northbend 

Another memorable year in the books. I tried to express the highlights in 10 photos or less

WINTER
I re-discovered a love for skiing after being largely away from it for many years. I bought a season pass to Crystal Mountain and went up several times a week with my old ski buddy Mike well into April. I had forgotten how much fun it was!
Mikey and Matty by NBend, on Flickr

SPRING
I got into riding a little later this year than normal because of all the Skiing.
Gugie invited one n all to a ride near Portland. It was a nice ride and great meeting with all the C&V Forumites from Oregon and you, Neil. Thanks for the hospitality Mark.
Our turn around point...after eating pastry by NBend, on Flickr

Riding in the Cascades in Spring are always a highlight - this year was no exception
Mt Rainier by NBend, on Flickr

SUMMER
My solo tour to Colorado in June-July.
Loveland Pass by NBend, on Flickr

These guys: Bob Freeman and Andy Antipas. I’ve been friends with Bob for years and I just met Andy in the spring at the Seattle Bike Show. Bob led some really wonderful rides this year and I felt proud to be included in his usual cast of characters. He helped me this year in many ways most notably, twords the end of the year by helping me when I commissioned a touring bike frameset from Kevin Sayles at Woodrup. Andy quickly became a friend and trusted riding partner this year. Here we are at Sunrise in Rainier National Park in July. Descending Sunrise Road in close formation with Andy and having compete trust in him was a real joy
When we look normal by NBend, on Flickr

Bob’s Annual Vintage Show, Ride n BBQ
Bob Freeman hosts a BBQ each July at his house. All sorts of folks turn out with some AMAZING bikes. Last year I enjoyed meeting and talking with Jim Merz, This year, I rode my ’37 Hobbs on the ride out the middle Fork Valley. Andy Antipas is seen on the left in this picture. Wildwood is somewhere back there as well. I swapped bikes briefly with framebuilder Corey Thompson and tried out his beautiful 650b Rando. His bikes are really well designed and executed
Heading back by NBend, on Flickr

The ride Bob led us on over Chumstick Mountain outside of Leavenworth would have been perfect if the smoke from the wildfires had not been so bad. Still, good enough to make my top 10 list
Our descent off Chumstick by NBend, on Flickr

FALL
There was no Cino Heroica this year and that was pretty disappointing. If they hadn’t decided to take a break this year it would have been cancelled anyway because of the bad wildfires burning in Montana. I sure hope the tradition of meeting for Cino resumes in 2018!

In October I tossed a bike in the car and drove down to Southern AZ to help care for my Dad. I took my time, camping along the way and riding a bit.

I spent one day riding the Tioga Road and Yosemite Valley. I had never been there before. The Valley reminded me of the Lauterbrunnen Valley in Switzerland. It was very cold in the Morning. I want to go back again sometime when it’s warmer and do some extensive riding around this area.
Yosemite Valley 3 by NBend, on Flickr

I camped in Furnace Creek for a couple of days and did some hiking and rides in Death Valley
Pristine asphalt by NBend, on Flickr

I was caring for Dad for a little over two weeks. During that time, I was able to get a few rides in:
Mt. Lemmon just outside of Tucson, A ride from Sierra Vista to Bisbee for a visit to Ken Wallace’s Bisbee Bicycle Brothel and a favorite of mine: The ride up to Montezuma Pass in the Coronado National Monument.
Rides in Southern AZ by NBend, on Flickr

WINTER
It’s back to skiing for me! This season, Wildwood will be going with me more often

CHANGES
I sold one bike this year (Merckx MX Leader) to make room for another. I ordered a dedicated touring bike from Woodrup. The frame is currently at the Paint shop and I am really looking forward to building it up and doing some more touring in 2018.
My riding tastes have changed - I no longer have the desire for fast intense riding on Racing Bikes or Mountain Bikes. The MX Leader is gone, The Yo Eddy MTB will depart one way or another this next year.

