The Royal Hermmann Lipizzaner Stallions

I've visited the Lipizzaner horses three times before. Nathan had not made it there before today. So we drove over with our friends, the Evans family.

The show went well, and was the same neat things as the other times I've been here.

At some point, it became very interesting to me though because I saw something different. When Aric and I were here, they told us that they were bringing out a new stallion. They weren't sure how he'd do. He did great. Today was his second time. He's the middle horse in this group and you can see the look on his face that tells us he is feeling feisty already:



Here he is plotting his grand plan to do his own thing:

This is where he lets us know he is going to implement that plan:

And this is where he does it:

This is where that plan gets nipped in the bud:

And this is where he pouts about it. He wasn't happy about being reigned back in. He wanted to show us his stuff. He didn't want to simply perform the show that mere humans came up with. They stopped the show to explain what the deal was. They explained that it was his second time out with the big boys. They said he was the teenager in the bunch. That explains this expression:

I had no idea horses could make that face. I'm on teenager number five. I recognize this face all too well!

It's not all that amusing when my teens give me that look, but I have to tell you that it was hysterical when he did it. I feel for his mother is all I have to say. I have loved every trip to this wonderful place, but this was the best by far.



Living the life in Florida!

The Heat is On...

Saturday, April 2nd - - Since Butler University, located just five miles from downtown Indianapolis, was playing in the Final Four, I splurged and spent the night in a Motel so I could watch the game! Old news now, but Butler won and will be playing (for the second year in a row) in the Championship Game! My first cousin, Ralph V. Reiff, is the play-by-play announcer for WISH-TV in Indy. I was hoping to be able to watch the game on TV and listen to his calling of the game at the same time but no such luck.







Sunday, April 3rd - - Still heading West, I came across this “tribute” to the Texas Longhorn.



I stopped for the night at Copper Breaks State Park (west of Wichita Falls). Though not far, the drive had been tiring - lots of wind with gusts from 35-50 mph and it was hot! Really hot.





The photo above was taken at 5:24 pm at the campground; the van was in the shade! Yep, it was hot. I did manage to go for a very short walk (about 10 minutes) after driving up to an overlook to get this picture(below)of the lake. The “lower” campground where I stayed was on the left side of the lake. Being lower didn't provide any relief from the wind or the heat.







The sun was completely hidden beneath the hills but for a few brief moments it lit up the clouds like they were on fire, appropriate for such a hot day. The setting of the sun provided little relief from the heat. Even with doors and windows open, it was perhaps one of the most uncomfortable nights spent on the road thus far. Relief did arrive, however, when after midnight a front moved through and the temperature dropped dramatically. When I got up the next morning it was a chilly 48 degrees! And still windy.

My round rocks

There is a blogger called Pablo who owns some land called Round Rock. It sounds like a pretty cool place, what with all those round rocks that were formed by a meteorite 350 million years ago or so. It's hard not to be jealous.

So imagine my joy when hubby and I were walking recently, and I glanced down... "Hey, look! Round rocks! Round rocks!"

A pause.

"It's slag," said hubby.

He is always ruining my fun like that.



I looked it up, and he was right. There are several types of slag, all of which are by-products of iron and steel furnaces.

They use it a lot for railroad track ballast.



In contrast to the round (pelletized) slag, which seems heavy for its size, this type (expanded or foamed) is incredibly lightweight. It's porous like a lava rock.

There's also a vitrified or glassy type of slag, which we found but failed to bring back. (If it ever stops raining I'll try to go back and get one of those and put the pic here, for the sake of completeness.)



My husband calls this configuration Slaghenge.

A Series of Unfortunate Events

When we first began the RVing lifestyle, we listened to "A Series of Unfortunate Events" on audiobooks while we made the three hour drive from our house to where our RV was set up. The series is about a family of children that has one "unfortunate" thing after another happen to them. Lately, I am feeling like I could be a star in this quirky book series.



