Happy Ground Hog day! Kinzua klimbing and A day at the Cliffs

Wow... Its looking miserable outside today. Yesterday we had temps in the mid 30's and rain. The forcast was calling for a couple mild days this week. Well mild was an understatement for the start of today. I went out on the deck and it felt like spring. Sunny and 45°. The Weather channel is saying the temps are going to fall into the mid 20's and that it'll be snowing by this afternoon. I sure hope they're right. The last 48hrs most likely put a hurting on the mixed lines I've been working on as well as the ice routes I've been patiently waiting to see come into shape. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. I'll try to head out tomorrow to scope the damages. I'm sure a fresh coating of snow will make things feels wintry again. If winter comes to a screeching halt we can all blame that HOG up in Punxy for not seeing his shadow. Well enough about the weather. On to our recent climbing adventures.

The dam located directly across from the climbing

Friday Jan. 28thLaura and I decided to take a short road trip up to Kinzua to climb. The climbing there is mostly casual with WI3 being the common grade. Usually its a great place for beginning leaders to cut their teeth on the sharp end. It was the location of my first ice climbing experience about 14 years ago. I've been at it ever since that first outing. In that respect Kinzua will always be a memorable place for me to visit. Laura had never been there, so we loaded up the climbingmobile and set off at 6:00am friday for the 3.5hr drive north. The drive went smooth considering the snow storm we drove in most of the way. Upon arrival, I was slightly disappointed to see the ice much thinner than what I had climbed in years past. I havn't been there in quite a few years, but every other tip I've made to Kinzua has provided FAT,blue flows. It was a real bummer since the trip was mostly for Laura to get in a bunch of time leading. Instead we pondered over which line was filled in most of the way. I could see rock through the clear ice as well as hear large amounts of running water. Seeing the ice in this current state, I decided to take the lead and check things out before Laura went up. I climbed the line directly across from the Entrance to the first parking lot. Its generally a low angle steeped WI3 with great protection. It took some searching to get in a few 13cm screws that were actually going to do something. As I climbed I could look down into the large holes and see the rock and water underneath. I reached to top and setup the belay to bring Laura up to the trees. She climbed up using her new BD Fusion ice tools. It wasn't much of a route to put them to use on, but she seemed to like them. I brought along some 8mm cord and rap rings to contribute to the local climbing community based on a post on NEice.com about the anchors being ratty and in need of replacement. I set up a station on a large tree up and left of the top out. Heres a photo of the new station and the climb.

Our first climb. Unusually thin compared to what I've typically seen here

Laura coming up the first climb we did

Laura seconding with trucks rumbling below.

Notice our car in the lot? Worlds easiest approach!

Our second climb was to the right of the first one. It was in the little alcove. It went up the low angle start and up to a short pillar. The ice on this route was better up on the pillar, but the bottom was still somewhat hollow and not well formed. I took the line over right above the exposed rock section and belayed/rapped from there.

Laura tooling on the second climb we did.

(The steepest we could find)

Coming up onto the belay of the 2nd climb

Well it only took two climbs and we decided to head back home to better conditions. We'll have to make another trip someday when things are more "in". All in all it was a nice quick revisit the moderates of Kinzua. will I do it again this season? Most likely not with the way conditions have been at home. There's always next season!





Sunday Jan. 30th. Laura was out for the day and I made plans with Dr. Bob to climb at the cliffs. Joel and Matt were already in town and were staying in Ohiopyle. They climbed Saturday at Upper Meadow where I guess quite a display of climbing went on. I wasn't there, but it sounded good. Anyhow... Sunday morning came and I drove to the parking area of the cliffs. It was snowed in and I did some shoveling to make parking better for those involved in the days antics. I was getting ready to hike in when Dr. Bob showed up. We split the ropes and made our way in. Dr. Bob is one of my oldest ice climbing friends. Due to life, etc. I haven't had the opportunity to spend much time on the rope with him recently as I have in the past. Bob and I decided to warm up on Called on Account of Security WI4. It was in great shape. A little new snow and some onion skin made climbing a little more interesting, but all in all it was in the best conditions I've ever seen. I led the pitch and belayed Bob from the top to shoot some pics on my new camera. Here are a few of the shots.

