I took my Raleigh Sports on a longer ride for the first time. I got a bottled Vietnamese coffee, a banana, and a croissant to go from Whole Foods, stuffed that all in my purse, and rode down to Beach Drive. It was a beautiful ride on a perfect fall day. Beach Drive winds along next to Rock Creek and for much of the way it is closed off to cars, so it's just shared by cyclists and pedestrians. About five miles south of Silver Spring is Peirce Mill, built in 1829. The National Park Service oversees the mill, and you can tour the inside, although I didn't do that today. I had my coffee and snacks at one of the picnic tables, then looked around took some pics. There's a small waterfall close to the mill. This is one of the most beautiful spots that I've seen in the DC area.
I have my Raleigh Sports set up in a way that is very comfortable. I angled the handlebars down and for some reason that helped immensely with eliminating my chronic elbow pain while I was riding. This bike seems like the correct size for someone of my height (I'm almost 5'7"). The ride was smooth and silent when rolling along. When I coasted there was the tick tick tick from the hub. The gearing is still a higher than I would like it to be, even with the 22-tooth cog, but it's acceptable for getting up hills. The shifting is smooth and reliable--pretty impressive for a 42-year-old hub. I'm looking forward to putting a rack on the bike and installing a replacement rear reflector.
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