Another great (if wet day)

Tossed a fender on the single speed and rode it into the office this morning. Temp was 32 when I left. so I was on the lookout for ice on the way in, especially on skinny tires. Also was noticing yesterday's ride in my legs. It was very tough to do more than just turn the pedals over this morning. I might need to look into a smaller chain ring on the front, or put the 18t back on the rear for a while. Made it in fine, though I'm sure the people behind me were not happy at points. I figured wrecking in front of them on the ice would not make their morning commute or mine any more pleasant.

My new wheels for the Bacchetta showed up at the office today. A set of barely used Aclass 320DX Tri wheels. 16 spoke front, 20 spoke rear, all bladed spokes. Should be a good thing to go out and do some time trialing on this summer. I haven't decided if I'm going to run the disk cover on the back or not. I'll likely try it both ways and see how it works out. I need to get some tires bought for them and then get them on the Corsa.

Left the office at 5, welcomed by 62 degree weather and 13 mph wind. sending my backpack and the wheels with Kathy in the Explorer, and headed over to Rassy's to talk to Sterling about my LHT build. The roads were wet, and I remembered quickly that I didn't have a front fender. I also forgot that I should not get to close to the main roads when approaching them from a side street. I saw the car coming from my left, but failed to see the large two lane wide puddle that was in front of me. Next thing I see is a large wall of water headed towards me. Soaked, I made my way to Rassy's over the remaining wet streets. Had a good chat with him about other stores around town and the bike biz in general after the store closed and he was working on inventory. He's a good guy with a good head on his shoulders. Left him a with a wishlist of parts to get pricing on for me and that will likely determine how I'll go with the build.

Went from there to poker and movie night. Came outside to another flat rear tire (second slow leak in two rides). Guess this means I'll be inspecting the tire and rim for the culprit this weekend. Also means another trip to work on the lead sled tomorrow.

Great weather!!

52+ degrees today. Left the office clad in shorts, wool jersey, windbreaker and a hat. Me and the lead filled beast got about 22 miles in. Not sure how fast I was going. Just rode at a nice solid pace for an hour and 15. Supposed to be nicer tomorrow, so I am sure that I'll be out on the bike at least some after work. Need to head over to Rassy's to talk to Sterling about a "horse" anyway. :)

One good thing about DST...

is that there is more time to ride after work. 32F as I left the office tonight. Wound my way over to Rasmussen's Bike shop to check prices on a new Surly Long Haul Trucker. It's odd thinking about a second bike from the same manufacturer, but something about the LHT is just drawing me in. Not sure if I'm going to buy a full bike, or build a frame and fork up from scratch. The new bikes are reasonably priced, but I'm not completely sold on how they look from the factory. I'll probably end up getting the frame and fork and putting the parts on it. Colors for this year are blue or olive. I like the olive, which is good because the blue does not excite me at all. Last year's red is really nice, but I can't get that any more. Not that I need another bike, but having something that can haul a ton of stuff is something that just makes me a bit giddy. Taking an extended weekend to go do some bike camping just has some allure to it. Thinking something like this, but in olive, with a lot of black everywhere else. other than the saddle and the handebar tape.




Left Rassy's, stopped in to visit the Mostly Reverend, but he was either not home, or he was passed out from taking too many pain killers. :) Since it was a nice night, I swung through Bike World and chatted with Tom for a bit before heading home. Good 90 minutes of just cruising around town on filled with lead Schwinn Traveller, enjoying the sunshine and the late evening light.

It's coming!!

My "new" Paramount is on its way to my doorstep. 1990 Paramount OS built in Waterford, Wisconsin. Can't wait for it to get here. Steel is real.

WhoDaThunkIt

Moderate exercise helps you lose weight? That's crazy talk!
(Click the title for details)

Spring is here (for a day)

Woke up this morning at 7:30 AM to a temp of 44 degrees. This was good as it meant that yesterday's melt didn't freeze overnight. Snagged some breakfast, got dressed and loaded up the single speed to head over to meet a small group for a ride on the south side of town. As soon as I went outside, I realized that I was overdressed and went back in to change out my windbreaker for something a bit lighter. Met Rick, Pat and Gabrielle, along with Squirrel and Teri Sue over at Ricks for a 30-ish mile easy ride. It was sloppy and somewhat hilly for most of the ride. (at least it was hilly for around here). Squirrel and I were the only ones on single speeds, and it didn't take long for me to figure out that I probably shouldn't be pushing a 46x17 this time of year. Time to track down a smaller front chainring for sure. Rode the hills through the big houses at Moffit Lake and then headed back for home. Stopped for a beverage, and came back outside to temps nearing 60. Off came the wind breaker, pulled the tights up to my knees and enjoyed the sunny goodness for the rest of the ride home. Rest of the ride was uneventful other than a stop to fix a slow leak in my rear tire. Snagged something to eat on the way home as I was quite close to a bonk. Showered, then took a nice hour-ish nap in my big leather chair. Rained the rest of the afternoon, and we're supposed to have 2 - 4" of snow on the ground by tomorrow morning. Ugh. :(

I need knickers or leg and arm warmers as part of my clothing selection for sure. I'll have to look for a smaller chainring this week as well.

A good, productive day.

25 miles of urban riding today. Right below freezing this morning, so the ride downtown was interesting. The 25 lbs of tools and cleaning products in my backpack, and the east headwinds made the ride a bit of work. The roads, covered in ice wherever a side street intersected them, required keeping a close eye on things, even riding the Monkey. My change in shorts seems to have paid off in terms of the pain. Have a two to three hour road ride scheduled for tomorrow. Different bike, with a different seat, so we'll see how things go.

Today's work at the Des Moines Bike Collective was very effective. A number of people showed up to volunteer their time and effort to clean up the space. Carpet was ripped up, old furnishings were drug to the curb, and floors were swept and mopped. While the carpet came up, after a bit of effort, the foam that had been adhered to the concrete did not. Thankfully, Carl Voss managed to borrow what I can only describe as "The Hellish Carpet Foam Removing Machine". It weighed about 75 lbs, had a large blade that was as wide as my palm. We turned this thing on and the blade vibrated back and forth somewhat violenty. For the next two hours we proceeded to separate the foam from the floor.

Clean up ended around 2 PM. Afterwards a few of us went to Ritual Cafe for a drink and some discussion. Afterwards, I rode with The Mostly Reverend to Zanzibars and onward towards The Orphanage. A big thank you to the folks at Zanzibar's for supplying us with tasty coffee to keep us working today. The rest of the ride was a warm, uneventful, if somewhat wet, trip home. About 25 miles of riding today, some of it cruising with friends and chatting. It was definitely a good day.