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| "New" old bike ready to go. 2/11/25 dwm |
Most first rides are 20 to 30 miles to see how the bike feels. This one was longer.
Just after I settled the bill for the new bike parts (new tire, two new chain rings, a new bike chain, tune-up, and steam cleaning) I headed east on Verona Avenue before making my way to the Military Ridge trail.
It was noticeable immediately that the bike was better. While it's always quiet, now it is virtually silent on smooth, paved paths. When I rode past five deer grazing in a field, only one looked at me, then resumed eating.
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| The forest floor was cleaned up. 4/11/25 dwm |
You can't tell how a year's worth of cycling will go based on the first ride but it felt better than what I remember from last year. But it is more likely the lack of wind this trip that made me feel faster and stronger.
I used the Capital City trail to the southwest corner of Lake Monona then followed the loop around it counter-clockwise. A nice feature of the trail is that it passes through acres of Madison parkland. Much of it is covered by forests with tall and small trees with plenty of bushes and undergrowth, but in a few areas, it appears work crews cleared the smaller invasive plants so native ones can grow.
Friday was a nice day for early April. It was partly cloudy and the temperatures ranged from the upper 40s to the low 50s. Thankfully I had a hat and gloves along for the ride. It wasn't freezing but the breeze generated on the bike was cold enough to make me glad I had them.
It was nice to see a lot of people out on the paths, either walking or cycling. And thinking back to my first ride of the year in February, it was nice having a bike with 27 gears.
Ride 2: 48 miles 15.4 mph average. Total miles: 78
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