Ride Lugged

ok so, gary and i drove 7.5 hours to mass this weekend, arriving after many wrong turns and too many tanks of gas at meg’s house @ 2.30 AM.  we closed our eyes and listened to our hearts beat loudly for 2 hours, woke up at 4.30 AM and meg amazingly got up too, and made us some cast iron eggs.  we arrived at the start point about 30 minutes late, completely dooming our chances of finishing.  as soon as i took my bike of the trunk rack, i got a front flat:  bad omen.  .5 miles into the ride, my front tire started to bulge off the rim, but i saved it before it burst.  .1 miles later it did it again.  the holy spirit of the freewheel was trying to tell me something, but i wasnt listening.

it was warmish, misty, and the air was thick.  the climbing and dirt started almost immediately.  i was running a higher gear than normal, but still, it wasnt too bad.

gary and i even started to pass a few groups.

then the climbing started for real.  the temps rose, the shady mist disappeared, and the sweat started to pour into our eyes and mouths.  i went through 2 water bottles in 16 miles.  by the first rest stop about 20 miles in, i was exhausted. 20 miles after that i was annihlated.  20 miles after that i felt ill, and 10 miles after that i got my second wind and started to big ring everything.  i ate so much gu and shot blox that my teeth need a comb, the fuzz was so thick. my brooks saddle was drenched.  one of the two guys we latched onto, adso or anso, i’m not entirely sure of the spelling, got really bad cramps and started to walk the climbs.  i gladly joined in.

27 percent grades are no joke.  the 11,000 feet of climbing that was supposed to take place over 116 miles happened in the first 68 miles.  the vague directions threw dozens of riders miles off course, adding 1000s of feet of climbing to their ordeal.

the ride was scenic but pointlessly climbing intensive.  you could have halved the climbing, still done insanely large amounts of dirt, and actually seen better scenery.

according to routeslip, we did 88 miles and 10,800 feet of climbing.  meg, who rode 65 miles, lost over 5lbs in water on her ride, and she was better hydrated than us.  thats almost a gallon of sweat, not counting what she lost and successfully replenished.   i drank 13 bottles of water, roughly 3 gallons of water, ate 3 cliff shots, a pack of cliff blocks, a bag of apriocots, a pb and j sandwich, 2 larabars, 24 cookies, 12 fig newtons, and i was still losing fuel faster than i could replenish it.  but:  88 miles in all wool w/ a leather chamois and birkenstocks.  ha.

full photo set here.  routeslip climbing and mileage info here.   

it seems people either didnt actually want jerseys or have forgotten or something.  send checks if you want em folks.  jeez.  i havnt seen a single one yet.  refer here for info on where and how much. 

so the d2r2 is coming, complete with 25 and 24 percent grades and 70 miles of dirt.  trouble is, i dont have a bike to ride yet.  my new hubs for the b-stone are in the mail, and i havnt sourced spokes yet.  my trek is at local frame guy dunklebarger’s getting new fittings brazed on… then it needs to at least be primed and then reassembled, and when it is, it will be completely untested, new brake set up, cable routing ect.  tack that onto the fact that my 4 other bikes are sans fenders, so riding in the rain is nasty at best, hazardous (with glasses) at worst.  so training is out.  i tried to get some prebuild stuff outta the way, wrapping the trek handlebars (the old cinelli tape i was using, old as in it was sitting around for a year or 3 broke repeatedly, more than any tape i have ever used, and while i dont wrap bars everyday, i havnt torn tape since i was a noobie), retapping the nervar cranks to take english threads (that worked thank god, i am gunna need the 26 granny)  and scrounging to find my suntour bar cons.  rob: did i give them to you? if so, thats fine, i just wanna know where they went.  i still havnt resolved my rear shifter issue on my b-stone, but i think i am gunna put my super long cage paul mech on, so i can run a 34 tooth super low gear.  11,000 feet of climbing?  fuck!  did i mention we arnt leaving until 5 pm, so we’re gunna roll in around 1AM for a 4.30 AM wakeup call and a 1 hour drive to the spot where the ride starts?  fuck a fucking fuck.

also, my basement resembles the amazon river, but with giant ear shaped fungi rather than killer anacondas.

in other news, my iron E has been fabricated, so i can move on to phase two:  peeing on it to patina it.  its 40 inches tall, 20 inches deep, and made out of cold rolled steel.  mmm mm, can you taste the irony?  i mean, iron E?  pics to follow.

to all those at home: pull out yer wool sweaters and watch the X files, its gunna be a rainy ass week.

So here’s the first installment of what will hopefully be a weekly or bi-weekly recurring post of some pictures from Bicycle FIX in frederick, merryland. This weeks post is some shots of bikes that customers have in there to be unbrokened, or otherwise fixed. I’ll try to also include photos of strange occurances, sketchy passerbyers, interesting haircuts, innovatively rigged bikes, cool vintage bits, riding action (illegal at our center), nasty lunch items, shop groupies, overly worn out parts, dangerous bikes, practical jokes, and other noteworthy subjects. If this gains enough momentum and is fun, I’ll start my own blog..which I may do anyway.
Anyway, here’s the pics for this week.
Starting with a favorite of the Bridgestone era….the MB-6. Classic doube-butted Tange chromoly tubing dressed to kill in purple and a soft antique white. Shifting by Suntour and stopping provided by Dia-Compe.

Next up we have a Peugeot PB-oui-oui circa 1971. A civilized way to retrieve a morning croissant and espresso after a night of drug induced protesting in the streets.

