I've finally relinquished some of my adoration for my Cross Check because I took my vintage Motobecane to work a couple days ago when it threatened to rain. It has fenders and my CC doesn't. I love the Surly so much that I don't really mind getting dirty on the way home. Anyway, it was quite a jolt to the system to get on an upright cruiser and putz around instead of buckling down and speeding down to work. Nice change of pace.

AND...I finally got a helmet. I'd been putting it off because of the price and the silliness but after reading some old threads here about no one looking good in one and hearing stories from friends who have had some bad accidents I thought, this is stupid, get something on your head. So thanks TE.