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.

Jule - nice smile :)

Artist @ Work

Morning commute - a clear day, finally

Confederation Building on the left and Supreme Court on right.

Overflow

From the ride home last night, after thunderstorms swept through the city.

Morning commute - supreme (court) sunrise

The 5 day heat wave will end today. Whew.

Morning commute - H,H,H, day 3

'Nuff said ...

Morning commute - hot, hazy, humid

It was 24C at 6am (34C on the humidex if you feel the need to make it sound worse). The showers were ice cold again for the second day and I forgot my towel!! I don't air dry so good. :7

Morning commute - stay cool ...

It's going to be a hot one. 28C now at 10:30 and it felt pretty muggy riding in several hour ago. Best thing to do today would be to find a lake and jump on in. :)

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.

Ride to the MEC via Bridghead

Caramel latte and oatmeal raisin cookie. No calories at all ... :)



Some lights and tools and a couple other things.

Stormy ride home - rain, sun, repeat

Morning commute - cooler than it looks

But it's not raining and the sun is out. Temp about 11C and winds at 24kph. Mostly from the rear! :)

Morning commute - Otty surfaces

More rain. And the only one happy about it is Otty, Ottawa's own Loch Ness-type-monster, who gets all excited whenever the river rises.

Morning commute - webcam spider shot

That's me down there. Hellooooo ...

Morning commute - Trying to clear. Again.

Morning commute - the route

From the heart of Nepean, along the river to Parliament Hill, over a Rideau Canal lock, up Lungbuster Hill to the NGC, as provided by my trusty Garmin MAPGPS 60CSx.

Rolling home on the summer stolstice

The falling water on the locks intrigued me, so I went up a lock towards the Chateau from where I cross the canal. I took a few pics and then these kids on bikes began rolling down the hill. The guy in the blue shirt was the beginning of a stream of bikes that must've been +100 bikes long and took quite a few minutes to clear my position. My short picture taking detour had put me at the end of a long line of noisy, wobbly kids on wheels. But it was (thankfully) short lived as they pulled over on a grassy bit below the National Library for an Ottawa River history lesson and it allowed several of us to pass. Whew. (btw, Canada was one of the first countries to combine its National Library with it's National Archives.)

Weekend snaps - basil shopping and a Bike Fest