Took the Rawland Nordavinden (NEW BIKE! NEW BIKE! NEW BIKE!) out for a 26-mile shake-down ride after work today, through parts of Arlington, Somerville, Lexington, and Bedford. Started off by riding over to Ball Square, to check the bike for fender clearance before ordering a pair. Tyler had stepped out of the shop for a few minutes, so I killed time with a detour out Willow Street over to the Somerville Community Path...

... where I discovered a new-to-me class of trail user: Hammock Operator. Pretty good idea on a hot day...


Rolled back to Paramount Bicycle Repair, and determined that the clearance on the frame and brakes (Tektro 559s) passed the giggle test for the fenders in question, then went back over Clarendon Hill and through East Arlington to pick up the Minuteman. Soon after crossing the Lexington line, I came upon the scene of a calamity:


The Egg has suffered a Great Fall. I hopped off the bike and had a look, and was able to make a quick field repair, but I think there's more to be done, or the Egg will not be long among us. It had a 13-month run since I first noticed it, surviving that rough Winter and various other bits of meteorological nastiness.


A band in Lexington Center was doing a creditable job performing some old Stax-Volt numbers: culture I can relate to.


Continued on through more leafy Lexington bits, and on to Bedford and Depot Park.






Turned around and rode home in one long, fast burn, as much to get a sense of what the bike could do as anything else. Brief summary: it goes like a bat out of Hell, and the light, flexible tubeset is definitely noticeable; I haven't ridden anything like it since the late 70s, when my old friend John had apprenticed himself to a frame builder and lent me the bike he had built for himself for a couple of weeks. There's definitely something interesting going on with pedal-stroke dynamics here that doesn't happen with my touring bikes. The 32mm Grand Bois Cypres Extra Leger tires (no longer available, but one of the original inspirations for this build) are as supple, quick, and cushy as I remember them, and the wheels Tyler built me--Chris King hubs and Alex DM-18 rims--put them to good use. The bike's shorter chain stays and low trail (33mm, if I did the math right) also made themselves known, mostly for the good, although I did manage to make the bike shimmy briefly in a couple of situations, and will want to be increasing the preload on the needle-bearing headset to damp that.

In any event, I was looking for a departure from my other bikes, and definitely got it. So far, so good. I'm a happy boy...

rod