Diamondback Haanjo comp long term review

I wrote this review about a week after I replaced my bike in Kansas. I'm working on a post about the last few days of my trip. Here's a brief update. After arriving in Yorktown, Tom came to pick me up (after driving 1100 miles) and we drove to New York, where we spent the night at the Mistry house. We had a good time catching up with everyone. I didn't realize how much I missed everyone until I got there and saw them. It was wonderful to be able to spend even a little time at the Mistry house. After another two days of driving, we got back to Iowa City yesterday afternoon. It's good to be home.

Back in St Paul, I had a gigantic Schwinn world sport frame lying around. I resolved to build it up with some parts that I had, including a double FSA gossamer crankset and an eight speed rear setup from my first road bike. This bike played host to a number of firsts for me. Friction shifters was one, and gobs of tire clearance was the other. I think I could jam a 35c tire in there. For the first time in my biking life, I could go off pavement. No single track (as there is little single track in the vicinity of a kid without a car) but definitely off road. Some unpaved bike trails, some dirt by the river. I got muddy for the first time. I broke a wheel for the first time. It was awesome. The bike wasn't ideal though. I knocked my nuts on that top tube so many times that I wondered if I'd ever be able to reproduce. I could never get the fit right because of the size of the frame. Also, it was heavy as hell, and the gearing was less than ideal. But it made me lust for getting dirty.

When I was planning my bike trip across America, I wanted a bike that I would be able to tour with, but also something that I would be able to take off road. After some research I decided that the haanjo comp was going to be my beast. I rode the shit out of the bike in new York. I rode gravel, a little single track, and a lot of roads. It was my adventure bike. If I saw a road or trail that looked interesting, I pointed the bike and went. I didn't worry about breaking things or not having enough traction-- the 42c stock tires tore it up. If I ever needed more grip, I just took a little air out of the tires, and I gripped. This bike wrecked gravel trails. It was light enough to fly up descents, and stout enough to handle the beating that dirt trails can dish out. I could ride with roadies and do okay-- occasionally I'd fall behind, but only with crazy fit people. I remember one ride I took with a woman and her friend where we averaged something like 22 mph for a few hours. The diamondback haanjo comp is a do everything pretty well type of bike. Not a mountain bike, and not a true road bike, but some sweet sweet spot right in between.

I do have a few niggles with the bike. Diamondback never explicitly states that the bike is not designed for racks, so they felt they weren't responsible when the braze-ons ripped off the bike. This is not a touring bike, but I thought I could get away with touring on it. It held up for 1800 miles. It performed well for 1800 miles, in fact, after I changed the gearing. Two other things irk me about the bike. The shift cable routing is under the down tube. What the shit. This is a bike designed to get super dirty, and mud ends up right where those cables get routed. This means that shifting inevitably sucks after about 100 miles off road. The front derailleur is a clamp on type, which by itself is not an issue. However, the position of the second bottle cage mounts are such that the front derailleur cannot be put low enough to accommodate the 46 tooth chainring in the front. This means front shifting is always a bit lackluster.

In general, this bike was awesome for me. I've ever had as much fun on a bike as with the diamondback haanjo comp. It's a bike where you point and go, and you get there fast, and comfortably. What more could you want?

Yorktown!

I made it to Yorktown! I rode the 80 miles from Mechanicsville, super casual, and here I am, chilling by the York river. I biked across the United states! I'll be writing more on the last two days soon. Thank you to the people who have helped make this trip possible. Without my sponsors, and the goodwill of strangers, from members of church communities to people offering me food on the side of the road, I wouldn't have made it this far. Thanks to my dad for driving all over the US to be my support team. 

Out of the mountains!

Wytheville to Catawba, Catawba to mallard duck campground 

No matter how I try to convince myself otherwise, I feel like these rides were kind of intermediate rides, just trying to get from one set of mountains to another. The landscape was very hilly, and covered with farms. For a good chunk of these two days, I had mountains on both sides. Pretty, but I was itching for some big climbs. A few things are notable. The city park in Catawba was gorgeous. There wasn't any running water, but they had a port o potty and a fantastic view of the Catawba mountains. The mallard duck campground was also beautiful. The tent sites are tucked away by a little river, and the evening light made the scene very romantic. Some nice folks from an rv site offered to feed me! Oh, man, that food was good!

