The fellow that has the bike shop here does put on a Thursday night ride, but it hasn't been happening during the winter months. He's starting soon again. In general though, there aren't enough people in this area to develop a large club. The population is extremely small and organizations tend to reflect that. I figure I will have to go to Seattle, everything is on that side of the Sound.

My bike shop trip was encouraging and instructive. He disagrees with modifying the bike because it is pristine, but he also has some cranks that would work if I want to try. He showed me examples of the different types of cranks and bearings and how mine uses loose ball bearings. It was really instructive and the argument comes down to whether it's worth modifying a completely original bike for an application that may or may not see fruition (my son is the type who sees a fat tire electric and then wants to ride ;-)). The other point he made was that our terrain (at least the trails) doesn't do a bike like the Miyata low end racing bike justice for a casual rider (i.e., they would be more happy with straight bars and wider tires).

It's a quandary, because as the last post suggests, it could be used on my trainer if I just put a high seat post on it. I hadn't considered that.

I appreciate all the ideas in this thread. It looks like I could try the swap of the crank for basically nothing and see how the bike works. If I can get my son hooked, he can buy a bike more to his liking, and I can put the original parts back on this one, slap a speed sensor on it and put it on the trainer. Then I'd have a vintage bike in the living room.

Thanks very much for all the responses.