Dr Bob coming up Called on Account of Security WI4

Dr Bob doing work!

For our second route we decided to climb G-Gully WI4+/5- It was one of the driest routes we saw. The climb went well. It was much better than last season when we did the FFA. Bob commented many times how he enjoyed the 3D climbing that the route offered. Here's a few shots of Bob cleaning.

Bob cleaning G-Gully WI4+

Joel and Matt showed up a little later than expected. They had spend the evening before getting familiarized with life in Ohiopyle. Here's a photo of Joel upon arrival at the cliffs. Needless to say there's not much to report on their activities of the day. Matt was the lone climber taking a lap on G-Gully before hiking out.

Feeling a little fuzzy Joel?

Overall there was a lot of running water and things were building fast. The Beast WI5+ was in the process of making a rare appearance. Albeit with massive amounts of water flowing down it. I hope the weather didn't take too much of a toll on it.

The Beast about touching down for the 2nd year in a row!

On the last day of season (last year), Laura and I went on an early morning mission to climb it before the day warmed to well above freezing, but were turned back by the stupidity of forgetting our ropes. It WAS just about ready for the 2nd time in 5 or 6 years... Until today's rain. With any luck the it will be climbable and I'll finally get to climb it. If not there's still lots of mixed climbs out there begging to be climbed. We'll see what the weekend holds.

Overall conditions photo from Sunday

Summer life in SWPA

Hello to all my climbing buddies out there. As most of you know I usually only post about thewinter climbing here in SWPA. Well I've decided to mix it up a bit (different meaning to my winter climbing buddies) and write a bit about this years summer climbing life. Don't get me wrong. I love the winter season... Its my favorite time of year for climbing. Give me waterfall ice, frozen turf or some slightly frozen rock any day. I'm in heaven. I haven't posted any summer climbing activity because summer climbing hasn't really existed for me the over the last few years. Why? Its been a voluntary choice. I've been taking the summers off to recover and train specifically for the upcoming winter season. During the summer I spend the majority of my time running countless miles though the woods and ridges of Pennsylvania's forests. I really enjoy trail running and have learned that long distance running is a great way to stay in top cardio shape for climbing regardless of season. I used to run races and did fairly well. This year I gave up racing, I just ran to run. I even held off from doing my favorite "good cause" 5k runs like The Mountain Laurel 5K at Laurel Hill State Park. Instead I just ran for fun. I even stopped more than usual along the way to check things out. I always enjoy the early morning birds and scenery. Don't get me wrong, I put in a lot of elevation and speed work. I've run a gazillion 800's at the track, etc... but the most enjoyable running I've done has been in the woods. Mostly on the Laurel Highlands Hiking Trail. I enjoy covering anywhere from 10 to 50 miles a day depending on mood and current physical condition. Some days I push, others not so much. All in all running has become a serious passion of mine and a great training tool for climbers. It also teaches you about the importance of nutrition and hydration while expending mass amounts of energy. Another great tool for striving climbers. So if you're a climber and you want to get better and stay lean and in shape, start running... The further and longer the better. Climbing lighter is climbing smarter!Since last ice season was a bust and we did very minimal climbing. I decided enough was enough and dusted off my rock shoes and started summer climbing to make sure I remembered how (in case we never get another winter). I started back slow and spent some time bumbling at the familiar, local spots. Having a great deal of fun each time I went out. Our days have been spent cragging and working at crags to clear and improve areas so that people can visit/revist and enjoy our local spots.

Doing work at Breakneck

BREAKNECK PROJECT

In August I spent a couple weeks rebolting Breakneck Crag just outside of Connellsville. The bolts were getting old and a bunch of generous climbers raised enough money to purchase new hardware. I pulled the old rusted 3/8" bolts and replacing them with new, BEEFY 1/2" stainless steel ones. All the climbs now have ring shuts to lower from (even the lower slab).




