We saw this crazy dude up in McMasionLand on a Friday ride on the dirt roads of the Palouse. This guy lives at one of the few remaining normal homes that once dotted the Palouse before the "look how rich I am" crowd moved in and built enormous and silly "ranches" and "Tuscan-inspired villas."
I forget that Liza has not ridden most of these roads. Now that she has a bike that is comfortable for long rides on interesting roads, we've been hitting some of the old chestnuts: Ben Burr, Windmill, Jamison, Hilby, etc. It's a lot of fun to ride these with her. It feels like rediscovering these rides.
These are fun roads to tool around on when it's a cool, clear fall day: super low traffic, lots of gravel roads, scenic. Soon I'll be bringing the Jetboil for longer rides on cold days. I love finding a good scenic rest stop (think Kiesling Rd off of Big Rock -- looking south west) and making a hot pot of soup and some tea to enjoy the view with.
Finally, in the "I forget how much I don't know about anything" department. I buil
t up a great wheel this afternoon. It was on the money: I took my time, reading the tension frequently, stress relieving as I went. It was a dialed in, tight-ass wheel. Best ever.
t up a great wheel this afternoon. It was on the money: I took my time, reading the tension frequently, stress relieving as I went. It was a dialed in, tight-ass wheel. Best ever.Until today, I've stress relieved with a crank-arm, per Sheldon's method. Today, I tried doing what I've seen Liza do: grab the rim at 9 and 3 o'clock and apply pressure by pressing the down on the rim, with the hub into the ground. After I finished the wheel, I gave it a final stress reliever, and relieved it too much. I had the rim seam right at 12 o'clock and rim just buckled. Shit. I didn't like the Mavic MA4 rim anyway, but crap. I'm going back to Sheldon's method of stress-relieving from now on.
Ugh...sorry to read about your wheel! I've never heard of a Mavic "MA4" -- is that a new model?
ReplyDeleteoops. it's an ma3.
ReplyDeleteI do most of my riding out where you describe, mostly Valley Chapel and out that way, often hitting Jamison and Ben Burr on the way home. I love going through the various fields, watching them grow through the spring, coming into bloom, going down to harvest. There are also a lot of red tail hawks to watch float through the sky.
ReplyDeleteBut, the mcmansions, yeah, the mcmansions. When we had some money last year, I thought about us buying some of the land that's up for sale, hoping to lease it back to the farmer so it wouldn't turn into a house. The prices are obscene, and so is what is happening to the farmland. I guess farmers need money just like anyone else, but it's a shame that's the best way they can make ends meet. I think the area needs a farmland preservation system, assuming we don't have one already.