I rode my LongLow on a not-too-long and not-so-low tour last week, the first time I've ridden that far, and stayed places overnight, by bicycle. It looks like we did 340 miles, over six and a half days of riding, on a mix of roads - some urban, some country lanes, and some coastal highway. The bicycle performed very well, only one minor break, noted below. Weather definitely cooperated, it was warm but not enervatingly hot, and the headwinds we pushed through near the coast turned into tailwinds once we turned south. The route was from Berkeley, into Napa, Calistoga, Healdsburg, Cloverdale over to Boonville, out to the coast along the Navarro river, then south back into Marin and San Francisco: http://ridewithgps.com/routes/2183399
Some comments on gear: The Nitto Noodles (46) gave me more and better hand positions on the long days, than the M-bars I've been using for as long as I can remember on all my bikes. I got them pretty closely set just before the ride, and bar tape and shellac went on the night before we left. I found and used all the hand positions, and didn't get any numbness. Tektro interruptors worked great. Carrying my off-bike clothes, toolkit, first-aid kit, and toiletries in the large shopsack atop a basic Nitto rear rack (in a basket) made for great access and easy carriage into homes/motels, but it also caught the wind, and made the bike feel generally top-heavy. It also seemed to induce immediate wobble/shimmy if I took my hands off the bars, even when moving from drops to hoods. I'm going to get some Ortlieb dry sacks, and a larger rack, for the next long ride. I noticed a hanging flap of rubber on the rear JB (green) the morning we were too take off - the threads were visible but not torn. I decided to ride on, and deal with either a carcass repair or a new tire when we rode past an open shop. I did get a new tire in St. Helena, but never mounted it, the JB is doing fine, and held pressure the entire trip. Those tires just roll and roll... The only breakdown was the seat binder bolt. The two faces of the binder are not quite parallel (frame was built in 1998 by Joe Starck) and it looks like the bolt was flexing when turned and experienced final fracture in St. Helena when I was adjusting my seat. Thankfully, the town's bike shop was open and they had a bolt and nut that fit. I think a convex washer & cup could help the bolt have a straight shot to the nut. And speaking of, this was the first time I used bag balm - wow, it's fantastic. No chafing, no sore spots, a perfect combination with merino wool skivvies under thin nylon shorts. I don't know why I resisted it for so long... All told, it was great much fun to ride day on day for a week. I got melancholy taking BART back at the end, but look forward to more long rides. Maybe even some camping. - Andrew, Berkeley -- 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?hl=en-US. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