LOOKING TO 2018:

I am registered for Eroica California - my third time for this event.

Doing some touring on my new bike

Considering a road trip out to Wisconsin for the Dairyland Dare in August. Any local yokels want to carpool?

Cino Heroica (Hopeful this is returning in 2018)

Andy Antipas 

Pretty cool summary Matt.

It has been a pleasure riding with you as well!

Hopefully, more riding in the New Year for all of us!

Chombi1 

My 2017 was pretty good with three mid and high end, steel bike acquisitions/re-builds (Pinarello Montello, Gitane TdF and Bottecchia Professional SL). No CF C&V bikes this year, for a change.....
Kinda bogged down this December though, when I totally dried up my C&V budget to acquire a few essential goodies for the Bottecchia build and some revisions to the TdF.....
Dang! And I still need a Chorus seatpost for the Bot!..... maybe tonight, I will find it just in time before the year's end, as it is payday tomorrow

jimmuller 

@northbend, you had thumping great year!

2017 was pretty good in this corner of the world too but I can't remember what happened this year vs. last. I built up the Tommasini and the Peugeot PFN10. Did the usual bike commuting and day-ride weekending, prob'ly ended up with about 8000 miles like the last few years. Rode the UO8 up Cadillac Mt. but I can't remember if it was this spring or last fall, so I guess it doesn't count. I hate it when that happens.

Ex Pres 

NB, you look like you have a great 2017.

As for me, I'll just say 2018 will be better.
100_5036.JPG

Hope some of you can make it to Dale's CR outing in May, and JT's pre-outing BRP rides. I'll try to stay upright and in one piece.

iab

Sorry to be a downer, but 2017 started with a herniated L4/L5 that didn't get treatment until the end of July. August and September was very light recovery. I did get in something between a tweed ride and a gravel grinder in October.

RR 53 by iabisdb, on Flickr


That and some commuting ended with the time change in November. Riding at rush hour in the dark makes be skittish. And now a new medical thing has me off the bike for the last couple weeks.



But 2018 will be the year of iab!!

January will be a swap in Madison.
February will have cycling in and around Milan.
April will be the spring classic and vintage ride, this time in sw Wisconsin as my mom will be selling the farm and I need to get one last ride.
May is the CR weekend and the local Udder Century. The udder is nothing special at all, but I need the training for ...
June will be a 5-day 400+ mile ride to our cabin.
August will be the Firehouse 50 and Vintage Class @thedairylanddare.
September will be gourmet at Bike the Barns.
October will be the tweed/gravel thing again.

Boom.

nlerner

My 2017 was an overall excellent year for bicycling. Some highlights were riding out in Portland in March with @gugie, @northbend, and crew while I was there for a conference. Mark was a terrific host, and I enjoyed excellent company and the ride on one of Mark's cool steeds:



That was also a good kickoff for the New England Randonneurs brevet series. I did the 100k, 200k, and 300k, and intended to do the 400k, but developed a hernia in late June, had surgery in early July, so that put the kibosh on my summer rando events. However, cycling kicked back up for me in September, largely because we had great weather in New England, I started a year-long academic sabbatical, and I was getting in the miles to prepare for the Tour de Gugie, built around French Fender Day at Peter Weigle's in early October. Mark, @rhm, my buddy Bob, and I put in about 280 miles over four days, from Mastic Beach, NY, to Montauk Pt, then the next day Montauk to Orient Point and a ferry ride to New London, New London to Old Saybrook (not a bike friendly route!). That next day we rode up to FFD so that Mark could tug on the sleeve of the man hisself, rode back to Old Saybrook, and then the next day, Rudi headed west while Mark, Bob, and I took a train and then biked to Providence, RI, where we took the commuter train back to Boston.



Mark then stayed with me for a few days, and I had the pleasure to show him around Boston:



A few weeks after that adventure, my buddy Bob and I did a one-night tour from Boston to New Bedford with a couple of friends of Bob's, another great tour of beautiful roads with amazing ocean views.



