Dinglespeed Ramble

Checking out those Jones Bars.

I usually do this ride every Fall that entails going out to the Green Belt and single speeding the length of it out and back. I've done this ride every year for........ I don't even know. Maybe fifteen years? Maybe more. I can't say.

Well, I just hadn't gotten around to it yet. I've usually bagged this ride by mid-October, but not this year, for whatever reason. Didn't have the time or, most likely, I was just into the gravel more. Then a couple things changed.

The first was that I got some Carbon Jones 710 Loop Bars. I was anxious to get out to try them. The thing that pushed me over the edge though was the recent discovery of a fire place/chimney out in the Green Belt that I didn't know was there. New York Roll, a local cyclist, found it. He posted about it on social media Monday in conjunction with a "Super Moon" ride he had planned. Well, he let on to me the location of the ruins, so I went out mainly to see that. Trying the Jones Bar was a side benefit!

The Green Belt is getting really dried out. We had that flood in late September and ever since then it has been pretty sparse on the rain. You can really tell it now as well. Black Hawk Creek is as low as I've seen it all year. The ground is so dry it is rock hard, so the trails were rough except for where there was a lot of sand.

Slow motion eating

It was a great afternoon out on the Green Belt. The Jones bars work really well for me. Great feel and a really natural fit with my hands, arms , and shoulders. I found the ruins of the fireplace. That was cool. I even ran into New York Roll and we chatted a bit. A perfect late Fall day that I am sure is near to the last one for the year. Things are forecast to take a turn for the colder this weekend and I doubt I'll be able to ride without a jacket again until late next Spring.