Waiting through the long dark midwestern winters.is rough. In late fall, when the sun starts going down early and the weather gets bad, you have all these memories from summer about changing this or that to get better gearing or different bars or whatever ideas popped into your head during your rides. Then you start putting things together and have everything assembled just the way you imagined to have the most comfortable, perfect shifting ride, only to realize there are still three more months before the weather is decent enough for a proper test ride. Sure, you could get bundled up and venture out in the cold, but it's hard to get a proper evaluation when you are encumbered by three extra layers, dodging potholes and ice patches. It is especially tough when you bought a new-to-you bike in the fall and it needed work to make it ridable, so you never got a chance to see if it was going to be worth the effort. There have been winters where I have built up a bike, then took it back apart and changed it without ever riding the first configuration. All due to an over active mind and not enough riding time. Hopefully, there are a few nice days to squeeze a ride in before March.

My latest project, purchased in September. It needed some work before I could ride it, so I only got a 10 mile shake down before the crappy weather set in. I'm already contemplating changes for next year. I have all the racks for loaded touring, but I'll never use it for that. Cannondale frames used to be the same across the line, so maybe I'll remove the racks and go with a sport-touring setup with a tri-color group. But I could change my mind a couple more times before spring.

1990? Cannondale ST400