Throughout the summer and fall, I was also able to ride as much as I could with local friends and with my old Brit bike group (Veteran Cycle Club of New England).

Plans for next year are ongoing, but I hope that it includes at least 100k, 200k, 300k, 400k, and hopefully the 600k brevets with the regional rando group; an adventure in April to ride the California L'Eroica; at least one other distance ride before next fall when I actually have to go back to work; plus the usual two or three times per week rides with the locals.

gugie 

Started the year adjusting to a new commute and new commuter bike. This was the first of several connections to @nlerner: a 5 speed IGH Raleigh Grand Sports



Not long into the new year, Snowmaggeden hit Portlandia. While everyone in a car was stuck in traffic for several hours, I was able to get home with only a 10 minute longer commute using my 26 x 2.2" "snow" grinder. Advantage bicycle!



@nlerner came to Portland for a conference (as he has already reported by Neal and @northbend), and we did our best to roll out the red carpet for him. On a rare dry day, we had a great turnout, with forum members from all over the PNW coming down to meet the legendary Neal:



@Andy_K and I got a lot of riding in together this year. An early Cookie Monster Metric Century ride with Andy and @johnnyace got some flat riding in.



I missed out on one of @Lascauxcaveman's early rides, but hitched a ride with Andy_K and met up with several other PNW forum members at the Hurricane Ridge ride. The Caveman was a gracious host as we camped out in his home adjacent to Olympic National Park. A 15 mile climb led us to a fantastic view last seen in the Sound of Music.



A long business trip down to my old stomping, er, riding grounds of the SF Bay Area allowed me to meet and ride with @gaucho777 and his compatriots.



A good deal of my year was spent torching instead of riding. Gugificazione was coined by @juvela. Definition: The act of taking a perfectly decent vintage, steel bike frame and bastardizing it, reraked forks, brazed on bits all over, some bent up tubing to hang bags off of, and a repaint/powder coat to make it unrecognizable from the bike the bike they lusted over in their youth.

Back to riding, the "annual" North Trask ride was prepared for by weekend rides with @Andy_K. A hot summer day was spent riding up and down gravel roads up and over the Chehelam Mountains, and a late tune-up ride starting Scappose



My "annual" ride from Forest Grove to Tillamook via forestry roads was an epic "type 2" event. 12 riders, lots of flat tires, a gravel spill by yours truly, but we all made it to the Pelican Brewery.



The most epic ride itself, however, was a once-in-a-lifetime: it took planes, trains, and bicycles for a pilgrimmage to East Lyme Connecticut for Peter Weigle's annual French Fender day. @rhm and @nlerner helped plan this credit card tour of Long Island, Connecticut and Rhode Island. Oh yeah, there were some cool bikes as well.



2018 plans include Eroica, California, less torching, more riding, a credit card tour in there somewhere, and spending time with some of my best friends in the whole wide world, bike forum members!

thinktubes 

2017 has been a challenging year bike-wise, but I was still able to log 752 miles thanks to the warm temps, which extended into December.

Logged most of the miles on the trusty Battaglin. Celebrated 20 years of ownership, since I purchased it in 1997.



Late in the season, I added a 1981 Schwinn Superior to the quiver. I had been (very) passively looking for one of these for years. @unworthy listed a frame on the forum, so that's all it took. Wasn't sure if I'd like the ride/handling since most of my rides are post-1985. Turns out to be excellent in all areas. Fits like a glove too.



For 2018, I'd like to get over 1500 miles. I've been taking spin classes to keep my fitness up and have an early season century planned for June 2018. I'd also like to get my Ciocc back on the road. It needs new wheels and an overhaul. Hasn't been ridden since August 2015.

Wishing the best to all for 2018!

rhm

I had a pretty good year!

