img_0532Winters in Vermont are cold and snowy, that’s a fact that you can’t get away from no matter how much you’d like to be out riding your bike. However this winter has been particularly cold, I remember being able to get out many more weekends last year.

Finally we had a weekend with some warmer temps, Saturday we had a high of 42 and I had an awesome opportunity to fit in my ride without troubling anyone. Keiran had a birthday party in the village. So my plan was to get all my stuff together, drop him off and head out from the shop. Return to the shop with just enough time to make myself presentable to pick him up. Great plan.

Except when I got down there I realized that I had everything I needed but my jacket, and no time to run back to the house and get it. Luckily it was pretty warm out, so I paired two poly-pro layers with my Oakley riding fleece and I was plenty warm. The biggest issue is that fleece is for mountain biking, and I would describe the color as ‘dirty snow’ so visible I was not.

One9 with new layback post

One9 with new layback post

This ride was the debut of the layback post on the One9 and it made a big difference. The bike felt better and I was happier. I still want to play with the stem a bit and see if I can get it a little bit longer.

Because of the warm temps the dirt roads were sloppy and soon I was covered in wet grit and sand. It was everywhere, all in my pockets, my eyes, my chain. Ugh. Made it back to town and picked up the kid in just enough time.