madpogue 

Sure hope we can get a ride in tomorrow. I just put the salmon Kool-stops and Nokian W106s on the wife's M40, Was hoping to test ride it today, but it's been either raining or snowing non-stop since 11:00AM. Supposed to be done by morning; fingers crossed.

PilotFishBob 

Club is doing a Polar Bear ride here in Elvisland tomorrow. Forecast looks good - temps not bad (it's not the Arctic, it's Memphis). Bundling up and going for it.

xiaoman1 

No riding for me these last few weeks...lots of surfing though.
Best, Ben

Prowler 

jon c. 

December was a lousy month here and I almost didn't get a ride in all month. Seemed like it was raining and low 50s every day. But I got a ride in yesterday as the year ended with a beautiful mid 70s day. And the new year is starting similarly, so I'm about to begin the year appropriately.

madpogue 

"All is quiet on New Year's Day,
A world in white is underway."

So last night's snow was the first "real" snow of the season. Ironic, since December is usually the snowiest month of the year here. But it made for a perfect day to ride today, esp. to test out the winter rigs. 15 miles on the Cap City and Southwest paths. They'd been plowed, but before the snow had stopped, so the paths were a mix of hard-pack snow, ice, slush and a few spots of dry pavement. This is the first time my wife has ridden on studs, or in these conditions. She had a blast! Quite a few runners and dog-walkers, but almost no other cyclists. Few that were out were at least 20 years our junior. The "Cyclists today" counter gizmo, that can top 1000 on a busy summer day, said 22.

With the snow on the tree branches, it was really beautiful; alas, I left the camera at home.

thumpism 

They all got ridden, according to my plan. Brunch and the hike took a while so it was 3 p.m. before I got going, leaving me only two hours of light. I only planned to ride around the 'hood to keep the time and hassle down. Picked my route that turned out to be 2.3 miles (only the fifth-ridden Cimarron has an odometer) and rode five of the seven that distance. The ladies' Sports works but needs a lot of changes so will likely be boxed up for storage until I'm ready to retire the men's Sports in a decade or so. The stepthrough is for my dotage when I can no longer swing a leg over and I only rode it a couple of blocks. The Giant got ridden half the full distance; encroaching darkness and a too-low stem drove me homeward.

They all need changes; saddle changes or saddle tweaks, stem changes, the Cimarron will get a long planned drop bar conversion. And I've decided I do not need the Trek or the Giant so they should probably go, and I should get rid of either the Paramount or the RB-T, or both if I find a suitable touring replacement. And I really need to comb through all the bike junk in the garage and clean out a bunch of it. It's a new year, people! Keep your eyes on the classifieds.

beicster 

@thumpism, if you do decide to sell the Paramount, someone is going to get a heck of a bike. Mine is a real peach.

rhm

For several years now, maybe six or eight years, I've been pretty good about going for a ride on New Year's Day... Usually century with a friend who would necessarily spend New Year's Eve with us. This year I rode by myself, 75 miles, very mild temperatures though a stiff wind. I forgot my wallet, so had to subsist on what I carried, which was fine until I realized I'd only filled one water bottle. Doh!

thumpism 

Yeah, I need to change the stem and then try it with a full touring load on a big downhill before I decide for sure. That's the one thing I don't like about the RB-T, that downhill-loaded shimmy. If I never planned to tour again it would not be an issue.