Called it

We had two wonderful days of 40 degrees plus this weekend.  I ran a bunch of errands on Robert Saturday, and there were tons of people on bikes out and about.  It was so warm I ended up shedding even my vest and my gloves and soaked in the sun.  I gave Robert a long-delayed bath,  and this time it was warm enough for me to actually do some scrubbing and get some of the grime out of the nooks and crevices.  I also re-adjusted the kickstand which keeps getting out of whack (probably due to the lack of a proper kickstand bridge).  Saturday I rode the DL over to Open Bicycle and met Filigree from Lovely Bicycle and Somervillian, and Luke, who I've just met, to talk about DL1's and vintage bikes in general.  It was great to put voices and faces to some people who I feel like I've "met" already through the interwebs.


Unfortunately one of the things we talked about is that the chain case which I had laboriously stripped bare of paint was not actually going to fit the DL,  so I was going to have to re-paint it, and try to sell it, and find another one that will fit.
I suppose I should put the Hockey stick back on for now,  but the chain case is really a deal breaker for me on almost any bike, as I think its an essential part of being able to jump on the bike in any clothing at any time.


I hadn't been to Open before (although I'd evidently ridden by a lot without noticing- it's kind of hidden underground).
The people were very friendly, and it was nice of them to provide space for us to hang out for hours.  They had some beautiful frames for sale-  nothing that would really work for me,  but great to ogle.
My favorite was this beauty with carbon fiber tubes with chromed lugs-  The sleek grey of the carbon is a lovely contrast to the gleam of the chrome.  If only it had been close to my size it might not have mattered that it was a diamond frame!

Sunday we cleaned the house and I had a chance to visit with an out of town friend and her son for the afternoon- it was a nice lazy day full of cups of tea, a dog on my lap, and a good book.


Well, it was too good to last.  This morning I woke up to the radio announcing 3-6 inches of heavy wet slushy snow for this morning.  Blech.  I wasn't really thinking of riding, but when the scientist came in from shoveling, he said it was especially slippery and nasty and cars were sliding around in it, and  I definitely shouldn't ride.    It was a good call, because I honestly had a hard time walking from the T to work- would have been much worse on a bike.  The snow was slippery and heavy,  devolving to slushy-newsprint colored saline puddles at intersections  and there was a howling wind that was so strong, I had to stop or be blown  over a couple of times.  Fortunately as a pedestrian, we have these nice flat pathways,  completely separated from the cars,  so that if you do happen to fall over, you're not in danger of getting run over by a multi-ton vehicle ;)