New Bike Smell in the Dark

Yesterday Ryan received a Christmas surprise with two wheels and a shiny green frame!  Santa Claus (his wife) delivered early.  Tonight we set out for a night ride to give it a maiden roll.

Ryan's new Raleigh cross bike!

It seemed a little unfair to be out on your first ride of a brand new bike in the dark as you are not able to look down and actually see the new bike.  I guess you could say it adds to the mystery or builds suspense.  This scenario does let you focus on the feel of the bike, which Ryan quickly noted was smoother and more dampened on the chunked up roads we traveled.

Stop sign road crossing in the dark.

We dressed for temperatures just above freezing and rode south then east.  It felt later than it was in the dark country side.  Early in the ride we encountered some unexpected traffic and realized some people were probably still driving home from work.  It was only 6:30 but dark as midnight out.

With no specific route in mind we ended up riding into Mt. Eaton before turning north.  We stopped for some food and found a grassy bank to ride down on our cross bikes.  It looked like this had been done numerous times before by kids in the neighborhood.  We shared in the fun.

Snack stop at the feed mill... seems appropriate.

East out of Mt. Eaton we rode before turning north.  The roads were quiet and temperatures seemed to be holding steady beneath a partially cloudy sky.  We pedaled through Kidron and back to Ryan's house.  We declared it a successful ride and I'd say Ryan enjoyed his new ride.  Now we need to find some gravel roads...

Black Ops Library Roll

Pump it up.

"I feel like we are getting ready for a mission" Ryan said as we layered on clothes, prepped our gear, and buckled helmets.  I aired up the front tire on my cross bike and we switched our headlights on.  It was probably 7pm when we pedaled away from our cars in the dark.

Gettin' ready to roll.

Knowing our weekend schedules would not allow a ride together we made plans to meetup for a Friday night ride.  I wanted to experience some different terrain than I've been riding around my place, so I proposed riding from Ryan's house.  As we discussed our plan we stumbled upon the idea of riding a portion of the Fredericksburg Library Roll, an annual benefit ride co-sponsored by our cycling club.

The map was printed on green paper which was pretty

easy to see in the dark when held near our head lights.

The Library Roll is known for some good hills.  They were not any easier in the dark and it was ambitious for this time of year.  We made it down to Charm and stopped for some food and drink.  It was about 40 degrees when we began the ride and we were staying pretty comfortable.  After the stop I was feeling a bit cold but the climb out of Charm fixed that problem.

Ryan jousting.  (Slow sync flash mode.)

From Charm to Millersburg was a collection of climbs that one after another put a beat down on my legs.  At one point Ryan and I were nearly laughing at the faintly lit sight in the distance of more hills.  We enjoyed a long, fast downhill that left me smiling but chilled.  Ryan said it felt like a mountain descent and it did.

We conquered the last hills of the ride on the way into Millersburg and stopped at the rail-trail depot.  I gave KT a call to let her know we were still alive.  "Do you realize it's 9:30?  Are you even having fun?"  Oh yes, time flies when you're riding in the dark, trying to stay warm, and having fun.

 I stopped at a gas station for a coffee and walked

out with peppered beef jerky too.  Frosty roof.

The flat ride on the trail-trail back to our cars was cold.  The temperature was certainly lower here than it had been anywhere else on the ride.  We promptly started our cars to get the heat going and the thermometer in the car showed 33.  There was frost on the roofs of our vehicles.  We agreed on the epic quality of the ride and parted ways.  It was a good one.

Pinhole

I found the leaky spots in my two flat tubes from Saturday's ride at the Knob.  A pinhole in the same place on both tubes.  Hmmm... something pokey must be hiding in the tire, though I cannot find it even with the tire turned inside out.  Maybe it came out in the process of dismounting the tire.

Tube triage central.

Tonight Ryan and I went out for a night ride but it did not go as expected.  We rode through some standing water on Messner Road and were startled in the dark by Ryan's front tire exploding.  It sounded like a .22 pistol bark, and yes, the tire exploded, not just the tube.  The wire bead was protruding from the rubber.

 Of course neither of us had anything to use as a tire boot and it seemed like a call home was in order.  Searching the side of the road in the dark I found a McDonalds bag.  Inside I found the remnants of someone's breakfast including a packet of picante salsa.  Tear corner, squirt out salsa, and boot tire with the foil, plastic packet.  Perfect.  It worked surprisingly well and we didn't even take the shortest route home.  Thanks to someone for littering?

Friday Night Riding

Friday afternoon I was sitting at my desk and had the sudden thought “it would be a good evening for a night ride!”.  My next thought was “oh man, I haven’t charged my light since the spring.”  I called home and asked KT to plug in my light.

About 7:30 I headed out into the dark and wind.  Daniel was in the bathtub when I left.  After his bath he was asking KT where I was.  She told him I was out on a bike ride.  He wanted to know how I could see where I was going.  KT explained I had a bike light.  Next he wanted to know how it hooked onto my bike.  Nice, I like his inquisitive and specific questions.

Turn now.

I only planned to be out for an hour or so, but a couple hours later I rolled up the driveway.  The wind seemed to lessen and I enjoyed being out in the dark, riding through the swamp a couple times.

 Nightime cockpit.

This morning I was talking to Daniel and he asked me how my bike light hooks onto my bike.  I told him there was a clamp and I would show him next time we were in the basement.  Good follow up on the light attachment question.