LOST CRAG EFFORTS

Laura and I spent a great deal of time doing work at the Lost Crag in Dunbar. We cleared and remarked the entire "Upper Easy" approach trail. Much effort was spent at the crag itself improving the area and opening up some choked in areas around the rocks. Along with working there, we also climbed a few days with my son Skyler and good friend Cal Swogar. Neither one were ever there and really enjoyed the climbs. On different days we climbed Drill Queen 5.4, Preacher Norm 5.10, Evil Edge 5.7, Psycho Driller 5.6, Lichenville 5.7, Lame Duck 5.11, Chimney Sweep 5.4 and others I'm sure. Some routes were a little dirty other required a little scrubbing to make them a little "friendlier". We installed a new rap anchor on top of the Short stack to make getting down a little easier. If someone has stolen said anchor, feel confident that we also cleared the shelf that makes getting onto rappel at the shuts of Reunion safer and easier. If you've never been there, get directions from mountainproject.com or rockclimbing.com or email me and I can hook you up with some proper ones. Its a fun place to visit and deserves to see more activity than it does. The routes tend to be shorter, but there are plenty of them. They range in difficulty from 5.4 to 5.12+ most folks seem to say they're a little stiff for the grade. Go enjoy!

Cal Swogar on Preacher Norm 5.10

Cal Swogar on Preacher Norm 5.10

Skyler Anderson on Evil Arete 5.7

Laura taking a break below Brutal Orangutan

Slopers in the rain face

River's End Crag, Ohiopyle State Park

River's End is one of the downstream crags at Ohiopyle State Park. It's located (although not labeled) on the Ohiopyle State Park Map. available at the old train station or the park office. Climbing areas are indicated by the climber symbol on the map. I've been asked by several folks the order of the crags going down the bike trail here they are for clarification: The first area listed on the Ohiopyle map is located 1 mile downstream on the bike trail (just after white mile post 73). Unnamed to my knowledge, its primarily used by the local rafting companies to take very new climbers, boy/girl scouts, etc. for a day of top roping. Its short and closest to town. Perfect crag for beginners. The second crag on the map is River's End Crag. It is located about 3.75 miles downstream from the train station it is locatable by finding the DH marked brown and yellow marker on the river side of the bike trail. This DH stands for Double Hydraulics which is the name of the corresponding rapid on the river. River's End Crag is located between the DH (Double Hydraulics) rapid marker and the RE (River's End) rapid marker. The crag is on the left between these two markers. It is very visible from the trail. The Third crag downstream on the map is Schoolhouse Crag. It is located 4.25 miles from the train station, just before the SH (school House) rapid marker or the 76 mile marker. The fourth crag downstream on the map is Maple Wall. It is slightly less than 1/2 mile past School house. It is easily located at the end of the long straight away on the bike path right after passing School House. There is a pull off and a bench directly across from the access trail up to the crag. The fifth crag downstream on the map is Bruner Run. It is easily located. As you head further downstream past Maple Wall you will come to a hardtop road crossing. As you cross the road the light blue blaze for the access trail to the crag is visible on your left. Follow the access trail up to the crag, which is about a 10min. hike up from the bike trail and Bruner Run Rd. access point. If in doubt walk up the road about 200 yards the crag is visible on your right. Currently those are all the downstream crags offered at Ohiopyle. There is plenty of serious bouldering to be found along the river and bike trail. Some really nice stuff is at mile post 1 on the Laurel Highlands Hiking trail heading out of town near Falls Pub for those interested in seeking it out. Here's a photo of one of my favorites not far from Bruner Run.

This is what you see from the trail

a little closer, pretty cool

The really sweet uphill side!

River's End Crag... Laura and I have been cycling in regularly and improving things there. We've created a bike parking area on the river side of the bike trail to keep climbers bikes from crowding the trail. We worked on improving the access trail up to the left side, (still needs a little work). Old routes have been cleaned and new routes have been equipped and should prove to be great additions to the climbing in Ohiopyle. Here's a few photos of the crag and climbs waiting for your ascent.

Me standing below the left side of Rivers End Crag

One of our new lines Snail Trail 5.6 trad, left side

The left side of Rivers End Crag.

The petrified log on the new line Petrified 5.11- Sport, left side

On the first ascent of Petrified 5.11- sport, 5 bolts, left side

Me tying in for the new climb

Carl's Bunnies 5.9 sport, 3 bolts, left side

An amazingly fun new line (Laura's favorite)

The Bee's Knees 5.10+ sport, 4 bolts, right side.

