That Unique Squeak

No lift lines. No lift tickets. No $500 skis, and no Texans in outfits as loud as they are. I really don't miss skiing...not a bit. Snowshoeing is the ticket for me. My shoes cost $60, and I bought them a dozen years ago. I'm confident the'll last longer than I will.

There's something special about the sounds of shoeing; a certain "snow squeak" as you make contact with the ground, a satisfying crunching, squeaking, clumping sound that soothes your soul as you wend your way through pines that are a hundred feet tall.

I got up before dawn and made a beeline straight for Brainard Lake on this fine Christmas morning. While it seems to take forever to get there, the payoff is well worth it. A total of two cars in the lot, and I didn't see a single person for over two hours of hiking up and back from the lake. Plenty of snow on the ground, temperature around twenty, and not a whisp of wind......perfect!

Like my addiction to cycling and hiking, I'm sure I need the squeak once in a while to make the rest of life bearable.

Merry Christmas to me!

What to name the baby?

As referenced below, I spent entirely too much time going back/forth looking at potential bikes. I THINK I made the best choice, but who knows? I've done a couple of substantive rides, and the differences between this steel tourer and my road bike are startling.
I've been racking my brain trying to think of an analogy to make it something reachable when describing it to non-riders. The road bike is twitchy and brittle, while the tourer is soft and smooth. While it takes more effort to get it going, it doesn't seem like that much more effort, and my averages are climbing up toward respectable again. The joy of being able to carry my camera, clothing, and then to EASILY walk around when I get off the bike are huge for me. I need to remember I have the camera with me, as I've ridden so long without it, I'll forget unless I keep reminding myself to stop and take a pic once in a while.
Rode further yesterday than I ever have (67), and while I'm on a new bike, with new geometry and a new saddle, riding on crummy pants with a terrible chamois....I'm not sore today! Woooooooooo!
Now, I need to make the effort to commute on this beauty!

-r

My New Toy

"That only took 3 months........right?"

After spending WAYYYYYYY TOO MUCH TIME comparing/contrasting, researching blogs/ sites, shipping, store options.....I have finally purchased a bike from REI. That nutty looking touring bike with the butterfly trekking bars will be delivered to the Denver Flagship store for assembly sometime between the 10th-16th.

It's another one of those odd color combination that REI/Novara is (in)famous-for. A "Baby Shit" Brown with Olive and White acccents around the logos. It's gonna get even uglier when I add black fenders. I'll likely go with "flip flop" pedals eventually for touring, but I might keep the old-style clip/cage pedals on it for a while? I think it will be quite refreshing to forego those silly shoes for a bit.

So, as to tricking it out....along with the fenders, I want a better computer (cadence info would be good), I'll prolly wait on the pedal change, put a bell on it, maybe a light, maybe a mirror, a second bottle cage, and maybe a trunk bag (since it'll already have the rear rack). The one guy at the store said that the saddle that comes stock is a good one, and that swapping it out as junk would be a mistake. That surprised me, as it seems that saddles and racks are almost always ditched from stock tourers as trash right at purchase. I may hold-off on getting my Brooks and see how this thing feels for a few rides first. The rack should be good enough for small loads/commuting and since I'd think peremptorily trading-up for something better has no advantage to just buying later, I'll leave that thing alone for now as well.

I wavered between this thing and the Surly LHT, and just couldn't find the combination I needed: a store I like/trust to build it free, then fit it free, then support my purchase through killer warranty, tuneups and such. To get the Surly I was going outside the bounds of that dynamic that I felt was important, so I said no.......plus it's at least $250 more.

Now, about those funky handlebars.......I sure hope they're worth the extra weight and bulk. Hope I have comfortable, effective hand placements for all sorts of grades and winds, like I expect. Drop bars are what I know and love, and these are a radical departure from that style. It'd sure be bonus if I could lean on them like Aero bars, but that may be pure folly....?

Grip SRAM shifters? They're supposed to be decent, low maintenance, "intuitive" shifters. I hope so!....again, a big change.....along with horizontal break handles.

Brakes might also need an upgrade, but I'll wait to see how the real possibility of "pass-crossing, multi-day, self-supporting Colorado touring" develops.

Did I just spend a bunch of money foolishly?

We shall seeeeeeeeeeeeee.........

-r