Worn & Wound
Out of Office: Bike-Fishing the Carll’s River
The good news: I’ve never looked at my Marathon Navigator more within a two hour period. The bad news: I only have two hours between preschool drop off and pick up and I’d really like to sneak some fishing in during the precious few hours of free time. The best way to get a line in the water is to load up the bike, grab some gear, and pedal up the trail that follows the Carll’s River as fast as I can and fish all the way back down. I love being a dad but as many of you know, free time comes in random spurts here and there and you have to make the best of it. I also love gear, so any opportunity to put my stuff to good use is welcome. Can I make it up there and back in time? Can I actually catch a fish? We’ll get there, but first let’s take a closer look at the rig, which I believe is pretty ideal for some fishing. My off-road bike is a Cannondale Topstone 3 from a few years back. Known as a “gravel bike”, this style of bicycle is a blend between a road endurance bike (you sit more upright than an on-road race bike) that can accommodate chunky tires for off-road use. The trail I’m riding is firm packed gravel and remains relatively flat the whole way. I’ve found the bike to be comfortable and easy to ride without breaking too much of a sweat. Recently, I swapped out the stock saddle for a leather Brooks because I’ve heard great things about how comfortable they are once broken in. Another cool thing about the Topstone is how it can accommodate gear. Th...