Mallard duck campground to Charlottesville 

This is the ride I'd been looking forward to since I left Damascus. From the campground, I snaked along the river for awhile before ascending about 2000ft in roughly 3 miles. That climb was insane. Steep, long, unforgiving. It scratched my itch for climbing, and then some.  After the big climb, I rode along the blue Ridge Parkway for 27 miles. This was full of beautiful vistas and long ascents and descents. I even ran into some other riders! I decided not to take pictures because of the haze. The haze made it so the colors felt flat, and it smudged out the contours of nearby mountains. I just hope it wasn't related to air pollution. After the Parkway, I made a quick descent down to sea level where I encountered even more hills. For some reason I had it in my mind that once I got out of the mountains I'd be done climbing. This is not true. I hit more steep rollers, all the way to Charlottesville. In all, a good ride, but very hard.  

Damascus to Wytheville

Today I'm riding about 60 miles from Damascus to Wytheville. I've got about 12 miles left in my trip, but I've done almost all of the elevation change. I was disappointed. I expected some brutal climbs out of Damascus, the kind where you swear and sweat and almost fall over from going so slow. Instead, I rode basically a railroad grade for the majority of the climbs. I think my max elevation was about 2000 ft higher than where I started in Damascus. The reason I feel disappointed is because this is the second to last big climb of this entire trip. I wanted it to be epic. Instead, it was a long, easy spin. On the plus side, I got to ride a rail trail for the first 12 miles of my ride. The Virginia Creeper trail is only about 35 miles long and it happens to run parallel to the TransAm for a little bit. As always, it was nice to get out of traffic, and to indulge in a different tire sound (that of crunching gravel). I'm now entering the region in between the two ranges in the Appalachian mountains. In about two days time, I'll be doing the climb out of Vesuvius, VA, which promises to be awesome.

Last night I stayed at Crazy Larry's hostel in Damascus. I originally intended on staying at "The Place" but after I biked around town looking for a laundromat, I discovered that Crazy Larry's is about the only place in town that does laundry. I walked in, took one look at the bed in the front room, and decided I was going to stay there. It was a little bit more than I wanted to spend -- $27.50 for a bed and laundry, but I think it was worth it. Larry fed me dinner and breakfast (dinner was pork and beans and cooked spinach, and breakfast was chocolate chip pancakes) and chatted me up all afternoon. It was great to sit and listen to someone talk about some of their adventures. I learned a little bit about the Appalachian Trail in the process. Perhaps one of the most interesting things about the people who hike the AT and the people who tour on bikes is the way they sign guest books. Bikers usually say something along to lines of "Thanks for letting me stay here. [Optional: Insert something about being good Christians] It was rainy outside and it was nice to not be wet. -- [name, starting point, ending point]". Hikers sometimes write page long messages, explaining their rationale for doing the trip, the thing they've learned about themselves, and some other information about themselves and their life story. Other times they draw pictures, or write poems. Some don't even address the host. I like the hiker approach a little bit better. Maybe I'll try to employ it for the remainder of my trip. At the end of the day, I have no desire to hike the Appalachian Trail. Hiking seems too slow. A long day for a hiker is 35 miles. A long day for me is 120 miles. In other words, it takes forever to go from point A to point B.

Tomorrow I start the last of my maps. Exciting times in Virginia.

Short day to Damascus

Today I rode about 35 miles. This is the shortest ride I've done on this entire trip. I'm treating today as a rest day. I plan to do laundry, walk around, and maybe take a nap. It's crazy to think that I've only got about a week left of riding. Yesterday I planned on staying in the city park in Council, VA, but I got bored. I ran out of books to read, so I found myself just sitting around. By 5 o'clock I was itching for some more hills. I got on my bike, and rode to the next spot on the map that provided free lodging -- a methodist church outside of Rosedale, VA. Up until Council, it was clear that the landscape had not changed much from Eastern Kentucky. As soon as I got up and over big A mountain (no joke) I felt like I had really entered a new state. Riding in Eastern Kentucky (and western Virginia) as I've noted before consisted of following creeks and rivers, occasionally riding over big hills. Once I got over big A mountain, I found myself gazing upon a vast, hilly meadow. In the far distance I could see a ridge of mountains. I've started to climb that ridge today, and I'll get over it tomorrow on my way to Wytheville. You can see the route I took to area by the church below.

