fixed - round 2

Took the "gruppo" off my '82 Peugeot and tossed it on a 70's Gitane TdF frame. Someone already hacked off the RD hanger so I don't feel too bad turning it into a fixed gear machine. Still need to replace the chain ring on this obsolete 122 BCD crankset, I've got a 47 tooth Stronglight coming in the mail. I did end up moving the chainring to the inside of the crank spider making the chainline almost perfect - the ride is a LOT less noisy now, especially with a new chain... More pics here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ericm/sets/72157611688223015/

Elliott Bay display bikes

Just a link today since I've been too sick to even ride to work lately. When in Seattle for Thanksgiving Mark Petry took me to Elliott Bay Bicycles and I wished I'd taken some shots of the display bikes but Bob Freeman, owner of the shop, and Galen (Dapper Lad Cycles) have come to the rescue:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/2kings/sets/72157607171221146/

A Sunday in Hell

This may be of interest to some. It's in 11 parts on youtube. Thanks for the "heads-up" John B.

After Thanksgiving Ride with Mark

~11.29.08~

Mark Petry was kind enough to take the ferry over from Bainbridge Island and meet me in the Green Lake area of Seattle. Oh, did I mention he also brought over 2 incredible bikes, one in my size, and drove us both to Il Vecchio bike shop where we started a great ride over the I-90 causeway and around Mercer Island and back? And then dropped me back at Green Lake on his way home? We also stopped at Elliot Bay bike shop to ogle Bob Freeman's incredible classic bike collection and got to talk to Bill Davidson for awhile, how cool is that? Hope I didn't drool too much... Thanks for the great day, Mark!

MORE PICS HERE:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ericm/sets/72157610496883761/

10 speeds NOT

OK, so I was curious... Never ridden a track bike or fixed gear before so decided to try it. This is my 1st fixed gear build, don't know if it will be the last. Yes, I left BOTH brakes on - sorry fixed kiddies but this ol' dog needs some trainin' on this new machine. And training I did get. The thing I noticed most is that after climbing and reaching the top of a hill I want to coast for a minute. Well, this bike actually insisted I NOT do that in no uncertain terms. I rode from Hwy 92 to Woodside over Olive Hill and down Tripp then thru town and back. Gears are 52 chainring 16 rear cog - seems a bit long but OK for this route. Would a 50 or 48 tooth chainring be better? Dunno but please comment 'cause I need help - I am a fixed/track neophyte. The other thing that I noticed is chain tension can be critical - too loose starting out today I heard a few chain crunchings (I imagine on the rear cog) on bumps and turns - too tight and it was constantly noisy and binding (hope I didn't kill the rear wheel bearings/races). It appears the chainline is about one cog off so I'm thinking of relocating the chainring to the inside of the crank spider - there's plenty of clearance from the chainstay, so, anyone see anything wrong with that? I put this bike together in about an hour, the majority of that time being attention paid to the frankensteinian bottom bracket. The fixed cup is Campag, the adjustable cup is Peugeot 80's crap, the spindle is Shimano and the "loose balls" (no Viagra) are 1/4" grade 25's from ebay. No good can come of this combo but I am hoping it won't throw me over the bars anytime soon... BTW, I bought my 1st set of Pasela Panaracer Tour Guards 27x1 1/8" for this build and I'm amazed at the ride - so comfy & pillowy!

MORE PICS HERE:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ericm/sets/72157609896383192/

