Randomness

Since I haven't been on the mountain bike in a while, I went out to Crabtree today for a quick ride after work. It ended up being a lot quicker than I anticipated after I blew out my front tire about .25 miles in. I have been able to get away with just carrying a patch kit and no spare tube for the last couple of years but my flat today was no where near repairable. The tube ended up with a ~10" gash in it although the tire seems to be fine. When I stopped the tire had come off of the rim and I am not sure if it rolled off when I was riding, causing the flat, or if it was blown off by the exploding tube.

It appears that someone from Felt has been spying on my blog and stealing my ideas. Only months after building up a green rigid singlespeed with orange accessories, Felt debuts this. Now I do like the Slipstream inspired argyle but this is a blatant infringement on my rights to have a bright eurotrash colored bike that is one of a kind.

I have been looking for some new riding clothes lately since two jerseys just isn't enough. I came across a company called Twin Six that has some really sweet designs. If you are in the market for some new threads, you should check them out. I ordered one of their jerseys and a T shirt a couple of days ago and they arrived today. The T is super comfortable and fits really well but the jersey was slightly disappointing. After a run through the wash I noticed that the seam on the shoulder was coming undone and left a whole. I dropped an email to the guys and expect it to be replaced under warranty, but I seem to have the worst luck sometimes.

Speaking of clothing, I have heard a lot about how nice wool is for cycling jerseys. I am considering getting a nice wool long sleeve jersey for the cold weather this winter but they seem to be really expensive. The cheapest ones I can find are here and can be customized for only a couple of extra bucks. I can't think of anything good to put on there (suggestions?) so I may just get a plain one to cut down on the wait time if I ever decide to get one.

The Madone, which I guess will be called Madeline (or Maddie for short), is working out really well. I love the bike and have no complaints yet as far as performance goes. The only downside seems to be that the aesthetics are kind of boring. Besides being an ever so popular Trek, it looks like just another black and grey bike. I have been thinking that I should spice things up a little with some different colored bar tape or something. Maybe a nice white saddle would look good. I have a couple of ideas but I am not sure what I am going to do yet.