Skip to main content

Post 4 - The Bike


Equipment is getting some careful attention.  Some bikers (me among them) recommend carrying a chain, spokes, cables, an inner tube and other assorted replacement parts.  But let’s start with the most important piece of equipment of all – the bike.

With age comes practicality.  It is probably part “been there/done that” and part learning how to exist on a fraction of prior income.  Retirement the scary time when you shift from contributing to a 401k to spending it down.  It is the ultimate smack-in-the-forehead declaration that a lifetime is finite.

Practicality led me to Costco, the warehouse store, where nearly everything is boringly practical.  My clothes are Costco as is our food, eyeglasses, prescription meds and lawn fertilizer.  In our home, Kirkland does not refer to a warbler, but rather a Costco proprietary brand that is pasted on everything from milk to socks.  Our house is occupied by foodies and I married my own personal level 2 sommelier.  Much of our wine comes from Costco too, and my daily selection (not to be confused with weekly, monthly or special occasion wine) usually bears the Kirkland name.  Note that is my selection. My sommelier, who enjoys a far more refined palate than I, prefers something more distinctive and, selects a beverage preference without interference from my primitive perspective.  In return, she lets me sleep with her.

So why does the practicality of Costco matter in the scheme of things? But of course, they have very practical bikes, too!  I know that the semi-professional touring bikers are going to rip this choice.  I might shed some pounds with a carbon fiber frame, titanium crank and electronic shifter. Keeping in mind that I am going to be lugging 35 lbs. of provisions and gear, is it really practical to spend an additional $5,000 for the latest and greatest bike?  My selection is a 21-speed hybrid with decent indexed derailleurs and generic brakes.  The handlebars are upright because I find it more comfortable and easier on the hands with less weight resting directly on my palms.  21 speeds are really a misnomer because there is wide overlap.  There are actually 12 effective speeds beginning at 1:1 gear ratio in the lowest gear to 3.4:1 in high.

In any case, I think this sensible machine will do the job.  I have logged nearly 1,000 training miles so far without incident.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

First Post - Written February, 2018

Hi, and welcome to the first installment of A Superior Bike Adventure!   It is an adventure that has not yet begun, other than initial stage planning.   As much as I hope it will be the best adventure ever, the superlative “Superior” refers to the lake, not my riding skills.   My intent, you see, is to circumnavigate Lake Superior on a bike – the pedal kind, not the Harley kind. My first flirtation with this adventure was the idea of completing the great loop in a trawler.   The great loop is a term that refers to boating a complete circle from the Intercontinental waterway, to the St. Lawrence seaway, the Great Lakes, the Mississippi river and the Gulf of Mexico back to the original starting point on the eastern seaboard.   The plan was a two-year live-aboard experience interrupted only by a winter layover in Lake Michigan during which we would return to our home.   I studied the loop and read several accounts written by “loopers” to prepare for this...
8 comments
Read more

Day 5 - 7/23/18

Day 5 begins in the company of a half-dozen bikers all camped in the town square in Hooverville style. I'm the first to break camp and make my way to the road. About an hour later, Gordon catches up to me and, being the slowest bike on the Trans-Canada highway, I waved him through. He says he prefers company and although ahead of me, he is matching my speed. We stop for lunch at the only restaurant between our White River starting point and the destination of Marathon. The restaurant is only a few months old and, based on the number of failed businesses along the route, I question the probability of success but hope for the best. Nice people trying hard to make a go of it. Over lunch, we share some of our personal history and discuss world politics. Gordon is a Canaduan originally from Vancouver. He moved to Europe 25 years ago and ended up as a banker in Edinburgh.  Now married to a Scot with two kids in college, he became a British subject by way of his heritage. He also aban...
4 comments
Read more

Week 2

Days 13 & 14 were fairly uneventful.  Just over 50 miles each day.  Day 13 still had a south wind in the face. It is discouraging to crest a hill and still have to pedal hard on the downslope. Today's special treat was a tail wind courtesy of a storm front. So, while rainy, it was fast. That is until I rounded the southwest corner of lake Superior in Duluth and headed up the ramp of the bridge over the St. Louis River to Wisconsin. This is a three mile bridge soaring hundreds of feet above the water with wind and rain now in my face at 15 mph gusting to 25. Once on the ramp I was committed but if I had it to do all over again I would have become a permanent resident of Minnesota rather than ride the bridge. Bridge notwithstanding, I'm happy to be in Wisconsin where billboards are legal. There is a tavern on every corner and midwest hospitality should be evident once again. The People's Republic of Minnesota controls all of those things because the government knows wha...
2 comments
Read more