Yesterday afternoon, I spun the cranks on the road bike and collected some paved mileage. I have a fantastic little route which begins at my doorstep, follows Dover road down to Butler road and then doubles back for a nice 20 mile loop. It was 4:00 by the time I had finished mowing the lawn and after some quick maintenance the road bike and I were headed for the hills. For the past several rides I've noticed some chain rub on the cage of my front derailleur. I kept forgetting to adjust it until I'd remember in the middle of a ride. So, before I left, I clamped the road bike in the stand and fine tuned the front derailleur. Somehow, the derailleur had shifted just a bit around my seat tube. I repositioned the clamp, snugged it up, checked my cable tension and high & low limits, then ran it through the gears. Voila! Problem solved.
Temps were in the low 50's and the wind was kickin' so I kitted up in bib-shorts, short sleeve jersey, and wind vest. Less than a mile into the ride I stopped and pulled on a pair of arm warmers. Arm warmers have to be my all-time favorite pieces of riding gear; closely followed by shoe covers with bib-shorts bringing up the rear. The warmers were just the ticket and kept me comfy for the entire ride.
I stopped a few times to take some pictures. My first stop, on Dover road, was to look snap a picture of a farm I admire. It's nestled down in a hollow with a little pond and a bunch of cows peppered around it's fields. The cows were incredibly interested in me and they mozied their way over to the fence slowly but surely. It was a little strange. I didn't know cows would walk right up to you like a horse would. I snapped a few pictures and was on my way, but here's the weird part... as I pedaled off, the cows began galloping along side me on their side of the fence... what's up with that? I'm just a likeable person I suppose. I shook my head and zipped off down the road. Fare well my bovine lady friends!
My next stop was further down Dover Road where a gate blocked the entrance to some Baltimore Gas & Electric property. The sign on the gate warning people not to trespass had, of course, been shot by the local rednecks. Classic! A nice shot pattern covered the center of the sign which was obviously shot from the window of a truck on the road, 20 feet away. “Good one Vern!” Rednecks truly must hate signs. Or do they love them? I don't know.
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