Dropped off bike, went to Bike Winter swap-meet

The larger (60cm up from 58cm) Cannondale frame that I ordered came in the other day. I cleaned my bike, pulled all the accessories off of it,  and dropped it off at the Pony Shop this morning. I saw the new frame. It looks good in "Jet" (Cannondale-speak for matte black). The front fork (same as my current fork) is full carbon and weighs next-to-nothing. Truly amazing.

This is the last time I'll ever see this red frameset:

They sold the set of 2010 Mavic Ksyrium SL's that I had agreed to buy, so they gave me a good deal on a rear Ksyrium SL Premium. I wouldn't have been able to have a custom wheel built for what they are selling it to me for, so how could I say no? As you may recall from reading my previous posts, my rear wheel wasn't doing it for me (spokes kept on loosening because I'm a clyde).

The other day I got a set of fenders made by Planet Bike. I found that the "rear" fender works great as a front fender:

All of the white-looking tape is actually black reflective tape that only shows up on flash. It is so freakin' stealth that I put a second layer of it on the back of the bike because I didn't realize that I'd already applied some.

I rode to the Bike Winter swap meet this afternoon. My single-speed bike had a rear flat from last time I rode. I must have gotten it right before I got home last time. I replaced the tube and headed off to the swap meet. The Lake Front Trail had ice in several places. I fell once on the way out: "I'll just step on this ice in one place to get to the other side...". Lesson learned: you can't walk on the ice while wearing shoes with plastic cleats and no spikes. I fell again on the way back when I was riding at night with only a little 1W LED "be seen" headlight lighting the road ahead. I came up to some white ice and hit the front brake. Turns out, I was already on ice and I therefore immediately accelerated towards the center of the Earth until stopped by same. Lesson learned: use a "see" light when riding at night in icy conditions.

The swap meet was cool. I saw several people there that I knew. I paid the $5 suggested donation / entry-fee and was able to snag a pair of 46cm Bontrager aluminum CX bars for $5, a Park Tool FR-5 (Shimano/SRAM cassette tool) for $5, and then a pair of 42cm aluminum drop bars and some Cinelli cork bar-tape for free. I was this close to getting a 700c tire for $1 in the auction, but I was outbid ($2, and I didn't have $3 cash on me). I stayed a bit for the breakthegridlock.org meet-and-greet afterwards.

My booty:

I got my USA Cycling 2010 Domestic Member License in the mail. I am officially a beginner: road cat 5, track cat 5, and CX cat 4. I have a few easy goals for 2010:

• Participate in some crits
• Watch at least one road race
• Build up a nice biking tan

Made it!

Well, it's a big deal to me. 25.29 miles round-trip. It was fairy cool. low 20's (F) on the way to work and same in the evening. It was dry out, with very light snow on the way home. It wasn't windy on the way out, but there was a decent head-wind on the way home. My equipment did me well. I wore shorts with bib tights, a sleeveless base-layer, long-sleeve jersey, balaclava, glove liners and gloves, thin merino-blend socks with thicker poly socks over them and my new winter-cycling MTB shoes. The shoes were a bit loose, and my toes did get a bit cool (never uncomfortably cold) so I could use some thicker socks. My fingers got painfully cold in a few spots on the way out, but I made sure to preemptively wiggle them on the way home and, therefor,  had no troubles.

I noticed tire tracks in the snow on the way to work. Rather humbling that there were 6 or so bikes there before me this morning.

You have to watch out where you try to pass because cyclists may swerve to avoid sheets of ice, which may put you in the bad position of being at overtaking speed and unable to pass and unable to brake (because you're on ice, remember?). I speak from experience.

I have gotten pretty cavalier about running stop signs at 4-way stops. On the way home, I approached an intersection at about 15 mph when I noticed a POS red Honda coming from my left at about 30 mph that failed to even slow. We were on a perfect collision course (for me to become a 200 pound, bloody hood ornament). I hit the brakes, the Honda slowed, and I let off the brakes and rolled in front of the Honda through the intersection. We each continued on our way. "I almost got run over" I thought. I took my job of looking for cars at intersections a lot more seriously for the remainder of the ride home.

The day has arrived.

I haven't been riding (except on the rollers, but there's nothing to write about there) because of the cold and/or wet weather. We'll my "I haven't got the right equipment to ride in the winter" excuses are all gone now. I now have expensive GORE-TEX cycling shoes and warm glove liners and a fancy balaclava. I'm riding in to work tomorrow. I sure picked a great day: It should be in the low 20's (degrees Fahrenheit) with 24 mph winds gusting up to 33 mph. Nice.

I'm worried that the shoes will be too loose and that I'll slip and fall on the snow covered ice and that I'll get wet from the salt-melted snow. I'm sure that I'll be fine. I still want fenders, but my commuter bike makes that difficult (horizontal dropouts and limited clearance). We'll see.