More Maintenance & Changes

Maintenance has been ongoing with the "fleet" of bikes here throughout the end of January and early February. I thought I might take some time to detail what I've been up to and show any changes i've made of late. 

The Tamland got some long, long overdue maintenance recently. How long has this been waiting? Well, I got the chain and cassette for this repair over a year ago. That long! 

I took the opportunity to clean it up thoroughly as well. At the time I did this I was thinking we might be in for an epic "slop season" with all that snow. However; that did not materialize and now I am contemplating removal of the fenders so I can test something else out on the bike. Stay tuned on that...

Otherwise the Tamland Two is pretty much good to go. That bike is "set in stone" as far as how I have it set up with the exception of the fenders and I do have alternate wheels for it. I gotta get that out a few more times than I did last year. It's the ten year anniversary for this bike, by the way, which happens next month. Look for a special post about that coming in a few weeks.

I road the Fargo a couple of times recently for some in-town rides and I was rethinking my take on the Hy Rd calipers. 

I was pretty much thinking they were much like the TRP brakes on the aforementioned Tamland Two. That being more "on-off" with little modulation. But then I found through more riding that the Hy Rd does have a bit softer feel than the TRP full hydraulics do. 

This probably has a lot to do with the fact that my cable housing flexes somewhat and a full hydraulic set up has very little housing expansion. That would account for the softer feel of the Hy Rd right there. 

It is still a very powerful brake, and very quiet. This, more than anything else, is what I like best about the Hy Rd's. I cannot remember a time where those old Avids were "quiet". BB-7's are inherently noisy unless you have the really old and really rare single piece caliper BB-7's. Those are a lot quieter than the newer versions are. 

The Pofahl Signature Custom single speed. Notice anything different? (Ha!)

The Pofahl had the maintenance wand waved over it recently as well. I cleaned out the old I-9 hub and re-greased it with some DuMonde Tech Liquid Grease. It needed it too! It was very black and dried up for the most part inside there before I cleaned it all out with some Finish Line degreaser followed up with some WD-40 and then the Liquid Grease. 

That hub was insanely buzzy before the maintenance but afterward it was relatively quiet. I actually have to attune my ear to it now. So, that's a big improvement and a testament to what a good grease can do inside a hub. 

So, another rig ready to go and I hope to do just that with this bike and the Karate Monkey which I also did a little change to. I swapped out the 17T cog for an 18T rear cog to take the bite out of accelerating that bike. One tooth? Yes. Yes it does make a difference. I know because I have been riding it a fair amount of late. I probably will be doing some country rides on it soon to get accustomed to single speed gravel again and so I can test something on the bike I can't talk about just yet. 

That's about it for now. Stay tuned for more soon....

Bikes Of 2023: Pofahl Signature Custom Single Speed

 It's another December here on the blog. You know what that means? Yep! Another round of my bikes I used in 2023. This round-up will not include some of the bikes I did not use this year much, or at all. I focus only on the bikes that played a big role in my riding during this year.  

As always, any changes or future plans for any bike I feature will also be detailed. I hope that you enjoy this year's round-up. Note; Throughout December there will be a lot of double-post days. Scroll back to make sure you haven't missed anything!

The Pofahl Signature Custom Single Speed from earlier in 2023

This is one of my favorite bicycles I own. I designed the frame in the early 2000's and it ended up becoming a bicycle through the help of Benn Witt of Heath Creek Cycles in Northfield, Minnesota. He put me in touch with Mike Pofahl, a long-time Minnesotan and custom frame builder, who brazed this together for me back in 2007. 

It was a take on a Karate Monkey geometry with much longer chain stays. I didn't go into this with the thought that I had to have longer stays, but the lines of the design were sacrosanct, so that dictated the longer rear end. 

As far as changes go, I try not to do that with this bike. The most recent was to put on a longer stem and the Redshift Sports ShockStop stem got the call here. It has made the bike a lot nicer to ride on gravel, that's for sure! But other than that, I don't plan on changing much of anything on this bike. 

I do have a set of wheels that I need to rebuild. Those have Surly "Jim Brown" hubs and if I can get a nice set of rims, that may happen and those would be built for this bicycle. Stay tuned on that one....

Country Views: It's All Downhill From Here.

Escape Route: Sergeant Road bike path.

