In our neck of the woods March came in like a lamb. More like a summer lamb to be specific. The crocus are in full bloom and the trees are budding. Yesterday was a short sleeve sunny respite from winter. My wife rode the xtra for the first time with first one kids (morning drop off) and then both kids (afternoon pickup). My daughter wore a short sleeve dress. I was working at home all day while we had some tile work done and watched happily as they zoomed down the street all smiles. My daughter picked out short tights last night to wear. Spring feels like it is here.
Then we woke up this morning and looked outside. Spring is most definitely here! With a vengeance. 30 degrees, foggy and freezing drizzle. Ah, spring in our neck of the woods has arrived. So, happy spring. I'm going to go dig my rain pants back out of the bottom of the backpack before I head to the office. Oh, and where did I put that down jacket?
As a side note. The kids remain ecstatic about riding the xtracycle. It has been pressed into use as much as possible since it was complete. There are a couple of gremlins to work out still though. First, the rear derailer seems a bit weak. When you back pedal the chain sags and skips off the cogs. Gotta just go buy a new one or see if the local community bike place has something. Second, the rear bars are not as solid as I'd like. I used an old specialized stem I inherited from a friend. It's this ridiculous 120 or 130mm length and it is titanium. The metal alone is probably worth more than the stem but it ended up being long enough for a stoker setup. I tried aluminum can strips but the needed shim size was too big for that. I ended up cutting strips from a left over length of galvanized heat ducting that was headed to the recycling bin. Still, three layers just barely made it. It could use another but the metal is so springy it is hard to get it wrapped and the stem over it before the whole thing comes undone. a proper shim would be the way to go but the seatpost/stem combo doesn't yield a premanufactured one. Third, I mucked the headset when I put it in and of course now I'm having issues with that. Trying to do things on the cheap. I kind of miss the old stuff that was heavy enough to be put on with a block of wood and a mallet (yea, I know you were never supposed to do that). Time to source another 1" threadless.
On to the next project though.....