Damascus is notable as it is the only place where the Appalachian trail and the TransAmerica trail intersect. It's home to a number of hiker/cyclist hostels. I'm staying in one called "The Place." Two days from now, I start on the last of my maps. I think I've gone through about nine of them up until now.

Eastern Kentucky and Virginia

21/07/2015

I made it Virginia! I'm currently sitting at a picnic bench in breaks interstate Park, about 4 miles into Virginia. I've still got some hard riding to do, but I'm pretty excited to be out of Kentucky. My experience in Kentucky was far different from what I expected. I've run into a number of folks who tell me that Kentucky is full of rabid dogs, and is terribly ugly east of Berea. While I encountered a few dogs, I didn't feel that I was in any danger of being eaten alive. The landscapes were fantastic. Most of my time was spent riding along creeks and rivers that run in between the hills. Every 20 to 30 miles I would climb up one of said hills. The climbs have been short but brutal. Most of them have been less than a mile and a half, but I often find myself in the easiest gear on my bike, crunching along at 3.5 mph. The descents are fun; steep with lots of turns.

Yesterday my plans to stay in Hindman, KY fell through, as I hadn't given the host enough lead time. The next free place to stay was another 50 miles down the line, so I ended up riding about 120 miles. 9 and a half hours on the bike. Luckily the place I stayed had a bed, so I slept like a baby. Thanks to Greg and Alice for providing a comfortable and welcoming place to stay.

Two days from now I go over the first of two big climbs in the Appalachian mountains. Everything I've been doing up until now will pale in comparison to these climbs. They say cyclists sometimes just keel over from exertion on these climbs. They say Vesuvius, the second one, is five miles long at a 22% grade. 

Two short days

18/07/2015

After I got to bardstown, I was feeling pretty beat. Normally I get up naturally at around 5:30, but I got up at 9! Even with the time change, that's pretty incredible. That  might be the latest I've gotten up on this trip. Usually I feel a little sluggish in the morning, but it wears off after a few minutes of being up. In bardstown, however, I just couldn't beat the fatigue. I went to McDonald's, had a huge breakfast, but I still couldn't motivate myself to get on the bike. I resolved to take a tour of the local bourbon distillery and then head out, but only to Harrodsburg, a town about 45 miles down the line. The tour was way cool! I got to try some good bourbon, and I finally understand the distinction between bourbon and whiskey. I thought about getting some for some friends who appreciate it, but ultimately decided it wouldn't fit. Setting out at noon was a mistake, however. I hate riding in the middle of the day. It was incredibly hot, and the sun was brutal. I was admittedly pretty miserable. I thought that I could bike through the day without eating, which was dumb. It's hard to go more than about 30 miles without eating something. I pushed on, ignoring the gurgling in my belly. It's like I subconsciously wanted to feel shitty. The landscape was beautiful, of course. I rode along a little creak in between two sets of hills. It was shady, relatively flat, and kind of cool. The hills getting out of the valley were super steep. I would have loved them any other day. I decided that my bad day was due to too much caffeine and subsequently a lack of sleep. I hadn't  slept for more than 5 or 6 hours in over two weeks. I resolved to get a motel and sleep. And I did. 

I woke up today after sleeping 9 hours, and my ride into Berea was great! Another much needed 45 mile day. Berea seems pretty cool. One of the few places I've encountered on this trip that have vegetarian and vegan food. I think I'm ready to put on some better mileage to get out of Kentucky. Apparently I start going into the Appalachian mountains tomorrow! I think it might rain tomorrow, which could be a nice break from the heat and sun. The next place I'm looking forward to hitting is Damascus, VA. This is the only place where the TransAmerica trail interests the Appalachian trail, and I'm excited to stay at the hostel there. I think it might be my first night in Virginia as well.