Follow up slightly overhanging flakes to the shuts.

My super partner after a hot and humid day!

Here's a couple of shots from a few years back highlighting the route B.O.P. 5.10c R at River's End Crag, Right side.

Carl Samples climbs B.O.P (Birds of Prey) 5.10+ sport

at River's End Crag in . The route Carl's Bunnies

on the left wall is a reference to him

Carl Samples at the shuts on B.O.P at River's End Crag

in .

The Knobs a.ka. Rob's Knob, Dunbar, PA
We've been up here a few times this season. We cleared the trail and restacked the carins on the way up the hill. Most of the climbs are in good shape as far as needing cleaned. We did quite a few of the 63 or so routes that exist here. So many have been recently brushed and are ready to go. Most of the bolts were replaced just a few years back, so everything is solid. This place deserves to see more traffic. I'm sure only a handful of people actually climb here each season. What a great crag to visit if you are comfortable placing a little trad gear. Some fully bolted climbs exits, but you'd be missing some of the best lines if you don't bring some trad gear for the mixed and pure gear lines. If you've never been there, this crag should be on your list to visit soon. We added a rap station on the Can I touch it block at the top of I think I soloed that 5.6 to help in getting down off of this block. Another rap station was added on top of Oriental Lickmaster block. It is between the corner climb Way Up 5.8, trad. and Gagging on the Shag 5.11c/d trad. since the tree normally used for rappel is now mostly rotten. Some pics of The Knobs or a.k.a. Rob's Knob.

Climbing Way Up 5.8 trad

Christian Mason on Take a Stab 5.8 trad

Gagging on the Shag 5.11c/d trad

Mungo Jelly 5.10c, mixed, 1 bolt

Laura belaying me on Can I touch it 5.11c sport 2 bolts

Laura and I relaxing at The Knobs photo Ray Burnsworth

Terror of Tiny Tim

The 'Thanking Your Bicycle' Give-Away!

Have you thanked your bicycle lately? Just think of all the wonderful things our velocipedian friends have done for us! Surely they deserve a little thanks?To inspire you, I have prepared a little give-away for the Thanksgiving holiday.



As a small "thank you" to my readers, I will be giving away a hand-knitted"cycling hat" - made especially for the recipient, in their size. The hat will be 100% wool - a soft wool that feels nice against your skin, densely knitted to protect against the wind. The shape is as pictured above and also here. It covers the ears, and can either be worn on its own or (and I am 98% sure about this) will fit under a helmet. The pattern will be stripey - using whatever colours spontaneously come to mind out of what I have available. If the recipient is male, I can make "manly coloured" stripes as well. And if you hate a particular colour, you can request that I not include it. The finishing at the top of the hat is as shown in the picture above. Just a simple, fun and (hopefully) useful hat, custom made for you by me.



If you would like to be considered for the "Thanking Your Bicycle Give-Away," here are the guidelines:

Please write a thank you note to your bicycle in the "Remarks" section of this post.

Description of your bicycle and a links to pictures are a bonus, but not required.

If you have multiple bicycles, multiple entries are eligible. One entry per bicycle.

Entries should be posted between the start of Wednesday, November 24th and the end of Friday, November 26th.

International entriesare eligible from all corners of the world with reliably functional postal systems.

Shipping will be taken care of.

Recipient will be announced Sunday, November 28th.

Thank you for reading Lovely Bicycle, and enjoy!

Superba Progress

Ta-da! Look what I found sprouting up amidst the grass after the snow melted. Okay, not really. But I thought this would be a good time to update on the progress of the Bella Ciao Superba. I've already been told how nice the new frame colour looks, but this is actually the same colour as before - it's still my bike, only with different components. The colour does look different with the cream tires and brown accessories; less beige and more green. The production frame colour will be one step further in this direction: Imagine a mix between the shade you see here and that of my Roya H. mixte.



Some aspects of the prototype are still in flux, but this is the basic idea of how I envisioned the bicycle: Fully equipped, yet classic and very simple - inasmuch as such a combination is possible.



