Wind-ed, and another "gripping" tale

As much as I try to not gripe about weather, I'm going to gripe about weather a bit.

I'm tired of wind for the moment. It seems that I often have a headwind on my way to work, AND it turns around to give me extra challenges on the way home.

To be fair, it's probably coming from the north enough that it slows me in parts of each trip. Still, a 15-knot wind gusting to 25 or 30kts from varying directions is a bit more than I would say I enjoy.

At least the heavy rain yesterday hit while I was at work instead of on my bike. I didn't have to hole up in a store or something until the worst passed--which took a while.

Yesterday's ride to work was on the Globe, with the Ergon grips. The more I ride those grips, the more I like them on that bike. The differences between them and the stock grips are subtle at first, but become more significant with time. The Ergon grips are much stiffer than the Specialized ones, giving me better support (helpful for one who weighs over 220 pounds). They also stay where I put them, whereas the Specialized ones were twisting on me at times (maybe I'm putting too much weight on my bars?).

Since I had the Globe at the store yesterday, I got to show off the grips to a customer who had his bike in for its 90-day checkup (always a free service with any new bike sale). He got intrigued at the idea, and wanted to see what other grips Ergon offered. I showed him the ones I could get through Quality Bicycle Products, and he opted to have me order a pair for his Rockhopper.

I know full well that being part of the Commuter Team means I try to sell the product line. It was cool to see how it works as a bike shop guy--again. I often get to sell stuff to customers because I use that product myself--the "knowledgeable authority" advertising bit at its best, personal level.