On the Bicycle Front

A quick catch-up on bicycle happenings...

Yesterday, I took my first snowy/icy ride of the season. I had been riding in the cold, but since the snow fell back before Christmas, it hasn't warmed up enough to melt much of it. Although the neighborhood is still quite snow-filled, I decided I'd had enough and was going to at least ride to my kickboxing class. I have to say, bicycles are SO awesome! I knew I was missing my bike, but being able to be on it again after a couple of weeks away was so enjoyable. I had a few spots that were very icy and had to get off the bike and walk, but it was worth it to be able to pedal down the road again. I'm slowly working my way up to realizing that the snow isn't necessarily my enemy and if it's plowed enough, I may be able to do more riding that I previously thought I would.

My brother-in-law is apparently working on becoming a bicycle frame builder. I have known for many years how talented he is in many respects, but was surprised to hear that he has actually built his first frame, and has a line of people who are waiting for him to build theirs as well! He is a great welder (both of my BIL's are, actually), and I am excited to see where he is going with this, what he will ultimately end up building over the long haul, and seeing him progress down this path. Hopefully, the next time I will have more photos (more detailed, anyway) to show his work.

Unfortunately, this the only photo I have of his frame.

We still (neither Sam nor myself) haven't made it by the spinning class yet, but it looks as though our kickboxing instructors have made arrangements for our class to go in at the end of the month for a trial... so, if we don't make it in before that time, hopefully some kind of report can be made before the end of the month. I'm not a great fan of indoor spinning, but if it will help keep the legs through the snowy months, it might not be such a horrible thing.

The Public C7 was sold recently to help fund the Beetle project. Although I will miss having it, I have three other bikes, and as much as I want to have a city bike for those close-by trips, I end up riding the Hillborne most of the time anyway. Have I learned my lesson with city bikes? Probably not. There's something in me that continually wants to push to make this type of bike happen. Of course, I'm also fixated on a single-speed bike - possibly even fixed gear. Maybe I've watched too many movies with bike messengers in them, but I can't help but want to try this out. And then, there is the constant debate about another, lighter road bike. While none of these will be happening in the near future, it's fun to keep options open and see what presents itself down the line. If nothing else, it could make for some interesting test rides in the future.

Oh, and one final note. I received an email from a blogger recently who put up a post on kids and bike riding. If you have little ones of your own, or know someone who does, and are wondering if it's the way to go - this could be something to check out. It's straight forward and not news to most of us who ride regularly, but I think it could be extremely helpful for those teetering on the edge of letting their kiddos ride to school and/or other places that would typically be done in the car.

Hope all are doing well and out riding as always!