So I Bought a Rivendell

I've been a Rivendell fan for a long time. I had the classic Bridgestone catalogs that I picked up (new) in college, and found out about Rivendell back around the time of Rivendell Reader #3. I've watched Rivendell develop from a purveyor of NOS parts and classic bike aesthetics to where they are now, with their own line of Silver components and and some rather unique frames.

Despite this interest, I've only ever had one Riv frame, a Romulus that I never really meshed with. Until last Sunday, that is, when I came across a frame of interest on the rivbike mailing list. I slept on it, decided I still wanted it on Monday, and I finally made the purchase from the seller as I was boarding a flight to Atlanta on Monday afternoon. Smart phones are cool. He was super quick about shipping it, so when I came home from my business trip Thursday evening, there it was in the hall. Along with my lovely wife and three super kids, AND the new issue of Bicycle Quarterly... it made for a nice homecoming.

While the kids had their bedtime snack, I got to unpacking:

Underbiking

Last Sunday, I broke out for a pretty big ride (for me). Rather than meeting the guys for some mountain biking, I was cracking the garage door before 8:00 and wheeling the Raleigh out. My destination was Alum Creek, almost 20 miles out, and my plan was to ride the Raleigh for a lap around the P2 mtb trail when I got there.

I rolled north, stopping at the Home Road bridge for a quick picture over the Scioto River:

Fleet Update, Weekend Riding

Lots of riding this weekend, but mostly I wasn't carrying my camera, or didn't want to stop for pictures, so not much in the way of pictures. Still, I'm trying to keep my blog chugging along with at least a post a week, so I'll just leave a few notes about my bike fleet and what they did this weekend.

As is my new practice, bikes are shown from my current favorite to least:

Ritchey P-29er:

Several rides in, and I still love the way this frame rides and looks. Sunday, I took the Ritchey to Chestnut Ridge for a ride with a small group of friends. This was a decidedly mixed group, with some experienced riders that haven't been out much lately, to some younger guys that didn't have much experience, to one fellow who had never been on a trail. Er, I probably should have picked an easier trail than CR if I had known. Sorry. So I mostly had to putter along at the group's pace, but whenever I had a chance to open it up, the Ritchey sprang to life and I could charge down the trail in a cloud of dust.

I'm mostly sorted on the build for the Ritchey, though I need to get my new hydro brakes on at some point. But, I have in my head this might be a fun bike for a drop bar conversion. Hmmm.

Salsa Mukluk Update

I haven't written much about my Mukluk since I picked it up earlier this spring, which is mostly due to me using the limited riding time in this very wet summer on my Twin Six, and more recently on my Ritchey. Also, the Muk had some shifting issues that I was struggling with. I made a few changes over the last week that got it back ready for some trail time:

Going Slow

This summer, I've been doing a lot more biking with the kids on their own bikes, and a lot less where I drag the kids around in the bike train. This has good and bad points: it's satisfying to see the kids gain confidence on their own bikes, but I may miss this extra strength training when I hit a big ride like Mohican. One thing I have noticed is that the Albastache bar on the VO isn't ideal for going slow with the kids--the main hand position, up in the forward curves, is a little too leaned forward when I'm going slow. Sliding my hands back on the bars brings me more upright, but that position doesn't have any brake access. That's not ideal when I'm riding with kids who stop randomly and frequently.

As much as I like the Albastache bar, after Kate's S24O last weekend, I was out in the garage changing things around. This isn't what I started with, but I ended up with this:

It's my Surly Open bar paired with (carbon fiber!) bar ends on the forward curves. It doesn't have the smooth good looks of the Albastache (though I still like it), but so far it's doing everything I want it to:

Kate's S24O

Up to now, both boys have had a solo overnight camping trip, but Kate hasn't... and she hasn't been shy about reminding me of this fact. Friday was the annual Persied meteor shower campout at Blues Creek Nature Preserve up past Ostrander, and I decided this would be Kate's trip. I got home from work, we had dinner, threw our gear in the trailer, and hit the road:

B&P Vacation

I had a quiet, efficient, and comfortable early production lot 2016 Pilot, with one touch second row seating and a nine inch Blu-ray DVD player, reserved for a long weekend, so I took a few days off work and we had a small road trip. Jodi and the kids headed out a few days earlier to spend time with her folks, and early on Thursday morning I headed out to meet them. I parked the new Pilot next to our old one at her dad's place:

Yes, the new one is better in every way, please see your friendly local Honda dealer. From this base in New Philadelphia, we improvised a vacation that had a lot of playgrounds, and a lot of bikes.