brrrr

today started off warm enough. kinda drizzling, but at least it wasn't cold, right?

i had to take the opal on it's maiden voyage. i was just dying to get out on it. i took all my stuff to work with me so i could ride at 5. anthony was down with that, so i had an accomplice. getting closer to 5, the wind started blowing, the skies got darker, it got colder...typical. there were even rain drops when we started out the door. geez.

so we pedaled into the impending winter storm (or so it felt like) on our usual after-work loop. it wasn't so bad. it was only drizzle. the traffic was really a bigger hassle than the weather, except for the occasional gust that would nearly blow anthony off the road.

first impressions? i love the bike. i see why everyone is so wild about carbon now. it felt great to get out of the saddle and climb. smooth ride, too. great choice, i think. and it even looks good!

anthony and i pressed on, past the crazed suv drivers and dump trucks and lawn service vehicles. we didn't really hit it hard, no real reason to. we complained a LOT on the way back to the shop along edison. the wind was vicious. but we were both glad to have ridden.

i also got the chance to weigh the oiz frame today, too. 4.93 lbs. yes, the lightest full suspension frame i have ever personally put onto a scale. i didn't know it was supposed to be that light, so let's call it a bonus!

i called the kaiser tonight. word on the streets says he is selling the super-insane intense spider that i showcased a while back on these very pages. a 20-ish pound full suspension rig? you got it. he even had it custom anodized and had push industries revalve the shock on it for added performance. i'll keep you weight weenies posted about it when he pulls the trigger. anyway, the fork he is using on that bike is also worked over pretty well. it's a sid that gets nearly 90mm of plush travel, which is usually not said in the same sentence together. he did the work himself. so since my oiz came with a sid, and i have never been very fond of them, i'm enlisting the kaiser's help, since he did such a good job on his. i'm sure it will cost me some good mexican food, but a 90mm sid is probably worth more than that.