So I rode a bike just for fun!
I decided to give ol' Grimace the call up today, the 2007 Salsa Cycles El Mariachi with the Gun Kote finish and the purple Chris King head set I was gifted by George Wissell. As always, it rode awesome!
Craig and I had a great time riding, and Grimace was behaving well, climbing up all the steeps and handling like a champ. Funny thing about this bike is that it is a medium. Salsa Cycles did things a wee bit differently back then, and I prefer the old medium over a large. (I'd definitely ride a large now!) It reminds me a bit of how things were sized in the 90's. A bit shorter top tube, a bit longer stem. I slapped on the 47mm offset On One fork on this too. Makes the Salsa come alive, and this bike just rips single track. The Industry 9 single speed wheels are great, and the free hub sounds like a cicada in August. Amazingly buzzy and loud. Someday I may upgrade to a titanium seat post, but this ThudBuster is a great post on this bike. Makes my back happy, it does!
Anyway, Craig and I decided a stop for something to drink afterward was in order. We pulled into the Janesville convenience store and what to my surprise did I see but my old "Dirty Blue Box"! I was floored! Someone decided it was worth fixing up and driving. Cool! It even had all my old cycling related stickers still on the end gate too! A little worse for the wear, perhaps. It was missing the entire rear bumper, and the right front fender was wrinkled, but when the lady who was driving it started it up, she sounded like a champ.
Don't get me wrong! I am waaaay better off with the "Truck Without A Name", but it was cool to see an "old friend" that I had spent tons of hours and thousands of gravel miles in still alive and kicking.
I spent the rest of my day with Mrs. Guitar Ted, who also had the day off. We had lunch, and then I took her to the jewelry store to look for something special. See, Mrs. Guitar Ted has completed all her course work for her B.S. in Nursing at a local college, so I am going to get her something special to commemorate her graduation, which takes place in August.
Overall, it was about as perfect a day as you can get. So good that it makes you wonder: "When is the other foot gonna fall?" A definite "red letter" day for me!
I sure hope everyone reading this has a great day today, and if not today, real soon. Get out and ride yer bikes folks. Grab that ride when ya can. You never know when "the other foot is gonna fall", ya know what I mean? Life is too short to not take those chances when ya can.
3 comments:
Huge CONGRADS to Mrs. GT!!! I know of what she's accomplished,as the Lovely Mrs. SS is almost finished with the general classes needed to begin her nursing studies (though she is an agent at a call center,she's also a licensed Phlebotomist as well).
Love that ol El Mar,GT,sweet bike and I never tire of seeing 'er.
Thing the other foot fell here a while back (and is currently grinding it's toes over what's left),but hey...all that means is no matter where we go from there is up =)
@SS Mtn Biker: Hey, thanks! I'll pass that on to her. Sorry to hear of the tough times, but like you say, no where to go but up is encouraging.
Thanks for the kind words on the El Mar. I don't know why it should feel so good to ride that bike, but it does. Salsa put some "moto" in there, is my guess!
GT: No worries on the "tough times"-at going on 16 months,it's ever closer to being over and done with,and we're almost used to it,LOL! Besides,we knew going in-as much as 4-6 years in advance,actually-that it would come one day,and be exactly as it is,so it's all good. And I give her credit where-ever I can...she's a full time employee at a job she detests,full time student,and still squeezes the kids and I in too-a real amazing woman I have the fortune to share my life with =) (now if I could just get her on a bike...=P).
On the bike,
Post a Comment