vacation = lots of hours

Vacation is over. :( Weather was gorgeous all week. Got an enormous amount of quality saddle time..Biggest week all year. Shot out on the road early yesterday to meet up with Barry. We spun around Ipswich neck and along the coast for twenty miles. Barry had some family commitments for the afternoon so I was solo up to Newburyport.
Somewhere around thirty miles into the ride I met up with another biker heading to Andover..we chatted it up for twenty minutes while rolling down some back road in West Newbury. I didn't ask the rider's name, told me he's a bike commuter that lived in Andover and commuted to Boston regularly. nice long commute! 35 miles each way!
First time I'd engaged a stranger in conversation on the road. Very cool to be rolling down a country road, glide up to a complete stranger and talk bikes. I know, could go all wrong with the freak factor..but if things did go wrong just sprint out'a there, right?
In all a great road bike Saturday, covered ground all over the north shore...think I rode through every town infact. 4 hours on the ride for ?? miles. Been in the habit this week of leaving all electronic gadgets at home, no gps, mp3, hrm, nothin but a watch.

The new steel rig is not quite done yet. Stopped by Iglehearts shop Saturday to check progress, He received the seat stays and was going to cut and weld them on the frame Sunday, bike will be done Monday! Paint however...will not. Who needs paint anyway?

Rebuilt the Fox F100x last evening.. Extremely easy rebuild. Required alot of different tools and a few specialty fox lubes (fully synthetic 80w oil? who owns this...thanks Mark from the shop! you saved my ride) but Enduro puts out a .PDF illustrated instruction manual that's easy to follow. I guess high performance = high maintenance.

Rode the hardtail early this morning on the freshly rebuilt fork...Was the ballz! No oil leaks..not even a drop!