The temperature reached 60 degrees yesterday, and even I couldn't make weather-based excuses not to ride. So with the new Bombadil single-speed build completed the day before, I decided to combine some errands with a little culture injection.
Delaware has a lot of really wonderful museums within easy biking distance of my house. I decided to set off for a couple of historical sites along the Brandywine Creek - Breck's Mill, a historic district centered around a beautiful stone mill with bell tower built along the Brandywine Creek in 1816, and Hagley Museum, which preserves the original DuPont family gunpowder mill (the foundation for today's DuPont Company). As I rode the Bombadil on its inaugural ride down the long hill from my house to the Brandywine, I noticed a distinctive and pleasant (but also a little alarming) smell of wood smoke - the result of forgetting that this is the first bike I've ridden with no means of braking except the bike's caliper brakes on its wooden rims, and consequently applying the brakes on the long downhill the same way I would on alloy rims. I quickly adjusted to harder applications in shorter bursts, which solved the problem. However, at the bottom of the hill, I also learned that my habit of keeping the brakes applied after I stop (I don't know where that habit comes from, and I wasn't aware of it until yesterday's episode) is not a good one when riding a bike with caliper brakes on wood rims - because when I released the brakes and tried to start up again, I discovered that the cork pads had gently bonded with the varnish on the wooden rims. Easily released, and lesson learned. With those two adjustments in my braking habits, the new Bombadil performed very well - it's a lovely frame for a single speed. Although I will say that the beautiful wooden rims make the speed abatement process, even with cork pads installed in the Bruce Gordon cantis, a bit more of an adventure than I'm used to! First stop, Breck's Mill, and a quick lunch in bright sunshine alongside the merry rapids by the mill. Pics here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/37542512@N04/13194294113/in/photostream/ and here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/37542512@N04/13194420044/in/photostream/ . >From there I headed farther upstream along the Brandywine to Hagley, a >wonderful museum of America's early Industrial Revolution. Here's a pic of >the beautiful entrance (notice the cannonballs on top of the entrance column, >reflecting the primary use of the company's gunpowder product): >http://www.flickr.com/photos/37542512@N04/13194384194/in/photostream/ And then back up the long hill (the Bomba with its Bullmoose bars makes a very comfortable single speed climber) to Greenville for a stop at the hardware store for light bulbs, and a coffee at the local spot: http://www.flickr.com/photos/37542512@N04/13197664963/ and http://www.flickr.com/photos/37542512@N04/13174822263/ A great first ride! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ **************************************************** To ensure compliance with Treasury Department regulations, we advise you that, unless otherwise expressly indicated, any federal tax advice contained in this message was not intended or written to be used, and cannot be used, for the purpose of (i) avoiding tax-related penalties under the Internal Revenue Code or applicable state or local tax law provisions or (ii) promoting, marketing or recommending to another party any tax-related matters addressed herein. **************************************************** **************************************************** This email (and any attachments thereto) is intended only for use by the addressee(s) named herein and may contain legally privileged and/or confidential information. If you are not the intended recipient of this email, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this email (and any attachments thereto) is strictly prohibited. If you receive this email in error please immediately notify me at (212) 735-3000 and permanently delete the original email (and any copy of any email) and any printout thereof. Further information about the firm, a list of the Partners and their professional qualifications will be provided upon request. **************************************************** ============================================================================== -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
