Happy Friday

I did something last night that I haven't done in a long time. I actually did some maintenance on my Quickbeam. I had a tire begin to tear out on the sidewall on the old Pasela Tourguards. There was a noticeable lump in the ride and I could see the tube beginning to stick out. For a day, I thought about just riding it with a bit of a tire boot, but I couldn't stand the lump in the ride and felt that it was only a matter of time until it failed even more catastrophically. I'm satisfied with over 3,800 miles this summer on them. I had also previously used them for two years on the parade bike. My plan was to continue to ride them until I wore through the rubber. Great tires, only 1 flat over their life!

So, I put some new tires on the Quickbeam. I took off my Schmidt dynohub in preparation for moving it to my touring bike for RAGBRAI. I removed the front rack, and actually cleaned the bike a bit! Yikes... what got into me? I cleaned and lubed the chain. I even wiped off some of the coffee stains from hitting bumps on occassion with the lid on my travel mug not securely closed.

This morning, the bike felt completely different. Here's why:

• Down-sized tires to 32's instead of stretched out 35's. I would like to have some 35's or even 37's... but I used what I had in stock.
• Removed the front rack. This made the front end of the bike noticeably lighter to turn and changed the handling. It also removed the unstable wobble when riding no-handed.
• Today is my last day of work at my current job.

So, I took a leisure ride into work today via Hopkins. It was a beautiful morning for a ride. I took it all in enjoying the last time I will have to ride into this office. Though my new office is very close and much of my commuting route will remain the same, I am glad to have traced some of the streets for the last time this morning.