Still working on the jeans, but here's some of my other Christmas spoils.
Let me explain this in chronological order. Back in October, @dreapuff noted that she got a bonus, got the biggest paycheck of her life, and did a little shopping. Well, about the same time, the same thing happened to me. I'm guessing the bonus was a bit bigger -- it was certainly the biggest bonus I've ever gotten, but it wasn't outrageous. Just a good show of appreciation for all the crazy hours I'd been working and how much I'd gotten done, which made me feel really great because I've just taken to having a job well done be its own reward, but to have it be actually recognized by more than a pat on the back was great. Since I've started riding my bike for fun, I wanted to get a road bike, but I didn't know what to get because I knew what I wanted, but I couldn't afford anything close to it. Suddenly with my bonus, I went hunting on Craigslist and found the beauty you see in the middle picture there: Specialized Tarmac Comp -- pure carbon frame, mostly Ultegra components, with wonderful Easton wheels, for a price I could afford with my bonus, so I got it. A couple weeks later, my other bike got totaled (see my earlier posting on that), so I've been commuting on this ever since.
Today being New Years Eve, I was actually able to escape work early, so I used the opportunity to bike from work about half the way home to catch my train in Pleasanton. I've done that a couple times before, both times taking Niles Canyon, which is scenic, but the traffic is heavy and the road narrow in places. Most other cyclists who have gone from the South Bay to Pleasanton recommend Calaveras, so I finally tried that today. This was my route:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=Moffett+Blvd,+Mountain+View,+CA+94043+(NASA+Ames+Exploration+Center)&daddr=37.494473,-121.832886+to:Pleasanton+Station&hl=en&geocode=FW_ROgIdg225-CmDGiQ2W7ePgDEraVxPUvPlWg%3B%3BFWGfPgIdqjm8-CE3vKtyVtfMPw&mra=dpe&mrcr=0&mrsp=1&sz=11&via=1&dirflg=w&sll=37.529876,-121.969528&sspn=0.342511,0.727158&ie=UTF8&t=p&ll=37.543216,-121.861038&spn=0.342451,0.727158&z=11The clime was excruciating, especially with my backpack. I had to hop off a few times. On the way up, I saw this picturesque site on the bottom photo. Finally I made it to the summit (pretty much at the South end of the zig-zag) and it was rolling hills from there. The scenery was gorgeous! The pic at the top shows the valley I was riding alongside.
Which brings me to what I was actually wearing. For Christmas, my in-laws got me the black radiator bib tights from Performance Bike, along with a gift card. They also gave me pair of radiator tights without the bib, so I returned those and used the gift card to buy the long sleeve jersey you see here, along with the nice warm wool socks I'm wearing, some warm gloves (which I wasn't wearing because they're too warm), a blinky headlight to use in addition to my bright headlamp (to get the attention of drivers), and a better (brighter) blinky taillamp. I'm also wearing my new helmet that I replaced the one that got busted up by the car with, Oakley M-frame sunglases, and Sidi Dragon shoes. The outfit is really warm, so I was sweating up the climb, thinking I really picked the wrong thing to wear, but once I got past the summit, the sun started getting occluded by the clouds and it cooled off, so I was really comfortable on my way down. Once I actually got stopped, I started to get cold.
Anyway, it was a really beautiful commute, and I'll probably be doing it again, especially as the days get longer.
Happy New Years everyone!