First Real Ride on RB-T

Well, today was a day off for me, so after doing a bunch of stuff around the house (which included writing the previous blog posting... please check it out), I headed out for the first "real" ride on my new-to-me Bridgestone RB-T.

The observant among you will no doubt say "wait a minute, that photo of the bike looks like it was taken at the same time as the ones from the earlier post". And you'd be right. But I wanted a picture of the bike in here too.

Anyway, it was a lovely ride. I went out on the local rail-trail, the Washington and Old Dominion, and it was a beautiful, if somewhat chilly day. Mostly blue sky, with some clouds, and a bit of a breeze, but nothing too challenging. And I managed to dress reasonably well for the ride, so that I was comfortable for the whole trip. All told, I did about 25 miles, and thoroughly enjoyed both the day and the bike. I had a pretty good idea, based on my short hops around town, that the bike was going to be a fun one, but it was even better than I expected. It feels light and nimble, yet not at all twitchy. And the moustache bars with stoker levers were a winner. Not a huge surprise, given that I had had the same set up on my old Fuji Allegro, but one never knows for sure with these things until you try it. I'm pleased to report that it works beautifully. Plenty of hand positions for variety, from upright and relaxed to low and stretched out, and several options in between.




And it was a lovely day out, all in all. The trees have mostly lost their leaves, so we are settling into the bare, grey look of mid-Atlantic winter now. Still pretty, especially when you see bare branches against clear blue sky, as in the photo to the right.






There are still some small, dramatic bits of color as well, such as whatever this plant is against the background of woods and stream. This is overlooking Broad Run, near Sterling, VA.








It seems every year there's less and less of a "wild" feel on and near the trail... so much development has happened in this area, even in just the five years I've been living here. And it doesn't help that the power company keeps the edges of the trail pretty clear for their lines. I understand their concerns, but I liked it better when we had more of a canopy on the trail. Ah well, it could be worse. Even with these complaints, I have a beautiful ride, and it felt good to be out in the air.