Grant Hill Loop - Loaded

A nice morning, so it was time to take a loaded ride with some hills and some distance. With 45-50 lbs on the bike, it really handles differently, and I needed to see if yesterday's shimmy issue was adequately resolved.

As I started down Kings Road, the shimmy actually seemed worse then yesterday's final attempt. I stopped at the school and adjusted the weight distribution a bit, and continued on. I started getting used to the feel of the bike, and heading down the hills on Siver Rd, I was over 25 mph and there was no shimmy at all. Continued on to the climb up Grant Hill Road, and had to use ALL of the gears this time. It was an easy spin, but many more pedal strokes than when not loaded and in a slightly higher gear. Continued through French's Hollow, and again all downhills were fine. I did notice that the shimmy is worst when coasting in the 14-16 mph range. Pedaling dampens most of it, and knees against the top tube also helps. Other speeds are much more smooth, so I'll just need to be aware of that. I may need to tweak the weight distribution a little further as I go along, but it seems good enough for now. I also noticed that the headset has a slight wiggle and needs to be tightened, and the rear brake could also be a little more firm. Will take care of those this weekend. Tightening the headset may also help the shimmy problem.

I actually added on a couple of miles by going out US20 to NY158 and back via County Line Rd, for 23 miles total.