 Another great day, another windy day! This time the wind was out of the Southwest at 20-25mph. Nice. So, that meant I was going South. Again.....

I don't know, but coming back with the tailwind seems better to my mind than the other way around. You might not agree. You do you. 

So, this was a test day. If you read the last post before this one, you know that I made some changes to the Pofahl Signature SS bike. That was what I tested. More on that in a minute....

I also slapped the Wahoo Elemnt ROAM GPS on to see if it would work on a bike without a speed sensor as well as it does with one. And if it didn't, what was the difference. I'll save the results of that test for another Wahoo update. 

I had a few hours to spare, so this wasn't some epic ride day, but it served the purposes I had and well, I had fun, so there is a bit of foreshadowing on how the changes to the bike went. It was pretty hot out, so I made sure I had plenty of water and I set out to find the gravel. 

I shot this over my shoulder. A horse checks me out as I ride away from it.

The Red Wing Blackbirds are teaching their offspring how to fly now. It won't be long before they are gone for the year.

Summer is on he wane now. You can tell by the shorter days, the crops are maturing, hay is being gathered. The Red Wing Blackbirds are teaching their young how to fly. Soon the country will become a much quieter place. When those birds leave the silence can be deafening out there. 

This brought a song to mind and I rolled it over and over in my mind as I rode Southward. Pink Floyd's "Learning To Fly". The lyrics that I could remember made my smile, as they seemed to be fitting at the time:

"Toungue-tied and twisted

Just an Earth-bound misfit I"

This freshly cut alfalfa field smelled strongly as I rode by.

 

The Pofahl was great.

The changes made to the Pofahl were good. The jury is still out on the saddle, but it isn't terrible. I won't be able to say anything definitive until after I've ridden on it for at least 3+ hours. But for the 25 miles I put in on this day, it was fine. 

The Redshift ShockStop Stem (provided to me at no charge by Redshift Sports, by the way), is a no-brainer. It was perfect on this bike and that's usually what I would think of that stem on any bike. Those stems just work. 

Some Queen Anne's Lace (Wild Carrot) in the ditch here.

My Grandma Stevenson used to tell me that when the wind blew the tree's leaves up so you could see the underside that it meant rain was coming. 

I finally made it around my loop to where the wind was at my back. Of course, things went a lot easier then. I had a chance to look at the elevation readout on the Wahoo. It was becoming apparent that I was going to end up having more descending than climbing. It truly was all ( well mostly) downhill from there! 

This road section was sprayed with soybean oil to reduce dust for the adjacent farm. It smelled bad!

 

The recent rains have revived the Day Lillies.

Just like we are on the backside of Summer, I was on the backside of my loop, and before you knew it, I was closing in on Waterloo again. I know I am privileged to have such access to these roads, but I wish I didn't have to ride so much in the city to get to and from the gravel. 

Spoiled, I am. I know it. But I don't like dealing with traffic. 

I don't find bicycle tubes very often, but I did on this ride.

So, I saw a bicycle tube and as I slowed to turn around to pick it up off the road, I spied a bit of a Velcro strip, the type of which you'd find a cyclist using. Maybe a tube jumped ship because the Velcro gave way? I wasn't sure. All I know is that the tube was for something like a 700c X 40mm tire and that it had been in a tire that had sealant in it. Perhaps it was an emergency spare tube someone was carrying and it slipped off the bike where it was Velcroed on? The tube seemed to hold air, so I've no idea what was going on, but I picked it up nonetheless. 

It was a good ride. Single speed is a different animal than geared riding and so I was a bit more tuckered out at the end of it all. It's good for me. I need to work a bit and I figured this ride did the trick. Plus, with a busy schedule for the week ahead, this might be my only chance to get out. 

Gotta grab these rides when I can. Summer will be over soon....

Country Views: It's All Downhill From Here.

Escape Route: Sergeant Road bike path.

 Another great day, another windy day! This time the wind was out of the Southwest at 20-25mph. Nice. So, that meant I was going South. Again.....

I don't know, but coming back with the tailwind seems better to my mind than the other way around. You might not agree. You do you. 

So, this was a test day. If you read the last post before this one, you know that I made some changes to the Pofahl Signature SS bike. That was what I tested. More on that in a minute....

I also slapped the Wahoo Elemnt ROAM GPS on to see if it would work on a bike without a speed sensor as well as it does with one. And if it didn't, what was the difference. I'll save the results of that test for another Wahoo update. 

