CTC 2011 To-Do

1) Service the filthy pile of rust that was a bike before the Band of Bents Fleche.
1a) Replace front/rear brake pads
1b) Replace frayed front shift cable
1c) Tune up rear shifting, check cable and housing for wonkiness.
1d) Roll dice to determine if rear tire should be replaced. (Somewhat worn tire==more fender clearance==less rubbing grit on limestone trail, new tire==less chance of flats. Chronic low-grade annoyance versus potential serious annoyance...)
1e) Adjust front derailleur to eliminate chain rub.
2) Format/print general cue sheet, probably based on the one Tom put together (Overview of major roads is worthwhile, just in case signs go missing.)
3) Review packing list, repack sundry bags.
4) Bag up post-ride care package with clean civvies, shoes, and whatnot.
5) Confirm sleep arrangements.
6) Confirm travel buddy arrangements.

At the moment, the long-range weather forecast looks quite promising all the way across the state. I think I'll stop checking it now, so as to preserve some illusions.

Night ride, pavement, gravel, and dirt

Went for a spin last night with Brian to test out the new lights; looks solid to me for the most part. Rough roads definitely induce a bit of a strobing effect with the LED, probably because it's mounted on a Terracycle accessory mount well off the front of the boom.

I may need to think about moving the primary LED down to the fork, and leave the E6 halogen mounted on the boom; that would give me a bit more light on the tighter turns.

Lost one of the bolts on the left water bottle cage; luckily, the other one held, so I transferred bottle to right cage and tightened the heck out of the single remaining left bolt. Memo to self: Loctite the crap out of everything.

I still need to get the tail lights and the cycle computer tightened down as well, as they still tend to rotate fairly freely with enough vibration.

On the bright side, I threw some Koolstop Salmon pads on the front brakes; that, plus some heavy toe-in, and the worst of the squealing has stopped.