Simple

Today marks the second successful day of "train first, blog later." Well, not really, as yesterday I never got around to blogging, despite it being my telecommuting day. The reason being, after my longest ever 8.25 mile morning run, kept at an astonishingly consistent +/- 5 bpm average HR of 137, blogging still waited for me to complete some sort of ride. Due to work, the ride didn't happen until very late in the day, and the blog, well, never happened. The ride was, however, worth writing about, but not for the usual reasons. You see, telecommuting day is also known as laundry day, because after all, ergo breaks away from the screen have to happen anyway, and going down to the basement to put in a load (huh-huh) kills two birds with one stone.

During yesterday's numerous trips down to the dryer, the overflow of the lint bucket could no longer be ignored. In order to dump it, I had to move my 90% assembled 1986 Specialized Allez SE road bike out of the way. Looking it over, pulling stray chunks of lint out of the Ge-Willi approved 13-18 six speed straight block freewheel, taking this bike back out for a ride became the goal of the day.

Rescuing the beast from the lower dungeon, I brought it upstairs to assess the situation. Not a single original component was mounted to the frame, but I had made it rideable a few years back, and only pilfered a few items off in the meantime. The tires held air, I fitted some Look pedals, found a brand-new 26.8 XC Pro seatpost and decent Turbo saddle in the parts bin, and once again we were complete.

When the clock struck 5, I donned my Look-compatible Northwaves (unlike my Speedplayed Rocket 7's, roomy enough for thick wool socks) and headed out on the road. Man, this bike feels funny. Despite being a full 58 cm c-to-c, it felt small. The seat was too far forward and the stem seemed short. I guess the old crit style 74 degree seat tube angle meant I should have positioned the seat slam-back on the post. Maybe it was the tiny hoods of the non-STI aero levers, but the Cinelli 66-44 bars felt downright dainty, although the cleanliness of the lack of shifter wires was very nice.

I held the ride to only 30 minutes because the seat just wasn't right. This morning I pushed it back almost 2 cm, moved it up a bit, and headed back out at 6 am. The bike still felt wierd, but cool, very lively. It has a 39 on it, but still I only used the 2 largest cogs for 90% of my hour and a half aerobic ride. The drivetrain was smooth and quiet; it was reminiscent of a track bike. Downtube shifters aren't even that much of a hindrance when you don't have too many gears to choose from anyway.

The paint on this bike still looks new. I like it. The scale said 22.7 pounds with clinchers and one bottle cage. If I ride a Cannibal Cup TT this year, I know which bike I am going to ride.