Photo courtesy of Rob at the 3-speed blog. Yours truly on the right, looking sleepy and slightly disoriented. Two early signs of hypothermia...
It was a balmy 2 degrees Fahrenheit this morning when I headed out to the Saturday morning ride. But there was no wind and I was dressed right and it really didn't feel too bad. We went on a longer than usual ride for this temp and ended up at Cahoots Coffee over by Snelling & Selby. I don't know if it was the cold or if they just have really good coffee, but it tasted amazing.
I was riding my new winter steed, an old Raleigh Triumph that I found on the side of the road with a "free" sign on it. It's probably in the late 80s early 90s vintage, and nothing special. When I got it somebody had liberally coated the entire drivetrain with something resembling low weight gear lube. What a mess. I cleaned it up and replaced the 27" wheels with the 700c wheelset from my Raleigh Eclipse, along with a new pair of studded Nokians. I also threw on an old BMX freewheel I had laying around and made it a cheapo singlespeed conversion. I'd like to get a different set of handlebars, because the drops don't make much sense in the winter. I also will probably end up getting a slightly higher tooth count freewheel because right now it's geared a little too high for winter riding. But hey, it's a winter beater. Doesn't need to be fancy, just needs to go down the road. And so far, it does. However, it needs a little help in the stopping department. But I picked up a set of Koolstop salmon pads while I was at Hiawatha today, so that should take care of that.
This is my first foray into the world of singlespeed bikes. Can a fixie be far behind? Maybe when the snow tires come off this spring this bike will be transformed again. Since I've gotten home, I have surfed the internet, showered, and I am now making a valiant attempt to eat everything in the house. This may be the sum of my productivity for the rest of the day.
Date: December 10
Mileage: 26
Ride type/Bike: Commute/Raleigh Triumph
December mileage: 36
Year to date mileage: 3829
Date: December 11
Mileage: 12
Ride type/Bike: Commute/Raleigh Triumph
December mileage: 48
Year to date mileage: 3841
Date: December 15
Mileage: 22
Ride type/Bike: Hiawatha/Raleigh Triumph
December mileage: 70
Year to date mileage: 3863
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4 comments:
I thought that was a new ride. It looks like a great winter bike.
You're all looking a little pensive. Is this the pic you'll be putting on the cover of your new recording?
I believe they were all looking at me frolicking in the snowbank.
Jim can frolic like nobody's business.
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