My dad is bald, he’s been bald my entire life. He’ll always be bald. I am not bald. I have been bracing for baldness since puberty yet at 46 years old all I’m contending with are minor problems in Sectors 1 and 31, but I am not bald2 My tires, on the other hand, are quite bald.
The baldies in question are 700 x 36c Clement (now Donnelly) X’PLOR MSO tires. In the past couple seasons, I have gone through a set of the 40s and now two sets of 36s. I totally dig the tires but they are increasingly harder to get hold of now that everyone and their third cousins (twice removed) is riding gravel. BASTARDS!!
Always with the bullets… ’cause guns.
I have also had relations with WTB Nano 40s and Ritchey WCS Speedmax 40s. I’m pretty slutty when it comes to gravel/dirt road tires and will pretty much ride anything with a (low rolling resistance) tread, but I draw the line at bald (shouts of BALDIST!!! go up from the too sensitive wound tight crowd). However, since I lived the winter like spring was never going to arrive I never took the time to have the shop order me up some new kicks and now I’m riding dirty and rolling bald for the immediate future.
Let it flow!
Because I gave up brand loyalty for Lent (about 7 years ago) I’m hoping to try the Panaracer Gravel King 700 x 38, but only if I can locate it with black walls. Not sure who started this tan sidewall bullshit, but I’m not driving a ’38 Packard, I’m rolling 38s on a cross bike and I want black side walls goddamn it, I don’t care if the tan side walls come with a guarantee I will never flat and never go bald (speaking only of the tires of course), I ain’t rollin’ no tannies. Edit: Ended up with the Maxxis Rambler 700 x 38c tires since the shop had them in stock and they looked good enough to me.
The three horses of my apocalypse.
As for my ride on Wednesday; it was swell. The sun was out, the wind was calm (enough), and the temps were warm enough that I was able to ride without a jacket for the first time in months. I rode south of town on the balding Boone with my Nikon D500 and enjoyed dry roads. The county was out laying some fresh dirt on a couple of the roads and that occasionally sucked some power, but overall two days of riding in a row were just what I needed to say goodbye to February.
Ancient shitter.
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Poop leg horse.
Of course, the first day of March has brought snow in the air and a drop in temps, but it looks like things might be crawling back up into the mid-forties by the weekend. Hoping to get back outside with my camera on the Boone, despite its balding handicap.
More Popov… ALWAYS Popov.
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Post-ride lunch: Leftover Chipotle Chicken, Rice and Beans. #Cat5Cooking
Later.