I normally get sick ranging from rarely to never. In the past few months, I've managed to have one weird thing after another happen. None of them that major except maybe having my gall bladder removed. Still, each one has been painful and frustrating. I twisted my ankle while in the OBX. I then had the gall bladder infection leading to surgery. We had an attack of the lovely little critters known as chiggers that was surprisingly uncomfortable. I have had allergy symptoms off and on that range from the mild ones to the my head feels like it is in a vice ones.



When we first arrived here I got pink eye in a more serious way than I ever have before. Last week I was stung by a yellow jacket and had a funky reaction to it. Yesterday I guess I decided to close the loop of unfortunate events by repeating the ankle twist. Again.



Now I am sporting this look:





The good news is that it is only a sprain and nothing is broken. The bad news is I can't walk on it so that means no holiday prep and no pickleball playing. Luckily I do not work until Friday, so I can rest in the meantime.



I've decided I've had enough of this series and would like to begin starring in a new series. I think something along the lines of Life is Good and my body is healthy and whole would be good. In the meantime Nathan is waiting on me hand and foot and is even doing the housework. I have had sweet friends here send me the kindest get well wishes. I am getting to do some digital scrapbooking which I always love. I think I'll focus on the gratitude I feel for those things instead of whining about the painful foot. It is Thanksgiving week after all!



Living the still fortunate life in Florida!

Tomatoes...Almost Ripe

This cluster of 'Oregon Spring' tomatoes is almost ripe.

In my garden, 'Oregon Spring' has not proven to be a vigorous variety. The plant seems to be slow-growing, and the fruits take forever to ripen.

Next year I will try something else.

Suggestions?

Our Travel Buddies Make it to Chesapeake Bay

Since we went full time, we have felt to lucky to be able to travel with Daryl, Diana, Lauren and Josh. We have had more time together in the past two years than we have the entire time we've been family before that. Since they had RV troubles after our last trip, they have not been able to travel RV style since we met them out West. We have only seen them once in that time period. It has felt like a really looooooong time to me. Especially since Diana is my best friend. They made it to TT's today and we were tickled pink to finally be back together again.



No, the geese don't have anything to do with this story. But I snapped a picture of them at the campground and wanted to share it.

Living the life in Virginia!

When Spouses Worry About Cyclists

I get a fair number of questions from readers - and, interestingly, only heterosexual men so far - asking for advice on how to deal with spouses worrying about them cycling.Somedescribe situations where wives implore them not to go on club rides, or are against them riding for transportation. Other stories are less dramatic, but nonetheless involve an overabundance of spousal distress that in turn makes the cyclist feel guilty.Doesn't my husband worry, they ask? What do I say to ease his mind?




Of course my situation is different, in that my husband is himself a cyclist. His understanding of what riding a bicycle entails is based on reality and not on the negative portrayals of it in the media. Still he does worry about me at times, especially when I go off with riders whose speed and skills far exceed my own. He deals with his concerns by asking me questions and trying to gauge how prepared I am for the ride and how well I myself understand the risks. And I admit that I worry about him too. While he rides considerably fewer miles than I do, I would describe him as more of a risk-taker. If he is late coming home from work, I worry.




It could be that this is the essence of spousal worry: Perceptions of risk. Do wives tend to perceive their husbands as risk-takers more so than the other way around? It would explain why I never hear from women complaining that their husbands worry too much. It could also be that, for whatever reason, female cyclists are more likely to have spouses who also ride bikes.




Either way, unfortunately I am not certain what to suggest here. You could reason with your spouse using statistics, descriptions of how safe your route is and how careful you are - but when fears are irrational this does not always work. Attempts to get your spouse into cycling could do the trick, but could also backfire if they try it and find it frightening. Showing them entertaining materials (films, books, pictures, blogs?) that depict cycling as safe and fun could be a way to go, but how exactly this could be implemented is not clear to me.




While we all want to be free to do as we like, we also don't want to drive our loved ones sick with concern for our safety.It would be good to hear from readers who've gone through this type of situation and resolved it successfully.