As I had hoped, the Sturmey Archer 3-speed hub works nicely with the overall design. Not only do I prefer its functionality over Shimano's (just a personal preference), but visually it is more in sync with how I see this bicycle. One of my favourite parts of the Bella Ciaoframes are the elegant fork-ends with the chain tensioners. And to my eye, theSturmey Archer hub - with its glorious indicator chain - integrates perfectly with these elements. I think I drove everybody a little nuts making sure they order the specific version of this hub I wanted, but I am comfortable with that.



The classic trigger shifter frees up the handlebars for a larger gripping area and looks very natural here. For the brake levers, I decided to go with the retro city levers from Velo Orange. They are long, providing good leverage from a variety of gripping positions, and I find the curvy form to be delightfully ergonomic.



The grips pictured here are just placeholders to match the saddle; I am not sure yet what the grips on the production bike will be. It's a tricky one, because I know that no matter what I choose it is likely that the new owner will replace them anyway with their own grips of choice. Therefore I wonder whether it is even worth it to focus on this aspect too much. My personal choice would actually be a set of hard classic plastic grips. But the Portuguese natural cork grips from Rivendell may be a bigger crowdpleaser, so those are a possibility as well.



One aspect of the bicycle that I initially wanted to change, were the crank arms. The stock ones are not too bad, but I had hoped to find something more classic. Turns out that's not actually possible, as none of the retro-styled cranksets on the market are available with chain rings that are compatible with the Bella Ciao chaincase. I've put a lot of effort into researching this a few months back and short of extremely expensive options, it is just not feasible to get different cranks. At that point I had to ask myself: Will the ladies this bicycle is meant to appeal to be willing to pay $150 extra for this bike in order for it to have vintage looking crank arms? And I think the answer is "no," because even for me it would not be worth it. So fairly early into the project it was decided that the stock cranks would remain.



More recently, I have also decided to keep the stock pedals. It is no problem at all to source a more classic rubber platform pedal and remain within budget, but here's the thing: After riding with the stock pedals since October, I find them to be functionally superior, so I think that replacing them would be a disservice to future owners of this bicycle. The pedals have been tenaciously grippy with all of my shoes in the rain and snow, and they are light. Rather than replace them, I think I'd like to get a couple of more sets from Bella Ciao for personal use on some of my other bikes.



The Schwalbe Delta Cruiser tires are a perfect match for the bicycle, and I decided to go with the version with reflective sidewalls for additional visibility after dark. The dynamo lighting system currently installed is passably elegant, but needs some tweaking - I don't like it that the headlight partially obscures the headbadge and sits so close to the headtube. The simplest and least expensive solution would be to place the headbadge higher - I think there is room to raise it maybe another inch without it looking too weird. I am also trying to find a mounting bracket for the headlight that would place it further forward. Looking at other Italian city bikes, I see that many of them have the headlight installed higher up, mounted above the headset. However, this presents the additional problem of routing the wires for the dynamo lighting. Yet another possibility would be to ask the framebuilder to add a braze-on to one of the fork blades and mount the headlight there, but this would increase production costs, and might look a little bulky on this particular bicycle. So... I am still thinking about this one.



And finally, the rear rack. To be honest, this has been a more challenging endeavor than anticipated, and I do not as of yet have a finished prototype that is financially feasible for the production bikes. I thought carefully about whether I should even post pictures of the rack, lest it be a disappointment if in the end it proves impossible to offer the one shown in the pictures. But I decided to go ahead, because I would like to document the experience of working on this bike - including instances where "Plan A" ends up not panning out. I will eventually write a separate post about the challenges of rack design and production, but for now I am trying my best to get it done while fitting into the timeline and into the budget I have to work with.



It's funny, because I have been warned against taking this project too personally - but have been unable to heed that advice. I do take things personally when I am passionately involved in something; it's just how I am. As with everything, this experience has both highs and lows, and perhaps I take both to heart more than I should. But when I walk past this bicycle in our apartment now, I pause every time and think "Oh my God, this is my dream bike!" - so I think overall that's a good sign. More progress reports to follow, and if you have questions regarding availability please contact elton[at]harriscyclery[dot]net.