May rides, may they all be wonderful

[Crankin]

Emily, the one good thing from selling that house was that it's the only one where we made a lot of profit! The guy who bought it from us sold it for less than he paid for. Our decision was all about the aftermath of when my son enlisted. We had toyed with moving to a victorian, but when we looked, we thought nah, too much work to remodel! As it was, the house we bought needed way more remodeling than that victorian, which is now beautiful and right in Concord center... selling a contemporary home on a steep hill was not a fun thing.
I didn't ride yesterday, it rained lightly all day, and my granddaughter was here until 2. I did go out and walk for about 2.5 miles when she left, but I got wet for part of it.

[north woods gal]

Rain and cooler weather moving in, later in the week, so have been riding a lot.

Been thinking of trying a single speed bike. Have never had one, so for the sake of experimenting, I've been riding my Krampus on our trails in specific gear combos via the 30 tooth chain ring in front and selected gears in the back on the cassette and then calculating gear inches. It's been a fun experiment to see what would and would not work for me on my trails or out on the street. Pleased to report that if I stand to pedal in my climbs I can manage with the current single speed gear options available, though on most factory single speeds, the gear ratios are still too high, so I would need to change out to a slightly larger rear gear. Not off by a lot, but even two or four teeth on the rear gear can make a big difference on a single speed.

Anyone else riding single speed? Would appreciate input.

[north woods gal]

Thanks, Sheila. Good info. For my trails, I'm going to need a 30x20 or 30x22 if I want to climb the steepest sections, though, I certainly don't have to ride those sections. Still have a lot of easier rolling sections, so could get by with a bit higher gearing.

Been looking on the net for ss bikes in steel. So far, have found the Surly Karate Monkey ss (a 29er) and the All-City Log Lady in 27.5. Can you believe that name? Log Lady? Yup, that's me, the Log Lady. Fortunately, one of my guys at the bike shop is a single speed addict, so I can get plenty of help.

Looking like an all day rain, tomorrow. May use the time to catch up some housecleaning. We don't get many visitors, so we tend to let the clutter accumulate. Oh, well.

[rebeccaC]

nwg… I’m a simple woman when it comes to bikes, my gear acquisition syndrome is photo oriented. My fixie is a used older Bill Davidson built lugged steel road bike converted to 39/16 for my urban path/road rides and moderate climbs……. Bike path, 3 am, moving with a relaxed, loose fluidity into the quietness of a moonlit night, city streets with precise and quick speed adjustments/movements…….both making me feel connected to the bike in a flowing way. At first it was about discovering something new…..now it’s just about feeling efficient, focused, balanced and having fun.

Rode Caryl rd, on my way home tonight, a wild geranium show and the Poplars beginning to leaf made it even more pleasant.

[north woods gal]

Rebecca you are as talented with your prose as your photography. As always, your posts are such a treat. Thank-you.

Yeah, I have the single speed bug, now. Been coming a long time, though, given my love of keeping things simple and steel bikes. I may have to sell off one of the other bikes to finance it all, but one thing for sure, if I do sell a bike, it won't be one of my steel babies. That, and if I do buy another bike, it will be steel and only steel.

I remember back in my Chicago days when I was trying to find a good used Kona Kilauea (classic steel MTB from the 90s) and how I had to fight off all the single speed fans who were avidly buying up this bike model to convert to a single speed or fixie. Felt it was my duty to rescue one of these from that crowd. Looks like I'm one of them, now. Not that I'm going to touch or change a thing on my Kona. No way. Me and that bike have way too much water under the bridge, together. Can't even begin to describe the sentimental value. My old steel Kona my be outdated and oh so retro, but it still rides like a dream and drowns me in memories every time I climb aboard.

[Crankin]

I am getting very lazy about driving more than a few miles for a group ride. Although the group ride is one I love, I am not going to drive 25 miles in rush hour traffic for it. But, I had a great, albeit shorter ride, after I forced myself to move my winter clothes down the basement and brought up my summer stuff. Wasn't sure where I would ride, but I ended up doing a loop around Hanscom AFB/Airport, and then, on the way back I just went about half a mile out of my way to stop and take a picture of the Concord River, over the bridge just outside of the town center. I used to ride this road many times a week before I moved to my condo.
It was 64 when I started, and the temperature must have gone up quickly, because I was on the edge of feeling too hot and thinking I should have worn a sleeveless jersey. It's 78 now. Just gorgeous and sunny, but I think there must be some humidity coming in. So my ride was only 17.25 miles, but it was my fastest solo ride this year, which is good. There's one hill and then another annoying shallow sort of grade, somewhere between a false flat and a climb on the way back. It's on a main road through Minuteman National Park, it's always busy and the shoulder is always full of debris, but it is not that long.
The dreaded yellow dust (pine pollen) has arrived. I am not allergic to it, but it gets in your mouth when you ride. My car is totally covered and it's useless to clean it, as this lasts a couple of weeks.
The picture is going the wrong way!!! Oh well. Turn your computer around.

[north woods gal]

You're ahead of us on the trees leafing out. Ours are still in the bud stage, but, of course were at a higher latitude. Lovely scene, though.

Been riding a variety of my bikes on the trail, same as always. I find the differences between the bikes as to how they ride and handle to be interesting. Adds a bit of interest to riding the same trails all the time. Yesterday, I was on one of the Norco fat bikes after riding my 29 plus bikes with their 3" tires all week. Those big 4.8" tires on the fat bike make a huge difference in riding comfort on the trail. They soak up so much of that trail chatter and they really smooth out the big bumps. I especially appreciate that when riding over the big rocks. Those big fat tires aren't quite a substitute for suspension, but they're close enough for my riding and make riding a rigid bike (my preference) all the more doable.