Those are the best ones I’ve got right now. Click to enlarge. I’ll be posting more in the future as I do more with the bike. We’re supposed to get even more snow and nasty weather in the near future, but once it get nicer out, I’ll be out and about training and doing stuff.

The first pic shows off the “sand scratch” paint scheme that Specialized has on some of their bikes this year. I kinda like it. All those scratched up looking parts are supposed to be there and are very much under the clear coat.

You bet we do! Irwin’s is sponsoring a Men’s League Hockey game before the last home game of the Iowa Stars’ season in April. Saturday April 7th, the men’s game will be a 4pm, followed by the Stars at 7. Tickets are just $17 and are good for both games. Irwin’s Bike and Sports faces off against Environmental Soultions of Iowa (ESI) and the Stars battle the San Antonio Rampage. Irwin’s own Bill Goodman makes his coaching debut. Tickets available right here at Irwin’s. Come on out and have a fun filled night of hockey with the whole family.

My demo bike for this season showed up, got built up, and was promptly ridden all over on the gravel roads near Ankeny. It’s a beautiful Specialized Tricross, black with a pretty neat paint job. No pics at the moment, but I’ll fix that fairly soon. I had Wednesday and Thursday off, so I took full advantage of the great weather we had. I got in about 2 hours each day, no idea on distances because I haven’t mounted a computer on the bike yet, it’s that new. Thursday was also my birthday, always a good day for a bike ride. Didn’t really do anything too fancy, went to eat at Ohana Steakhouse, rode my bike, and slept in a little. It was my 26th birthday, so no huge milestone to celebrate. I guess that’s all I’ve got for now. Pics of the bike later.

With the snow melting and warmer temps on the way soon, I’m getting even antsier to ride outside. I’ve also ordered a Redline single speed frame that was on blowout. I’ve got some parts to swap on from an old beater mountain bike that doesn’t have much life left in it, and I’m sure I’ll buy a few new parts and have a passable single speed mountain bike. Then the all day gravel rides can begin. That’s my plan anyway, on my days off to load my bike with enough food for an afternoon, and go wander around on gravel roads for 70, 80, 100 miles or more. I’ll throw in some single speeding for cross training, plus lots of fun during the summer.

Hopefully this means spring is coming. Supposedly it’s going to be upper 40s/lower 50s by the end of the week. It’s also supposed to rain though, so who knows how much fun that’ll be to ride in. After that, supposedly it’s going to get cooler again, but definitely not single digits. With some luck the trails will be clear and dry in a few weeks and “normal” riding can resume. With the warmer weather starting to actually get here, it’s time to get your bike in for a preseason tune up before the rush starts. Tune up packages start at $30 and there’s a tune up that fits your bike’s needs. If you need a new bike, now is the time. Good deals on 2006 models as well as a great selection of 2007 models on hand. Come check it out.