a little disappointed..

The season has not even started yet, and I am already a bit disappointed....

• It's been cold cold cold and wet wet wet. Sure, I know this makes me a pussy, but I still crave a nice long warm ride day...
• My Surly has been giving me fits. I finally got the rear brakes to stop squeaking... by toeing them in severely. The rear wheel has a spoke that loosens, not enough to warp the wheel, but... come on! And, the most annoying thing, the chain-ring bolts are loose and cause the front end of the drive train to creak a little... Gotta get this bike under control before putting serious miles on her.

Just got back from a visit to Recycled Cycles in Seattle. Picked up a chainring bolt tool, hopefully this will help me tighten them up. I'll keep an eye on the spoke and toe in the brakes slightly. I still really like this bike, but I expected a little less worry out of the gate.

My Mercier up for sale

Had it for a couple years... just a bit small for me and I'm trying to free up some funds.. Interested? Jump in the comments

Update: 12/2/2009 - I've decided to keep this bike as decoration for the new shop I'm opening.

Back at it again

Another bicycle season is upon us. I've already started riding again. Over the past few months, I've logged roughly 2 days a week coming in to work. It's been a cold winter here in Seattle-land. I actually slipped while riding slowly on the concrete bridge over the Mercer Slough in Bellevue one morning and went down. Pretty sure it was partly black ice and partly the fact that I had knobby tires on the Surly. Didn't get too hurt, but I was upset the bike got a little more scratched. Character, right?

I did the Chilly Hilly in February. My goal this year is to do all the Cascade Bike Club rides - Chilly Hilly, Summer Century, STP and RSVP. The Chilly Hilly was a fun ride. A bit rainy in the AM early, but it cleared up a bit by mid-ride. I was so far ahead of the game that the snack stops and end of ride party were not even set up. I made one stop over the course of the ride - 10 minutes. Most of the hills were smaller and had a ramp up to them. The biggest hill was just a long 8% grind. There were a lot of walkers and a couple people got sick at the end. All in all, pretty fun. I've never seen so many bikers all in one place - thousands.

Been sick for a bit, but plan to get back in the saddle next week.