Hello everyone!
I've gotten in a couple more rides of late. After way too many rainy days, we finally got a break last week. I rode on a rail trail with friends on Friday, about 26 miles in all. It was the shakedown ride with the new rear wheel. Everything went well, the weather was fine, and we went out to lunch afterwards.
Sunday was a century ride organized by a bike club in the area, and I planned to do the metric (which was really 67 miles). It was another beautiful day. I rode with someone who has not ridden for much of the summer due to health problems, and we started kinda fast and then slowed down in the second half. I was actually feeling pretty tired near the end. With about 3 miles to go, I tried to shift to a larger cog while going up a short steep hill, but the chain overshifted and got stuck between the cassette and the spokes of the new wheel. So I ended up calling SAG for a ride back to the start. The next day I took the bike to the shop, where they took enough things part to get the chain unstuck, reassembled everything and adjusted the derailleur. Fortunately the spokes on the new wheel were not damaged by the chain. My next ride will be tomorrow night. I am hoping to move on from all this rear-wheel related drama!
As for the possible new bike, from the rewards program at work... I am undecided. The trade-in value on the new hybrid is less than I had hoped, under $400, even though it is brand new and never ridden. If I trade it in for the gravel bike, it will be a significant out-of-pocket cost for me. And then there would be the necessary accessories, like pedals, a better saddle, water bottle cages, etc. Yes I would get good use from the gravel bike (in addition to fenders and rack mounts for wet or cold weather, it can hold FOUR water bottles, which would be great on summer rides in areas where convenience stores are few and afar between). Yes I have the money. But I really was not planning to spend that much money on a new bike right now. I will probably go ahead and get it, but need to think about it some more, to become comfortable with it.
- Gray 2010 carbon WSD road bike, Rivet Independence saddle
- Red hardtail 26" aluminum mountain bike, Bontrager Evoke WSD saddle
- Royal blue 2018 aluminum gravel bike, Rivet Pearl saddle
Gone but not forgotten:
- Silver 2003 aluminum road bike
- Two awesome worn out Juliana saddles