Back from Vacation & New Bike Project

I returned from vacation. My family and I traveled to see my dad and brother. I had secret dreams of getting out on a bike, any old bike would do, but it didn't work out.

I'll share a few photos out of the hundreds I took. The digital camera gives me more freedom to experiment with photos and one or two of them turned out nicely.

Back home, I tried to ride my winter commuter and found the new chain rusted into an orange mess. I tried to loosen up the stiff links with oil and by gently bending it sideways. I didn't see much improvement. The bike is unrideable. I've had this problem before, but never to this extent.

I have a solution, a permanent one. Tomorrow I'll install the 4-speed hub again. Some of you may remember I had chain tension problems with that setup. This time, I'll use a chain tensioner.
The newest version of the Surly Singleator impresses me. I owned one of the originals, before it was called Surly, and it was less refined. The old one worked, but it required fiddling. The new features on this one look like they'll address the old ones shortcomings.

The work will begin tomorrow, because I want my bike ready for the HC New Year's Day ride. If it's like last year's, it'll be memorable. It was on that day that we got to see more of Jim than we expected.