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NEVERENDING ♾️ The NEVERENDING Bicycle Thread

Then on Sunday I did a solo breakfast ride.
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Actually took the gravel bike out to a gravel trail
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I've been wanting to do some overnight touring and have slowly been setting up my bike to do that. This weekend i decided to load up my stuff and take a ride to see how it was all working out. 25 miles out on the Cross-Vermont trail, 25 miles back on the state highway because I didn't want to ride the same road twice. It was pretty good but I was pretty tired at 50 miles. This is a heavier load than I'd normally need to carry but since i want to go with my son, there's an entire two-person tent on there- by myself I might just bring a tarp/hammock setup.

It was pretty hot and very hazy from Western fire smoke, but not too bad. I drank a lot of water but need to figure out how to drink a little more and to eat more on the bike as well.
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Nice.

There was a time when I would consider doing a bicycle trip like that, but I'm older than that now.


Although, if I change my mind, the Checkpoint is loaded with attachment points all over the bike and could be set up similar to yours.
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Rode 60 miles Saturday, Milwaukee to Port Washington and back. Unfortunately, I think I left my lock in Port Washington, which must be close to two hours from me in Illinois. Good ride otherwise.
 
We did the Lamoille Valley Trail in Vermont on Saturday in pretty crazy heat - a sticky 85 degrees - so we just did 20 miles - part of the trail overall is washed out from micro-burst storms, but the leg from Joe's Pond to Hardwick is good
 
jsk1983 said:
Rode 60 miles Saturday, Milwaukee to Port Washington and back. Unfortunately, I think I left my lock in Port Washington, which must be close to two hours from me in Illinois. Good ride otherwise.
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I need to work back up to that kind of mileage. I've never done a century; I'd like to do one at some point.

At the end of the forty Saturday, I actually didn't feel fatigued or anything. We had some things to do and I had to stop by the bike shop which took some time. If not for that I probably would have pushed for 50; I'm pretty sure I could have done it.

My wife (a teacher) is back to work this week, so I should be able to set my agenda on my off-Fridays more readily and try to get some longer rides in.
 
Doohickie said:
I need to work back up to that kind of mileage. I've never done a century; I'd like to do one at some point.

At the end of the forty Saturday, I actually didn't feel fatigued or anything. We had some things to do and I had to stop by the bike shop which took some time. If not for that I probably would have pushed for 50; I'm pretty sure I could have done it.

My wife (a teacher) is back to work this week, so I should be able to set my agenda on my off-Fridays more readily and try to get some longer rides in.
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I did 70 two weeks ago and that wiped me out, 60 wasn't too bad. I sort of want to bike to Milwaukee, but feel like 70 miles with hills might be a bit much.
 
jsk1983 said:
I did 70 two weeks ago and that wiped me out, 60 wasn't too bad. I sort of want to bike to Milwaukee, but feel like 70 miles with hills might be a bit much.
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There are a few routes around here where I can ride out to a neighboring city (Grapevine, Irving, Dallas, etc.) and take a train back to Fort Worth. I haven't done that yet but I know a lot of people who have.
 
luckless pedestrian said:
We did the Lamoille Valley Trail in Vermont on Saturday in pretty crazy heat - a sticky 85 degrees - so we just did 20 miles - part of the trail overall is washed out from micro-burst storms, but the leg from Joe's Pond to Hardwick is good
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We did Cambridge Junction to Johnson two weeks ago and it was a little washboardy in places but not bad.
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Rode my age today. I'm 61 and rode 62.1 miles. Woof, I'm tired! So far today I've consumed: A cappuccino, a spinach & cheese croissant, and two beers. I'm bushed!

Out to the edge of town:
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Breakfast at mile 18:
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Liquid lunch at mile 52:
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Downtown:
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Doohickie said:
Single speed or fixed gear?

I've been getting out on my fixie a little bit lately, mostly shorter rides such as down to the Bills Backers bar to watch the Buffalo game.
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Fixed. A gear I can grind up any hill I'm likely to find within 20 miles of my house and spin down the other side without totally blowing up. I had a freewheel on the other side of this wheelset and never used so I took it off when I cleaned up the wheels this time. For any road riding of consequence I do have a brake lever with a full run of housing to a rear caliper that I can take on and off in about 5 minutes, but gosh it looks nice all super-clean like this. 22.2 lbs give or take.
 
Doohickie said:
I don't kid myself. No skidding here; I run front and rear brakes.
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I skid from time to time but mostly just moderate things with slower pedaling/ light backpressure. But I'm under no misconceptions I could make an emergency stop as fast as I can with a brake (or at all if the chain breaks!!) So, a rear brake for if i ever need it. I have a matching lever if i want to add a front brake but would need to go dig up a caliper..
 
