Gravel On

As hinted at a couple of weeks ago, I've been bike shopping.  Here's the result:

Nice picture from Lafayette Park.  Toward the background you can actually see the humidity.  I ended up with a Surly Straggler, just because that seemed like the best all-round gravel and hell-raising bike available at a somewhat local dealer.  Which is appropriate, considering how much it's going to be ridden on the dirt roads in Tate's Hell.  28.5 lbs – and that's with chunky Mallet pedals installed.  Pretty light for a steel off-roader.  The ride is playful and ground-hugging, and way more comfortable and in control than my old aluminum Specialized.  Well, fifteen years of refinement of exactly what a gravel bike should be will do that.  The Avid BB7 brakes were somewhat of a mystery at first, but this video cleared things up.

Further additions... not just yet, beyond maybe an under-seat bag to hold keys while riding.  I'll keep the VHF antenna mount and the blinker off the old bike to possibly install later, but for now I think I'll leave it plain & minimalist.