(Don't want to read a bunch of technical bike stuff? Skip to after the 1st picture)
Got a new bike last week. Haven't ridden it yet though. Thing was pretty expensive, but I'll be able to keep it for 20+ years. It's a lovely touring gravelly bike. Pretty sure it can clear 45mm tires, somewhat tight by modern gravel standards, but people used to win Unbound on 35s. No idea how, my Spicer has 38s and I think they're too narrow for like 10 miles on Kansas gravel, much less 200. I play on putting 42s on the new bike, when I can ride it that is.
Yeah, I can't ride it right now, the brakes rub on the wheel and I'm not totally sure why, but I think it's both poor pad alignment and a wheel that isn't quite straight. The bike has cantilever brakes, which I chose, but I underestimated how they can be kind of a pain. To make things worse, the particular brakes it has are so close to running into the tire, they're like at the very bottom of the adjustment slot, which just makes me worried.
I'm putting on new front brakes when I can, even if the ones on there now end up working, which I know they will. The new ones are Dia-Compe 988s, which have an internal sealed spring mechanism, similar to Paul's cantilever designs, but way cheaper and with a smooth post brake pad mount. I think I'll prefer the smooth post, even though threaded post gives me more brake pad options. I'm not a big brake pad connoisseur. Anyway, even the stock brakes should be okay once I get everything set up well. I gotta get those brake pads aligned.
I did think about taking it to a bike shop, but I don't really feel like spending the money, and it's good to know cantilever brakes if one's got a bike with them. It might take me a while to get on the road, but that'll be okay. I'm wondering about truing the wheels myself. Wheels scare me, but it's good to know how to work with them. I don't have a truing stand, but I can figure something out. Worst case is I make everything worse and have to take the wheels to a shop, which I would've had to do anyway.
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| Some rando's pasture |
Okay, whatever, how about nature? Went for a ride to Dorothy Akin memorial prairie again. It was the day after standard time went back into effect, and I was working with limited daylight, having left at like 3:30 pm. It was such a treat, getting a ride out in early November with temperatures in the 70s. I went south of town where the Osage Cuestas start rising up, and grunted my way up them. Such is the way it goes on fixed gear. Of course the joyful yellow sunflowers and compass plant have departed since I last visited. Now it's brown except for the little bluegrass that'll be green like all year anyway.
I stopped to get that picture of the sun hitting that little hill there, but what you can't see is the cows just out of frame to the left. Cows are just so interesting. When I stopped they all turned and stared at me. Was it because I was confusing? Or interesting? Did I give them something to look at, a break from the monotony of wandering around the same pasture seeing the same stuff and people all the time? Whatever it was, they all were staring at me. I didn't take a picture, it seemed disrespectful.
Horses are a bit different though. I stopped in front of at least 2 horses on the bike trip and they hardly paid me any mind. Horses know that they're too good to waste time on me.
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| There were a bunch of flowers here in September |
I sat down in that little prairie, right next to some broomsedge and was just so happy. I had that sort of stuck on smile that hurts your face but you still can’t get rid of it. I muttered “wow, wow” as I got back on my bike and rode down the hill, warmth of glee in my torso. Because it was so beautiful! The horses in the fields, fall’s sprawling quilt below, and the long late-day shadows were exactly what I needed.
So as I came home, down one hill, up another, down, then up again, I was forced to face a great adversary; the dog. Rural dogs can be a real pain. They’ll chase me and bark and bark and bark. Then I either try to outrun them, or I slow down and try to get them to lose interest.
Well I was coming down a hill and I could see this dog coming all the way across it’s property, barking and running. My mood diminished. I only had an hour left of daylight, and I didn’t want to have to deal with little Fido.The dog came sprinting down the driveway of it's house, towards the gate. I held out hope thinking said gate could be my salvation. Approaching the gate, the dog slowed down, but slipped under it!
And of course the dog wore that silly dog grin as it made its way into the road. Its face was not unlike mine had been 5 minutes earlier. I slowed down, the dog came up to me, and I was nervous. Would the dog let me roll away and not chase me? It stopped being so loud, sniffed me and inspected me and my bike for a while, then went to lay in the field across the street.
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| Yeah, my finger's in the picture, what's it to you? |
