Many things

Wow, lot's of little things happened in the past month. Let's start with a serious thing. I've got a new little job. It involves bikes, offers variation and pays well enough. Insiders will know the rest of the story by now.

The Q451 became a Q559. I've bought parts from various sellers and with those I've built a wheel set of 1700gram. 100gram lighter than the stock 451 set. The rims are quite heavy at nearly 500gram, but they are affordable. The hubs are from e-bay and together weigh less than 400gram. The spokes are 'Lasers' from Sapim. For tyres I used as wide as possible, 28mm Conti GP, from Dutch Bike Bits.

This upgrade make the Q better at long day rides. And to make it even better for it's new role, I've given it the Pioneers TF. The Pio now is easier to use in and around town. And with the slender Fuego rack mounted at to the seat of it, it looks great. For an unknown reason, there's no photo of that yet.

Winter has finally arrived here. With it come the good things as bright skies and clear roads. Until today that is. Snow is pretty though. The low temperatures do slow you down. The engine performes less with the cold air and tyres lose their suppleness. Despite all this, my Evo K still is fast. With -10, it's as 'slow' as my Mango was with +25 and a minor tailwind.

Now with all the snow though, I'll use my winter bike, the Oke-ja. Slow, yes. But I need the daily doses of riding.

For the last months, every time that I went for a ride, I've been pushing quite hard. And that 'training' seems to work. I feel stronger than I did in 2011. Downside is that I've lost 1-2kg. The poolwater is cold....

Well, that was it for this little post. I'll leave you with a photo from my up-graded Cruzbike. I'll be back soon with more.