Blue on Blue

We have been waiting for Spring for so long, and looks like we finally got it. Sudden and intense, it is here!

On April 1st we dusted off the Motobecanes for the first time since late November, and since then I have been riding Marianne all over town and beyond. She just seems like the perfect spring bike - maybe it's the colour and the speed?

Oh yes, and the cherry blossoms on the handlebars.

Marianne is so happy to roam amidst the flowers. She has been asking me in a quivering voice to remember these good times and not to get rid of her despite having other mixtes. Indeed, how can I get rid of her when she matches the blue flowers so nicely!

Waiting for the next trip

The passenger ferry "Voyageur II" waits patiently for its next voyage to Isle Royale National Park from its dock in Grand Portage, MN. This image was taken in late September of this year as the Isle Royale boating season was winding down. The Voyageur II is a 60' aluminum-hulled ferry that has been providing mail and passenger service to Isle Royale National Park since the early 1970's. It is the only ferry that circumnavigates the entire island, making several stops along the way so hikers and paddlers can have options for hiking or canoeing/kayaking different portions of the island.

How Many Guys.....

does it take

to look under the hood

for something?

At one point, all five of them were looking. They crack me up!

Woolen Socks and Tights: Winter Cycling Delights

Over the holidays I was gifted some wool socks and tights, and I thought it might be useful to review them. Wool is of course an essential part of winter cycling apparel, but there is something so nice about fluffy socks even beyond their practical applications. At least for me, wool socks might just be the "comfort food" of clothing.

So here is what I got:
. merino tights in black from J. Crew,
. cashmere blend leggings in charcoal from Victoria's Secret,
. cashmere blend over-the-knee socks in olive from Sock Dreams,
. merino over-the-knee socks in charcoal from American Essentials,
. merino mid-calf socks in black and white from J. Crew.

In terms of warmth, all of these have stood the test of winter temperatures so far. Keep in mind though, that the colder it is and the less active your feet are, the more layers you need to wear. We were doing a photo-shoot in the snow a couple of days ago, and after 1 hour my feet began to freeze in my boots even though I was wearing both a pair of wool tights and a pair of wool socks over them. For cycling, I have found just one layer plus boots to be sufficient so far, but your experience may vary.

While all the tights and socks I got did a good job at retaining warmth, they varied dramatically in sizing and quality. In terms of sizing, be aware that the Victoria's Secret cashmere blend leggings run a bit large, while the J. Crew wool tights run very small. I have long legs, so I typically wear M/L tights. These J. Crew tights were a "Large" and they are too small on me. I can wear them, but the fit is off and the wool is a bit overstretched in the leg area. If their largest size is too small on me, who the heck were these designed for?.. The Victoria's Secret leggings I got in size S, but these things are huge and XS would have been a better fit. All the other socks were true to size. I should add that both the Sock Dreams and the American Essentials over-the knee socks stay up pretty well, compared to others I have worn.

In terms of quality, I am dismayed to report that the J. Crew tights and socks underperformed all the others. The tights tore at the back seam while I was pulling them on for the first time. I examined the tear and it appears to be a result of faulty stitching. Easy enough to sew up, but does not inspire confidence in their quality. As for the J. Crew socks, they pilled and "fuzzed up" horribly after the very first time I wore them, which was disappointing. The other socks have held up fine so far. I wonder whether the "fuzzing" has to do with the quality of wool, the type of wool, the processing, or some other factor?

Wool tights, socks, leggings and legwarmers are absolutely great in the winter and can be worn in different combinations to keep you warm during different degrees of cold. All the items reviewd here are extremely affordable, and I would recommend them all except for J. Crew. Sock Dreams in particular seems to be a good source as they sell socks in different lengths, as well as leggings and legwarmers, at reasonable prices. If you have a favourite wool sock supplier, please do chime in. We could all use more "comfort food" for the feet!

