Sunday, January 14, 2007

In Which I Take Responsibility for the Freakishly Warm Weather

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originally uploaded by frickercycle.
Yes, that's right... it's not global warming, it's not El Nino or La Nina, or the Jet Stream or the Gulf Stream... it's me. I decided that since it was January, it was past time to build up a bike for my winter commute. Last year, i had an old Schwinn Cimarron mountainbike set up with big, knobby tires with steel studs... over 200 of them per tire. It worked great on ice, but it was heavy and sounded like a Sherman tank on dry pavement. More importantly, the bike just never felt comfortable to me on long rides. So this year, I scrounged an old Miyata Two Ten frame, a cheaper version of my beloved Miyata One Thousand, and built it up as you see, with Nitto Albatross bars and studded tires. This time I opted for the Nokian Hakkapelitta W106 tires... only 106 studs per tire, so a bit lighter and quieter, but still good on ice and snow from what I hear from others.

A few days after I got the bike basically ready to roll, we had a record high temperature in the 70s. So, depending on your point of view... I'm sorry... or you're welcome! It's all my fault! :-)

1 comment:

Kent Peterson said...

Dang it Tim, I tried the same thing and it didn't work at all! I equipped my bike with studded tires, thinking it would ward off the nasty stuff and ole Mother Nature said "Well, I am a Mother after all" and dumped this on us:

http://kentsbike.blogspot.com/2007/01/sometimes-its-about-not-riding.html

I'm waiting for the warmth to return!