Being the weather weeny that I am, no riding on the Silvio today. I did work on it a bit yesterday and mounted my bike pump and plastic water bottle cage on the back of the seat. On the top tube..going from the handle bar to the bottom bracket, I have mounted a small bag to carry a patch kit, tools, and a few other small items for when I ride.
Tomorrow, I'm going to have Annie at Twin Sisters Bike Shop in Silver City, NM order the braze on Shimano Tiagra 9spd triple front derailleur and, when it comes in, she will build up the Silvio with my touring components. The touring components will be permanent. After consideration and looking back at what bike I rode the most, the Cannondale touring bike was the one. So, the Shimano Ultegra 6700 groupset, Ultegra wheels, Schwalbe Ultremo tires, etc., will be sold to the highest bidder. I have two possible options as I type this. I'm looking forward to this change because I have concluded that I am now a touring cyclist not a road racer. What I enjoy is time on the bike, the scenery, an espresso or a snack maybe, and then back to time on the bike. Getting anywhere in the fastest time or beating a previous time/distance is not anything that I want to do on the bike.
That's all, folks. Now, to close, here's a good tune by Richard Thompson: