Today the temperature reached into the mid-80s so I went for a ride to the park after work. I didn’t think I’d be wearing my Birkenstock sandals in February, but here we are! My feet are so bright, aren’t they?
I got new eyeglasses last week, and I opted to add the UV-activated tinting to the lenses. It makes cycling and running much more convenient because I don’t have to switch to my other glasses. The new lens-coatings do not get as dark as my clip-on sunglasses, but they do make a difference and I am satisfied with them.
I bought a new bicycle helmet to replace my old Giro which was about 11 years old. The new Bern FL-1 Libre helmet was on sale at about 50%-off and I like the look of it so I figured it was a good deal. I think it will be a good summer helmet, with plenty of ventilation. My other helmet is a Giro Cormack in black, and it offers more protection but is heavier and hotter. Both are good, though!
Piplup and I went for a nice ride this afternoon to enjoy the beautiful 73°F / 22.8°C weather. I also wanted to test out the shifting because I made an adjustment to the chain-pusher. After I changed the chainring (and removed two links from the chain) last week, I noticed that the chain was skipping a bit.
After some testing, I determined that the chain wasn’t actually slipping off of the chainring or cogs, but the chain tensioner wasn’t lined up with the chain perfectly, and would “blip” every so often. I adjusted the chain pusher about a millimeter or so, and now the chain is lined up with the tensioner perfectly – no skipping at all. Yay!
I was hoping for a beautiful sunset, but it turned out to be kind of overcast and grey. Still fun to go out and ride a bike, though!
I put a kickstand on my bicycle, and it’s very convenient, but I definitely need a flat platform to put under it when on dirt or grass. Today, my iPhone had that task. It’s not a long-term solution so I need to find something else to put under the kickstand.
For my motorcycle, I have a flattened soda can in the tank bag, but I think something a little more elegant would match the Brompton. Gotta find something.
I’ve recently started following a several people on Twitter who ride and post cool photos of their Brompton (and other folding) bicycles and I thought I would give it a try too. Since I have a ginormous Borough bag for the front of Piplup, it’s easy to carry my tripod and a camera. So this evening I went for a ride around the neighborhood and took a night shot.
I think it came out okay – not the best of backgrounds, but not bad for the first shot. For these bicycle photos, I am going to use Mariko’s old Olympus E-PL9 camera since it has a wide-angle 9-16 mm (18-32 mm equiv.) lens. I am not familiar with the Olympus menu system so it’s a little frustrating to use but I love all cameras so it’s still fun.
I’m looking forward to taking more photos while bicycling! Follow me on Twitter if you’d like.
I installed the new 44-tooth chainring last night and took Piplup for a spin along the hike and bike trail today. The new chainring makes climbing hills much easier! I am very pleased with it!
But, halfway through the ride, I noticed that the chain would slip every so often when in the 2- gear, and sometimes in 1-. Since it was only happening when the chain was on the larger rear cog, I believe the derailleur/chain pusher needed adjustment. But it could also be that the chain has a stiff link. This seems more plausible since I had to remove two links when I replaced the chainring.
With that in mind, I made flexed the links that I had tinkered with a bit to loosen them up. I also made sure the chain tensioner jockey wheel was sliding correctly. Hopefully that takes care of the issue. Fingers crossed!
If you want to ride along with us, please watch the video I made. :)
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My camera & photos
I use a Fujifilm X-series camera for most of the photos on this site and my Instagram. Why not pick one up for yourself?