Category: Bicycles

The Albany Tweed Ride

The rain held off. I was happy about that. We were dressed up, and felt good, and as long as it didn’t rain everything was going to be okay. We headed to Ultraviolet Café. I was looking forward to hot tea and perhaps some biscotti.

We followed two people in. There were half a dozen people already there. I was already amazed. And it was only a little after ten. People kept rolling in. I kept introducing myself and thanking people for coming, marveling at their clothes and their vintage bikes. We had proper bow ties, tweed jackets, pipes, a few Raleighs, an ANT. I never had much of a chance to take any photos; new people kept rolling in and I lost my head with happiness.

I met Mary from All Over Albany. They’ve been great about promoting the ride. I met Michael, whom I’ve been following on Twitter for a while now. I met a lot of people I’d only previously known from the internet. It was remarkable how many people on the ride live less than a handful of blocks from us, and we’d only just met them today. People I interact with in the virtual, I finally got to meet face to face. Erik, Randal, Julie, everyone.

We left later than I had planned, but that worked out well. We rolled down Delaware, calmly, happily. We took a left on Holland, and from the front of the column I watched the long curve make its way through the intersection. It was amazing. I laughed with giddy delight. Holland was an okay street, but we got a little separated and had some issues making the left onto New Scotland, but I don’t think any harm was done. We took a right onto Lake, and then rolled into the park.

We stopped at the Lake House, which was completely deserted, and took some photos. We rolled up to the tulips and took a few more. We attracted some attention. We rang our bells.

From there we rolled down State, all the way to the bottom of the hill, and made the left onto Broadway. This was about the time the wind shifted, or maybe it was just the buildings channeling it, but we fought a stiff headwind the last few blocks. We rolled into the Olde English Pub & Pantry at about 11:30am. They let us put our bikes (we counted 30, thirty!) in the beautiful courtyard behind the gates, our own secret garden. Seamus and company were dressed the part to host us. We enjoyed fine beers and hot foods. (English Farmer’s Breakfast, I think I love you.)

I made the rounds and talked to people. Everyone had a good time. Everyone wanted to know when the next ride was. I had a lot of fun.

Many thanks go out to All Over Albany, Ultraviolet Café, Downtube Cycleworks, and our sponsors the Olde English Pub & Pantry. Also, thanks to Dave for the design of the fliers and posters and his photography, and Julie and Joe for the video I cannot wait to see. And, last but certainly not least, to all of the people who braved the chill to dress up and ride bikes through the streets of Albany because it’s fun; I am truly humbled by your enthusiasm.

And it did not rain.

There’s a Facebook page. Go have a look.

Bike Rentals in Albany

I have been surprised by many things regarding the Albany Tweed Ride. First, that All Over Albany has been so great about mentioning it. Second, that the Olde English Pub & Pantry would contact me, out of the blue, to sponsor the ride. Also, that so many people who are not even “cyclists” want to ride.

As the day approaches there are a number of things that continue to surprise me in (shall we say) interesting ways. For example, there aren’t many places to rent a bike in Albany. Googling it turns up varying results, at most four, and none of them are actually in Albany. You would actually need a car to rent a bike. This is kind of disappointing.

If you want people to ride, you need to make it easy to do so. That means things like bike lanes (and sharrows) and racks in appropriate places. It also means making it easy to GET a bike. There are dozens of places to rent a car, or get on a bus. Where do you go to borrow a bike for the afternoon?

And where would you go to borrow a bike that isn’t a racing or mountain bike?

A Frustrating Day on the Bike

This morning I rode to the Troy Farmer’s Market. I went down to the river and took the bumpy Corning Trail out to Watervliet, along whatever street that is, over the bridge, and into Troy. I got two compliments on my bike and Caribbean for lunch. On the way back I took 32 and Broadway. I had a nice tailwind the whole way, and I was trying to convince myself that riding on a mostly empty four-lane street with a tailwind was as good as I could hope for. I posted some photos of that here.

Then I rode to Downtube to drop off some more fliers. Apparently people are excited about the Tweed Ride. Which is good. Then I swung through Washington Park.

I heard one cyclist (riding against traffic) tell another cyclist (riding with traffic) to “stay on the right side.”

On the way out, I caught up to a guy on a bike with a kiddie trailer. I assume there was a kid in there, I didn’t look. On Lake I checked over my shoulder to see there was no traffic coming, and pulled up along side of him and said “howdy.” He gave me the who the hell are you? look. I’m just trying to be friendly. People don’t even recognize that anymore. People fear it; they give you the who the hell are you? look. I stopped at the red light. He did not.

On New Scotland, riding in the sharrows, there’s an older fellow on a bike coming directly toward me. He is riding against traffic. He is what we refer to as a bike salmon when we are trying to pretend this sort of thing is funny and not dangerous. Because there are moving cars to the left of me, parked cars to the right of me, and this jackass has suddenly realized he doesn’t know where to go. If only there were some sign, perhaps painted on the street, to indicate proper direction!

Cutting Down Fender Stays

When I installed the fenders on my new bike a few months ago, the stays were too long. The stays connected the fender to the bike frame, usually the front or rear fork. I borrowed a hacksaw from my dad and this weekend I dismantled the bike in order to cut the fender stays down to size.

One of the first things I did was mark where the fender stays currently sat in the mounting brackets. That was going to give me an idea of where to cut. Dismantling the bike meant putting it up on the repair stand and removing both wheels. With the wheels off I could get to the nuts on the underside of the fenders. With the stays in hand, and clearly marked, I carefully sawed through the metal. I tried to keep the blade from bouncing around and digging up the chrome. Once I’d cut the four pieces down, I took a file and sanded down the edges.

Then I played with my new mini pump. I’m of the opinion that it’s better to know how to use something like that before you end up on the side of the road with a flat tire. In the rain. I discovered that my handy little digital tire pressure gauge does not work on presta valve, so I’m not going to be able to use that anymore.

The next day I pulled the bike and the repair stand outside and washed it. It’s easier to wash a bike without the wheels on it. I’m a little disappointed by the damage my new bike has already taken, in only a few weeks of riding. The fenders have some scuffs. The paint has a few scratches. I want a pretty bike, but I also want a bike that gets around.

I carefully put the fenders back on, doing a lot of temporary fittings to make small adjustments. The fenders are better than they were. With the shorter stays, the rear rack fits better, the quick release levers close better, and the fenders are balanced.

I made some other improvements. The brake cables have little caps on the end which rattle against the fenders; I hooked those on some of the brake hardware so that they won’t rattle anymore. I replaced the rubber spacer on the headlight, and tightened it, so that it doesn’t squeak anymore. I installed the mini pump, which has a little rack that fits between the bottle cage and the down tube.

The only thing I have left to do is install the kickstand.