Great day for a long ride to work.

Updates to the Cross Check:

I finally got rid of the play in the headset that was bothering me under hard braking with a "clunk." Initially I though this was my fault for having so many spacers on the bike. Turns out the cheap Aheadset with caged ball bearings was just not up to the job (especially with all that steerer showing). I replaced it last night with the King headset off the decomissioned Bruja...problem solved. Gotta love how easy it is to bang in headsets on steel frames. Just a little love with a hammer and wood block is all that is required. Looks nice too, and with the greater stack height, I was able to remove 5mm of spacer.

The Surly is looking quite handsome with the lights off and black Brooks saddle. Basically, it looks very similar to a standard bicycle from probably 100 years ago. I'll need to get a photo.

The Brooks B-17 is working out fine so far with only 4-5 hours on it. I have a few nits, however:

1. It seems to require a nose up configuration to keep one from sliding forward. The ischial tuberosities are quite comfy on the hard leather, but the perineum is not so happy, and becomes less so as the nose climbs up. So my choice is good balanced position with perineal pressure (not good long term), or comfy sitting position with constant sliding forward onto the arm/hands (exhausting after a bit).

I'm hoping the center channel will soften with use. A two bolt micro adjustable saddle would be a good thing, but the dang rail is short that it requires a lot of set back, and I don't want to spend the dough on another high end seat post. The single bolt post only allows the nose to be a little too high, or a little too low.

I'll get another 45min in on the way home, so we'll see.

Highlight of this am's commute was racing next to a Mulie for about 400 yards. This deer was off to my left, and decided I was some sort of threat, and ran directly in my direction of travel for quite a while before darting off. Of course I attempted to give chase:). I was able to get him to shift out of bounce gear to full run gear for a few seconds anyway before he easily gapped me.