Crazy Little Thing Called Love

A few years ago, this picture of my granddaughter and her dog was snapped along with a bunch of her playing soccer. I didn't pay much attention to it at the time. I thought it was cute, but then again I think everything she does is cute.



Today I was going through those pictures and I saw it through different eyes. I got it. It wasn't just cute. Now that I'm a dog owner as in this dog is "our dog" owner...I know what this is. It's pure love.

If you were to follow us around with a camera right now, you'd probably catch a few shots of us doing the same thing to Ava. She's growing rather fond of us by now too.



Living the life in Florida.

Bicycle Safety: My Perspective

Every so often I am asked to state my views on safety with respect to transportation cycling*. Though reluctant to raise this topic in the past, after more than two years I feel ready to share my perspective. So here it goes, and I ask in advance that you help me keep any ensuing discussion civil:



When it comes to bicycle safety, I draw a categorical distinction between two facets that are often mushed together, but for me areentirely independent: (1) safe behaviour, and (2) protective gear. I believe that safe behaviour is essential and a matter of social responsibility. I believe that protective gear is secondary and a matter of personal choice. This distinction and prioritisation governs (i.e. biases) the views on transportational cycling that are expressed throughout this blog.



To clarify what I mean by "safe behaviour" on a bicycle, here are the points I consider crucial:



Riding a bicycle that is functional and road-ready

Taking reasonable steps to ensure one's bicycle will not fail on the road.This includes making certain that the wheels are secured and that the brakes, lights, and other crucial components are functional. Riding a bike with known mechanical problems, insufficient braking capacity, or any unusual features that make it intentionally difficult to operate, can have disastrous consequences in traffic.



Being in possession of basic bike handling skills

This includes being able to start and stop without faltering, to maintain a line of travel without weaving, to reduce speed when appropriate, and to safely maneuver around obstacles. It helps to ride the type of bike one is comfortable with and in a way they are comfortable with, depending on skill level and personal preference. Those who do not yet possess adequate handling skills should practice on trails and quiet side streets before mixing with traffic.



Adhering to traffic laws

Knowing and following local traffic laws, as they pertain to bicyclists. This includes respecting lane directionality, street lights, stop signs and right of way, signaling turns and intentions to merge, and in general behaving predictably.



Knowing safety maneuvers

Awareness of various crucial safety maneuvers and the ability to execute them. For instance: not positioning oneself in the blind spot of a car that could turn into one's line of travel, not cycling in the door zone of parked cars, and not passing other cyclists on the right.



Being visible

Having sufficient lighting on one's bicycle, so as to be clearly visible to others on the roads in the dark and in inclement weather.



Being vigilant

Paying attention while cycling; being cautious and attentive to what goes on in one's peripheral vision while resisting distractions. This includes not being engrossed in conversation with fellow cyclists, not chatting on one's mobile phone or texting, and otherwise not engaging in activities thatdetract from an awareness of one's surroundings.



You might not agree with me on some aspects of these points, but I believe in them and try to adhere to them to the best of my ability. In my view, this makes me a conservative and safe cyclist.



As for protective gear (helmets, knee pads, steel-toed boots, padded vests, pre-emptive neck and back braces, etc), these things are simply not relevant to the safe operation of a bicycle. We all have the right to expect safe behaviour from each other, when the behaviour impacts other road users. But we do not have the right to decide what each other's personal comfort levels ought to be, when this comfort has no effect on us.



In addition, I think that protective gear - whether we believe it to be useful or not - is secondary to safe behaviour to such an extent, that to stress it above the other stuff (as I feel is routinely done in safety campaigns) is misguided and even, dare I say, dangerous. As I write this, out of the window I can see a helmeted cyclist making a left turn onto a one way street against traffic, riding a bicycle with no handbrakes and no lights. I think this sort of thing is a direct result of promoting protective gear instead of safe behaviour, and I think it's evidence that we have our priorities backwards.I do not find that my views on this matter are radical, although sometimes I am made to feel as if they are. Whether you agree or not is entirely up to you.