Another Ride in Paradise

~Sunday 11.16.08~

Paradise Loop in Marin County that is. Don't know what it is but I could just keep doing this ride over and over again. Weather was fantastic for mid November - low 70's. We had about 12 riders and 3 new: Brian Fessenden on his incredibly clean old orange Pogliaghi, Tom Hardy on his Gios and Stephen Bryne on a 1974 Raleigh International. I was riding my commuter bike, a 1974 Raleigh Pro so we had fun taking pics of the (2) 34 year old brit bikes. Most of us started out at the Log Cabin in the Presidio in SF. It was a beautiful morning so we wasted no time in blasting across the Golden Gate Bridge. Randy and his Woodrup were waiting for us at the north end of the bridge so after photo ops we saddled up again and headed down the hill into Sausalito. When we arrived at the Mill Valley Heliport there didn't seem to be anyone meeting us but Greg spied Charles asleep in his car so proceeded to simulate an earthquake to gently stir him from his nap. Charles showed us a cool new jersey (Belgian?) while the rest of us admired the bikes for awhile and then we were off. The Camino Alto climb seemed a bit longer than usual perhaps because the 3 new guys kicked my ass across the bridge a few minutes before. We met many riders on Paradise Drive taking advantage of the nice weather and everyone was in an upbeat mood. Greg & I sprinted the last few yards into Tiburon where we had lunch at the Italian coffee shop near the ferry stop. After some pannini and Le Dolce Vita we climbed out of Tiburon for the final leg back to the Heliport. We said goodbye to Bob & Charles and headed off to Sausalito - Bob rode from Mill Valley across the GG Bridge earlier this morning to meet the rest of us at 9:30, BTW. We made the climb back up to the north end of the GG Bridge, took some pics and said goodbye to Randy then headed south back across the bridge. We didn't experience the usual afternoon winds and the ride back to the Log Cabin was very pleasant. Thanks for the great day everyone and thanks to Stephen, Tom and Brian for joining us, hope we can do it again real soon!

MORE PICS HERE:

http://flickr.com/photos/ericm/sets/72157609296738703/

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Alone Together

~Sunday, Oct. 5th, 2008~

Reminds me of a Dave Mason album... Just me, myself and I - oh, and Colin Laing, went for a 36 miler today - and I mean the Colin Laing that's a little over 20 lbs. that I own. Incredible morning after the rains yesterday - the bay laurel and eucalyptus (mostly) were in very perfumey form - that along with perfect temperatures made for a very enjoyable ride - one where you didn't want to stop. So I didn't ...stop (very much). Two short breaks both at different Robert's stores. I had no idea there was a new Robert's Market but there is and it's located almost at the corner of Alpine Rd. and Portola Rd. (on Alpine Rd. in Portola Valley). Couldn't go in today but this is one that definitely needs exploring - next time...

"Have a nice Ride"

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Fairfax to Pt. Reyes/Olema

~Sunday Sept. 21st 2008~

Another fine Marin County ride called by Bob Freitas. Also in attendance were Greg Davis and his neighbor, Ted.

We met at the Java Hut in the parking lot at Fairfax a bit late after a slight detour but 10 am seemed a perfect start to the day. I had forgotten about that nice climb before the Nicasio turn off just at the start! The definite highlight of the day (besides the excellent eggplant pizza with Stewart's root beer @ Bovine Bakery) was riding the Cross Marin Trail through Samuel P. Taylor Park. It runs just beside a creek for quite a ways and is so scenic through the trees just starting to turn fall colors. A group of young ladies on modern bikes inserted themselves just between us and it was fun listening to the loud noises emanating from those machines (hey, I'm talkin' about the bikes).

After a snack at the Bakery we did a small loop north then came back on Sir Francis Drake Blvd. I know the pace is usually faster when there are just a few of us and this route is only 36 miles when I draw the map correctly!

"Have a nice ride"...

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Ride around Lake Tahoe

~Saturday 6.21.08~

Well, we did it - Jeremy, Greg Davis and I rode around Lake Tahoe. Very enjoyable, a couple decent climbs, a few drops of rain in Rubicon, some wind at the end. Oh, and I bonked at mile 50 but had a root beer at Izzy's Burger Spa in Crystal Bay and finally made it home. 9am to 4:30pm starting and finishing in Incline Village, we stopped at Camp Richardson for turkey sandwiches then rode up to the Emerald Bay lookout to eat - very windy the red onions kept flying out of my sandwich...

