Are You Kidding Me?

<==The highly modified Raleigh XXIX+G on the anniversary of its coming to me last year.

I took a ride this morning on the XXIX+G. Well......I'm not sure you could call it that anymore. The only thing left original on it are the frame, head set, brake levers, left shifter, cassette, rear derailleur, chain, and front derailleur. Several of the aforementioned parts are on the radar for replacement, so that original equipment list will dwindle!

Anywho.........the plan was to ride to church this morning and play on the team I'm on, and when I was finished, Mrs. Guitar Ted and the Offspring were to meet me there and get me a ride home. So I headed out the door at the crack of dawn in single digit temps.



The roads were fine. Maybe some hard pack and a tiny bit of ice. The bike trails were excellent.......at first. (More on that in a minute)

<===The bike trails in Waterloo were all swept down to the "sleet-crete" surface!

The wind was very light and was not really a factor today. I used the WTB Stout tires today for the ultimate in grippage on the crusty frozen stuff. They were fantastic. I think the pressure was in the teens on the tires too, I have not checked them since I have gotten home. All I can say is they are great at low pressure. Very slow rolling on pavement, but awesome traction in the off camber icy sections and on the packed snow. The bike trails were swept, as I have mentioned, and were down to the icy sleet mixture that we got the first go around here. The sleet kind of melded together to form a huge ice sheet on the bike trails that I have dubbed sleet-crete. It's about like riding on concrete with the exception that the tires actually find purchase on the surface.


<===The "Blue Colnago Shot"

The thing about the sleet-crete is that I love riding on it since you can ride on it. Check out the photo to the left here. Look beyond the driveway to the bank. That's Cedar Falls territory and they don't sweep their trails! (Locals will see the irony in this)

I found a patch of the old, original Green Hill Road off to the north just a quarter mile from this spot that I could ride on. Yes........a dead end street that doesn't carry car traffic anymore all plowed and sanded! So, if any of you Cedar Falls folks can 'splain that to me, I'd love to hear the reasoning. Also note worthy: My computer said 10 degrees here, the bank sign- 14 degrees. Judging the bank thermometers that I have seen, I'd venture to say that my computer was correct- not the bank's thermometer.



<===It looks like my computer doesn't agree with the tale the bank's sign is telling me! (By the way, I'm still on summer time.)

Finally, the ride went okay, albeit quite slow and steady. High resistance training for sure! I was impressed by the WTB Stout tires in the snow. Great traction on ice too. Of course, being able to run the pressures so low helps a ton. I really need to get the tires on something super gnarly and rocky though. Then I think the tires real strength will shine.

That's it for today! One birthday down and one to go, then Christmas. Warmer temps are coming they say too. I say, Bring it! I want to ride some dirt again.