Yesterday afternoon the bike shop called saying that my new Arione saddle had arrived so I stopped by on the way home from work today to pick it up. After dinner, I slipped into some shorts, grapped an allen wrench and starting setting up the saddle.

The stem needed to be lowered to make up for the difference in saddles but the change went smoothly. I then rode for an hour to get a feel for how the Arione feels. At this point, I'm impressed with its comfort on my bum. I had grown very disenchanted with my Selle Italia SLR but this saddle felt right. The real test comes after a long ride but so far so good.

Background: As I got a bit older I inherited a blue Schwinn Stingray that still brings back fond memories of its banana seat, ape hanger handlebars and a big ol' 3 speed shifter mounted atop the top tube like a stick shift in a car. To be honest I don't know why I'm so fond of that bike. Maybe it was just a good time in my life. What do kids around the ages of 8-12 have to worry about?

News Item of the Day: Some who may read this from the outside might expect me to mention Sven Nys' pronouncement today that, after pre-riding this weekends World Championship course, he feels the course suits his skills. You would be wrong in thinking I'd make that the News Item of the Day.

The news item of the day is Sven's wife, Isabelle, posing on the cover of a Belgian magazine wearing a painted on World Championship jersey Oo-la-la!!!