Category: cycling

After getting the new stem at lunch I was finally able to install the Mary bar I’d been loaned. I’m still waiting for the grips to dry so that I can go for a test ride, but a quick lab around the basement seemed to indicate that these bars may be nice. As soon as the alcohol which I used to install the Oury grips dries I’ll take a test ride up to the post office, where I need to ship an iSight Tripod Adapter that someone purchased today.

UPDATE: Well, the ~6 mile round trip to the Post Office was interesting. It seems that I didn’t wait long enough for the Ourys to set up, and this caused a bit of slipping while riding. I’m not sure if it was this or the new bar shape which made my hands hurt a bit. Time will tell on this.

I fell once after I thought I could ride over a 1′ pile of icy snow, only to have it collapse and my front wheel stop, toppling me over. Oops. This damaged the end of the Oury a bit, and makes me think that I might fit something else (say, some spare Specialized grips) to this bar.

That all said, I’m still pretty happy with the Bianchi. It still needs a bit of fiddling (seat post binder tightness and brake pads), but I think I like how it feels. This should be fun off road once things thaw and dry out.

Thanks to the bizarrely, unseasonably, but very welcome warm weather here (54°F / 12°C) I was able to get out on my bike tonight and go for an after-dark ride. Overall the ride went well, except the many places where people failed to clear their section of sidewalk / path resulting in a very bumpy ride over ice. Or, worse was when there was no bumpy ice and I had to fight through 4″ of slush or ride around it on sopping wet grass.

After I made it out to Ryan Road and was heading back I heard my phone make the familiar “new message” sound. It was 7:39pm, and checking it I’d found that I had missed a meeting about some MMBA stuff. At the time I didn’t think I’d be able to make it home in time, but some very hard riding (for me) resulted in my arrival at the meeting place only about an hour after the message arrived.

Still, I am glad I made it out tonight, as tomorrow’s weather will be warm but very rainy, then the forecasts for after that show more typical February weather for here in Michigan: just below freezing, snow, and ice on the roads.

Being one of the coldest nights of the year (thus far), I decided to go for a bike ride. After a bit over a mile I had to go back in because my fingertips were becoming incredibly painful. At a few points while riding right into the wind my head became quite cold as well, but other than that I was quite comfortable. Something other than the waterproof / cold weather Gavia gloves and the thin head covering thing I have are definitely required if I want to do more riding like this.

(Here’s another version of that same photo, with flash.)