Today was the Tierra Bella Century and I rode the 35 mile ride with the
Bombadil. You can check out some pictures here: http://tinyurl.com/y6nuxy2.

I taped my handlebars and shellacked them. I think the result is
outstanding, my first ever experience with cloth and shellac. I also taped,
twined and shellacked the stand.

The day was great, I'm out of shape but working on it. I get bad hot spots
on my left foot, seems I have a Morton's Neuroma on that foot. At least with
the platform pedals I was able to move my foot around. It seems worse when
I'm putting pressure to climb, subsides when I can pedal without applying so
much pressure on the foot.

Amazingly, my bike seemed to be invisible to all the crabonites and
aluminites passing me on the left all morning long. The only guy who said
"Nice bike!" was a young guy riding a Bianchi single speed, wearing a beard
like Sheldon's and carrying his stuff in a messenger Timbuktu bag. Not even
at rest stops did anyone approach me to ask what kind of bike was I riding.
I guess that in their world, carbon is the ultimate and nothing else exists.

I followed the tire pressure guidelines from the chart, and the bike felt
wonderful. I did, however, note the following problems and would like
feedback to solve them:

- Going a bit fast on downhill slopes, about 16 mph, removing the hands from
the bars caused a shimmy. It was kind of a low frequency shimmy, gentle but
steady. The bike kept going straight, but with the shimmy. I have a Chris
King headset; is it perhaps a little tight? Read somewhere that someone
fixed that problem by loosening their headset a bit.

- The bike creaks constantly; there is some creaking when coasting, but I
cannot associate it with anything in particular. Perhaps the Berthoud
fenders, perhaps the BB. Then, when pedaling with my hands on the hoods,
there was a regular loud creak that towards the end I could replicate when
stopped by twisting on the handlebars. Both of my stem bolts are as tight as
I can tighten them by hand. This creaking superimposed on the rolling creaks
as well and created a cacophony (in my ears) that seemed to get worse
towards the end of the ride. Specially if I was pedaling harder or uphill.

Any help with suggestions on how to fix these problems will be appreciated
as always!

Thanks again!

René

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