Prep-ride

Saturday, Oct. 30th, 2010
Today I went on my second wet-weather preparation ride. It was pouring, which is what I wanted for the purpose of testing my clothing and gear. The biggest problem is the incursion of rain into the opening in the front of the hood on my jacket. Other than that it all performed pretty well in the nasty weather. Here's a picture of me when I finished. (Notice the fogged glasses.)

Persisting

Thursday, Oct. 28th, 2010
Well, here I am over a year later and still pursuing the same plan. This sticking with an idea for more than a few months may be a first for me.

Over the past year I purchased the Surly Long Haul Trucker along with all the racks and panniers and accoutrements and necessities and crap. With the bike and everything else, I've spent somewhere around $4500. Maybe more. Here's a photo of all of it:

The Surly was purchased from Freerange Cycles (http://www.freerangecycles.com/) in Fremont. Best bike shop I've found in the Seattle area. Kathleen and Andrew are great. Visit them if you're in Seattle and in the market for a new bike or bike maintenance.

The racks and panniers were purchased from TheTouringStore.com. They're a great operation, too.

All the other stuff was purchased from REI, Fred Meyer, Army Navy Surplus, Patagonia, Harris Cyclery, Bike Tires Direct, Sierra Trading Post, Performance Bicycle, JBC Knives, Adventure Cycling, backcountry.com and Rite Aid.