NEW GRIPS! and end of March mileage numbers

 As noted, I have had a chance to ride my new Ergon grips a bit. I put thirty-five miles or so on them Wednesday, and a round trip to work yesterday. In short, I'm quite pleased. The stock grips on my Vienna were not bad--they certainly look like someone learned from the same school as got Ergon going--but they lacked some support on the "wing." The stock grips tended to spin on the bar just enough to be problematic over longer rides, too. The Ergon grips have a built-in clamp that prevents such spin, and a firmer "wing" to better support the heel of my hand. The subtle reshaping closer to the thumb also makes a difference in my hand comfort.

I went ahead and ordered a pair of the BioKork grips for the Raleigh. My least favorite thing about the Raleigh is the mountain bike grips that are on it now--they have never been but so tolerable, especially over any distance. The BioKork have an assortment of features that appeal to me--the raw materials are more carefully selected than what is in most grips, and of course they are Ergon grips, thus more comfortable than most if not all others out there.

Now to find the old headlight brackets for that bike, as the CygoLite I was using on it is now on the Vienna. I can't justify buying a new dyno-powered light for that bike just yet, even though the Dynohub on the bike puts out the same voltage and wattage as many of the newer dyno-powered lights are designed to take. Maybe soon, though--I like the idea of lights with no battery recharging issues. The long-range plan for the Vienna (and for Jenn's Live) may eventually include dyno hubs and lights.

And now for the numbers:

Total bike miles 2011 YTD: 1785
Total bike miles that might have been car miles: 1547.
Total March miles: 806 (second highest number since I started recording over a year ago--highest number was July 2010 with 812 or so)

Yeah, I almost went out for a fifteen-mile ride after I got home last night. I figured I had another goal for next March this way, though.

Total miles for 2010, January through the end of May: 1838. I'm about two months ahead of where I was last year. We plan on doing a fair number of club rides and other preparation for things like Bike Virginia and RAIN, so I'll be putting out some pedaling in the coming weeks.