I started out with the goal, not to say the intention, of riding all twelve on the PA Randonneur clubs monthly brevets. February did not work out, so I ended the year having done eleven of them, but only ten on a row (you get the "R12" award for doing twelve in a row). The fun of the R12 is that you end up riding in all kinds of weather. They actually had to run the January one twice, because it was snowing so heavily the first time, they had to cancel the ride before the riders got half way done! Here's a photo from this month's ride:


I should add that it's hard for me to do these brevets, since most of them start and end 30 to 50 miles from home, and I don't have a car. So I have to mooch a ride from someone. Fortunately I found a willing driver who lives less than ten miles away. Not a forum member, otherwise I'd give him a shout out. I did have to borrow my wife's car a couple times, though.

In April I led a team of four riders on a flèche, a 24 hour ride with a minimum distance of 360 km. Initially my team was made up of all guys familiar to this forum, including @greg3rd48 (who joined me for several other brevets this year), but owing to scheduling issues &c I ended up needing a couple more volunteers, who turned out to be relatively serious cyclists . I really enjoy the "team" aspect of the event; the only goal is to finish. No brownie points for speed, pain and suffering, extra hills. If the team finishes the ride, the riders are given credit for riding 360 km (even if they rode more) in 24 hours (even if they finished in less time). The pre-dawn hours of an April morning can be very cold indeed, especially if you now have to bide your time, having ridden too fast during the daylight hours!

With the brevets for March (200km), April (300km), May (400km) and June (600km) I completed a "Super Randonneur Series," which was definitely a milestone for me. The 600 took us up to Hawk's Nest on the Delaware River (NY on the left, PA on the right):


In August I took a couple days of from work so I could throw my old Trek 720 touring bike under a bus down to Greenville SC where I did a three day tour, lots of climbing, ending up at a lake on the campus of Furman University to watch the total solar eclipse before riding back to Greenville to catch a bus home. Here's me and my bike at a scenic overlook somewhere near the NC-SC border:


And then we had that French Fender Day tour, already mentioned by @gugie and @nlerner, which was a lot of fun. If you look closely at the photo Mark posted above, you an see me sitting with @Sir_Name and @greg3rd48, just a little left of center. Here's an obligatory selfie from Montauk Point (note the lighthouse!):


All together I rode about 5500 miles. Too many flat tires, of course, but not as many as in previous years.

As for equipment, I had a few projects in the fire that still aren't ready for prime time. The year started with me waiting to get my Holdsworth back from Portland where I'd sent it for the Gugificazione, after which it served me well for most of my riding. Even though I have a dedicated commuter bike, I found myself commuting on the Holdsworth a lot, partly because it was near the door of the bike shed, and partly because I had to make sure it was ready for the next big ride. Even after Gugificazione it went through several changes over the course of the year...

And I plan to make further changes (I have to persuade @gugie to make me a minimalist rear rack in the constructeur style).

I did some interesting saddle restorations this year as well. The last saddle I finished this year was rhm#200, so I suppose that's another milestone.

RobbieTunes

Wow. I rode a few rides and built a few bikes. Nothing much.

nesteel 

Did too much building/wrenching, and not enough riding.
That'll change for 2018.

non-fixie 

I'll let you know in a couple of days. Not done yet.

John E

Highlight of the year -- Henry (in bike trailer at his house, ready for our Fathers Day 2017 ride), my elder son's firstborn, got a younger (definitely not little) brother exactly 6 months ago. So far they seem to get along very well, and there is still room in the bike kiddie trailer for both of them.

Meanwhile, my younger son did two internships -- Houston TX just in time for Katrina, then Cody WY.

On a sad note, one of my brother's three sets of in-laws lost their home and their mom-and-pop auto body repair shop in the Santa Rosa CA firestorm.

crank_addict

Highlights were successfully recruiting a few others to the vintage lightweights.

How the year ends is a bit sobering, just lost a fellow cyclist so I'm currently putting together a couple of ghost bikes, cyclist awareness / memorial. Further mission to push local and state reps for change on a long overdue danger area for pedestrian and bike traffic.

Be safe all and may you have many good miles of smiles.