I had a few hours to spare, so this wasn't some epic ride day, but it served the purposes I had and well, I had fun, so there is a bit of foreshadowing on how the changes to the bike went. It was pretty hot out, so I made sure I had plenty of water and I set out to find the gravel. 

I shot this over my shoulder. A horse checks me out as I ride away from it.

The Red Wing Blackbirds are teaching their offspring how to fly now. It won't be long before they are gone for the year.

Summer is on he wane now. You can tell by the shorter days, the crops are maturing, hay is being gathered. The Red Wing Blackbirds are teaching their young how to fly. Soon the country will become a much quieter place. When those birds leave the silence can be deafening out there. 

This brought a song to mind and I rolled it over and over in my mind as I rode Southward. Pink Floyd's "Learning To Fly". The lyrics that I could remember made my smile, as they seemed to be fitting at the time:

"Toungue-tied and twisted

Just an Earth-bound misfit I"

This freshly cut alfalfa field smelled strongly as I rode by.

 

The Pofahl was great.

The changes made to the Pofahl were good. The jury is still out on the saddle, but it isn't terrible. I won't be able to say anything definitive until after I've ridden on it for at least 3+ hours. But for the 25 miles I put in on this day, it was fine. 

The Redshift ShockStop Stem (provided to me at no charge by Redshift Sports, by the way), is a no-brainer. It was perfect on this bike and that's usually what I would think of that stem on any bike. Those stems just work. 

Some Queen Anne's Lace (Wild Carrot) in the ditch here.

My Grandma Stevenson used to tell me that when the wind blew the tree's leaves up so you could see the underside that it meant rain was coming. 

I finally made it around my loop to where the wind was at my back. Of course, things went a lot easier then. I had a chance to look at the elevation readout on the Wahoo. It was becoming apparent that I was going to end up having more descending than climbing. It truly was all ( well mostly) downhill from there! 

This road section was sprayed with soybean oil to reduce dust for the adjacent farm. It smelled bad!

 

The recent rains have revived the Day Lillies.

Just like we are on the backside of Summer, I was on the backside of my loop, and before you knew it, I was closing in on Waterloo again. I know I am privileged to have such access to these roads, but I wish I didn't have to ride so much in the city to get to and from the gravel. 

Spoiled, I am. I know it. But I don't like dealing with traffic. 

I don't find bicycle tubes very often, but I did on this ride.

So, I saw a bicycle tube and as I slowed to turn around to pick it up off the road, I spied a bit of a Velcro strip, the type of which you'd find a cyclist using. Maybe a tube jumped ship because the Velcro gave way? I wasn't sure. All I know is that the tube was for something like a 700c X 40mm tire and that it had been in a tire that had sealant in it. Perhaps it was an emergency spare tube someone was carrying and it slipped off the bike where it was Velcroed on? The tube seemed to hold air, so I've no idea what was going on, but I picked it up nonetheless. 

It was a good ride. Single speed is a different animal than geared riding and so I was a bit more tuckered out at the end of it all. It's good for me. I need to work a bit and I figured this ride did the trick. Plus, with a busy schedule for the week ahead, this might be my only chance to get out. 

Gotta grab these rides when I can. Summer will be over soon....

Two Things

My custom Pofahl Signature bike

 Friday it was rainy for most of the day so I decided to work on the old Pofahl Signature custom bike I have. If you've been around here awhile, you know this bike. But if you are fairly new here, I'll hazard a brief introduction.

In 2007 I showed Ben Witt, then owner of Milltown Cycles in Faribault, Minnesota, a sketch I had made in the early 2000's of an idea I had for a frame for a 29" wheeled bike. Ben got excited about this, tweaked out the idea based upon my love of my 2003 Karate Monkey, and came up with this design based off my sketch. 

Ben then sent the BikeCad drawings to Mike Pofahl who brazed up the ChroMoly tubing into what you see here. This was always a dedicated single speed idea, so there are no cable stops for gearing. The bike was intended to be a flat bar bike and Ben Witt designed a killer looking handle bar and sent it off to Black Sheep in Colorado to have the design made for this bike in titanium. Well, that never happened because Black Sheep basically "ghosted" Ben and despite multiple attempts to contact them, Ben finally had to give up on the idea. 

