off roading in the cold

i rode on wednesday morning at the 'wood and it was fun. it was the first time that i got out on the new flash 29er and it was an impressive ride. i am still working some bugs out. the shifters were actually very sluggish from the cold (i rode the bike around on the warm days last week and they were perfect). i confirmed that the stem is still too short. and even though i can run tubed tires at 25lbs of pressure, i need to lace up the stan's crest rims and get 'em un-tubed.

i rode at the 'wood again today. i had the foresight to squirt the shifters with tri-flow and the sluggish, no-click action was replaced with good shifting and loud clicks. i also had the foresight to put hand warmers in my gloves (and in my booties) which kept them warm! wow, for the first time in my LIFE i rode with warm hands and feet at 32 degrees. (thanks, dirk!) and, by the way, 32 degrees became 35 degrees by ride's end and the trail softened. that was my cue to bug out of there. when i got home, my longer c'dale SI stem was in the mail ($13 on ebay, yeehaw) so next time i off-road i'll have all of my check list checked except the lacing of the new rims.