What a great wandering! I keep my brakes on once stopped too, I think to keep the bike from rolling (not an issue on flats, but those are foreign in these parts. Grin.). That's my excuse.
Like you, I was drawn outside today by our sunny and 40˚F spring warmth. Biked to the trail head (a very steep, rocky unridable trail) and did my first barefoot run. It was wonderful muddy, snowy, icy sloppy fun! With abandon, Patrick On Sunday, March 16, 2014 3:30:01 PM UTC-6, Pudge wrote: > > The temperature reached 60 degrees yesterday, and even I couldn’t make > weather-based excuses not to ride. So with the new Bombadil single-speed > build completed the day before, I decided to combine some errands with a > little culture injection. > > > > Delaware has a lot of really wonderful museums within easy biking distance > of my house. I decided to set off for a couple of historical sites along > the Brandywine Creek – Breck’s Mill, a historic district centered around a > beautiful stone mill with bell tower built along the Brandywine Creek in > 1816, and Hagley Museum, which preserves the original DuPont family > gunpowder mill (the foundation for today’s DuPont Company). As I rode the > Bombadil on its inaugural ride down the long hill from my house to the > Brandywine, I noticed a distinctive and pleasant (but also a little > alarming) smell of wood smoke – the result of forgetting that this is the > first bike I’ve ridden with no means of braking except the bike’s caliper > brakes on its wooden rims, and consequently applying the brakes on the long > downhill the same way I would on alloy rims. I quickly adjusted to harder > applications in shorter bursts, which solved the problem. However, at the > bottom of the hill, I also learned that my habit of keeping the brakes > applied after I stop (I don’t know where that habit comes from, and I > wasn’t aware of it until yesterday’s episode) is not a good one when riding > a bike with caliper brakes on wood rims – because when I released the > brakes and tried to start up again, I discovered that the cork pads had > gently bonded with the varnish on the wooden rims. Easily released, and > lesson learned. With those two adjustments in my braking habits, the new > Bombadil performed very well – it’s a lovely frame for a single speed. > Although I will say that the beautiful wooden rims make the speed abatement > process, even with cork pads installed in the Bruce Gordon cantis, a bit > more of an adventure than I’m used to! > > > > First stop, Breck’s Mill, and a quick lunch in bright sunshine alongside > the merry rapids by the mill. Pics here: > http://www.flickr.com/photos/37542512@N04/13194294113/in/photostream/ and > here: > http://www.flickr.com/photos/37542512@N04/13194420044/in/photostream/ . > > > > From there I headed farther upstream along the Brandywine to Hagley, a > wonderful museum of America’s early Industrial Revolution. Here’s a pic of > the beautiful entrance (notice the cannonballs on top of the entrance > column, reflecting the primary use of the company’s gunpowder product): > http://www.flickr.com/photos/37542512@N04/13194384194/in/photostream/ > > > > And then back up the long hill (the Bomba with its Bullmoose bars makes a > very comfortable single speed climber) to Greenville for a stop at the > hardware store for light bulbs, and a coffee at the local spot: > http://www.flickr.com/photos/37542512@N04/13197664963/ and > http://www.flickr.com/photos/37542512@N04/13174822263/ > > > > A great first ride! > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > **************************************************** > > To ensure compliance with Treasury Department regulations, we advise you > that, unless otherwise expressly indicated, any federal tax advice > contained in this message was not intended or written to be used, and > cannot be used, for the purpose of (i) avoiding tax-related penalties under > the Internal Revenue Code or applicable state or local tax law provisions > or (ii) promoting, marketing or recommending to another party any > tax-related matters addressed herein. > **************************************************** > **************************************************** > > This email (and any attachments thereto) is intended only for use by the > addressee(s) named herein and may contain legally privileged and/or > confidential information. 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