Saturday, December 13, 2008

Saturday Ride 12-13-08

Today was not a good day to ride. 25 mph winds with gusts to 40 mph. It was fun when I left my house with the wind to my back but the return trip was very rough. There were lots of sour faces on the trail today. I had just installed my new bars and Thumbies, so just like a kid with new toys I couldn't wait to try them out. I have never ridden a bike with anything but flat or drop bars so it took some time getting used to the Albatross bars. I forgot where my brake levers were a couple of times, I kept reaching towards the front of the bars where the brake hoods were on my drop bars but I eventually got comfortable with the new setup. I had to tilt up the nose of my saddle. While riding in this new upright position I began to feel like I was sliding off the front. I also set my shifters to friction mode. I think I may keep them this way for a while. The location of the mirror didn't work out for me. I'm not sure where to put it. I didn't want it interfereing with my hand positions so I placed it on the left bar end.



I left the end caps off in case I needed to adjust the brake levers.


Thumbies with shifters in friction mode. 
 



I jumped off of the Trinity Trail at Rogers Street. I rode through the neighborhoods looking for some relief from the wind. When I jumped back onto the trail I found this decorated memorial bench.



 

4 comments:

  1. that last shot is so nice!
    Those LHTs look so comfy, I just saw the new 09models (in cream/beige) &they look pretty sweet.

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  2. Meli-It's really smooth and comfortable. The truckacchino color for 09 is pretty nice. You should get one.

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  3. I didn't know about the new color until just now. It sure looks nice! I like all the available colors, though.

    Your Trucker looks great with those bars and the Ostrich bag. And the shellac looks great, too, I've been meaning to shellac my bars for some time.

    I also have a rear rack on my Trucker, but it's been a while since I used it. Maybe I should take it off.

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  4. Apertome-I really like the way the shellacked tape feels. It changes the texture.

    I've got a cheap rear rack that I'm probably going to re-install. I attach a trunk bag to the rack and then put most of my emergency stuff (tools, tubes etc.) in the trunk bag leaving room for my SLR camera in my Ostrich bag up front.

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