--

*a small group of us (Dave from Portlandize, Matt from Bicycles, Books and Bowties, and myself) are working on a transportation cycling brochure, where the topic of safety will be covered. However, I am not the person who is writing that particular section, and the opinions expressed here - though congruent with those in the brochure - are my own.

Romantic Bike Basket Contents

Riding home from the grocery store today, I enjoyed a fine view of someleeksand potatoesin my basket. Looking down on them as I pedaled, I had one of those experiences where shopping by bike felt like an exciting and novel outing, even though I've been doing it on a regular basis for years now. The idea of carrying leeks and potatoes home on my bike, then cooking them, suddenly struck me as both romantic and funny. My mood lifted, I flashed a silly grin at cars and pedestrians as I passed them.




Later this got me thinking about how often basket and pannier contents are used to illustrate the appealing nature of cycling. The bouquet of flowers. The Frenchbaguette. The fluffy bunch of leafy vegetables. Isuppose these things make people think about picnics and outdoor farmer markets. But even beyond that, there is something about the sight of fresh food or flowers sticking out of a bike bag that makes errands seem like fun. I've even had comments about that from strangers on my way home from buying groceries "Oooh, vegetables in your basket - That looks like fun!" Loading said vegetables into the trunk of a car wouldn't have the same effect.




One thing I'd like to carry in a bicycle basket some day is mushrooms. My romantic fantasy is to ride to the forest, then walk my bike down a path strewn with pine needles, picking mushrooms (chanterelles and morels, with which the forest will of course be filled) and placing them directly in the basket. Cycling back, I'll be able to smell their earthy fragrance all the way home, before washing and tossing them on the frying pan with some sautéedonions...




Which reminds me that those potatoes and leeks won't cook themselves, so I better get to it. What's your idea of romantic bike basket contents?

Lighthouse framed in ice

This is the result of last night's high winds and waves. The blowing spray from the waves froze onto these shrubs along the Grand Marais harbor. It wasn't a very big area that was covered in ice like this, but nonetheless I had a blast photographing there. I tried several different angles to compose the ice around the lighthouse, this was my favorite. Captured with my Canon 100-400mm lens.

Seminole Canyon State Park

After leaving Padre Island, I headed west on Texas Route 44 connecting to U.S 83 west of Encinal. From there it was north to Uvalde, which has a very nice public library with excellent wifi, where I was able to schedule those posts on Padre Island. The next morning it was west on U.S. 90 with Big Bend National Park as the next destination. I was tempted to stop at one of the camping areas in the Amistad National Recreation Area just west of Del Rio but the campgrounds I saw weren't all that appealing so I continued on a little ways to Seminole Canyon State Park near Comstock.

The campground was on the top of a very large hill. The sites were quite nice, with a covered picnic table, which provided some protection from the sun but none whatsoever from the wind!

Arriving at Seminole Canyon in the early evening of February 19th, it was too late in the day to hike the trail to the canyon, a six mile roundtrip, but it wasn't too late to catch a wonderful sunset!

Velo Conversations

Over the past two days I have been cycling a lot around town on various errands. It's been cold but sunny, and the roads are entirely clear of snow. Cycling down a main road, I often get the feeling that I just want to keep going and going, picking up speed until I am faster than all the cars and not stopping until I reach some mysterious far-off place, like Western Massachusetts. Alas, there were errands to do.

One nice thing about winter cycling, is the availability of bike parking. In the summer, all the bike racks next to or even near the post office are usually full. But nowadays I am one of the few bicycles there.

Interestingly, the racks outside my favourite grocery store are full even in winter. When I came out of the store, there was a woman waiting for me next to my bike who wanted to ask some questions about it. She was riding a "winter bike" - an aluminum mountain bike with very wide knobby tires - and complained that it was much too slow, and that the chain often came off. How was mine? I summarised for her everything that I've described here, and she was excited - until she asked me about the price. She then told me that she is "not in a position to afford a bicycle in that price range". I asked how much her winter bike cost. The price she told me was 60% of what my Pashley cost. I decided to leave it at that, rather than get into a long conversation about "value".

