Farewell Song and The Ano Blaster

<===The Siren Song's siren song

I was able to get out both Saturday and Sunday for some short rides. Saturday was a special one for it's dirt content. I actually got to ride the Green Belt, which had been flooded out. Thanfully all the trash from the winter went down the creek. The trail was clear and of course a bit muddy in spots, but rideable.

It was also noteworthy as being my last ride on the Siren Song demo bike. I cleaned and packed up the Song last night for it's journey back to Idyllwild, California. It was a fun bike and I'll have a final review up on it at Twenty Nine Inches later this week.



<===Return of the Ano-Blaster!

Captain Bob knows this annodizer up in Shell Rock that will do small batches of bicycle parts, so we sent in some stuff for colorization. The way I figure, the rest of ya'all can live in your "black and white" component world, as for us- We're going color all the way!

I had a coulple things done and swapped them over to the OS Bikes Blackbuck this weekend.

I also switched over to an Origin 8 Spacebar for more comfort. We'll see how it all works on a longer ride, but as for now, it seems okay.




<=== Green- Anti-freeze green!

Here's a close up of the old Coda cranks I had anodized in an "anti-freeze" green. I was so excited to ride the bike afterwards, I forgot to wipe my greasy paw prints off the crank!

We'll see how the ano wears in the long term, but for now, I like the looks. Also of note: I went from 180mm cranks to these at 170mm. We'll see what differences I notice. I am taking a cue from some of the early Crested Butte 29"er freaks on this one. They were all big 170mm crank users. If there is anything to it, I'll post up the findings here.




Purple! Puuuuuurrrrple!

Gotta have my purple ano, ya know, so off went this no-name aluminum number to get the hue. I like the way this piece came out a lot.

Here's a good look at how the Space Bar can be used in a riser position. I previously have used it in a "drop" position on my Raleigh XXIX+G and I loved it that way. We'll see if this is too high, and if it is, I'll swap it over to the drop posistion. Options are good!

Notes from Saturdays ride: If it doesn't rain much, the Green Belt should be completely rideable this coming weekend. However; we are supposed to get an all day rain on Tuesday, so that may put it off longer. Can't be long before we're riding out at the Camp, can it?

Saw the following animals in the Green Belt Saturday: A red fox, a Canadian goose, and a Great Blue heron. Awesome stuff. Most surprising to me was the fox, which was gorgeous. He was sniffing the breeze atop the dike between Ansborough and Fletcher Avenues. Crazy! Perhaps the fox are driven into the city by the coyotes, which I know are supplanting fox out in the country.

Noted: Last week was the final week Carlos worked at the shop. I'll miss seeing you there, but I'm sure we'll ride together someday soon. Take care Buddy!

Carlos was one of the "Three Amigos" that worked at the shop with Mr. 24 and myself. Now I'm the last guy there from that group. For how long, I don't know........