bikation and causation...

Saturday in Burlington biking. We met up with Mike http://littlecircles.blogspot.com/2008/10/cut-via-bakfiets.html and Eva for a fun little ride out on the causeway in Burlington. Later Michelle and Jen and the rest of us met up for some food at Stone Soup in Burlington. Now Michelle and I are all set for our big city experience for a while. Since we are accustomed to the sensory experience of a dirt road and the woods it seemed like a lot of sensory input even to be in a small city on a Saturday evening. Funny, huh? It was lots of fun, Keenan was totally wired and stimulated.

the bike

The plan is that this will be THE bike. The one that does it all. It pretty much is already. Yummy lugged steel. An old mtn. bike frame converted to roadness. My current focus is on fit and comfort. I have solved my elbow pain issues which caused me to stop riding years ago. So simple. Stop putting 70% of your body weight on your hands! And yes, that stem is safely installed according to the max. height line. Now I am working on my butt which seems to give out somewhere around 60 miles. My plan is to 1) lose 10 lbs. 2) get a new seat(s) 3) pedal harder and 4) ride more. I decided that last year I was practicing excessive moderation in my riding efforts and have since modified that to moderate moderation. The harder I pedal the less my weight is on my butt. Amazing. I am looking at these tires http://www.universalcycles.com/shopping/product_details.php?id=10156 as all time tires except maybe using my WTB slickasaurus for century rides and such. Where I live it is pretty much all gravel to dirt to bad pavement to gravel to dirt. The road shoulders are not so good either. So I plan to stick to back roads and roads less travelled. I think that will make all the difference.

no snow, i can still go...

The last few years the cross country ski experience in Vermont has been very skimpy. It seems like there are only a few days each year that have been any good. SO, in come the winter bike tires. I must get out and be active. I have gotten old enough that the winter pudge does not come off easily any more, therefore I aim to prevent it. I understand that this change is part of the 30 year warranty on the human body.
These excellent custom tires took 2 hours to make. Ingredients: one old pair knobbies, 180 3/8" sheet metal screws, cloth tape and viola! They work awesome!! Just like riding on non-ice. Fun.
Double row in front, triple row in back. Vroom!

Commute...

Rolling along Rt.2 between Montpelier and Middlesex in the foggy morning.

a wee thaw

Spent excellent time with Keenan all day. When his mom got home I hopped on the bike for a quick muddy/icy/slushy fun time down our road and the VAST trail. Good fun!