Old New Bike

Joan took this shot of me as I was getting the Old New Bike out last Saturday. Except for a short spin the night I picked it up, this was my first outing since the rebuild (illness, snow, ballgames, and mandated gym trips have interfered more than I'd have preferred). Since Saturday I've taken the bike out a couple more times. It's everything I remembered, and everything I hoped. One of these days I'll have to write about that outfit....

Always wanted a pair of Diadoras. Got 'em! =========== When I bought my first cycling shoes, the cleats were a separate purchase. The recommended installation advice was: * Ride the bike with the new shoes for 50 miles or so. * Check-see where the pedal marked the shoe. * The cleat needed to line up with those markings. * Best to find a cobbler to do the actual installation. Sidi claims to have been the first shoe maker with a mounting plate for a cleat, round 'bout 1973. I won't dispute that; it seems about right and may actually correspond with my memory. Regardless, the change greatly improved the installation practice; by the late 70s everyone was selling either some sort of mounting system or an integrated cleat. Then Time & Look changed everything again, and the MTB folks added their spin. Sometimes it seems like everything I know about bicycling's gone obsolete....

Me, when I was younger and still thin, balancing on my bike in front of the old Student Union at Macalester College. The jersey advertises Cycle City, sponsor of the Kalamazoo Bicycle Club's racing team. Photo by Tim Haviland in the summer of 1981. (This is the bike I just restored .)

Explored! #299 [October 16, 2007] Thanks! Dismantled the bike over the weekend and took it to Assenmacher 's for a repaint last night. In another month it's gonna look new. I'm sure I'll post more pix at that time. Meantime, a few details: The frame was custom built by Matt Assenmacher in 1975 and has about 85,000 miles on it, 70K of them by 1986 when I finally bought a car. The Phil bottom bracket's been there since 1978. The crankset's a Stronglight 99; most of its parts date from 1975 but the left crank arm and small chainring are replacements. The bike was rebuilt with what eBay sellers call "New Old Stock" last spring, but I put the repaint off until winter because I wanted to get it on the road. Weather permitting, I'll still hit the road this fall, and maybe even winter. Just on a different bike.

Another view of my old bicycle's frame, after 85,000 miles. It's in builder Matt Assenmacher's shop to be repainted, and realigned.... 85,000 isn't as unattainable as it probably seems. At 15 miles per hour: 100 miles takes less than 7 hours 1000 miles takes less than 70 hours 10000 miles takes less than 700 hours I ride faster than that. I've owned this bike for 30 years. For the first eleven of those years, I didn't own a car.

Me and m' bike , early in 1978 when I was still skinny, and the bike was still fairly new. Note the stylish red shorts, the equally stylish red knicker sox, the blue arm warmers, and the style-resistant MSR bicycle helmet. The jersey advertised BikeCentennial--now Adventure Cycling. Oh, yeah: My hair was longer, back then. And my beard hadn't gone grey. The bike was blue in 1978. It will soon be blue again. Mom and Dad's house is in the background, before they replaced the porch with a deck and before they paved the drive. Dad took the photo; no idea what the camera was.

It's back !

It snowed on Leap Day, so we wandered into McLain Cycle (there's a story there, but for some other day). Figured we'd buy Joan some cool-weather clothes, and maybe a jersey or something for me. Joan noticed the trainers, all in a row down the edge of the shop, and said (correctly) that I needed one of those. So we bought one. I consider it my birthday present to myself. Anyway, I actually needed this last November. But I've been trying to make up for lost time over the past two weeks. Feels kinda wimpy; I used to be locally famous for riding in the snow.