Well I rode in the first day of work (I work Tues-Fri). Good ride - especially after 8 hrs of weed whacking yesterday. Yea, three weeks after our 'once in a century' rains stop the fire inspectors are coming around reminding us that it's time for brush clearance because it will be a bad fire season. And I had to swap my 32mm, 100 psi Panaracer Tourguard tires for some mongo, no name 38's. Turns out the Panaracers gummy, compliant sidewalls weren't up to all the rocks and gravel that have been washed out onto the shoulders this winter. Both front and rear were lost to sidewall cuts before the casting imperfections were even worn off. The front flatted when I was decending at night. Not cool. So on went the meaty, beefy, big and bouncy no name 38's I had lying around. The side wall says max 65 psi, but they seemed to handle 80 psi without incident. They laugh at broken pavement, frost heaves, the aforementioned rocks and gravel, as well as road kill up to 15 lbs. And they didn't slow me down like I thought they would.

Anyway, my goal is to ride the 30 miles to work every day this week. We'll be having great weather for it. After reading about Christie's commute over plowed roads - let alone the portages over the unplowed sections - I'm feeling a bit guilty and very blessed. And by the way Christie, I wouldn't dare leave in the morning without the bar end mirror on my mustache bars.

DanO