Bus, bus, and bus some more.

I did a quick change into my steamy clothes, still slightly dank from the rain this morning. 8 hours just isn't long enough to dry clothes out on hangers under a desk. I felt like I was running a little bit late, so I bounded to the mountain bike, threw the wheel back into the fork and tightened everything up, transitioning into a wicked running saddle mount.

This bike absolutely, positively must endure the entire winter. I found myself marooned several times last winter when I used the slick tires on mild mornings, only to get ambushed by a freak mid-day snow storm. That's simply not going to happen this winter. With the exception of recreational rides on mild days, the Sorrento will be my only bike through the winter.

The engineer within me is still in test-to-failure mode with the Sorrento. Yesterday, almost 20 miles were logged without any hint of trouble. Now it's time to see if it's up to the challenge of winter terrain. On my way to the bus, I hopped every curb in sight. I bombed through potholes. I tore through sandy, rocky patches where urban erosion coalesces. I tactfully hurdled over the myriad pavement divots of the blighted blacktop. As brutal as it sounds, I need to make sure that I can't break this bike from the saddle, and these are the closest conditions analogous to winter. Soon I will be met with treacherous and inescapable ruts, boulders formed of snowpack and ice, slushy washout zones and curbs that materialize out of nowhere. My Sorrento passed the tests with flying colors. There's no way that any other steed in my stable would have answered my punishment by begging for more the way the Sorrento did this evening. I am satisfied that it will last.

Tomorrow morning, I'll be up to the same old bus routine. I have something to do in the morning that will cause some delays. The temperatures are also supposed to be plummeting down into the 40's again. With that, I'm doing another trip to the bus. I've got the Outlook geared up and ready to rock. 3 days. 3 different bikes. Depending on various factors, I may end up riding the Outlook all the way home. It's too early to tell. As I type this, my Trek 1200 is staring at me from across the room. I think it realizes that its days of being the daily commuter are temporarily numbered.

Random Tunage:
Peter Cetera - Restless Heart
Madonna - Frozen