[Bruno Moore]

Okay, first, a HUGE thank you to the crew at Big Wheel Bikes next to The Italian Store for saving my bacon by loaning me a pair of flats when I realized I left my shoes at home. If one of you is reading this, they are coming back, along with the beer I promised. Without ’em, I would have missed the last 60+ miles rather than just the chunk I didn’t see thanks to my dawnphobia.

Second, to everyone who was impressed with that guy charging up hills in hiking boots: I was impressed with you all having done the 50-ish miles I missed. Taking on every hill, giving each and every one a bit of The Love, was just a way of making up for lost time. Also, I’m still unlearning the lessons of the ’87 Schwinn School of Hill Climbing (“if your momentum doesn’t carry you up the hill, the bike’s will carry you down it”) and trying to figure out…well, something Sane.

More to the point, though, there’s nothing like seeing someone sitting at the top of a hill with cowbells, cameras, and spicy rice & bean cakes, along with hearing an impromptu Liggett & Sherwin impersonation from your fellow riders, to inspire a bit of heroism/idiocy/fun/lunacy/love.

Thanks once again to Pete for sharing the love with us, and to everyone involved for being generally awesome.

[Bruno Moore]

Alright, no more waffling. I’m doing this.

Here Goes Nothing…

[Bruno Moore]

@hozn 82809 wrote:

As Jabberwocky mentioned, the disc is the brake that provides more stopping power. BUT the other significant reason people put the disc up front is because the only reason they are doing the “mullet setup” is that their frames don’t have disc mounts — i.e. cheaper to buy a fork with disc mounts then to find a new frame.

Ah, this makes sense. I figured that, like most anything one reads on the Internet, “disc brakes on the front are ungood” should be taken with a grain or three of salt (it’s not what I’m used to seeing, to say the least), hence why I asked. It seemed like a big “might be true in theory, good luck in practice” kind of argument, to be honest.

[Bruno Moore]

Flooding on the NE Branch is resolved as of this evening.

[Bruno Moore]

Those of you running the mullet setup: why put the disc up front? I know that on tandems (at least according to Santana), you put the disc in the back to provide drag and articulation, but run a high-power canti up front for pure stopping power. I’d think you’d want the sensitive, easily controlled brake in the back, the powerful brake up front—but, then again, on a not overloaded single-passenger commuter bike, it might not make that much of a difference. Is there a rationale or set of arguments for putting a single disc brake on either the front or rear wheel?

[Bruno Moore]

Interesting to see the combination of aesthetic and design philosophies on that bike—the simple pointed lugs, VeloOrange crank, Brooks sadle, quill stem, and shifters seem to indicate a retro (if not retrogrouch) ideal, while the little bit of the logo on the bike, and the overall site aesthetic (especially the typography) seems to indicate something more contemporary.

Kugler’s not the only person in this area who learned from Yamaguchi—Chris Bishop, of Bishop Bikes in Baltimore, did as well.

The Dicycle is a proprietary design—and anyway, the notes are written in Attic Greek. Now, if he’d be interested in a little collaboration project in the future…

[Bruno Moore]

Seconding everything Greenbelt said—especially Chocolate City and Shortcake—but a few more of my favorites:

—Fishnet, just off the Berwyn Trolly Trail; not just good fish and the best fries in the area, but now $3 microbrews on weekday evenings.

—Until recently, the Maryland Dairy was right off the Paint Branch trail—ice cream that couldn’t be beat, if you could deal with the weird hours—but they’re moving it up the hill from the trail a ways to the UMD student union. Still worth the trek just off-trail, and the Maryland Food Co-Op in the union basement serves 75¢ cups of Zeke’s.

—Island Style Ice Cream in Mt. Ranier is just off the standard commuter path between the Anacostia Tributary Trails and the Met Branch; grape nut, guava, stout, and soursop ice creams, like you’d find in Jamaica.

I’m assuming, of course, that we’re keeping this local, and leaving off our favorite stops along the C&O/GAP trail—that’s a thread unto itself!

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