Not too surprisingly, about a few months after Ben gave up on getting his design made by Black Sheep, the custom builder there made a handle bar eerily similar to Ben's renderings. But.....whatever. That's the story no one knew about this bike, and since it's been, what? Sixteen years ago? I figure the statute of limitations has expired on keeping back that story. So, I don't mind telling it here now. 

The bike as it appeared a year ago.

No matter, and back to today... I had been running the Pofahl with drop bars for years now and over the last few years it has been set up with a short, 50mm stem. I also had an ancient Bontrager Inform saddle on it. Well, I retired those two items for a bit longer stem and a different Bontrager saddle. That older Inform design used to accommodate me okay, but now I'm older and things have changed. 

The stem seemed to me to be a bit too short. I could have lived with the 50mm stem, but I thought something that might stretch me out a bit would be better. I found the perfect candidate while going through the stem stash. It was a Redshift Sports ShockStop stem with their "out front" GPS mount. 

While digging through the saddle stash, I found a saddle that seemed very similarly shaped to the newer Ergon Allroad saddle. I compared them and they are so close in shape and length to be nearly identical. Only the way the top was formed by the cover and padding was really any different, and in that it was a cushier saddle than the Ergon one is. 

And wouldn't you know? It's a WSD Bontrager saddle. A woman's saddle. Cool with me. And what about the changes? Well, they are good. I plan to do a country ride on the bike soon to verify this. 

Oh yeah....I swapped out top tube bags. So there's that as well! 

The "Guitar Ted Podcast" is back with one of the more popular topics concerning gravel riding - Dogs. 

We talk about that in context of our (N.Y. Roll and my) experiences and other things, of course. But the dog thing is probably the big draw here. 

One thing I didn't mention, and I hope to when we talk about dogs again on the show, is that there is a bit of "privilege" as a bigger male when dealing with dogs versus when you are diminutive or female, or both. Dogs can and will size you up, so my experiences with dogs might be tempered by that a bit. 

Take for instance the image I chose for the podcast episode tile. That was from a solo ride I did in 2017 in Kansas. The image was taken at the point which I had talked to these two dogs long enough that they were giving up being concerned anymore. I think maybe up to ten minutes was spent here.These dogs finally realized that (a) I wasn't a threat, and (b) I was a pretty large human that wasn't afraid and was not going to be easy to take down. Despite the fact of one being a huge Great Pyrenees and the other a slightly smaller breed of unknown to me origins. 

The other thing I forgot to mention is that if you are in a group, it's best to stick together when dealing with dogs. They know when they are outnumbered and will look for a straggler to pester. Yes, the old saw about outrunning your riding partner and leaving them to deal with the dog is partially true. 

Anyway, if you haven't already listened to this episode, it is about an hour long. Click here or go to your favorite podcast provider and look up "The Guitar Ted Podcast". Thanks to CORE4 for sponsoring this episode.

Two Things

My custom Pofahl Signature bike

 Friday it was rainy for most of the day so I decided to work on the old Pofahl Signature custom bike I have. If you've been around here awhile, you know this bike. But if you are fairly new here, I'll hazard a brief introduction.

In 2007 I showed Ben Witt, then owner of Milltown Cycles in Faribault, Minnesota, a sketch I had made in the early 2000's of an idea I had for a frame for a 29" wheeled bike. Ben got excited about this, tweaked out the idea based upon my love of my 2003 Karate Monkey, and came up with this design based off my sketch. 

Ben then sent the BikeCad drawings to Mike Pofahl who brazed up the ChroMoly tubing into what you see here. This was always a dedicated single speed idea, so there are no cable stops for gearing. The bike was intended to be a flat bar bike and Ben Witt designed a killer looking handle bar and sent it off to Black Sheep in Colorado to have the design made for this bike in titanium. Well, that never happened because Black Sheep basically "ghosted" Ben and despite multiple attempts to contact them, Ben finally had to give up on the idea. 

Not too surprisingly, about a few months after Ben gave up on getting his design made by Black Sheep, the custom builder there made a handle bar eerily similar to Ben's renderings. But.....whatever. That's the story no one knew about this bike, and since it's been, what? Sixteen years ago? I figure the statute of limitations has expired on keeping back that story. So, I don't mind telling it here now. 

The bike as it appeared a year ago.