Here're some pix: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ericm/sets/72157605802075362/ ---

~Sunday April 20th 2008 ride w/Randy Reidelbach~ Randy graciously hosted a ride last Sunday and he must've done the Indian anti-rain dance because the weather was perfect. The traffic from San Carlos to Windsor flowed like good wine making for an easy "early" start in the morning. From Randy's place in Windsor we rode out Pleasant Ave. to Chalk Hill Road - a few slight hills made for some fun, fast descents through this bucolic scenery. I had brought the Masi GC and it soon became evident that this was probably the wrong bike choice - the road surfaces are not quite as nice as on the peninsula (or maybe I just know the roads better there). "Mr." Colin Laing will be coming with me next time to Sonoma County. What WAS better, MUCH better than the peninsula was the (almost) complete lack of car traffic! Mama mia, I was in heaven...

From Chalk Hill Rd. we amble down Hwy 128 past the many notable wineries of Alexander Valley. Some of my favorite beverages come from this area and I'd never paid much attention. Now I know! A few barns near the Russian River had high water marks from past floods, the highest being 1937 (or was it 1964?). Wish we'd stopped at the Jimtown area - looked a bit touristy but interesting. Staying on A.V. Rd. we merged onto Healdsburg Ave. at the north end of, you guessed it, Healdsburg, famous of course for being the birthplace of my dear mother Jean Rose Lazzaroni. I hadn't seen the town of my grandparents for many years - it has changed. It's a bit "yupped up" but from the small part I saw, in a good way. We stopped at the Bear Republic Brewing Co. for a bite and a brew. I talked Randy into doing a Kinley Rd. - Magnolia Dr. loop so I could check out what the new owners had done to my grandparents place, liked what I saw. "The Ranch" part of the property is owned separately and Jim has taken out all the prune trees - I am guessing grape vines will be planted (ya think!?). We stopped at the house to reminisce a bit and then took off for the river part of the ride.

Out Mill Creek past the Fred MacMurray ranch is a beautiful grove of Redwoods up a little hill. Then more wineries came into view - Hop Kiln, Rochioli. City car kids stopped to pull grass and feed a horse at the fence. And still hardly a car on the road! I am used to fighting for my piece of transportation real estate - not necessary here, I could get used to this. We continued on Westside then over the Wohler Bridge (the only time the Russian River was visible) and reversed our course on Eastside Rd. back towards "civilization". This part of the ride was real pretty and we saw many gentlemen's estates and ranches and a pretty large commercial dairy. Smelling the HUGE pile of feed it's easy to figure out why milk tastes like that. Then we turned right and headed back into Windsor. Back at Randy's place I think we figured it was about 40 miles. Thanks for a great ride, my friend!

Woodside CR ride

---Saturday 3.22.08---

Another great ride for the NorCal CR cyclists happened Saturday. The pace was a little quicker than usual. CLICK HERE for Bob Freitas' pics. I'll post Brad Stockwell's pics link soon...

---Saturday 3.22.08---

excellent weather + great riding companions + cool bikes = perfect day

* Laurie Bolard on her Gios Torino

* Charles Colerich on his Colnago

* Randy Reidelbach on his '73 Woodrup

* Eric Meddaugh on his '90 Masi 3V

Randy & Eric met at the Log Cabin @ the Presidio & rolled out ~10am to meet Laurie, Charles & Don at the Heliport ~10:40am. Don couldn't ride with us but did bring his awesome looking Lemond to show us - beautiful bike Don!

We proceeded on the usual route enjoying the spring wildflowers and great weather & fellow riders. Eric managed to lay a couple strips of rubber on the bike paths and streets of Sausalito as various animals of dubious intelligence leapt in front of his front wheel to test his reaction time. Randy enjoyed the ride but said he didn't have to do the GG bridge again - lot's of bike traffic this day! Charles & Laurie rode perfectly (as usual) and it was a pleasure riding next to them for extended periods conversing in total confidence. We took a break in Tiburon then rode between the idyllic suburbs and calm water back to the Heliport where Randy & Eric bid farewell to Charles - Laurie had to peel off at the bike trail for another run at Camino Alto since we had not climbed enough. ;>)... Eric tried to lose Randy on the climb out of Sausalito to the bridge but no dice - Randy has been RIDING and is in great shape! A view-tiful ride back across the GG and it was over too soon... A fun day was had by all. Hope to see you in Livermore next weekend!

Regards, Eric

MORE PICS

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nice ride on the masi gc sunday 3.9.08: