Diablo ride with Bikeforums

The last 200 yards (correction: DiabloScott, master of all things Diablo, insists it's 300 meters) of Mt. Diablo is an 18% straight-up grunt. It's hard enough without having climbed almost 4000 feet just to get there. So Lanceoldstrong and I sprinted. It was a blast.

The NorCal Bikeforums "Work off the turkey" ride was quite an event. It's always fun to see old friends, but toss in the weather and the wind and it becomes quite an event.

I left home in 45 degree overcast. It was mid 60s at the start. I'd worried I'd overdressed. It was warm climbing, but then the wind kicked in and I was glad to be in by knickers.

The weather station there reported:
11am Windspeed 47mph; Peak windspeed 62mph.

All in all, major fun.

Fenderized at last

I gave in to winter and bought fenders for my commuter bike. I'd been stalling because fenders aren't cool, I didn't want to have to take them off when I go mountain biking, and my bike didn't look like an easy fit.
But wet is... wet, and just how cool did I think I looked before? So I went ahead. I got advice from the commuter forum to not get clip ons, so I went with Planet Bike Hardcore Hybrids. They were even on sale!

I'm not much of a modifier kinda guy, but the help I got on BikeForums.net made me brave.

I ended up drilling a small hole in the bottom back of my fork crown to attach the fender with a very short sheet metal screw and a bunch of washers.

I also bought longer bolts so I could fit the rack and fender in my rear eyelets. (Hardware stores have a zillion bolts that all look alike. Thankfully the hardware store dude was helpful or I'd have bought the wrong size)

I also used zip ties. Everything looks good and doesn't rattle.

The mounting process took way too long. I had thought I'd remove them if I was going to put on my fat tire wheels for mountain biking, but now I realize I'm never going to want to mess with the fender mounting pain again, so they'll stay on all year, forever.

I have discovered that taking the rear wheel off to fix a flat is now a bit of a pain.

I'm also sure I'm causing a drought by being prepared for rain. But at least my bike looks even more dorky than before.