“Ride #44: Hi!”

I'm having some minor equipment problems with Ol'Bessy (what I've taken to calling my drastically over-ridden Canondale H500).

This is no surprise, as I've put a lot of miles on this year: over 1500 as of today. That's almost 500 more than last year at this time.

Anyway, the most significant problem is that the entire drive train has started to tighten up a little too much. The bottom bracket provides noticeable resistance even without a chain. Both the front and rear derailers are resisting my attempts to shift in either direction, and the rear derailer actually squeaks like a mouse while changing gears.

That's my excuse for my low speeds over the last few days. ;-) There's enough resistance coming from the drive train that I'm having to ride in a lower gear than I'm used to. One way or another, I'm going to solve this problem next week: I'll do what I can by myself, and Mystic Cycle (definitely NOT Rose City Cycle) will have to do the rest.

I need to be able to count on my bike for the PMC.

Why did I title this entry, "Hi!" ? On one of the back roads today, a little kid -- maybe two or three years old -- was sitting in some tall grass, just enjoying summer in the way only little kids can. As I rode past his yard, he looked up from the grass he was studying, gave me a huge smile, and yelled "HI!" at the top of his lungs. That made my day, and I returned the favor (which made his parents laugh).

Stats: 30.93 miles (49.79 km) in 1h 38' 39" for an average speed of 18.81 mph (30.28 kph).