First, it's a nice distraction in the fall — jump into a race and have some fun. Also, it's good for exploring roads that you'd never visit on your precious roadie carbon. Finally, it's good to have a foul-weather bike, fenders mounted and at the ready.
Though I was whining a few days ago about having only one bike to handle the various winter training scenarios (indoor, outdoor, wet outdoor, etc.), this weekend that one bike made riding a lot more fun.
I think I love you, Cronus CX. (Even though you're not paid off and it's really stressing me out right now.)
On Saturday morning, I decided far too late to jump into Rafal's ride from 60th/Center. And it was going to be sloppy, most likely, so I needed fenders. Many 'cross bikes can take fenders — mine were on my Ion at the time — but how many carbon 'cross bikes can take fenders? Cronus can. In a few minutes, I moved the fenders over to the Cronus, kitted up and headed out.
It's always fun to see the status that cyclocross bikes carry in various riders' garages. If you race cyclocross a lot, your bike is probably a bit nicer (Shim, Rafal, Leah). If you merely like having a bike for gravel and winter nastiness, you probably have a bike like Feagan. (Functional, adequate.) Munson was on his commuter, complete with hammered fenders and a frame pump. Very classy. Brady, meanwhile, was on his downhill MTB.
Meanwhile, I was on my road bike. Having only one bike means not having to switch back and forth between different rides (and slightly different fits). I have road pedals on there and wore road shoes. It was kinda nice.
On Sunday, it was more of the same, though I headed out by myself in search of something to help pass the time for four hours. I ended up going west and north a bit, charting a route that had hills at the beginning and end, and not so much as a bump in between. (Elkhorn-Venice-Valley-Fremont-Elk City.)
Though the route was mostly paved, I detoured onto a few sections of gravel, mostly because I could. The only downer on that ride was boredom — long, long stretches of flat and no coasting or rest in sight. Ouch.
But all of it was done on my road bike. Er, cyclocross bike. Whatever. Either way, being able to ride wherever you want on the same bike is pretty awesome.
2 comments:
I saw you eyeing my fabulous cycling boots. Don't deny it.
Actually, I was checking them out on Bellevue Boulevard. I thought, "Man, where can a guy get something nice like that?" Then I examined the rest of my kit and wondered what else I could sell.
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