First ride

I glance at the clock.
It says midnight.
"Fuck it" I mutter out loud to no one.
I drop my shorts and pull on a pair of bibs. Then dig in my jersey pile looking for some thing light colored. Its then that I realize most of my jerseys are black or some other dark color.
I spot my yellow Drunk Cyclist jersey and pull it on.
I jam my feet in to a pair of shoes, grab a couple of full water bottles and my commuter helmet with lights already attached.
Standing in the dewy grass of my yard I look up and down my street. No lights on in any of the houses.
"I am only going for an hour" I tell myself as I swing my leg over the top tube and push out on to the street.
The night is cool and quite.
10 minutes before I had just finished changing out stems (dropped from 120 to 110) and wrapping new bar tape on the bar of my "new" road bike.
Its a 2004 Jamis Eclipse frame that I bought off of a buddy last night.
Nothing super fancy but well suited for my needs. I have been riding a too small Surly Pacer (60 cm) for several years and when the money was right I had planned on replacing it with a newer bigger version.
Instead I took the chance on trying something different while at the same time helping out a buddy who is selling off "extra" items before moving himself and the wife to Texas to finish up school.
On my roughly 20-ish mile ride tonight I determined that I like the ride.
Pretty much the same parts kit as before on the Pacer with a few minor changes.
The Jamis (which I need to come up with a nick name for... although "Cock Rocket" came to mind while speeding down the road tonight) built up fairly nicely.
61 cm 853 steel front triangle (blue with silver "panels") and carbon seat and chain stays as I mentioned before.
Specialized S-Works full carbon fork, S-Works carbon seat post, Specialized Toupe saddle (white), Mango Chris King headset (long story- I ordered this headset for Wunspeed when he was here for his parts kit for his Black Sheep 29er. Some how wires got crossed some where and King didn't get it in the mail until late so it arrived the day after Wunnspeed left to head back to Germany. Our company buyers were a bit fussy about this. I told them I would find a buyer for it or since I had been considering one, buy it myself. After several unsuccessful attempts to get some guys to throw down the cash to put it on their new Husker Blue Karate Monkeys -personally I thought it would look bitchin- I decided to by it myself) FSA Gossamer external BB crank set, Ultrega 9 speed STI shift levers, Black Bird wing style drop bar, Kuota Pro Carbon stem, Dura Ace 10 rear derailleur, Ultrega front derailleur, 11-27 9 speed cassette, Ultrega/Mavic rear wheel, Dura Ace/Sun front wheel, Specialized All Condition Pro 700x23 rubber, White cable housing, and white Profile bar tape with orange finishing tape.
I have to say that it turned out much better than I expected... and damn sexy too.
I really enjoyed the way it road tonight. Felt very lively. I am hoping this isn't just because its the first ride.
My camera is on the fritz again so no photos as of yet. I snapped a couple with my camera phone but I have no idea how to move them to my computer.
When I bought the frame set it came with an Easton EC70 full carbon fork and a FSA headset. I discovered that my S-Works fork was a bit lighter and wanted to ride it. I couldn't seem to get the crown race off the fork hence the reason I went a head and bought a new headset (not originally part of the plan - see last post). I was determined to have the bike built and rideable before I left work today and had my mind set on using one of my two Specialized carbon forks. The headset race that just wouldn't come off was starting to get frustrating and so I fixed it the quickest and easiest way I could think of... replace the headset. So if any one out there is in the market for a EC70 fork with an FSA headset let me know. I figure the sale of it will pay for the King headset that I bought.
I am looking forward to some happy riding with this new rig. I have rediscovered road riding with gears as of late and I am happy to have a properly sized rig under me.
Next ride will possibly be a repeat of tonight over the next few days and then Saturday is the "Old Guys Rule" ride.
OK... its 2:30 AM. Time for bed.