Andy_K 

This has been quite a year for me in a number of bike-related respects. Most notably I made some great friendships with several people I met through this site. I also came into possession of (ahem) a few new bikes. I was going to share some of my riding highlights, but @gugie already covered most of that so I guess I'll have to share the bikes I gathered this year.

I started the year thinking that I had just about enough bikes to round out my humble vintage collection. I just needed to build up the Pinarello I had just gotten back from the painters and work out the kinks in the Motobecane Grand Record build I had completed at the end of 2016 and then I'd be set. This state of mind lasted nearly five days before @icepick_trotsky offered a Specialized Sequoia on the "frame doesn't fit" thread. I reeled it in and built it up with even less than my usual attention to period correctness and it turned out to be the bike on which I logged the most total mileage this year (barring a 200+ mile expedition on my Kona Jake within the next three days).



I finished assembling the Montello sometime in early March, just in time to ride it during @nlerner's visit. (Not pictured here, but if you look closely at the post-ride pic in Neal's report above or the pre-ride pic in gugie's report you can see it there.)

In April I indulged my taste for cheap vintage frames, picking up this Centurion LeMans RS. I built it in a couple of configurations, including my first try at a 650B conversion, but it has since given up the parts for other builds and is now hanging in my garage in a state that isn't far from what's shown here:



May brought the Caveman's Port Angeles Metric Century, and the start of several of the aforementioned friendships.



(Really, we had bikes with us. I swear.)

Later in May, I converted the Sequoia to 650B and rode the inaugural Van Duran Duran Classic with Grant Petersen, or maybe that was gugie.



June brought the Velocirque and several forum members came from both north and south to indulge in the bike geekery. I was happy to host @Dfrost and @Andy Antipas on this occasion. And, hey, there's that shiny chrome Montello again, keeping @RiddleOfSteel's Paramount company.



In July the n+1 bug struck again, and I moved the 650B wheels onto this Motobecane Grand Jubilé. I got it done just in time to ride the CZ Trail with gugie, @Insidious C. and @nazcalines.





In August came the North Trask death march, but it's still too soon to talk about that.

In September, a small group assembled to join me for the Tualatin Valley Scenic Bikeway ride to Vernonia.



Then at the end of September I stumbled into the score of a lifetime, highlighted by this beauty here. I'm still trying to sort out the rest of the haul.



Cyclocross season kept me busy during October and November and curbed my bike buying habit for a while until last week I finally succumbed to the cheap frame temptation again and brought home this Bertin to round out the year.

RiddleOfSteel

This year was a definite high water(ford...)mark year for me, bookend-ed by two Paramounts. A 1974 P15 rescue, repair (@gugie saved the chrome, doing the impossible), and hotrod-esque restore in February. And a 1985 road/race example (re-paint/coat needed) in November. The '74 was shown in this year's Velo Cirique in Portland to much approval (and at Marymoor's velodrome, too), and I have great plans for it in 2018! The '85 enjoyed a large group ride as part of its inauguration as a newly-built grail bike a few weeks ago with many BF members, which was a lot of fun. It is the newly crowned Queen of the Fleet, formerly held by my fiercely red '85 Peloton.





I took the Peloton to the Hurricane Ridge ride with many PNW BF members. After a record rainy and dreary rainy season, the sun finally slammed the door on the clouds and we had a record long streak of dry and warm weather. Hurricane Ridge was a great time. The ride up was...slow! And tiring! @Andy Antipas and I reached the summit together, and led the group down hill as well, before I wound up my 53-11 top end gearing (thanks to gravity and not legs...) and topped out at a calculated 45-50 mph. The Peloton was perfectly stable and I had one of the best times on a bike on that down hill. Must do it again!



