That time of year.

In true Wisconsin style, April was flung upon us with a beautiful day with a high of 81F.  So of course I was in classes most of the day.  Hooray.

Anyway, got home, and drug out the hard tail, my trusty Trek 6500,

dusted off the proverbial cobwebs, lubed up the chain and cables and pedals, and went for a short re-familiarization ride.  The standard "there's a pedal around there somewhere, clip dang it!" ride mixed with a touch of "crap am I'm out of shape."

The other fun thing is not only remembering which gear lever does what, but getting over the muscle memory of my usual commuter's brakes.  I easily put the most miles on my beat up old pseudo-track bike;

BIG track ring in front (55 tooth I think...) and a little 16t cog in back, and only a brake up front.  The way to get this rig to stop fast is to slide off the saddle and get your crotch like two inches away from the stem, putting all your weight into that front wheel.  Brakes on the rear make things a bit different to say the least...

I also was thinking about how the price/use relationship on these two bikes is so unlike my guns.  With the exception of .22lr, I easily put more rounds through my most expensive centerfire guns than my cheaper ones.  The bikes, on the other hand, are a completely inverse relationship.  The Trek is by far the most expensive of the bikes I own, but probably gets the least amount of use, where the Kabuki cost me maybe $150 (I put new wheels on it last year) and I use it nearly everyday, as you can tell by the shape of the steel frame.  Three Wisconsin winters have been hard on the girl.  One of these days I'll take it apart as much as I can and give it a good sanding and paint job...

Also, note to all of you people in those big four-wheeled driving contraptions: on your steering column's left side (as you look at it from your seat) is a stick.  It's pointing to your left, and can move up and down.  Moving it up will let those around your machine know you plan to turn right, and down signifies left.  If you would like to avoid bicycle shaped dents in your side panels, try using them.  If your turn signal is on I'm much less likely to try to cut past you as you linger, seemingly lost in thought, at an intersection.