My bike is currently in pieces scattered across my living room. I got it back from the shop after it's tune-up and had every intention of giving it a thorough cleaning to get it totally ready for Spring. Then I fell into a black hole of slothfulness for a couple of weeks. This past Sunday, while watching the final stage of the Tour of Cali, I took off the wheels, took off the new chain, sat down and wiped every single link of the new chain wth a rag and q-tips, then looked at the frame sitting there upside down and decided I'd clean it another day. Needless to say, it's all still sitting there just as I left it

So, most likely I will not be riding it any time soon, but I could use a few verbal nudges from you guys to encourage me to finish cleaning it this week!

Oh, and Merkle's a great place to ride. I've only ridden the Chesapeake Critical Area Driving Tour, which is part paved/part sand and pebbles (I was fish-tailing even with wide tires), and it's a really beautiful area with lots of wildlife. Good hiking trails, too. Dunno if I'd be up for a road ride around there, though. Very narrow, curvy roads. I'd be nervous of crazy drivers. And, yes, I know you've heard that from me before. So, we'll have to plan on that Merkle 24-miler sometime later this Spring/Summer, maybe with a picnic lunch at the nature center afterwards.