The second theme of this year could be that of Touring Bikes. Normally a tight and fast race bike guy (I mean, just look at those machines!), the P15 Paramount really set things off. A Cannondale ST was purchased as the planned winter rain/commute/touring bike, but I really liked it without fenders, and ran into fender profile issues with regard to inner brake caliper clearance. It is slated to be bought by a coworker, and its intended use is now being carried out by the from-the-frame-up restomod of an '84 Miyata 610 sport tourer, complete with somewhat controversial and loud wheel graphics. What is not controversial is how nice it is to ride. Simply a great time every time I am on it, to say nothing of how much I like the way it looks.



Touring bikes as a theme will continue into next year, beginning with a very recently obtained green metallic '82 Miyata 1000 frameset, which is in line for two small repairs at Atelier Gugie. I cannot wait to clean, wax, and touch up the paint when it returns, as my build plans for it have me going with anticipation. And as mentioned before, my P15 Paramount will receive component modifications to make it more city commute friendly while still maintaining its classy look.

Oh, and I promise to sell bikes. In all, a great year, and one that I am very thankful to have, realizing I am blessed to own and ride simply one of these, to say nothing of all of them.

merziac

I see no controversy with the billboard wheels on the Miyata, I have similar on my Fuji rain bike and get props regularly' There are no discernible graphics on the frame so the wheels really stand out and I like em. The white Miyata is smokin hot imo, especially for a touring rig, really looks like it means business you did such a great job with it.

styggno1

I´ll put a link here to keep them all together.

Styggno1's 2017 bike chronicle

Dfrost 

Friends
The most significant memories from 2017 are the many new and deeper friendships that have come through bikes via C&V and volunteering at Bike Works.

Bike Works/C&V Buddies:
@RiddleOfSteel - I always enjoy our many texts back and forth, the hopelessly bike-geeky conversations as well as those tremendously satisfying project bikes we share at BW. Your esthetic perspectives are always valued. @Mr. 66 - I’m enjoying getting to know you better bit by bit as the situations arise. You have a real knack for finding the best Campy goodies in the BW bins. @tricky - We have got to get our riding synchronized and do some rides when you’re back in town. And there are all my other great friends at Bike Works who aren’t BF members.

The C&V friendships have been cemented by our in-person gatherings and rides in and around Seattle and Portland. I’m really enjoying all the posts in this thread recalling rides and meetings that I’ve been so fortunate to share in 2017, and those that I wish I could have attended. Many of the events have been memorialized in photos already in this thread. But how is it that I’m so often looking away from the camera?

Seattle:
@Andy Antipas - Thanks for all of our connections, emails and conversations. Wishing you the best possible resolution to your job situation, even if that will impact some of those connections. @Lascauxcaveman - Loved your PA Metric Century and the fabulous Downtown Hotel, your excellent hosting for Hurricane Ridge, and I enjoyed our Portland drive for the delightful Tualatin Valley ride. Time for another trip south in February. @Drillium Dude - Thanks for the company in the final miles of the Sammamish loop ride. Glad I could be there with a tube and pump. @Wildwood - In 20/20 hindsight, I should have ridden around Port Angeles with you instead of trying to push against cardiac troubles up Hurricane Ridge. @northbend - I always enjoy our conversations, even if I’m never at your end of C&V ride (working on it!) but you are always so gracious. Big thanks for initiating this thread, and your always amazing photos.

Portland:
@Andy_K - Thanks for hosting me several times and introducing me to wonderful beers. Knowing you in person and appreciating your points of view uncovered in late night conversations over those beers makes your thread contributions even more interesting. @gugie - Your delightful stories make any drive or ride more interesting, and I really value our mutual mechanical engineering perspectives. More about your fabulous work down below in Bikes. @Insidious C. - I appreciated our ride and conversation regarding similar physical situations on the beautiful Tualatin trail. So relieved that the newbie didn’t take you out! @merziac - The Erickson with the cracked TT has gone to a good home (Recycled Cycles display of classic bikes) where it will be properly appreciated. @jyl - Thank you for setting up the Velocirque events. Looking forward to the next one in February. @79pmooney - our conversations at Velocirque are always interesting, and your fixed gear exploits are remarkable.