This was one of several unexpected velo-conversations with strangers that I've had over the past few days. The second one happened when I was stopped at a red light. A cyclist on a road bike pulled up next to me, said hello, and asked whether I was riding an electric assist bike. "Oh no, it's just a regular bike," I said - secretly offended that someone would even think it was electric assist. He then asked what the hub on my front wheel was for, and I explained about dynamo-powered lighting. This seemed to be a new concept for the roadbike cyclist and he was pleased to learn about it.

I wonder now how many others who see me cycling think that I have electric assist on my bike because of that front hub! Hopefully, as city bikes with good lighting and drum brakes become more popular, such misunderstandings should decrease. As it is, even Shimano is all about dynamo hubs and drum brakes - as this advert I recently saw attests. It is nice to see a large manufacturer embrace the image of the upright city bicycle in its ads: It is a good indicator that city and transport bicycles have a future in mainstream cycling.

But the third conversation I had took the cake: I went to a cafe to do some work, and locked my bike outside in a way that was visible from the cafe windows. As I settled in with my coffee, a group of older ladies began a conversation with me that basically consisted of disturbing admonitions about all the horrible things that could happen to me on a bike. One of them had a grandson who was hit by a truck. Another knew "at least six young people" who had been involved in gruesome cycling accidents. And so on. I assured them that I was very careful on my bike and somehow managed to politely disentangle myself from the conversation. But my goodness, it is frustrating that cycling seems to invite unsolicited advice of this sort. On the one hand, I know that it's because people "care". But on the other hand, there is a fine line between "caring" and relishing an opportunity to dispense advice. I try to keep that in mind.

The Surly Cross Check: a Colourful Build

Two months ago, the Co-Habitant got a Surly Cross Check frame that he wanted to build up as a fun on/off road bike around a touring wheelset with fat tires that we already had in our possession. He is getting a nice roadbike later this summer (waiting for the frame to be finished!), and the Surly was meant to be "the other bike" - a playful, go-anywhere bike built around an inexpensive frame, mostly using components we already had. He swiftly put the bike together and has now cycled about 500 miles on it. The Cross Check is technically a cyclocross frame, but it is versatile and can also be used for touring and commuting. Given its unusual build, we've had many questions about this bike and so I offer a review on the Co-Habitant's behalf.





The most noteworthy aspect of the build, is that we were able to fit the frame withSchwalbeFat Frank tires and metal fenders. This looks great, and the tires feel awesome, but to tell the truth the whole thing was a pain. The Cross Check is described as being able to fit tires up to 45mm with fenders, but the Fat Franks are 50mm. It was a tight fit that required some DIY. Initially we wanted to useBerthoudsteel fenders, which are available in 700Cx60mm, but the Co-Habitant was not impressed with their quality upon seeing them in person. He also dislikes plastic fenders and did not want to use SKS. In the end he decided to get the Velo Orange Zeppelin 700c x 52mm fenders (which are rated for 42mm tire), and "massage" them to fit.





Out of the box,the fenders were too tight: The edges touched the sides of the tires and there was not enough space under the brake bridge and behindthe seat tube to mount them high. So, the fenders had to beopened up. But when you open up a fender that's 52mm, it no longer follows the line of a 700C tire, instead making the opening much smaller. So while opening the fender, it had to also be stretched out - taking care not to crimpthe edges. To do this, he used a flat low table holding the fender upside down against its surface and pressing down gently, rolling it end to end - opening and pressing down. Pressing down would close the fender and opening it would alter the curvature, so the back and forth balanced out the opposing forces.





