Morning commute - peaceful, easy feeling

I'm back from a couple weeks of holidays and am feeling very relaxed. I got in a 750 km bike ride/camping trip, riding from Ottawa to Niagara-on-the-Lake via New York State. Part of it was along the Erie Canal towpath. Jule met me with a rental car in NOTL and we spent three days exploring, by bike and car, and tasting the region's foods and wines. We stayed in a lovely B&B in the wee village of Virgil, about 4 km (15 minute bike ride) from NOTL. There were four winneries between the town and the B&B! You can't swing a cat without hitting a winery in NOTL.

The Atlantis performed wonderfully, transporting me and my gear without incident. It rides beautifully when loaded. I'm in the process of writing up a trip report which I'll post at crazyguyonabike.com.

Bit of bike maintenance ...

A ticking noise coming from below caused me, after tightening everything I could think of, including the seat bolts, to finally take the drive train apart. I was surprised to discover the inner chain ring was so close to the chain stay that it had rubbed the paint right off it! I remember reading something on Peter White's site about Rivendell's choice of stock cranks for the Atlantis.

I was surprised, too, at the amount of wear on the teeth of the middle chain ring! It's gets used about 95% of the time when I commute. I'll have to keep a better eye on it.

The good news is the ticking noise is gone and the bike looks brand new!









The inner chain ring I was using had 26 teeth. Peter White recommends a 20 or 22 tooth inner ring for the Atlantis, but I couldn't find one locally (not even a 24 toother), so I put the old one back on for now. No one had a 36 tooth ring to replace the worn middle ring, either. So I settled for a 34 tooth black one.

A bike ride ...

... via a hidden rocky beach, the Aylmer Marina and beach, and a pretty good Tim's, with only one really big hill. A great way to spend a Saturday morning.

Stormy ride home - rain, sun, repeat

Morning commute - Rain.

This is only the 2nd rain ride in the last 1400 km of commuting this season! At least I had my water bottle this time and didn't have to slurp the rain water off the sleeves of my Marmot rain jacket. :)