January 18th, 2009 was a good day for a gravel road ride. Temps were in the 30's with a light west wind. This would also be my first ride on my professionally tuned Marin - East Peak since Bike Masters finished tuning it back in December. I took Doug's advice and rode west on fort street today. I didn't want to fight any traffic with ice and snow on the road sides so I loaded the bike up on the back of the truck and drove west to about 170th. I parked in a residential area close to were the gravel starts. The traffic was light. After riding for about an hour I realized only about half a dozen cars went by. I passed one runner but didn't see any others on bikes. The light wind gave me a bit of a push home. Fort St. past 196th has some nice hills. I enjoyed the climbs and the gravel was solid enough for some fast descents. I was up out of the saddle on the climbs without any bike trouble. Back in November I would have been worried about climbing hard because of a drivetrain problem (cracked derailleur hanger). My brake performance was a big improvment too. They were very quiet and worked great. Thanks Bike Masters!
I was expecting to have a mad dog come running out of some farm along the way. Fortunately that didn't happen.
Good Ride!
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