Winner, winner, chicken dinner

I haven't been posting much, what with all of my Twittering (yes, I am aware that the proper terminology is "tweeting") about 30 Days of Biking.  That's not entirely true, as the weather has been crapola thus far, making the challenge...well, more challenging and I have to say not as much fun.  Many of my fun ride ideas have been thwarted due to the weather.  While I shouldn't complain about that, as it is April, after all--and our weather here in Denver has been a whole lot better than a lot of places--we have definitely been shorted on the mild and sunny weather that we so love to brag about around here.

But, I did have something unexpected happen in the last couple of weeks.  I won something!  Momentum Magazine is doing a series of weekly drawings, and I won an Abus Bordo bike lock.  Pretty exciting, given that it's worth about $130.  Pretty slick deal, too, because the lock came to me directly from Abus and it was on my doorstep in just a couple of days after I received notification of my good fortune.  Not only that, they enclosed a few other goodies in the box.  If anyone needs some Abus stickers, let me know.

After slicing my finger on the plastic packaging, it took me a bit to figure out how to operate the lock.

It also comes with a holder that can be mounted to the bike via Velcro straps or with screws to the water bottle bosses, although I'll skip that option since I have multiple bikes.  I'll use the holder for transport, though, to keep the lock from unfolding in my bag.

It's also very sturdy.  And by sturdy I mean heavy.  But then again, I wouldn't much trust a featherweight bike lock.  The links are coated to protect the bike's finish, if it's not evident in the pictures.

I like that the lock folds into a compact shape but still has the length (and then some) of a traditional u-lock.  It'll fit nicely in my bike bags and also in pockets that are too small for even a mini-u-lock.  From a security standpoint, I'm not sure if the connections between the links present a weakness in the design, where an enterprising bike thief could figure out a way to compromise the lock at those points.  I also like the different design in that a thief might take a look at it and not know what to do with it and thus move on to the next.

Looking forward to putting this lock to good use.  Thanks Abus and Momentum!

And, in other news, the Cross Check is currently undergoing a transformation.  Info and pictures to follow in a couple of weeks.

30 Days of Biking, Day 1

I won't belabor the day-by-day here, as I suspect that there are going to be quite a few days where I end up riding around the block to fulfill my obligation.  But the challenge resonated for me, so I decided to just do it.  I mean, hey, riding my bike around the block after a 12-hour work day is more than I'd ordinarily do, and any day my ass is on a bike seat is better than not.

If you're really interested, you can follow my fledgling Twitter documentation here.