Day off Riding

Shabbona Grove rd.

Howlett rd. Gravel section for about 2 miles

Paw Paw rd heading north. Here be rollers

Windfarm seen from Paw Paw rd.

Clean air, green corn and simple lines

Empty roads on a Thursday morning!!

July 24th is when the road bike officially came out for the first time in the year 2008. I finally muscled enough energy to pump up the tires, switch over the pump from the cross bike, change the saddle bag and get on the thing and ride it.

At first it felt like I was riding a paper clip. Soon enough my back and legs started to remember the fit and position. I was amazed at the instant gain of speed. This is cheating I thought to myself! This is a cheater bike for sure. Mind you I am not talking about no " Carpet Fiber" (thanks G-Ted) bike but an old steel bike with friction shifting and a 7 speed cluster.

It was fun to cover 70 miles in a shorter time. I found some more awesome roads south of Shabbona State park. I ended up in a tiny tiny town called Paw Paw. I also visited Lee and it was cool to find a pop machine since I was out of water. This route is 70 miles long and has some hills, some false flats, lots of nice scenery and is definetely a 3 large bottle ride. I was also amazed to find a wind farm not farm from where I live. Today I re-vamped the Merckx with a longer quilled stem, new cables. Also cleaned and lube the chain and wiped the frame. I also installed a Fizik Aliante Gamma saddle. Mayb this weekend I will ride Eddy again.

Shop is still holding busy and we are doing lots of repairs. Finished building Ryan's Aluminum Cinelli and also built up a very classic looking Austro Daimler.

Ari