Belated Ride Report
A couple of Fridays ago I finally got out for a day on the bike, only the second time this summer (The previous day out was a ride out to Almonte, Middleville, up the 511 and back via the Tatlock Road. Basically 200 km. Made the disconcerting discovery that the Tatlock Road has been moved since I last rode along it.)
Between getting organized (should have done more the night before), drinking coffee, and watching the Olympics for a few minutes I started out later than I’d hoped. It was about quarter past eight when I headed up the road. This called for a scaling back of my original plan to go out to Lanark then down Bolingbroke Road to Westport and over to Brockville. Instead I made for Perth, following, more or less, the Rideau Lakes route. I say more or less because it’s so long since I rode the Rideau Lakes that I can’t remember the details. At any rate I made my way out to Ashton then along Ninth Line Road and Tennyson Road.
On Tennyson Road I met a couple of cyclists from Kanata, headed for Perth, who I was able to ask directions of. I couldn’t remember which road you tuned south on to get into Perth. It turned out to be McPhail Road, followed by a right turn onto Country Road 10.
In Perth I stopped at the Tim Horton’s for a bagel, a drink and some studying of the map. I had to be in Maitland, just outside Brockville, in time to pick up the kids at 4 pm. This seemed doubtful if I stuck to my original (well my second original) plan of going through Westport. Instead, I followed County Road 10 out of town and turned left onto Narrows Lock Road. This turned out to be a good idea. It’s a first class ride: enough twists and turns and little hills to be interesting but not enough hills to be hard work, not much traffic and good scenery. The road surface was a bit rough in places but nothing outlandish. After passing Lally Road, which goes over to Murphy’s Point Provincial Park, I started to recognize things. We once drove from the Park over to the locks. I made a brief stop at the locks to watch boats go through and have a bit of a drink, then it was off again. The sky was bright and sunny where I was but with dark clouds in the distance in every direction. There had been a brief shower as I was approaching the locks but it hadn’t come to anything. The sky didn’t look promising though.
Narrows Lock Road ends east of Newboro, just before the intersection with Highway 15. I was crossing the highway when I saw a dog walking along the roadside. He walked into the road as I reached the other side. Traffic was coming up the highway so I yelled at him and he ambled over. He had a tag on his collar but I couldn’t see an address or phone number. While I was standing there, wondering what on earth I was going to do with this dog (leaving him to wander onto the highway and get squashed wouldn’t do but taking him with me wasn’t practical) a car pulled up. They were searching for their runaway dog so the problem was solved.
On past the Forfar Cheese Factory – no stopping for cheese today – and on towards Philipsville. This is another gently rolling road with very little traffic.
The sky had darkened and the atmosphere had taken on a slightly threatening feeling. It was still perfectly comfortable but there was a sense that something was about to happen. There were a number of places selling vegetables along the road but I was pressed for time now and didn’t feel like hauling a sack of potatoes, even nice new potatoes. By the time I made it into Athens rain seemed imminent and as I approached the intersection with Highway 29, on the far side of Athens, it started to come down. I stopped to put on my rain jacket and reflective vest and discovered that my tail light wasn’t there. I’d forgotten that I moved it on to the commuting bike last week. Fortunately I found my helmet mounting blinky in the bottom of the Carradice.
Suitably illuminated I set off into what was becoming a torrential downpour: thunder, lightening, sheets of rain, etc. By the time I realized that it was a mistake not to do up my jacket my jersey was soaked. The worst problem was the cascade of salt being washed down into my eyes from the sweatband of my helmet. I had to stop several times to wipe my eyes in order to see. Between the frequent stops and reduced speed because of the rain it was slow going down 29 into Brockville and east to my mother-in-law’s place in Maitland. I arrived just after 3:30. I was in time to borrow a car a collect the kids but my piteous, drowned rat appearance led my sister-in-law to do the fetching so I got to change into dry clothes and drink hot coffee.
All in all a good ride. There were a couple of mechanical issues. My Lightspin dynamo kept going on when I went over bumps. It used to do this on occasion but it seemed much more frequent this time. If it’s getting worse it may be time to consider changing to a hub dynamo. On the other hand the dynamo drive wheel wasn’t slipping in the rain, which was a problem in the past. The second problem was the disappearance of the seatstay fender mounting bolt somewhere along the way. This had only been in place since I installed the Velo-Orange fenders a few weeks ago. Perhaps Loctite is needed.
