I went for a ride on Sunday afternoon. The first big street by my house has brand new blacktop, and when you're not in the heat of summer it is excellent. It was perfectly smooth and silent so that riding on it was almost like flying. Too bad it won't make it through the winter like that...

The wind was out of the south at 25 miles per hour with gusts up to 40-50. I kept thinking if I could only get down the road how cool it would be to ride back. I did what amounted to a two mile hard sprint at 10mph. My heart rate was probably pushing 200 and my legs felt like I was doing squats. I was going uphill coming up on a house with a dog that likes to chase so I gave up and pulled over.

The cool thing about drop handlebars is that I can lay on them with my chest on top, my head hanging over my front tire, and my arms in the drops. It's much more comfortable to collapse like that than on straight bars. I leaned on the bike that way for a few minutes and sucked all the oxygen I could until I recovered, then I turned around and headed home.

Riding with at 25mph tailwind is a pretty cool experience. It had enough of a cross component that steering was difficult, but keeping pace with the leaves blowing down the road made it all worthwhile.

I put new tape on the Peugeot handlebar. I used the outside-in technique from this NYVC youtube video:
NYVC Bike Basics: Bar Tape

Picture of yellow bar tape

I did a little bike work today, replaced two chains and some general cleaning, and I took the bar ends off the old Diamond Back. I don't know if I'll put them on the Schwinn, I'd have to chop up the grips so I think I'll wait until it's time to replace those.

Just for fun I took a 700Cx38 wheel and put it on the mountain bike. 700C wheels will fit on that frame with a around an inch of clearance to the steerer tube on the fork. (On this fork the steerer tube extends down past where the legs of the fork attach.) If I needed more room I could grind off the bottom of the steerer tube. I didn't put a big wheel on the back, but the back has more room than the front, with the possible exception of the chainstay-mounted brake.

So if I didn't have anything else to do I would rebuild this old mountain bike into either a fixie or a cyclecross champion. I should start by taking it apart and sand blasting the frame. I could do that and powder coat it, then paint it later if it works out.

I'm also curious to know if I can put the crank rings - Shimano BioPace 28-38-48 - on the Peugeot road bike. I would lose top end going from the 52 that I have, but I would be able to climb hills.