Sunday Ride Report 12/22/13

I was pleased to find warm temperatures and a complete lack of rain when I got up this morning, but knowing that the weather could quickly change, I put on all of my rain gear including booties and a pair of rainproof gloves I’d yet to test out.

Before heading over to Dunkin Donuts, I stopped to top off my tank and check my air pressure at the Mobile station down the street. Klay pulled up to a pump just as I was mounting my bike to leave. I was surprised to see him riding Jenny

Rather than Charlene

Turns out that Charlene has unresolved electrical issues and is out of commission for the time being.

We met up again at Dunkin Donuts where we chatted until 10:30 AM. I decided it was time to go and Klay noted that the temperature had dropped one degree while we sat there. Perhaps we had already reached the high temperature for the day.

I wanted to visit Cycle Gear in Manchester. I’d applied to couple of positions there and I also wanted to pick up a set of glove liners. Klay stuck with me as we rode up Rt. 32 into Norwich where we parted ways as he had more urgent responsibilities to attend to.

I stuck to the Numbered Roads (32, 31, 44, 83) which included a few twists and turns along the way. Most annoying was following Rt. 83 which made a few hard turns with no warning (read that as directional signs) until you were at the intersection and two lanes out of position! 

Traffic wasn’t too bad considering this was the Sunday before Christmas, but I felt like I hit more than my fair share of red lights.

Cycle Gear was hopping with customers and while I had passed a few other bikes on the road, all the other customers arrived in cages. I was also the only one wearing colors.

I picked up a high visibility safety vest in addition to the glove liners and joined in on a conversation regarding the fine points between the GoPro Hero3 and the JVC Adixxion video cameras. Both appear to be excellent products, but JVC gives you more for your money. 

They also have a display on the new UClear communication system with boomless microphone. The microphones are integrated with the speakers. 

I didn’t take the time to test them out, so I can’t vouch for how well they work. Needless to say you must have a full face helmet to use this system. 

If you’ve never visited Cycle Gear’s store, it is a worthwhile trip to see and examine all of the products up close and they have novelty items I hadn’t seen on their website.

It never rained while I was riding, the sun actually started to peek through on the way back and the temperature never really dropped. The roads were wet, but not too slick. I tried to stay at or below the speed limit and I increased my cushion of space from other drivers.   

The only thing I really had to contend with was road spray. Fortunately I had all my rain gear on so my clothes stayed clean and I only had to rinse off the rain gear when I got home. The bottom of the bike was completely caked with “Road Mud”, most of which washed off easily with a water hose, but a sponge was needed for any of the hot parts. I would have liked to give it a proper washing with soap, but I didn’t have time as I was late for a birthday party I had completely forgotten about while enjoying the ride.

As I headed back to Norwich down Rt. 32 I decided to take the back roads home and pulled off onto Murphy Road which is a short cut through to Rt. 87. I made a quick jog on Rt. 87 to Stockhouse Road to Fitchville Road to Rt. 163 to Caroline Road. Or should I say Caroline Beach. No one can complain that Bozrah doesn’t spend enough on road treatment! 

Caroline Road has a number of nice twisties, but covered with thick sand, I dropped down into second gear and tip toed through those sections where I’d usually enjoy leaning the bike over. As Caroline Road heads downhill and ends at South Road it looked like a river delta with tire tracks revealing the asphalt beneath the mounds of sand. I’m glad I stuck to the numbered roads for the majority of the trip.

I’m really glad that I made the effort to gear-up and get the bike out of the garage today. It was not the ride I’d been dreaming about during these past weeks of cold and snow, but it was completely satisfying and I hope I have more opportunities to do it again before the end of winter.