I've had to disable the comments for now as I'm starting to get spam in them. I'm working on getting a new feedback script working that should solve the problem

I took the Pinarello out for a ride along with a Friends for Life Bike rally training ride today. It's about 50 km from Finch station and since I rode up there and back it was about 80 km or thereabouts total. The weather was perfect, cool but sunny. The riders were great as well and I was able to hook up with a relatively fast crew. The Friends for Life Bike rally supports HIV/AIDs research with an annual ride from Toronto to Montreal. You can find out more here www.bikerally.org. I've never done it myself, but contribute to people who do. My friend Mike didn't roll out of bed in time for the ride today (his loss). The Pinarello behaved very well and I think I've almost got it dialed in.

I did forget how bad roads are in the Yonge and Finch area, though, and smacked a couple of large potholes. Also some of the motorists were confused by a bike on the road. Unfortunately I knee-jerked my signal finger a couple of times which detracted from an otherwise pleasurable ride through some beautiful areas.

I did forget my sunscreen though and I felt a little baked when I got back. I wanted to get the Vision out for a quick scoot and may just end up doing that tomorrow morning.

First time off road in, what, nearly 15 years? First time with suspension? First time with clipless? I did a lot better than I thought on my inaugural ride on Devil Strip Rollers, the dirt version. Some of the old reflexes started coming back by the end of the ride: don't look at your wheel, use your rear brake, but being able to coast is still taking some getting used to. A few foot dabs that didn't need to happen, but still it was a lot of fun. And I didn't hold Ted, Wes, and Andre back too much. Although I think the bar ends need to go, on a SS speed as soon as I move to the bar ends, I'm doomed anyway. Think momentum, Cam

Well, the first foray back into mountain biking was less than glorious. Chris Pyzer and I met at the trail-head of the Don for a ride, but I got a flat tire just before arriving.

Of course I didn't have a pump, patch or tube with me. But thanks to the amazing Doug, a random cyclist by who went home and got a tube and returned with it, I got back on the trail. It's people like Doug who restore my faith in human nature.

However, shortly afterwards I got another flat. This is surely a sign from the Great Magnet that I am not to go mountain biking today. After arriving home I discovered the culprit, which is what I had suspected. I used these rims for touring and had put a brass insert into the rim to convert from Schrader to Presta valves. At the lower pressure of the mountain bike tire, the tube sheared along the insert, cutting the valve as it inserts into the tube. So it's back to Schrader valves for me. An inauspicious end to what has been a pretty good day.

I'm starting to get a few project finished of late. The first is the single speed conversion of my old Bianchi Grizzly II.

I've had this thing since '89 and we've been through a lot together. It was my my Saskatchewan offroad machine, my commuter when I first moved to Toronto, my touring bike in Newfoundland and BC, and now it's returned to it's roots, minus a few bits.

The Mag21 fork is new to the bike, a Craigslist purchase, tuned up by Phil at Cycletherapy, but everything else is old (school). The Hite-Rite, the Scott Mathauser pads, even the Panaracer Karthoum on the front wis circa late 80's (which may not be my wisest idea in the case of the tire, but it looks fine). It'll be hitting the trails this Tuesday on the dirt version of devil strip rollers.

The next one is completely new, both to the fleet and to me. It's a Vision R65 short wheel base recumbent.

I got this, again off Craigslist, for touring mostly. The Bianchi (see above) was super heavy, and a bit of a white knuckle affair on descents, on tour. I'm just getting it dialed in right now. I've adjusted the boom and chain length and now need to recable it. The brakes are goo right now, as I found out the hard way.

There is definitely a learning curve. When turning you need to coast or else you'll hit your heel on the wheel. Speed bumps are also interesting as your feet go straight down when you hit a bump with your fleet slipping off. So clipless pedals are next.

But it's fun so far. I need to spend some more time riding it to get used to it, particularly when turning. It'll be great for summer touring though!