Gloves!

Having been a weather wimp of sorts because I don't like to suit up for sub-28F temperatures, I ordered a pair of better gloves. They finally arrived today. With the threat of winter precipitation being screamed at us by the local weatherliars, what is a guy to do but the only sane option--take the gloves for a test-ride!

I took out the Raleigh, just because. Although I'm mainly a recumbent guy, I'm strangely attracted to the simplicity of the Raleigh (although anyone who has been inside a three speed hub knows they are not but so simple). I guess one thing I like about it is that it only has three speeds, and the shifter is easy to operate with heavy gloves. The gloves made a big difference over what I'd been using, and coupled with some minor strategy differences will get my threshold down to about 20F.

I'm still beset by brake gremlins, however. After years of recommending Kool Stop Salmon brake pads for all sorts of applications, I'm about done with them. They are stupidly noisy on my Ryan. The compound was, or so I heard somewhere, based on the compound used on the Scott Matthauser Superbrakes of the early 1990s. I found a few sets of the Scott Superbrake pads in my parts bins recently and figured I'd try them on the Raleigh. Yep, they stop better, even though they are fifteen years old or more. However, and especially in the cold, they are NOISY! I think I'll have to go back to the old pads on this bike for winter.

My ride was cut shorter than I'd like by my headlight. It's a 1996-vintage Vista Lite 6W Halogen set, with a lead-gel battery pack that weighs about sixty pounds (or maybe it just seems that heavy). I replaced the battery early this season, rather than buy a new light set ($24 vs $150+). Last week, I got a bit more than halfway to work and realized that a) my battery was about dead for the day and b) I had left the charger at home. I switched the flasher light to steady beam and turned off the headlight. It was getting enough lighter that I could see the road fairly well, but still needed to be seen by other road users.

Anyway, I charged the battery for a few hours that night, and again while at work the next day, totaling less than a full charge session suggested by the manufacturer so as not to over-charge the battery (it doesn't have over-fill-protection as do some of the newer batteries). Sure enough, it started going dim on me tonight, taking away some of the fun of a night ride. I suppose the temperature is a factor, but it shouldn't be dead yet!

I'll disconnect it from the charger before going to bed tonight. If the roads aren't totally fouled in the morning, I may ride to work just to do so.