Well folks, it has been a bad couple of weeks for me with respect to bicycles but I think I'm on the road to recovery :-) I've been considering getting a beater bike for some time now just so I wouldn't end up destroying my Madone 5.9 during the rainy season. I just acted a little too slowly and disaster struck.... I came home from an MVV club ride in the rain one Saturday and washed my bike down in the front yard. Then I put it up on the workstand and started drying it off, cleaning the chain and putting Quick Clean on the metal parts to keep them from rusting. As I was pampering my beautiful bike I noticed a crack in the bottom bracket where the seat tube butts on. The crack went all the way around the seat tube / bottom backet assembly and looked pretty jagged. I took it down to Palo Alto Bikes, where I bought it, and they confirmed that the bike needed to go back to Trek for further inspection and possible replacement of the frame. So, being without my "A" bike, I had to take my handy spare off of the trainer and get it ready to roll. My spare bike is a 1984 DeRosa Pro - bright red and in quite good shape - very few scratches. I got it ready and started riding it but I just hate to take that bike out in the weather and it is much harder to race with than a modern bike with brake lever shifters. On the DeRosa you really have to plan ahead and use judgement on gear selection because once you get out of the saddle, you are committed to what ever gear you are pulling. If you guess wrong, you loose a lot of time sitting back down to correct the situation :-( Besides, I love this bike too much to let anything happen to it at this point in my life. Now I am serious about getting my beater bike in a hurry... I was heading down the path of getting a Leopard when my buddy, Hammer Schlagen, showed me a picture of a 2007 Specialized Tarmac. "Nice bike" I said to myself - I could see myself riding that baby! The rest is history. HS ordered the bike and set it up for me. When it came in it hand Ksyrium low end wheels and white handlebar tape. I put on the American Classics off of my Madone until it get replaced and decide that it need black handlebar tape to give it that killer look. That's what you see in the picture above. BTW, the bike is sweet too. Climbs well, accellerates well, very solid on high speed descents - good all around bike. If there is anything I'm trying to get used to it is that it is a little twichy in pack riding. With a compact frame the wheel base is short and you are out over the front hub. The slightest bit of motion on the handlebars translates to a direction change on the bike. This will take some getting used to but I'm happy to try!
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