Between getting organized (should have done more the night before), drinking coffee, and watching the Olympics for a few minutes I started out later than I’d hoped. It was about quarter past eight when I headed up the road. This called for a scaling back of my original plan to go out to Lanark then down Bolingbroke Road to Westport and over to Brockville. Instead I made for Perth, following, more or less, the Rideau Lakes route. I say more or less because it’s so long since I rode the Rideau Lakes that I can’t remember the details. At any rate I made my way out to Ashton then along Ninth Line Road and Tennyson Road.
On Tennyson Road I met a couple of cyclists from Kanata, headed for Perth, who I was able to ask directions of. I couldn’t remember which road you tuned south on to get into Perth. It turned out to be McPhail Road, followed by a right turn onto Country Road 10.
In Perth I stopped at the Tim Horton’s for a bagel, a drink and some studying of the map. I had to be in Maitland, just outside Brockville, in time to pick up the kids at 4 pm. This seemed doubtful if I stuck to my original (well my second original) plan of going through Westport. Instead, I followed County Road 10 out of town and turned left onto Narrows Lock Road. This turned out to be a good idea. It’s a first class ride: enough twists and turns and little hills to be interesting but not enough hills to be hard work, not much traffic and good scenery. The road surface was a bit rough in places but nothing outlandish. After passing Lally Road, which goes over to Murphy’s Point Provincial Park, I started to recognize things. We once drove from the Park over to the locks. I made a brief stop at the locks to watch boats go through and have a bit of a drink, then it was off again. The sky was bright and sunny where I was but with dark clouds in the distance in every direction. There had been a brief shower as I was approaching the locks but it hadn’t come to anything. The sky didn’t look promising though.
Narrows Lock Road ends east of Newboro, just before the intersection with Highway 15. I was crossing the highway when I saw a dog walking along the roadside. He walked into the road as I reached the other side. Traffic was coming up the highway so I yelled at him and he ambled over. He had a tag on his collar but I couldn’t see an address or phone number. While I was standing there, wondering what on earth I was going to do with this dog (leaving him to wander onto the highway and get squashed wouldn’t do but taking him with me wasn’t practical) a car pulled up. They were searching for their runaway dog so the problem was solved.
On past the Forfar Cheese Factory – no stopping for cheese today – and on towards Philipsville. This is another gently rolling road with very little traffic.
The sky had darkened and the atmosphere had taken on a slightly threatening feeling. It was still perfectly comfortable but there was a sense that something was about to happen. There were a number of places selling vegetables along the road but I was pressed for time now and didn’t feel like hauling a sack of potatoes, even nice new potatoes. By the time I made it into Athens rain seemed imminent and as I approached the intersection with Highway 29, on the far side of Athens, it started to come down. I stopped to put on my rain jacket and reflective vest and discovered that my tail light wasn’t there. I’d forgotten that I moved it on to the commuting bike last week. Fortunately I found my helmet mounting blinky in the bottom of the Carradice.
Suitably illuminated I set off into what was becoming a torrential downpour: thunder, lightening, sheets of rain, etc. By the time I realized that it was a mistake not to do up my jacket my jersey was soaked. The worst problem was the cascade of salt being washed down into my eyes from the sweatband of my helmet. I had to stop several times to wipe my eyes in order to see. Between the frequent stops and reduced speed because of the rain it was slow going down 29 into Brockville and east to my mother-in-law’s place in Maitland. I arrived just after 3:30. I was in time to borrow a car a collect the kids but my piteous, drowned rat appearance led my sister-in-law to do the fetching so I got to change into dry clothes and drink hot coffee.
All in all a good ride. There were a couple of mechanical issues. My Lightspin dynamo kept going on when I went over bumps. It used to do this on occasion but it seemed much more frequent this time. If it’s getting worse it may be time to consider changing to a hub dynamo. On the other hand the dynamo drive wheel wasn’t slipping in the rain, which was a problem in the past. The second problem was the disappearance of the seatstay fender mounting bolt somewhere along the way. This had only been in place since I installed the Velo-Orange fenders a few weeks ago. Perhaps Loctite is needed.
Labels: Ride report
posted by Alan at 9:03 a.m.
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