nlerner

My schedule has finally cleared enough over the next couple of weeks for me to explore a concept: I will ride a different bicycle each day for the next 14 days (actually, I started yesterday, but that's the idea). To make it more of a challenge and to accelerate the process of getting into biking shape, I'll ride a minimum of 20 miles each day. Rain or shine (or snow--this is New England). All riding will be done on C&V or C&V-like bikes (steel frames, classic geometry, etc.).

Yesterday morning I started with my fairly new to me 1990 P. J. Weigle for a 45 miler:



Today I was on my 1994 Bridgestone RB-T for about 30 miles (it was a rainy afternoon, so a fendered bike was a good idea):



If you're wondering, yes, I have lots of bikes and will not need to ride my kids' 24"-wheeled machines. If I were to try 21 bikes in 21 days, some of the oldies would offer a challenge (e.g., a '37 Raleigh Sports with full chain case is a bit of a bear on any kind of long ride though I've done it before), and work gets busy at the end of the month, so I don't think it would be possible. I'll go with 14 for now.

jeirvine 

Great idea. I would start with the '37 Sports, and work your way up to the lightest bike. By day 21 you will feel like a monster rider.

non-fixie 

Nice idea, and an interesting concept. Maybe we could combine it with the Clunker 100 Challenge concept somehow. With Hal Douglas' voice: 14 clunkers, 14 riders, 14 days ...

Chris W.

Great to see you Neal!!! Hoping you will post pics of all your bikes in the next 12 or so days

Cheers,
Chris

photogravity

Neal, I love the idea... I could learn a lesson from you. I'd need to really clear my schedule, but I think I could probably do something like that. I'd probably do it as 7x2 bikes in 14 days and ride seven bikes two times each. Just thinking about having 14 bikes that are all road ready tires me out.

Kobe 

Why do i get the feeling you are not going to stop at 14? On day 15 you are going to come out to the garage, look around and think what's next? Then end up on the wife's step thru with flowers on the basket.

4Rings6Stars

Love the idea, Neal, and happy to see your face (err, well your bikes) around these parts.

auchencrow

Neal - You really need to work up to one new ride for each day of the year,
Anyone who ISN'T riding a different bike every day is missing out on the true joy of C&V ownership!

jmeb

I'm excited for the MKM ride. Fabulous idea -- I'm afraid I'd have to work through my rotation 4 times to make 15 days.

gaucho777 

Neal, great to see more of you and your lovely bikes again. Your new J.P. Weigle is fantastic. The wheels look like they'd give a really nice, plush ride.

You will be updating this thread I hope!

Good luck with your quest!

3alarmer 

...I thought everyone did this sort of thing ?

Charles Wahl

Since Neal no longer includes his bike porn links in his signature: you can look them up HERE as he publishes (it is to be hoped) each ride.

Neal, am I just missing it, or does your Picasa photo archive not have the interpretive descriptions that used to be on "Way Too Many Bikes"? I just looked up the Weigle, and didn't find anything but photos.

rootboy 

Fourteen bikes? Say, Neal, I need to sell some things on ebay. Care to donate some stuff? ….

I love that JP W too.

nlerner

For today's ride, I just had time for a mellow 20-miler (read: slow) along the Charles River heading west from Boston. I was on my 2009 Ebisu, a Japanese-made 650B bike with 42mm Hetres (yeah, not vintage, but call it faux-vintage). About a third of the ride was on dirt and packed gravel, and it had rained most of the morning, so a fendered, fat-tired bike seemed appropriate. This path is the Blue Heron Trail, hence the image on the post on the left in the pic:

nlerner

Sorry, Charles, but I'm too lazy to put descriptions along with those pics, and probably half of the bikes in my Picasa feed are no longer in my fleet or belonged to others when I was taking the pics. I can guarantee that the 14 bikes I describe in this thread are pictured in those albums! Unfortunately, my previous website was on the server of my former employer, so that doesn't exist any longer.

noglider 

This thread makes me feel like I'm not that bad a hoarder. On the other hand, I might have enough frames and components to make 14 road-ready bikes. I ought to get cracking at it.

due ruote 

Great idea, and great thread idea. Some great bikes already; I'm looking forward to seeing where this goes.

So do you have a general game plan, or is it more weather and/or mood-dependent?

nlerner

Who you calling a hoarder, Reingold?! That's not only like the pot calling the kettle "black," but also the cast iron stove, the stove-pipe hat, and the wrought-iron grill.

Mostly the latter. It'll depend on the conditions (i.e., fendered bikes for rainy days), how much time I have to ride, and my mood. I do think I have 11 more bikes that are road ready, but I might find out that's not true once I'm actually riding one.

-holiday76

nice job nlerner.Nice job.

Noglider isn't a hoarder. He's just owned some bikes and then forgot that he owned some bikes and left them around. Basements, train stations, cities and towns.He's more like the Absent Minded Bicycle Whisperer.

kroozer 

When I saw the title I thought you had bought 14 bikes in 14 days. Guess I've been at the C&V forum too long.

The trick for me would be to find the time for a long ride for 14 straight days.

Fred Smedley

If the quality stays constant , I only hope you have a security system, a 100 pound shepherd and a nice insurance policy. Nice bikes so far!

whatwolf

Nice concept, and I look forward to seeing all these bikes! So far: highly impressed

wrk101

Great idea, hope you don't mind me copying it. I am toying with a twist, ride the bikes in chronological order, starting with the oldest one first of course. Let's see, the 1960/1961 Carlton leads it off, then the 1969 Raleigh Gold Edition. I'll have to check some date codes on the 1973 World Voyageur and the 1973+/- Sport Tourer. I guess I will need to rebuild that 1974 Nishiki Competition. Wish I knew the year of that Colin Laing.

I'd rather call myself an "accumulator" rather than a "hoarder". And many do move on to new homes... eventually.

nlerner

In between running errands related to mother's day (on a different bicycle likely to show up later in this thread), I was able to put in 20 miles on my 1980s (?) Andre Bertin. It's a mix of French and Japanese parts and rocks 7-speed indexed down tube shifters and a tubular wheel set. The Challenge sew-ups are very nice, fairly wide, and this frame has just enough clearance to make them work. Unfortunately, that tight clearance is a problem if you pop a spoke in the rear wheel, which I did climbing out of the saddle with about 4-5 miles to go. I loosened the rear brake, tightened and loosened some spokes, and was able to tolerate a little bit of chain stay rub to make it home.

Boston-area folk might make out the Weston toll booths on the Mass Pike in the background of this pic:

frantik

cool Yesterday I rode 4 different bikes, but only one for more than 10 miles.