Old Bikes

I love old bikes - from the early days of biking up to today. I even appreciate 'retro' stuff - as sold by Rivendell. I recently gave away my last 2 Sturmey-Archer 3-speed bikes to good homes (they'll be used for commuting to and from the train station).
Thanks to my sister, I have a photo of me on my first "two-wheeler" - riding in the living room on Christmas morning.... with training wheels. Total determination on the bike, even then !

More trenches... why the back yard floods

More rain on Wednesday night, so the trenches got deeper. And they multiplied. More rain today (Thursday), and the whole yard was just a series of waterfalls. So, I traced them up the hill, and took a video. The best part is where the water goes over the sandbags.

Another Sunday... Another Trench...

Another rainstorm.... another broken limb on the black cherry tree.

Another trench: this time around the new garage. Spent all day yesterday cleaning up the mud and mold, etc. from last Sunday's rain. This morning, the garage leaked again, so now it has a trench all around it. This should divert water away from the garage until a permanent solution is found.

THe black cherry tree lost some more limbs. Learned this because neighbors called the police (why ?) after the limbs hit the electric line and knocked out their power. Had to explain that the tree company is trying to work with the power company so that they can take the tree down. Wonder where this will lead ?

So, no biking today, and waiting to see if the do-it-yourself trenches can keep the garage dry !

Mountain Bike... Converted

This bike started out as a Schwinn Essence.... sometime in the mid- to late-1980's, Schwinn made the "Essence" as a women-specific mountain bike. It was never very comfortable, and I never did any serious mountain-biking - just off-road and trails. So, I converted it sometime around 2003-2004. I didn't ride it much, but after the bike room was flooded slightly last weekend, and I had to clean off a lot of stuff, I decided to clean it up and ride it around to the store, post office, etc. I might use it for commuting, but I'm not sure about the wear-and-tear on my laptop


I can't find any pictures of the original bike, but here are the changes:

1. replaced the 2 1/2" knobby tires with skinny slick tires.

2. replaced the straight mountain handlebars with the "albatross" model from Rivendell Bike Works. Added cork hand grips - no more gloves !



3. replaced the seat with a leather Brooks saddle.


So, now it has mountain bike gearing, but the ride is as close to an old 3-speed as I could get it....


Another retro feature: it still has the "BIOPACE" chainring - this was a slightly oval (rather than round) chain ring that was the height of bike technology in the 80's.



Original pink paint, with some updates.

What Makes a Good Rider ?

I've been thinking a lot about this as I ride the bike path, and watch other riders, runners, skaters, dog walkers, etc. on the path at night and on the weekends. I've come to the conclusion that SPEED, while highly desireable, is not the same as GOOD.

My Personal GOOD BIKER MANIFESTO:

1. Have agility on the bike. They can use their weight to make small moves, can ride in a very straight line, etc. When small children ride, their bike follows their eyes as they look around. By the time you have your first "real" bike, you should be past this stage.

2. Have awareness. They know where other riders are, they are looking at the road ahead to identify obstacles before they have to SLAM on their brakes, they anticipate the actions of others on the road/ bike path.

3. Good riders can FIX their own bikes. That means that they have a patch kit, spare tubes, etc. IF people can fix their own bike, they're more likely to pay attention to it, check it out before and after a ride, etc. And, since this might be time-consuming, they have a LIGHT in case it gets dark while they're fixing two flats in 1 ride.

4. It would be nice if everyone "out there" had basic manners and courtesy. It's not always easy. There's a lot of hostility on the path and it's hard not to let it escalate.

I was riding behind a runner on Saturday. He was running in the MIDDLE of the path - not anywhere near the right SIDE. So, since I was riding in a straight line, i started to overtake him on the right. Just as I did, he starts to veer on to the right. So, who's at fault ? Yes, he was right that I should have "Passed on the left". But what about the rule that "slow traffic on the right" ? Should I have had to move fro the far right into the left lane just to pass him, because he's in the middle ?

It's not easy out there, even if you start out with the best intentions.