New Outside Column!

Still not done with vacation.  Hard to form words.  I did make an Outside thing though and here it is:

There are no crappy bikes, just crappy people. 

Even so, I did not take a department store bike on my vacation.  Instead, after much deliberation, I decided to take my vintage new-to-me "forever bike" instead of the Jones:


Overall, I'm very pleased with my choice.  For one thing, I must confess I've grown to positively adore this (almost) 20 year-old hunk of titanium and I'm relishing riding it on a daily basis.  For another, this is a family vacation and realistically I wasn't going to be undertaking the sorts of all-day explorations for which the Jones is best suited anyway.  Instead I'm waking up early, undertaking short jaunts, and then spending the rest of the day swimming and grilling--and when you're carefully rationing your leisure time a road bike is the way to go.  (Indeed, carefully rationing your leisure time is the very essence of being a roadie, a default state that, for all my be-jorted ramblings, I seem unable to escape.)

Finally, speaking of the Jones, as I mentioned I will be giving away the SWB:


Rest assured I've been meditating on how best to do so during my vacation, and you can expect a formal announcement as to how you can put forth a claim on this bike in the coming days.

Okay, that's enough mental effort from me.  Getting hard to think and type.  Back to vacapaoierapais,,,,,,apdse