Great end to a terrible afternoon

Day started out awesome, I have been looking for a geared cross bike to replace the singlespeed Redline 925 for awhile now, was contemplating waiting for the new bikes to come out this year because it seems that the discs have finally caught on for cross bikes but figured I'd go see what was out there on closeout from this year. I had only a few basic requirements really, had to have disc brakes (just a personal preference there) and had to have gears. It didn't necessarily have to be a cross bike but the disc brakes kind of eliminated road bikes at least for the 2013 model year, the fact that I'm vertically challenged eliminated more than a few closeout bikes right out of the gate without carrying a step ladder to get on and off the thing. That is one of the problems with waiting until the end of the year to look for a bike, you might not find anything in your size. I narrowed it down to two bikes that fit everything I was looking for and that were reasonably priced, the Kona Jake and the Redline Conquest Disc. I had thought it was going to end up being the Kona just because it had a more attractive price point but thanks to Nate, Joel and the rest of the awesome people at Cycle Works they were able to get the price to the point that it made more sense to spend just a little bit extra to get a much nicer equipped bike. Did I mention that Nate and Cycle Works rock?!?

All that was left was to sell this one as quick as I could and hope that the bike was still at Cycle Works, I have posted a few items recently on a Facebook boards buying and selling bike and bike related items and was able to sell them but it took a couple weeks to do it, I assumed this would be no different. To my surprise however it sold within a half hour of being posted, not only was it sold within that time frame but there were at least three people who were interested in buying it but it was first come first to buy and it went to a good home. Just goes to show that I am not the only one who enjoys the simplicity of a good singlespeed, but for me a singlespeed road bike just didn't fit in with what I wanted out of it. The sale paved the way for a quick turn around on the new bike and picked it up early afternoon, unfortunately I had a pretty full day and wasn't sure if I was going to get a ride in today or not. I would say I had a softball game to play, but with the way it went for me I could have helped the team better if I had stayed home... the game left me a bit bummed so I decided I needed to get out on the bike and put some miles behind me and do a little mental clearing.

This bike is fast, really fast, on her maiden voyage I shaved almost 3 minutes off of my best 10 mile time, that's not that easy to do but with all those gears to choose from it didn't seem all that difficult. The color is deceptive in this picture, it looks black (which it is technically) but if you get it in the just right light the metal flecks in the paint sparkle like Team Edward trying to get a tan. I know that Redline isn't quite the name it once was, although it still does well with the BMX crowd, and isn't as big as Trek, Giant or Specialized but I've owned a few Redlines over the years and haven't had anything but good luck with them. Love my Monocog 29er and probably won't ever get rid of that bike, loved the 925 it just had to go to make room  and even after just the first ride I can tell that the Conquest isn't going to disappoint either.

The ride really helped to forget the crap from the day and clear the mind, getting passed by a farm tractor hauling whatever the heck it's hauling didn't help the ego any but shit happens.

It was an impromptu ride and I was racing the daylight so I decided to fly out to Cortland and back, this dude decided to tag along again.

It's a good thing I decided to bring the lights, probably could have gotten away without them since it was still somewhat light by the time I made it home but figured it's better to be safe than sorry especially when riding on the side of a highway. As a reward for getting out I was treated to this awesome, amazing, spectacular sunset... icing on the cake of a great ride. Looking forward to getting more miles on this bike, it opens the doors for all sorts of rides I've been thinking of but never really quite had the right bike for... BRAN, RAGBAI(maybe), Going to the Sun Road in Glacier NP, STP (Seattle to Portland) maybe a few gravel rides and a few others that have been on my radar. Haven't owned a "10-speed" type bike since I was 12 and not really sure what brought me back to one but it just seems like a good fit right now and an excellent addition to the stable of bikes currently in the barn.