No matter, and back to today... I had been running the Pofahl with drop bars for years now and over the last few years it has been set up with a short, 50mm stem. I also had an ancient Bontrager Inform saddle on it. Well, I retired those two items for a bit longer stem and a different Bontrager saddle. That older Inform design used to accommodate me okay, but now I'm older and things have changed. 

The stem seemed to me to be a bit too short. I could have lived with the 50mm stem, but I thought something that might stretch me out a bit would be better. I found the perfect candidate while going through the stem stash. It was a Redshift Sports ShockStop stem with their "out front" GPS mount. 

While digging through the saddle stash, I found a saddle that seemed very similarly shaped to the newer Ergon Allroad saddle. I compared them and they are so close in shape and length to be nearly identical. Only the way the top was formed by the cover and padding was really any different, and in that it was a cushier saddle than the Ergon one is. 

And wouldn't you know? It's a WSD Bontrager saddle. A woman's saddle. Cool with me. And what about the changes? Well, they are good. I plan to do a country ride on the bike soon to verify this. 

Oh yeah....I swapped out top tube bags. So there's that as well! 

The "Guitar Ted Podcast" is back with one of the more popular topics concerning gravel riding - Dogs. 

We talk about that in context of our (N.Y. Roll and my) experiences and other things, of course. But the dog thing is probably the big draw here. 

One thing I didn't mention, and I hope to when we talk about dogs again on the show, is that there is a bit of "privilege" as a bigger male when dealing with dogs versus when you are diminutive or female, or both. Dogs can and will size you up, so my experiences with dogs might be tempered by that a bit. 

Take for instance the image I chose for the podcast episode tile. That was from a solo ride I did in 2017 in Kansas. The image was taken at the point which I had talked to these two dogs long enough that they were giving up being concerned anymore. I think maybe up to ten minutes was spent here.These dogs finally realized that (a) I wasn't a threat, and (b) I was a pretty large human that wasn't afraid and was not going to be easy to take down. Despite the fact of one being a huge Great Pyrenees and the other a slightly smaller breed of unknown to me origins. 

The other thing I forgot to mention is that if you are in a group, it's best to stick together when dealing with dogs. They know when they are outnumbered and will look for a straggler to pester. Yes, the old saw about outrunning your riding partner and leaving them to deal with the dog is partially true. 

Anyway, if you haven't already listened to this episode, it is about an hour long. Click here or go to your favorite podcast provider and look up "The Guitar Ted Podcast". Thanks to CORE4 for sponsoring this episode.

Bikes Of 2022: Pofahl Custom Signature

  It's the end of the year and time to review what's up with the bikes I used over the course of 2022. You'll get a brief overview, any changes made, and what the future has in store for each bike listed. Enjoy!

The Pofahl Custom Signature single speed I have had since 2007 was a strange idea I had for a 29"er based off my Karate Monkey single speed. It never would have seen the light of day had it not been for Ben Witt who pretty much put me and Mike Pofahl together to get this project done. 

The bike was always going to be a single speed, so there are no provisions for a rear or a front derailleur. There is only a full run housing stop circuit for the rear brake. 

In recent times this has become a favorite for longer single speed gravel travels. I wish I would have had the foresight to have had Mike put on fork mounted bottle cage bosses, but I have managed to get by with a seat post mounted bottle and Chaff Bags from Bike Bag Dude used as bottle holders as well. I've been running a set of Industry 9 tubeless compatible wheels on this for several years now and other than that, not much has been swapped out on this bike. 

I did score a 27.0mm USE seat post for this bike since it has that oddball size. I don't ever expect my original 1990's era Syncros to give up the ghost on me, but you never know, and 27.00mm posts are hard to come by in anything that doesn't weigh a ton and that is not a cheap replacement grade. 

And the only thing I can add about this bike is that I really love to ride it. I am glad I got it out in the country the few times that I have this past year. Hopefully that continues in 2023.

Bikes Of 2022: Pofahl Custom Signature

  It's the end of the year and time to review what's up with the bikes I used over the course of 2022. You'll get a brief overview, any changes made, and what the future has in store for each bike listed. Enjoy!

The Pofahl Custom Signature single speed I have had since 2007 was a strange idea I had for a 29"er based off my Karate Monkey single speed. It never would have seen the light of day had it not been for Ben Witt who pretty much put me and Mike Pofahl together to get this project done. 

The bike was always going to be a single speed, so there are no provisions for a rear or a front derailleur. There is only a full run housing stop circuit for the rear brake. 

