Don't know how this got sent before I finished it. Here's the complete version:
*************************************************** I usually ride Saturday mornings with some cycling friends. They're great guys and I always have fun riding with them, but these are guys who not only won't ride when it's raining, they won't ride-- I am not making this up-- when the roads are wet. Which not exactly my attitude. I'm more of a bike anywhere for any reason kind of person. Yesterday morning was sunny and warm, but I didn't feel like getting up so the ride went without me. So there I was at 3:00 this afternoon, heading out on my Atlantis. Without the boys on their dainty carbon bikes with fragile 23mm tires, I was free to enjoy some dirt, so I turned off the standard paved loop to the fire road up Windy Hill. I was determined to get all the way up to the top cleanly, trying to use all the dirt suggestions you guys have been giving this week. All was going well until I got to the very steepest pitch and for some reason they'd put a load of loose gravel on the bottom section. Too slippy for me, though I tried twice. But next week I'll try again. I think maybe if I just try to spin faster up the bottom part of the steep section I can get past the gravel, then hope to have enough energy to continue as it gets even steeper for a few tens of yards. On the top of the ridge it was getting late and and the wind was blowing. OK well, I guess that's why it's called Windy Hill. Happily I had taken the elementary precaution of bringing along an Ibex wooly zip-tee. All of you should buy one or more of those woolies-- they are absolutely fantastic for an extra layer when it starts getting cold, and they wad up so small. Not that carrying capacity is an issue on this particular bike, as we will shortly see. Feeling a bit peckish, I pulled out the bag of Quadratini cookies and munched a few. More climbing on pavement, and then it was time for the long descent. With the low clouds and the late hour, I was glad that the Atlantis has a generator hub wired to head and taillights. No need to worry about approaching darkness or dead batteries, I just flipped the light switch and I was good to go zooming down the hill. At the bottom it was time to go home to cook dinner, but I had to buy it first. Would my new Saddlesack, the arrival of which consoled me for having to missing the RBW garage sale, be able to swallow up two gallons of milk, five pounds of potatoes, pound and a half of chicken, two onions, some garlic, a loaf of French bread and some other assorted groceries? This was my first time using it for such a big load. I was delighted to discover that the straps can reposition for big loads. Everything fitted easily, with the French bread stuck sideways on the outside under the straps. I put my lock in an outside pocket, snapped the little wallet holder pocket back on top, and rode home. My non-Riv friends just don't understand the biking life. -- -- Anne Paulson My hovercraft is full of eels -- -- Anne Paulson My hovercraft is full of eels -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bu...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.
