16.05.06 | riding trails (and some gear h0ring?)
posted in at 8:06 am by colin
It might be official — I (think I am) a gear h0r! After picking up what I hope is the last of my gear four touring/distance trial riding the bill is something I do not want to think on at all. Today I added a new (summer) sleeping bag as my other was too warm, too heavy and too large to fit in my dry sack. I was set on picking up a rear rack and Arkel trail rider trunk bag, and I thought I was going to pick up a pair of Keen Newport H2 sandals to ride. Yesterday at MEC I saw decent clipless peddles for around $60 and it got me think that instead of the sandals peddles and shoe might be a good option for a only a little amount more.
At the lbs whilst glancing at the peddles, the owner (whom I have discussed things with many times) indicated he had a set below the counter he would give me for $50 — so I looked at the shoes and they had a pair of Cannondale Roam's that fit perfect, were exactly the type of shoe I was after (not racy and suitable for trails off the bike). That they were $99 was the icing on the cake! So now from head to toe I look the part - I'd like to think that my actual use of them makes me less of a gear h0r too...
So I did get out and ride today — after draining the savings significantly more! I loaded up the trailer with about 2/3 of the weight it will have (no food, or non-cycling clothing, etc( and with the new rear rack and trunk bag I set off. I rode a bit over 20km on undulating road — including a busy stretch during peak hour (quite scary — and some of the cars/trucks were not intimidated by the trailer) — to see how much impact the weight would have. Fast deceleration was different and made me a little wary. I also notice that it does give you a good push downhill. I had read reviews that trailers can be a little unstable over 30km, and on one stretch I got it up to just on 52km. It seemed to handle fine — I did grip the bars pretty tight though!
My road route made a loop of Cootes Paradise and I ended up in the Dundas Valley. I stumbled across an access point along the Hamilton-Brantford rail trail and thought I would give 5km of it a look. I ended up riding a around 12km of the trail. Reaching what used to be summit station — where the long steady climb peaked at the top of the Niagara Escarpment. On the descent, I ran into the forecast storm and, whilst brief, it did drop a bit of water on me. It was good to see how the dry sack on the trailer and the inbuilt rain cover on the trunk bag handled the rain — as well as the splash-guard I installed today on the front triangle. I am glad that I had that!
So, all in all I clocked about 50km today (a small distance when considering I ill be clocking 100km or more when travelling). The rail trail was a great ride and I will be doing the whole 77km of it soon — with my camera. It's nice to ride with no cars and to be surrounded by green, then to camp at the end of it — I can't wait!