I dusted off the road bike for the start of the work week.  I hadn’t ridden it in two weeks.  Yesterday I tightened up my rear derailleur cable.  It took a full turn and a half of the barrel adjuster to get it to shift onto larger cogs without hesitating.  Anyhow, it paid off – no “surprise” shifts this morning.

I still get an annoying squeak when I shift sometimes.  It’s kind of like a bird chirping.  It typically doesn’t happen until about 15-20 minutes into a ride, then it pretty much squeaks the rest of the way every time I shift.  No amount of lubing the derailleur, cable, or chain seems to make it go away.  Research on the ‘net has revealed that it might be coming from the derailleur pulley(s).  Oiling them doesn’t seem to help, so I’m wondering if after 6000+ miles, they might just be wearing out.  A new set is under $10, so I may try replacing them and see if that helps.

Biked through Catonsville again this morning.  Typically, when I have to make a left onto Frederick Rd heading east, I’ve turned at the Melvin Ave light.  But lately that light has not been turning green for me.  It’s kind of hard to follow the rules of the road when the traffic lights will only turn green for cars.  There’s a ped signal there, but to use it I have to cross over to the wrong side of the road to get to the crosswalk.  Catonsville purports to be bike friendly, but it’s unclear to me whether I’m supposed to act like a vehicle or a pedestrian in these cases.  To avoid the issue, I think I’m just going to avoid the light and make the left turn at a street with a stop sign.  When I initially planned this route, I expected Frederick Rd to be bumper-to-bumper at this time of morning, but it’s really not that bad that I can’t make a left onto it at a stop sign (providing I can see OK in both directions, of course).