This was a great ride. I always enjoy riding. There are times when it's hard to ride alone, or when someone else is being difficult that can make it challenging, but i can usually enjoy the bike itself, the scenery or the fantastic weather. Today riding to work in the morning the weather was fantastic. Heavy rain, but no wind. It was very nice.
Tonight after the volunteer work party, a good group of us rode north from Bike Works. These are always the best rides. Riding at night in the city is one of the most wonderful things. Tonight the crescent moon and an extremely bright planet Venus were shining down on us as we left Bike Works for the dark shore of Lake Washington. Good company, quiet roads and a beautiful calm night made my legs strong. One person was heading further north than Capitol Hill and i stuck along the lake with her for a few miles, crossing the Montlake Bridge and doubling back over the University Bridge. It was a very pleasant ride and conversation.
On the way back i decided to ride up Interlaken Drive. I was coming from the other direction so i couldn't ride through the heavy dark forest of car-free Interlaken Park, but instead came through the shaded wealthy houses on the approach from the west. My strong legs and quiet bike gobbled up the smooth fast pavement and glorious curves of the dark quiet street. It was magnificent.
Wait a minute! My QUIET bike?
For a several weeks i've had a terrible creak in my bike when i stand up, or when i pedal hard. While i love a quiet bike, i accept little sounds, rattles and squeaks, if i know what they are and know they are not doing any damage.
I COULD NOT identify this creak. I tightened the crank bolts, a common cause of creak. Bottom bracket too. I took apart the cranks, handlebars, stem, and examined every inch of the bike. I had my bottom bracket professionally replaced. It really needed it. It was creaking, but that didn't get rid of the annoying creak. My expert mechanic couldn't identify it. I was getting pretty stressed about it. I was starting to worry it might be a frame crack!
I installed new handlebars recently, it wasn't that. I've been adjusting them every couple of days, trying to get used to them. I took apart the stem, cleaned it and greased it. That didn't fix it. I re-ran the cables. Nothing seemed to do it. Yesterday while doing something else, i popped off the front wheel. I adjusted the generator wire and rattled the locking quick release skewer a bit and i cleaned the dropouts and put a tiny layer of grease on them. Then i re-mounted the wheel.
I guess that must have done it. It was raining pretty hard on my ride out this morning so i probably wouldn't have heard it if it was creaking. But it was quiet riding across the city tonight.
My bike was quiet again. For the first time in weeks. It was calming. My new handlebars were finally perfectly adjusted, and i was adjusted to them. I enjoyed the ride in the rain this morning, loved my steel fenders too. I really enjoyed the company on the beautiful, stealthy night time scramble up Lake Washington. And as i sped through the sweeping curves from Roanoke to the start of the climb in Interlaken, i felt one with the bike, i felt fast, felt strong. I felt happy.
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