Spring

Now is the Spring of my discontent. Actually every Spring is the Spring of my discontent, or, as we call it here in Fairbanks, “Break Up”. Students at UAF celebrate said feelings by throwing large fruit from the top of the Gruening building on campus. I, on the other hand, wake up every morning and try to decide what appropriate riding attire will be for a frozen 7°F ride on the way to work and a 45°F ride with large nasty puddles and slush sections on the way home. The answer to this so far has been to carry two sets of riding clothes, which sucks, but gets the job done. While some roadies have have been driven out of the woodwork (complete with frozen hands since poagies don’t fit drop bars) by the lack of snow, I am content to just commute. I’ll wait until the trails have thawed to the point that mud is only a minor concern before I start riding again for real.

Sadly that means Puggie has also been put away for the year. It’s been a big winter for me and that bike. I have for sure done more riding on that rig in the last several months than I have ever done in such a time before. And, it was fun. It is with mixed feelings that I realize I may not be riding the same frame next year. Which is also strange because right now the geometry on it seems more comfortable than the custom made Ti frame I had been riding up to this point. Although it isn’t anything a longer stem and flat bars couldn’t help. When I had the frame designed, I had it designed for commuting, because that was the vast majority of my riding at the time. Now, it’s a smaller part of my riding, and I find myself wondering if I should really get to call myself a racer. Then again, maybe I’ll just say what I’ve always said. I am a cyclist.