Challenge Course

The other night, Kate wanted someone to go for a walk with her. This doesn't happen often, so I got her quickly out the door before she changed her mind. Rather than pace around the neighborhood, we headed for the metro park. On approach, we did an excited fist bump when we saw that the challenge course was finally open.

Clem Again

Regular reader(s) may recall that I journeyed up to Ann Arbor to buy a Rivendell Clem Smith Jr last summer. That particular bike ride didn't end particularly well--I didn't care for the Clem's bars, hated the tires, found the saddle too painful to ride, and was frustrated by the poor shifting. At the end of a summer of biking and tinkering, I was too fatigued to deal with rebuilding the Clem to my specs, so I shipped it off to the distant land of my birth (Oregon).

I still had a thing for Clem, though. After selling my Stache, my bike fund was again flush. I was half heartedly looking at a Chinese carbon frame (again), but couldn't find the motivation to order anything. But when a Clem frame popped up on ebay, my bidding finger flew into action without hesitation. And that's how I ended up with Clem #2, in a color not as nice as my previous Clem's mustard gold, in paint that is significantly more beat up... but with part picks that are my own.