Weekend ride, 26ish miles, put the brake on, added tools and a cupholder. Glorious weather, massive tailwind headed out and a cruel north wind on the way back home that I carefully routed the ride to avoid most of (ride out in tailwinds and open fields, ride home in the trees). Photos have been slightly filtered to try to get close to the color I was seeing, the camera does not know what do do with the harsh low-angle light this time of year!
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So since I've gotten the new bike, I've been increasing my monthly totals every month. This month was 265 miles,
196 miles on my new Trek Checkpoint
38 miles on my Schwinn Cutter fixed gear
31 on my Raleigh Marathon townie conversion (with a 2-speed kickback hub)
 
It's truly November here now (For the record no person from My Fair State ever called it stick season when I was younger- though I did hear people from away calling it that as early as 2010, long before the song).

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Rode outside today, meaning I rode outside every month this year but January. Likely going to take longer to clean bike than the ride. Worst part was I flatted, but fortunately made it home before the tube lost all of its air.
 
Another vintage-ish bike for sale at my local shop. An old road bike converted to a single speed.

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mendelman said:
Another vintage-ish bike for sale at my local shop. An old road bike converted to a single speed.

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*made for single-speed- see the horizontal dropouts and no derailleur hanger? Bianchi Pistas were so popular at the height of the hipster fixie craze in the early 2000's that Bike Snob NYC published the "pistadex," documenting the silly prices of used Pistas in New York. $399 on this one if I'm reading it right is a fair price.

Anyway, I'd get it if it was in my preferred size (I can fit a 56 but like 54s in track bikes) and if I didn't already have a single-speed/ fixie.

mendelman said:
Some cool vintage 90s bikes for your enjoyment

My recent purchase - early 90s Trek 720. Nice.
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Some more for sale and display at my local bike shop.

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@Faust_Motel
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Those Trek "Multi-Track" Hybrids are classics and a steal for such a practical, sturdy, but not too heavy bike!

I can tell that is the kind of shop I could $pend $ome time in.
 
Faust_Motel said:
*made for single-speed- see the horizontal dropouts and no derailleur hanger? Bianchi Pistas were so popular at the height of the hipster fixie craze in the early 2000's that Bike Snob NYC published the "pistadex," documenting the silly prices of used Pistas in New York. $399 on this one if I'm reading it right is a fair price.

Anyway, I'd get it if it was in my preferred size (I can fit a 56 but like 54s in track bikes) and if I didn't already have a single-speed/ fixie.


Those Trek "Multi-Track" Hybrids are classics and a steal for such a practical, sturdy, but not too heavy bike!

I can tell that is the kind of shop I could $pend $ome time in.
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Thanks for the clarification on the Bianchi. I see that now. And $399 is the price and I think worth it, but I would need to adapt to straight or slightly raised cruiser positioning handlebar as I don't like the road bike riding position.

My first good quality bike in about 1993 was a Trek 720 in that metallic hunter green. It was a wonderful bike and I sometimes regretted selling it to my friend in the summer of 1996, but I needed the money to offset purchasing my Trek 970 with many, many upgrades (ie. XT shifters and drivetrain, Specialized clipless pedals, and replaced ridge front fork with a Rockshox Judy fork).

So buying the preceding gen 720 in my July post is a very good replacement. Especially for only $180 as seen in my photo. Though I did have a tube rupture, because someone installed the tube incorrectly and pinched/punctured the base of the valve stem. Simple correct tube replacement in my driveway and I've been sailing on easy street since.

Yeah, it's a nice shop and I'm sure there are alot of 90s+ quality and lightly used bikes coming out of the basements/garages/attics in my part of Chicagoland with the Boomers all retiring/retired and transitioning to 'comfy' bikes now that they're 64+ yrs old.

I bet the median HH income for my immediate part of the metro is/has been ~$150,000 (or inflation adjusted equivalent since the late 1980s)
 
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That Pista with "North Road" style bar and more upright position would be nice indeed.
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*Could be flipped right side up for higher but my preference would be to get the height with a riser stem and keep the style points on the bar.

This is my fixie currently:

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It's a steel frame with enough room for somewhat fatter tires than the usual super-skinny road tires.
 
Faust_Motel said:
It's a steel frame with enough room for somewhat fatter tires than the usual super-skinny road tires.
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Vintage bikes from the 70s and into the 80s had "racing" tires of 27 x 1-1/8 or 1-1/4. That's comparable to 28-32 mm, and there was typically room to spare (since our wheels were always out of true).
 
Doohickie said:
Vintage bikes from the 70s and into the 80s had "racing" tires of 27 x 1-1/8 or 1-1/4. That's comparable to 28-32 mm, and there was typically room to spare (since our wheels were always out of true).
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A "big" tire on my 2007 Cannondale is a 25, I think it came with 23s, stock. I ride it almost exclusively on rollers which is probably the last place other than a track that small tires at 110 PSI make any sense.

-I think I could get 35s on this frame- pictured are 32s.

-Your post gives me memories of jumping on my dad's CCM steel road bike 1970's vintage for sure" one I was big enough to ride it. I think it's the only bike we ever had in the house with 27's.

-This weekend I rode a mix of dirt and paved roads for 40 miles on this fatbike frame with worn-out 29X3 tires. How's that for cushion?

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The other fun think on this bike is I chopped up a thumb shifter and bolted it onto the brake lever for poor man's Gevenalle. Friction, no index, and it works great!
 
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