I started out easy by hitting a couple of neighborhoods near my starting point, Yellow Springs Elementary School. I adjusted the saddle and stem a bit and started uphill.
| On Friday the UPS man brought my new bike to me. The Rivendell Quickbeam had always sounded like a nice bike, so when I found one in my size, I went for it. The bike was a stock Quickbeam, size 64, and all I added to it were some 35m Nokian cross tires, a Brooks B17 saddle and some clones of Shimano 324 pedals (Wellgo, I think). The pedals give me a SPD setup on one side and a regular platform on the other, so cycling shoes won't be necessary to ride. |
| The first ride on it would be my monthly ride up to the Thurmont overlook. I started out easy by hitting a couple of neighborhoods near my starting point, Yellow Springs Elementary School. I adjusted the saddle and stem a bit and started uphill. |
 | Just past one of the springs on Hamburg Road, as I reached some steeper stuff, I heard a rubbing noise. I looked down and sure enough, the wheel had shifted in the dropout and was rubbing against the left chainstay. I stopped and re-tightened the quick release, really cranking it down, and had no further issues. I should have dropped the chain into the small ring (32t) while I was at it, but stuck with the big ring (40t). |
 | Up and then up some more. When the road got too steep to pedal, I decided to walk a bit rather than drop to the low gear. I'd ride a bit and walk the steep stuff. A nice change of pace. The handlebars are very comfortable in the hoods, not so much in the drops when standing up to climb. Eventually the grade leveled out near the top. I went to the end of Hamburg, and turned around to head back to Fishing Creek Road, waving to a few mountain bikers in the parking area. |
 | A lot of the terrain in the Watershed looks like this. People build trails through this. |
 | Nathaniel's Place along Hamburg Rd. |
 | Fishing Creek Road is gravel, and the bike felt sure and steady on the long downhill. I kept the speed down, because I didn't fully trust the brakes, and I really missed a fixed gear to help with moderating my speed. |
 | After crossing the creek one time, I turned left on Delauter Rd and crossed the creek again at the ford. The water was only deep enough to get my shoes wet at the bottom of the pedal stroke. |
 | Once through, I stopped to put the bike in low gear for the long climb up the gravel road. The extra long track ends of the Quickbeam allow a pretty good gear range. 32/18 felt wonderful after 40/18, and I ended up keeping it here for the rest of the ride, even after I got off the mountain. At some point on the climb the saddle shifted nose up a bit, so I stopped and readjusted it. No further problems with that. |
 | The rest of the ride to the overlook was great. Again, the bike handled well on the singletrack to the overlook. |
 | Soon I was at the overlook. Panorama of the Monocacy River Valley |
 | I believe in heaven. A reward for climbing the hill. |
 | Quickbeam on the rocks. |
 | Eventually I got tired of taking pictures of chocolate and ate it. It was really good. I wish I had more. |
 | After pictures, I headed out on some singletrack which parallels Gambrill Park Road down towards Mountaindale Rd. Not Fangorn, but Quickbeam was happy. I was able to ride everything I would have normally attempted on my MTB, except a tough rock garden and a mountainous log pile, both of which I would probably try once I'm used to skinny tires on dirt. |
 | Some areas got pretty rocky, which took more finesse than I have on a skinny tired bike. As the trail really dropped off the ridge, I got pretty uncomfortable by how far forward I was when using the bars from the drops, and the brakes didn't seem to be stopping me very well, so I again walked some steep stuff, this time heading down hill. |
 | I knew I was out of the watershed when I got here. Logging and land clearing. I hope the Ents aren't angry. |
 | Bulldozer trails had wiped out/ replaced the singletrack and firebreaks I was riding. A steeper than it looks descent down a slick trail. |
 | Looking back at where I came out of the woods. |
 | Cool flower on a very thorny stem. |
 | Fish Ponds |
 | Lots of vigorous poison ivy. Yuck! |
 | Log Cabin |
 | Stone Fence Gardens |
 | Country roads on a country bike. |
 | One last picture. A bit dirtier, but looking and feeling good. All in all I'm very pleased with my new bike. The problems were all related to my tendency not to really bear down on a bolt the first time I tighten it. I'll have to play with the brakes some more to see if I can get them to give me the stopping power I want. Other than adding a fixed cog to the other side of the hub, I'm going to keep the bike as is for a few weeks of evaluation. I can already see myself changing the bars though, either trading with the set of WTB Off Road bars I currently have on my Fuji road bike, or looking at On One Midge or Mary Bars. Finally, I'll be looking to pick up a pair of 44mm knobbies for it. |
 | Today's Map |
 | Today's Profile |
Roads Completed 6/19/2005
| Road Name | ADC Map Grid | Subdivision | |||
| BABAK | DR | 20-H-8 | HIGHMEADOWS | ||
| BABAK | RUN | 20-H-8 | HIGHMEADOWS | ||
| BETHEL | RD | 20-H-7 | N/A | ||
| BLUE STONE | CIR | 20-J-5 | WHITE ROCK | ||
| BOULDER | RD | 20-J-5 | WHITE ROCK | ||
| BRIERSTONE | CT | 21-C-1 | CRESTVIEW ESTATES | ||
| CARLTON | CIR | 20-J-6 | CARLTON SPRINGS /td> | ||
| CREST | CIR | 21-C-1 | CRESTVIEW ESTATES | ||
| CRESTVIEW | DR | 21-C-1 | CRESTVIEW ESTATES | ||
| FISHING CREEK | RD | 12-E-12 | N/A | ||
| FLINT | CIR | 20-J-5 | WHITE ROCK | ||
| FOX | RD | 20-K-3 | N/A | ||
| GRANITE | CIR | 20-J-5 | WHITE ROCK | ||
| HAMBURG | RD | 20-H-7 | N/A | ||
| HARVEST | DR | 21-B-2 | CRESTVIEW ESTATES /td> | ||
| KEYSER | LN | 20-J-7 | KEYSER VILLA | ||
| LORI | LN | 21-B-2 | HEATHER VIEW /td> | ||
| MARSHALL | CIR | 20-J-9 | WHITE FLINT SPRINGS | ||
| NAHAL | DR | 20-H-8 | HIGHMEADOWS | ||
| QUAIL KNOB | CT | 21-C-2 | CRESTVIEW ESTATES | ||
| QUAIL KNOB | LN | 21-C-2 | CRESTVIEW ESTATES | ||
| QUARTZ | CIR | 20-J-5 | WHITE ROCK | ||
| RUHLAND | DR | 21-C-2 | CRESTVIEW ESTATES /td> | ||
| STONEY HILL | RD | 20-J-5 | WHITE ROCK | ||
| WHITE FLINT | DR | 20-J-8 | WHITE FLINT SPRINGS | ||
| WHITE ROCK | AVE | 20-J-5 | WHITE ROCK | ||
| WHITE ROCK | RD | 20-J-5 | WHITE ROCK | ||
| WOODCHUCK | LN | 21-C-2 | CRESTVIEW ESTATES |