October Sunday Ride

I managed to get out for a nice little fall leaf ride today - a gorgeous Sunday afternoon, with golden sun, a light breeze, and temperatures about 60. I chose the Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath for my route, which seemed like a nice way to be immersed in the autumn colors. Oddly enough, our leaves have only just begun to change, so there's still quite a bit of green on the trees, but there are also lots of leaves on the path to make a very satisfying crunch underneath tires.

For the ride, I took my Mercian Vincitore path racer - a fixed-gear, single speed bike equipped cyclocross tires, fenders, and a couple of small bags.

Much of the towpath runs parallel to the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railway, so there are little train depots along the way. I didn't take the train today, but the CVSR has a nice deal for cyclists where you can take your bike on the train for just $3 one way, then ride back. It lets people ride the towpath farther than they might if they had to pedal both ways - and it's great if you have kids.

That's a Velo-Orange stem and bell, with Soma Portola dirt-drop style bars, a Velo-Orange rack with small Berthoud bag, and Honjo fenders.

The Mercian path racer is an ideal bike for rides like this one - in fact, rides like this are exactly what the bike was built for. The towpath is mostly paved with a crushed limestone, and when it's dry, that dust coats every bit of a bicycle - particularly the drivetrain. That dust will completely gum up a freewheel, or a derailleur. I've seen freewheels completely seized up from it. But the fixed gear drivetrain has a lot less to worry about. Also, there are almost no hills along the path (no more than about 5% grade) so one carefully selected gear is plenty. I have Challenge Grifo XS cyclocross tires on the bike, which are cushy and have an ideal tread for maintaining grip on the packed limestone surface.

Just a brief post - not a lot more to say. I hope the fall weather is good where you are.