This is a short week. The forecast has rain coming for the next two days. I decided to get a short ride in before the rain comes. I took my il-pompino out. I touched the chain at a few spots to determine if it needs some lubes. It seemed fine. I rode through the Cal campus toward Hearst Gate. Today, I am taking a different route up the hill. Euclid is a quieter though at places steeper climb than Spruce. At a few pitches I was struggling to stay on my bike with its 40x17 gearing. After a hill past the Rose Garden, the grade eases and I was able to relax on my saddle. I have been riding Lomas Contadas over the last few weekends and my legs felt stronger today. Several times I got off my saddle to speed up on the ascent on Grizzly Peak. There were some minor squeaking noises coming from the drivetrain. I got off my bike at one point to check and concluded that it must be the chain--should have lubed it before riding.
I got to the top faster than usual. After stretching my legs some and took some pictures, I spinned like a madman downhill. I didn't get rained on and enjoyed a wonderful ride. I will be visiting Ukiah for the weekend, and may get to ride Orr Spring road, which is scenic but very hilly. I will report on that when I get back.
5 comments:
Looks like a great road and a challenging hill climb, especially on the fixie. Looks like you are well-outfitted for rain, if it does rain ... can't let a little H20 stop us, eh?
David in Portland
David,
We are in need of some rain, as we have had two relatively dry winters in a row already. The rain has threatened but not materialized in the last couple of weeks. I actually hope that it will rain lots and lots this winter.
I plan to be riding through the winter, rain or shine. How is the weather up in PDX?
Awesome fall here. Had a great ride last weekend: http://readytoride.biz/?p=358
Weather is always dynamic here - but have to say this fall has been milder than last!
dr
david,
didn't realize that you are the person behind "ready to ride"! Your series on the "Portland to Glacier" last year was fun to read and inspire me to do more brevets this season.
On the commuter train this morning (which has 32 bike slots), there were 17 bikes, and only 3 and 1/2 of them have fenders (one bike had clip-on fender on the rear wheel only) . I hope they don't mind soggy feet and wet back.
I went to Portland last year for the STP. we did the 1-day version which gave us an extra day to hang out in Portland. I love the city, and from following blogs like BikePortland it seems such a wonderful place to have a bike-centric lifestyle.
Thanks for your comments,
Franklyn
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