

Dave said...

It's a Pass Hunter with disc brakes. Look at the seat tube decal.

Ray Day said...

What size is that Piolet?

doc said...

Those tires look larger than 32c. I'm just excited to see a combination of 700c, low trail fork, and disk brakes. This could end up being a very versatile frame.

Mike said...

Awesome. The GF and I just did Piit>DC via GAP and C&O, ended this past Friday, surprised we didn't pass each other! I took my pass hunter. Was great, DEFINITELY muddy though, especially between Cumberland and Harper's Ferry.

Anonymous said...

Clint! So glad you shared this adventure. Very inspiring....

Anonymous said...

Hope that orange bike will have suitable geo for 650b conversion.

Nagomano said...

So so so hope 650b x 42s will work on that new orange bike. Just like they work so nicely now on my Polyvalent. Discs make so much sense the longer you are going through more varied terrain. It looks great!

eric said...

Never mind the orange velodisco ... what's up with the "Captain Morgan" stance?