Note the accented lugs and the burn off your sidewall generator fueled head light mounted on some tasty shiny fenders. Perfect for freezing a raccoon into a fearful pose before wacking it with the baguette you were retrieving on your evening ride. The fenders are sturdy and wide to prevent any blood from the roadkill to splash up onto your bellbottoms.

By the way, according to the owner, this was THE bike to have for racing in the tour de france in 1972. Uh-huh…..

Moving right along, we have a gem waiting to be mounted into a hilly and revealing setting…
A beauty of a bike, this Colnago stands about 59cm at the seat tube I’d estimate and is wrapped in a sparkly blue paint over a chrome plating that is just waiting to be let loose. Decked out in full Campagnolo group (including seat post!) this bike is a smooth machine. Notice the flamingo wrapped Cinelli handlebars and what has to be the first Cateye computer. It has all the latest features like a calculator and Asteroids. That aside, check it out….

I dig the fork…but the whole bike is hot.

Check out the drivetrain…the rear cassette is a six speed and is tight. No bail-out Megarange gear on this machine. Also note the front ring differences…probably like four tooth or round abouts. I love the chrome chainstay…I’d be tempted to strip the paint off and leave the panels on the chrome frame…and maybe the paint on the lugs too.

It’s in really good shape and is owned by a frequent customer who has been reported to be banned from many of the Bianchi carrying shops in the south central PA area due to rumored high maintenance persona. I’ve talked to him and he was nice and even said, “super-duper” in the course of our conversation. None of this is important, but I think the bike is for sale.

So there you have it. Tune in next week for “Big man, Little bike” pics…
RobQ

found a super cheap peugeot at centre peace, a local thrift store kind of place where convicts at the local lock up can do some service and earn 1 dollar a month or something. anyway, i just got through restoring my friend emily’s peugeot, which was a mixte as well, but black, with fenders and generators. this seems to be the same frame and basic drivetrain but without the city bike kit. it came with some sketchy drop bars and an AVA stem, which looks nice, but is the ultra dumb 25 mm size. actually everyone else is stupid for not adopting the 25 mm size, but thats a topic for another rainy day. which this is not. rainy. so i wish it had fenders, but VO sells em now cheap, so maybe maybe. here are some spy shots:

the brakes need some kool stop salmon pads, they honk a bit, but the calipers themselves are in great shape. in fact the whole bike has minimal wear, like someone rode 3 times around the block in 1977 and garaged it after that.

you can see the simplex plunger ft mech down there, just a bit, and the mixte plate that ties the twin lats to the seat tube. usually bikes this old need new tires, but the 27 x something michelins are in great shape and roll fast.

mustache bars and nitto stem. viva bar tape, the best there is. 3 layers of shellac and a wingspan of twine. i removed the lever bodys and wrapped over the clamps. had to sand the stem down a bit to fit in the steerer tube. those lever tops are westminster swap finds, the original white ones were a bit icky from age.

did simplex start that stupid black parts trend? it shifts fine, considering how much hate is ladled on the delrin. i could see how time would wear it quickly though. the newish sram chain probly helps shifting matters a bit. should i ditch the pie plate, or is it too legit to quit?

\

the big picture. the pin stripping looks good in person, its nice to see hand work done on a such a cheap bike. i think the whole thing looks alot better than any current women’s bike made by the big guys. everything looks proportionate and classic. no finishes to wear off, ect. low q factor too. i took it for a 45 minute ride today into some hills, and it faired well. wouldnt want to do that with 25lbs in a rack on it, cause it lacks a granny. wasnt made for that anyway. major weaknesses: saddle sucks. it has two plate ‘rails’ that dig up into the butt. the delrin shift levers flex a bit, so you have to over shift. its really stable at speed, but at slow speeds the front end feels unweighted, probally cause of the raked out fork. i think with a basket it will be fine.

interestingly, its not too heavy.  a new hybrid with flat resistant tires and tubes, 9 speeds, clunky v brakes, suspension, gel saddle and cheap forged crank probally weighs a bit more.  it’s easily sub 30lbs.

Here’s the latest bike to join our many in the shed. A totally FREE conversion of a classic 93′ Bridgestone NB-26 that a customer donated to me. I gave it a shakedown cruise to/from the shop yesterday and it rolled so nice. It’ll be a round town and towpath bike which will accumulate accessories eventually. Check it….

So I’ve been riding the Redline Monocog 29er alot recently up in the watershed and finally got some pics to document the stuff I put this bike through…there is much more, it just hasn’t been captured on film yet. The bottom line is, I haven’t found a weakness in either it’s ability or structural integrity on this bike yet. I can do as much as a 26er can, if not more. Here’s the proof.
A surfer at the bail-out point…

and rollin’ down a head high ladder up on the original drop trail from the Manor….

I drop as many things as I feel comfortable dropping…by that I mean, things I think the bike can handle. It’ll take a 3-3.5 foot drop pretty smoothly, but anything higher than that is pretty jarring to me and causes my hands to blow off the grips and tires to attempt to blow off the rims. The bike is fun, and as I continue to push it’s limits I’ll try to get pictures of it.
Thanks to Cory who ,mostly unknowingly, signed his bike up for this.
RobQ

here is a waste of a lot of time and effort, on an ugly finished product\.

I’m sure casey will find comfort in a couple of brookses. I’ll be in the neighborhood of it on Sunday, but I think I’ll pass.

Spotted this bike on Sveavägen in Stockholm, outside of my school. It says “Biomega” on the downtube. How does this work and do I want it? K thanks.

seriously though, I should be able to go see this in person here, right?