For the front fender there was sufficientclearance underneath the fork crown, but inthe rear there was less clearance - thebrake bridge is quite low and thechainstays are short. He had to dent the top of the rear fender (which isn'tvisible) in order to get it closer to the brake bridge, then fabricate a customcircular-L-bracket to hold the fender in place, screwed into the eyeletof the brake bridge. To dent the fender, he placed it on some clothing on the top edge of the back of achair, then hit it with a rubberized end of a pedal wrench, creating agrooved dimple. He also had to dentthe ends so that they wouldn't pinch near the bottom bracket.It was a bit of an ordeal, and if you are going to attempt this beware that it is easy to ruin the fender - it may not be a risk worth taking.





Happily, the "massaging" was a success and the Cross-Check looks great with the fat cream tires and the VO Zeppelin fenders. The ride is fast and cushy, and the Co-Habitant is discovering just how addictive wide tires are. On the downside, the clearances between the tires and fenders are so tight, that the set-up is not really practical for serious off-road cycling: stuff can get caught in there and cause problems. But for fire trails and gravel paths it is fine, and if he decides to do anything more serious (like the D2R2!), he will remove the fenders.





The rest of the build for this bicycle has mostly already been described here, but a few changes have been made since then. The original shortish stem has been replaced with a 9cm stem, flipped upside down. The original yellow cloth tape got filthy and tattered fairly quickly, so we replaced it with Fizik tape. Initially, the cloth tape was supposed to be shellacked to a warm caramel - but the bright yellow looked so "right" on this bike, that it began to seem like an inherent part of its personality and he decided to keep it that way. He also added a frame pump, lamenting the lack of pump peg and using a strap to hold it in place.





After two years in a lukewarm relationship with his BrooksFlyer saddle, he decided to sell it and replace it with a Berthoudtouring saddle - the male version of the one I now have on my Rivendell. So far he loves it.





He fitted the bike with theCarradicebag that used to be on his old bike.





It now has a patch on it, to cover the tear that happened as a result of the bag rubbing over the brake cable on his old bike.





He affixed a CatEyeheadlight to a braze-on on the front fork, and a SpanningaPixeo tail light to the rear fender.






He tried to liberate himself from clipless pedals and rode the bike with touring pedals for a few weeks, but ultimately could not take it anymore and put his old clipless pedals back on. Fair enough, but this does limit the versatility he originally had in mind for the bike.




After riding theSurlyCross Check for two months, his main feedback is that the bike is faster than he expected - even with the wide tires and a bunch of weight in the saddlebag. While initially he intended to use the Cross Check in conjunction with his oldMotobecaneuntil he got his new roadbike, theMotobecane was retired as soon as he started riding theSurly- no need for it, since the Cross Check did everything it could do and more. He does not find the bike sluggish, and it seems that the tubing is just right for someone of his stature (6ft/ 200lb+). Overall, he is pretty happy. Though he likes lugs, he also likes a nicely done TIG-welded frame and theSurlysuits him just fine.





My take on his Cross Check... I think it is a well-made, attractive frame for the price and I am glad that he finds it comfortable and fast. To be honest, I think that at least to some extent this build was not so much about practicality, as about doing a fun and challenging project using a bunch of components that we had acquired but had no use for. If the original purpose of the bike was off-road, then the tire+fender combo with such tight clearances does not really make sense. I have a feeling that he will end up using it mainly on the road, because I can't imagine him bothering to remove and reinstall the fenders every time he wants to take it on serious trails. And this means that when he gets his long-awaited road frame later this summer, the functionalities of the two bikes will overlap considerably. Not that there's anything wrong with that. But given how much he likes theSurlyI am almost worried that he might be disappointed with the special bike he's waiting for. Well, hopefully not.



On a more general note, while the Cross Check is clearly versatile enough for commuting and touring, I wonder whether many cyclists actually use it for cyclocross racing. I have a hard time imagining that, given how relatively heavy it is - even the floor models with narrower tires and sportier components. But maybe I'm just biased from having handled too many lightweight bikes recently.



The SurlyCross Check is a fun bike with a cult following, and it is particularly impressive how customisable the frame is. With its happy colours, fat cream tires, elegant fenders and classic touring accessories, the Co-habitant's Cross Check is distinctly his own.