To borrow a term from Baseball I rode for the cycle this week. In my case that means I rode all four bikes in the fleet. Last Sunday I rode the Handsome Devil in Portland on the Sunday Parkways ride.
On Wednesday the 1986 Schwinn Passage got the nod for a 22 mile ride around Lake Sammamish where it performed admirably.
On Friday the 1986 Miyata Trail runner got a short shake down cruise to a local pub, still undecided if the next step should be tweak and ride for the next 2 months or go straight to the tear down.
Today is farmers market day and the usual domain of the HD since its a pack mule, however, I noticed when I wheeled it in from the car last weekend that it had the hiccup/stutter of brake rub on rim, so I made a note to put it in the stand before further use. I have a feeling this is a result of an incident from driving through Mt. Tabor park in Portland. A combination of large speed bump and (I think) pothole was jarring enough to shift the rack - the strap and hooks on the lower part of the trunk came loose - and pop the bike off the rack. Fortunately I was going less than 5 mph so I stopped immediately to fix the situation. I did some work on it before the parkways ride but it felt like it was harder to ride than it should have been. In the bike stand the rear wheel was fine with a minor tweak but I decided the front needed some looking at. To get the pads to not rub I had to set the noodle wire so loose that the brake lever need full depression to work.
As soon as the wheel was in the truing stand I knew I had an issue...
The very fat 47c tire, which I had to deflate to get the wheel out of the frame, is too big to allow for truing without removing the rubber first. It needs to be done but not right now so I went with another solution for the market run.
The 1978 Motobecane Grand Touring is my lightest most racy bike but it's rear rack makes it a good back up for when panniers are needed. And so to complete my cycle MotoGT got pressed into service. While shifting the RD I was reminded this bike could really use/deserves an overall this winter.
Since today was more about beer tasting than produce shopping one pannier was more than adequate.
I started off with a Ruud Awakening IPA
followed by a Hop 15 Imperial IPA - probably my favorite from today
I moved into non-IPA land with an American Wheat
And I finished things off with a Czech Pilsner from a local brewery. In retrospect I screwed up the order but it was nice to make up for not being here last week on my birthday.
Hoping to have a gravel ride tomorrow to report on. Ride. Smile. Taste beer. Repeat.
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