Our firstest child graduated high school on Friday. The ensuing Festival of all things "the Dude" left me in something of a cycling deficit.
I had big plans, I fell short.
Between making up for lost time at work, and recovering from 2 days of buffets, cookouts, and the most beautiful spread of sweets you could possibly imagine (sorry no photos so you'll have to use your imagination), I surrendered to a certain slothfulness.
Since I wasn't riding I did take it upon myself to replace the bottom bracket in the Fun Machine. The old one felt great. Freely spinning with a buttery smoothness and no detectable play, but standing on the pedals it sounded crunchy. Because it felt so good, I went hunting for the noise elsewhere. New cog, chain, overhauled the pedals. After each of these repairs, the noise would subsist for a bit, usually the 15.4 miles to work, but then on the return trip would be back with a vengeance.
Vexing.
So Saturday I replaced the beautiful, seemingly functional
Camp-ee-know-low unit with a pedestrian Origin 8.
I wanted to give it an "epic" test. Due to work and family commitments, I had to give it an utilitarian one.
Rode to work the reverse way.
Worked briefly (Strava calls this "resting") and headed North into a headwind.
Once I crossed Rt6 in Bristol, the scenery began to improve; not quite the bucolic byways I had originally envisioned for the weekend, but traffic was light, and it wasn't raining.
I was feeling great, but when I got to Simsbury I knew it was time to head for home and the Q's baseball game. But I wanted to at least get a metric in, so I figured a loop out towards Tariffville before I head over the mountain would get me to that mark. Halfway through I realized the loop would just be gravy.
The cherry on top of that gravy was the silence. No clicks, creaks or crunches. J&B's house brand saves my sanity...and isn't that what bikes are for?
3 comments:
Congrats on the graduate!
I can see where he gets his height from....
Are you sure he's 'your' son? Kid is a giant!
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