Nothing…

One of the blogs I read on a regular basis is written by Dave Moulton. Dave is a retired frame builder who made frames for Masi and under his own Fuso brand. I really enjoyed his latest post “The Art of Doing Nothing.” For me that’s something I can do pretty easily. However, when I purposefully try to do nothing, empty my mind, and relax, I tend to just fall asleep and wake up with a stiff neck.

I headed out this morning for a ride out to Tomales Point. To say it was foggy out there is a huge understatement. With visibility below 100′ and no traffic at all on this holiday day, there was plenty of time to pretty much do nothing but pedal surrounded by the thick fog. It was overcast all the way out and back until about Inverness Park when the fog just disappeared into a bright, sunny, beautiful winter day. Winter still, yes, but today there was no evidence of the season. I enjoyed my favorite cappuccino at Toby’s post-ride and baked in the warm sun.

I gotta say the more time I spend on the proto-type Black Mountain Cycles road frame, the more I totally dig it. I’m running Continental Grand Prix 4-Season 28 tires at 80 psi in front and 82 psi in back. The smoothness is immediately felt and their ability to soften the farm roads that are pretty beaten up is excellent.

Another spot they really shine is on the descent. Anyone familiar with the ride out of Inverness to the seashore knows about the hill that ascends Inverness Ridge – Ottinger’s Hill. It’s a bit of a grind ascending, but it’s the descent that is the challenge to the hill. Pocked with potholes and broken road surface, the wider tire is more secure in getting to the bottom of the hill without damage to the tire/wheel. The wider tires also put a little more rubber on the road with a larger contact patch (compared to 23mm wide tires) and the 28’s really handle well bombing downhill through corners. Descending Ottinger’s Hill back to Inverness, there is one turn that is off-camber and a decreasing radius – a very challenging corner to take at the posted speed limit of 35mph. But with the bigger tires (and knowing the line), it’s a breeze and super fun.

(What’s playing: A Jonathan Winters clip on Cruisin’ the 50’s on KWMR. There are few people as funny as Jonathan Winters in improv mode.)