Three Bikes On and Off the Bubble

I'm up to six bikes now, which is about twice my comfort zone. Of course, this has me thinking and scheming about how to rearrange my bike fleet. I'll explain this through three rides on three different bikes:

1) Last weekend, I took my spare parts build Cross Check for a quick spin to the library. I actually had the CC posted for sale, but I set my price on the high side, perhaps subconsciously knowing I didn't really want to sell it. That, and I'm really enjoying the way it rolls on the supple Racing Ralph tires. Those supple tires, though, didn't help when I couldn't bunny hop over the sharp edge where the road had been ground down, pinch flatting my rear tire (I can't bunny hop worth a darn if I'm not clipped in). I got a little nervous when I opened my tool bag to only find a 26 x 2" tube. Luckily, I also had my patch kit, AND the glue hadn't dried, so I successfully patched the tube and carried on.

With only a mini pump to use, my tire didn't have as much air as I normally like. Finally, I had a legitimate use for the public bike work stand near the rec center. I started to pump, only to realize there was no resistance. Maybe this was why:

I carried on, soft tire and all, and had a nice afternoon ride.

So with my Camargue having a solid grip on the utility duties, the CC and ye Olde Trek are left to duke it out for sporty bike duties.

Sette Razzo SC Introduction

I've had my Sette Razzo--my first carbon frame--hanging around for some time. Due to commitments in my weekend schedule, work, and the general crapiness of Oury grips, I wasn't able to take it for a good ride until this weekend. But before I get into the ride details, let's take a closer look at my build and the frame:

Coming off my Krampus, my goal for this was to make a lighter version of that: big tires, smooth riding, but light enough to be a realistic single speed. In that respect, I'm pretty happy how it turned out: the wheels are my Velocity Blunts from the Big K, the front tire is the Knard, the rear is a Mission Vee 2.4. I'm impressed that this frame has the clearance for this big tire:

S24O to Homestead Park

This is something of a record for me: three S24O trips in four weeks. This weekend, our local township had their yearly family campout at Homestead Park in Hilliard. We were ready to hit the road on Friday after dinner:

It was about nine miles to the park: I knew Henry could do that kind of distance on his own bike, which is what allowed me to take all three kids... no way I could pull all three with all our camping gear!

Farewell Party at Ballantrae Spray Park

One of Sam and Kate's pre-school classmates is moving to Colorado this summer, so there was a going away party for him at the Ballantrae spray park. I'm not sure why we don't go to this park more often, it's only a few miles away and the kids absolutely love it:

Sam's S24O

I was riding a bike with wheels the wrong size, on tires that were pretty much worn out, towing Sam to a "non-designated" camping spot, and hadn't checked the weather forecast.

What could possibly go wrong?

Everything was all smiles at the start:

 

Well, that's not exactly true. There was some frustration even before the start.

Weekend Riding Adventures, New City Bike Trial

Another beautiful weekend here in Dublin, so I took advantage of it and spent quite a bit of time on the bike. Saturday morning, I was out just after 6:00 for an early ride on Ye Olde Trek:

The Memorial Golf tournament is this weekend, and one my small traditions is to ride through the area before it gets crazy busy. It's nice to think that I'm quietly cruising through what will be a frustrating traffic jam in a few hours time.

I wanted to investigate another location idea I had for a stealth S24O spot, so I headed north. I stopped for a quick breather:

Family Metro Park Ride, Fleet Update

We set off last night to go to a new playground I'd spotted up near Glacier Ridge Elementary. It was a special ride because the whole family was there. Jodi started off pulling Kate:

Day 12: Breezes and Breezer

It was a bit of a strange ride today, in that I went by myself, in beautiful (if windy) weather, and didn't stop at a single playground. I putzed around town on the Breezer, covering maybe a dozen miles in a bit less than an hour.

I stopped at Ballantrae Park (no playground!) for a quick bite and a picture:

Day 2: Breezer

After one night, my 30 days pledge was already hanging by a thread. I didn't get home until after 9:00 tonight, due to a late video conference (one of the downsides of working for a Japanese multinational company). My first thought was to take a token ride up and down the street, but I decided to take a longer lap around Avery park instead. It turned out to be quite refreshing, which I guess is really the point of this whole "ride every day" pledge: it forces you get out there.

I decided to pull my Breezer out of the garage:

Ride Reports: Trek 620 and Breezer

With our long winter maybe, finally, hopefully receding, I was able to get out today for a few quick rides. First up was my Trek 620. I picked this bike up about a month ago off the local Craigslist. Then, it looked like this:

A new bike, and, uh, another, and wait, one more!

It's been a busy and destructive month for my bike fund. As I mentioned in the last post, a few weeks back I picked up a Trek 620 on our local Craigslist:

It's in pretty good shape for a 30 year old bike. I figure I'll update the wheels, bars, and pedals, and have a drop barred, geared road bike again with nice, flexible tubing and a relatively low trail front end, for not much dough.