September is almost over!

I've been riding the Globe to the New Rider Clinic that Jenn is teaching, in part to have a bike that is a bit more like the bikes the students are riding. ALL the members of this class are riding road bikes, which is something of a first for me. I'm used to seeing a hybrid or three and a mountain bike or two--one guy in our last class had a BikeE recumbent bicycle. Jenn rode her Vanguard two weeks ago, and her Globe last week and this week.

Riding that bike at night is starting to be a hassle for her. The headlight bracket I rigged isn't working so well--her headlight is heavy enough that it points down after the bike goes over a bump or two. I already have the hub for her dyno system on hand, and expect the headlight to arrive tomorrow. I should be able to rebuild her front wheel on the dyno hub this weekend or early next week, so that she will be able to leave the battery behind by next Thursday evening. I may even mount her a set of Ergon grips by then, so that she can enjoy the comfort they offer.

On the Ergon grips thing: I found a problem with them, or, more accurately, with the bar-end plugs Ergon supplies with their grips. They don't fit smaller inside-diameter handlebars well. The plugs Ergon supplies with their grips have a core surrounded by fins that are supposed to fit inside the end of the handlebar. This makes the bar look a bit neater, and helps reduce the chance that a handlebar would act as a corer if I land on it in a crash. Some grips are closed-ended, which covers the end of the bar, but Ergon grips are not. The "fins" on their bar plugs are brittle enough that they break off easily, and the plug won't stay in the end of the handlebar.

For a while, I was noting seasonal firsts. I didn't get around to noting on here that last Friday (or Fried-day, as I'm wont to spell it) I rode to work in full rain gear for the first time this fall. I even used my winter shoe covers to keep my feet from getting horribly wet. Of course, I am discovering that my rain pants are not as good as I thought they were...

My total bicycle miles for 2010 stood at 5744 and some tenths. I expect to surpass that number in CO2 miles some time Sunday or Monday. I already have just shy of 6300 bicycle miles for 2011. Maybe next year I'll get to do some more club riding and boost those numbers even further.