Vermont to Switzerland
Quick trip north to Montreal. Jen had a training session at her company’s Canadian office. Ava and I wandered town while I worked virtually – answering emails and phone via a fast data connection and the magic of international calling on a cell phone – while climbing, eating, sliding, eating, climbing, walking and bike gawking.
Took some reinforcements and managed to make the Rogers ‘Road’ connection work. We took off in the dry on some familiar roads, then tackled Coon Hill, Galvin Hill, and Austin House dirt in the pouring rain. The usual suspects were wet, tired, cold and hungry by the time we made it to the climb on Hardscrabble – with uncharted territory and a questionable connection ahead of us. We made it to the dead end and laughed as the ‘road’ was in worse condition than my solo adventure. Lots of mud. Slick rock. Roots. At one point we were essentially riding in what seemed to be a creek bed. There were a few instances of cursing and sliding off the bikes – but we made the connection and descended to Stage Road. A quick burn on the rolling and sticky dirt into Essex led us to the Clover Natural Market. Homemade soup and chili hit the spot. Warmed and relatively dry we wheeled back to town on a mix of dirt and pavement for about 60 of mixed terrain in the chill and the wet.
Chill in the air this morning. Quick loop around the bay. Wanted to take on some dirt climbing – but chilled in the hollows enroute – rolled it back short to stay warm.
Fall is in the air. Quick trip through the woods and along the lake. Legs still sore from our hike.
The Surly CrossCheck on the Winooski pedestrian bridge. New On-One Mary bars – still sorting out the stem. Ergon grips – wow! Studs will go on tonight. Ixon IQ is proving to be a great battery light (I’m spoiled with a SON dynohub on the IF). Planet Bike Cascadia fenders could work better – but they are serviceable.
A busy end to the fall… swinging at Battery Park, frost on the big mountain, the Burlington Earth Clock, bottom’s up!, and my new James Black hat (simply perfect…)
Spent the week in Montreal. Lots of bikes. Lots of bike infrastructure. Need to get back with more focus on photographing the city…
Many ‘cycle tracks’ along side the main boulevards and streets – going both north / south and east west. Plenty of ‘bike lanes’ on minor streets – complete with sharrows near intersections or zones where cars and bikes need to blend. Lots of fixed gears, city bikes, and old 10 speeds.
Some recent snaps. The moody lake, a family walk in the Intervale, a leaf lined bike path, a stone skipping foray to the Mad River, and the colors of fall.
Fall maintenance time… the IF is in the shop (my garage, I mean bike storage facility) for the forseeable future. I try to pull the BB and most of the components at least once a year. Tonight I noticed a bit of a play in the BB after getting the drive side off – the Phil BB seems to have worn into its inner shell on the non drive side – the axle wobbled when I spun and pulled on it. I’ve sent an email off to Phil & Co. – hopefully they can refurbish this with a new housing. I imagine that the axle and bearings are still good.
Looks like I’ll be on the Surly FG for the next few days until I sort out the BB. Worst case is that I’ll be shelling out some $$ to fix this with a new BB, which is double the quote price of a refurbishment of existing components.
Did a nice loop through Richmond 2 weeks ago. Was planning on riding the southern half of the 200k Permanent but opted instead to get up late, sip tea at a favorite cafe, and roll south at a leisurely pace. The landscape was a riot of color.
