a few weeks ago...

...we had this pretty killer ice storm. I guess this sort of thing is normalish in PA, but it's new to me.




These pictures were all taken near Big Flat in Michaux. From the last picture you can perhaps see the precarious state of the riding conditions--one half inch of ice on all the smooth-ish surfaces. I rode to and from via roughish trail, which allowed a good deal more traction than would have the dirt roadways, but with all the fallen trees and branches even that was an abnormal adventure.

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On the bike, notice the new front disc brake I recently installed. There's a new front wheel to go with it. That front wheel has a rear companion, but only after I had ordered everything and installed the front brake & wheel successfully did I notice my frame doesn't have mounts for a rear disc brake. Disheartening...

If you're interested in a perfectly new and unused rear wheel (FSA XC-300) and disc brake (Avid BB7) they're yours. Otherwise they go on eBay this spring.

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The new goggles (it's hard to explain how good I feel about new goggles)...

...and the cold-weather digs:

Those neon green booties... I bought them in '89 or '90. I thought you'd like to know.

this morning...

first snow

There was snow last week.

Unfortunately, it wasn't cold enough today and the heavy rain ended all the fun.

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Also, I took the silver medal in the PA cyclocross championships (B men). Didn't win it, just took it. (dumb joke)

It was a great race. Muddy, muddy, muddy. Went down hard on my hip walking down the steps on my way out to the car. Went down hard on my shoulder 200m from the line taking a corner too fast. Currently suffering two deep bruises.

But now the long season is finally over. And I can rest. And look forward to the long, casual rides of wintertime. And getting a lot of use out of my new goggles. New goggles which work surprisingly better than the ones I pulled out of a lost-and-found box some 11 years ago, and which also have the distinct advantage of not leaving a ring of decaying black foam around my eyes when I take them off. You know, it's the small things...

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In unrelated news, I'm going to a chiropractor tomorrow for the first time ever. I'm hoping he'll be able to relieve some shoulder tension and help with my back pain. But I'm nervous. I can't imagine that I'll really be able to relax enough to let the voodoo witch doctors work their terrible magic.

cycling news

I made it into print.

Wow.