In recent times this has become a favorite for longer single speed gravel travels. I wish I would have had the foresight to have had Mike put on fork mounted bottle cage bosses, but I have managed to get by with a seat post mounted bottle and Chaff Bags from Bike Bag Dude used as bottle holders as well. I've been running a set of Industry 9 tubeless compatible wheels on this for several years now and other than that, not much has been swapped out on this bike. 

I did score a 27.0mm USE seat post for this bike since it has that oddball size. I don't ever expect my original 1990's era Syncros to give up the ghost on me, but you never know, and 27.00mm posts are hard to come by in anything that doesn't weigh a ton and that is not a cheap replacement grade. 

And the only thing I can add about this bike is that I really love to ride it. I am glad I got it out in the country the few times that I have this past year. Hopefully that continues in 2023.

Country Views: Windy Again

Started out with clean, blue skies......and WIND!

 Sunday I managed to get out in the morning, but I did wait until the temperature had recovered from the low 40's and had gotten up into the 50's. No, this isn't March, or a chilly April day. This is late May. Crazy! 

Anyway, the idea was to push out against the wind, which was coming strong out of the Northwest, and then head over West a bit, and then come back with that wind. I decided to try a run up into Bremer County, and I also had decided to roll with a single speed, my signature Pofahl. A bike I haven't ridden in far too long. In fact, it has been maybe an entire year. 

Some late planting activity here.

It may look beautiful, but it was chilly and windy for a late May ride.

 

I had packed up my Winter gear on Saturday, but I held back my 3/4's knickers and my Twin Six Ritual wind vest. Good thing! While temperatures in the 50's aren't too bad, the wind, which was blowing around 22mph and gusting upwards of 30-ish mph at times, made it feel a lot cooler than that. In fact, my feet in my Shimano RX-8 gravel shoes were chilly to almost cold for the entire ride.

The vast expanse of farmland makes this tractor and sprayer rig loo like a toy.

A passing pick-up truck leaves a long 'contrail' of dust as it crosses Schenk Road

I went North up Schenk Road and it was a slog against that wind. At one point I had a blizzard of last year's corn leaves and dust blow across my path, nearly blinding me and almost knocking me off my bike. Fortunately that kind of blast only happened a couple of times during the ride! 

An old Pepsi Cola hauler out back of a farmstead along Schenk Road.

 

A small flock of sheep near the intersection of Schenk Road and Gresham Road.

Big, puffy clouds started rolling in with that Northwestern wind and it sure looked pretty out there. I was enjoying the views, but suddenly a dog drew a bead on me and I had to stop. It was a medium sized mutt and the owner finally called it off with an apology to me and a promise of a ball playing session to the dog. That dog heard 'ball' and was off like a shot! 

The Gnome Sanctuary along Schenk Road just before crossing into Bremer County.

A look North into Bremer County on Oakland Avenue.

Now I didn't know how far I was going to go North when I started, but I knew I wanted to get into Bremer County a bit. Once I reached the county line, I was really getting tired of the wind. It was loud in my ears, it made pedaling my single gear a chore, and there was almost zero coasting at all. I was ready for a change!

But since I am not really familiar with the roads up there, I ended up stopping and checking my map to see which way I wanted to go. I also took the opportunity to sit on the edge of a ditch and eat some beef jerky I had along with me. Eventually I settled on going one mile West, which I figured would still be a wicked chore, and then to turn South on Navajo Road. 

Barns For Jason: On Navajo Road in Bremer County.

Looks like a full house at Mt. Hope United Methodist for Sunday services.

I turned South on Navajo in Bremer County which turns into Sage Road in Black Hawk County. Needless to say, the tailwind was magnificent. Finally, I could coast some! That was a big relief, as was the quiet in my ears. No more roaring wind! 

Looking West at Mt. Vernon Road in the distance.

The Pofahl at the Big Rock

I got a nice, decently hard ride in, and it was fun coming home, bombing some of the bigger rollers at speed. That old Pofahl just rides so smoothly. I don't normally get stuff that can be reviewed on that bike, so when I am busy doing that, this bike sits. I have had a window of opportunity to ride my odd-ball rigs of late, so I've been doing that, but this will be coming to an end this week. 

It sure was nice to have some time to spend on this bike though. I really have enjoyed it over the years.