"New" ride

It all started when a co-worker convinced me to do the Dempsey Challenge, which is a big charity ride here in Maine to raise money for cancer research, next year. I decided to plan on the 50-mile ride as 25 miles would not be challenging enough and 100 might be a bit too much, and was thinking of just doing it on the rigid MTB I have set up as sort of an all-around bike with trekking bars and slick tires. Well, when I mentioned this to my co-worker (and another one who happened to overhear the conversation) I was strongly encouraged to see about picking up a road bike (bunch of enablers!). So I decided to keep an eye on Craigslist figuring it might take a while for something my size, decent quality and not expensive to come up. It didn't take long at all...there was a listing in Portland for an older Novara (REI brand) 48cm lugged steel road bike in good condition. I went to look at it and found out the guy selling it (had gotten it from a friend and it was too small for him) was the same one who took first place in the recent Cranksgiving ride which was kind of funny. The test ride was interesting b/c the bike had toe clips, which I have never used and found a little stressful trying to deal with in traffic--first thing I did after buying the bike was ditch those clips! The previous owner also had put an old 27" wheel on after the original front wheel was stolen, so I had to replace that (and got the seller to knock the price down because of it). Other than that easy-to-fix issue the bike is in nice shape. I haven't gotten to take a longer ride yet as it has been COLD here; today is supposed to be a little warmer but there is now a coating of snow on the roads...was hoping to ride today but that plan just went out the window because of the snow. Hopefully I will get a couple of rides in before winter really sets in, to see if I want to change anything (like the saddle or switching from downtube to bar-end shifters)--that way those things could be done during the winter. I know the white handlebar tape will eventually have to go--it looks nice when it's clean but won't stay that way for long!

PS: please ignore the messy kitchen in the background of the photo!!