Disc brakes

David called Thursday afternoon because once he had installed the disc brake, he realized the rack mount would interfere with the caliper. He worked on it Friday morning, adding a mini-extender. Though I didn’t relish driving into Seattle on a Friday afternoon, being off the bike for a whole week was making me jittery. Or maybe that’s just the long hours at work and intravenous caffeine intake. Either way, I was determined to take it out Saturday morning, no matter how dire the weather forecast was.

I biked from my house through Fall City, up to Snoqualmie Fals, to North Bend, then back along the I-90 shoulder to Issaquah. Although areas were cold (for here), the only rain was the ten miles I spent in North Bend. The brake worked so much better than the cantilever system, however, I did have to adjust the pads because there was a smal amount of rubbing.

On my bike ride in this morning I forgot how much better the brakes are. The first surprise came as a panic stop because the Flying Dutchman in front got confused and jammed on their brakes after ekeing out into the intersection. Nobody was going fast, but we were all expecting to accelerate as the light had just turned green. No harm, no foul. The second incident is best described as “totally fracking stupid” on my part. I was coming downhill, in the rain, and trying to make a left-turn through an intersection as the light turned yellow. I was lucky — lucky — I only fish-tailed.

The ride home this evening was gorgeous. The sunset was fading in my rear view mirror, the (full) moon was out, the ambient temperature was a brisk 41°F. Tomorrow’s supposed to be clear and mid-30s.