I’m sure there are more new friends that I’ve failed to mention, and looking forward to more of those in-person C&V events in 2018 with the potential to expand the camaraderie and bike riding opportunities.

Health
2017 will also be the year that figured prominently in trying to figure out what’s going on (again) with my heart. That’s the reason that I’m not in the group victory photo at the top of Hurricane Ridge. But all of you that weekend were so patient and helpful. Thank goodness for my implanted cardiac device. It was a definite “wake-up call” for listening to what’s going on inside, and that actual, specific training is a good idea for big rides like that one at my age. It’s in progress. Hopefully, that will result in being in sufficient shape for big rides like Cino 2018, if that or something like it returns. Looking forward to that beer you promised, @mountaindave.

Bikes
Bike Works staff often let @RiddleOfSteel and me do the interesting road bike rebuilds, and this 1987 Fuso, featured in his renovation thread, will be going into their big Spring fund raising auction. Anyone want to bid remotely?

1987 Fuso 30th Anniversary - Renovation



My wife and I agree that two bikes each is plenty with our limited storage, plus I’d forever struggle with deciding what to ride! So in 2017 I decided to make my two more diverse, having previously been similar in feel and intent.

I was inspired by @rccardr’s variations with his Pelizoli for my 1987 Marinoni Sports Tourer, loving the 700C configuration on summer paved rides for the last four years, and added the 650B option in 2017 for rougher roads (Cino?) and occasional fender duty. Really appreciated the former on that PA Metric Century, and wished I’d added the latter in time for that ride. Next time. The light 38mm tires make so many rides more relaxing but no slower.



The 1979 Miyata 912, normally the dedicated fender bike, got the Gugificazione treatment to its fork in 2017 to make it a “travel bike”, including reraking for lower trail (better with a front load), centerpull braze-on posts, and custom racks for the front bag and easily optional low riders. Plus, Mark pointed me to a custom bag maker in Vermont, Waxwings, that makes Berthoud-style bags but with many options for colors and pockets. I’ll put more details in the “Show me your Miyata” thread. Suffice it to say that Mark does astonishingly nice work.

rccardr 

2017 has been a super busy third year of retirement for me. Bunch of new bikes, lots of travel, and some memorable rides.
It all started with the building of this '83 Colnago Superissimo around the first of the year, with all NOS Dura Ace 7402:


Then it was cross country for the first event of the year, the Tour de Palm Springs. 45 mile an hour headwinds and heavy rain (in the desert!) made this century a difficult one.



Mrs. Doc and I then cam back to Palm Springs for two weeks in February to escape the cold North East, which as it turned out wasn't so cold after all. But the riding was sublime and the landscape breathtaking:



In March, Gugie completed the 'izification' of my '88 Voyageur, converting it into a 650B frameset. The Voyageur would see a lot of use this year:



April brought us L'Eroica California, which I had the pleasure of riding with these fine gentlemen- Thor, Davester, Straightblock, and my friend John from Tucson. An Olmo, a Ron Cooper, the Voyageur, a Nishiki and a Hetchens:



May, of course, is Storming of Thunder Ridge. It was super foggy coming down the mountain. Then it rained and the temperature dropped by over 25 degrees. We had fun! Robbie is almost smiling in this picture:



In June I did a week long tour in Canada, from Ottowa to Montreal. Wonderful week, terrible black fly bites, met a dozen great people, stayed in some awesome remote hotels:

nlerner

I mentioned my memorable 2017 rides in this thread, but figured I should also mention bike acquisitions for posterity. One that probably saw the most miles is a 90s Landshark, which I picked up as a frameset on CL. The previous owner had a local shop braze in a new top tube (the old one had some serious dents, he said), and it had a reasonably nice non-original steel fork, so a month or so ago, I had it all PC-ed close to the original color:



It's light (Reynolds 853), very stable, a very good climber, and very comfortable. I managed to squeeze in 28mm tires and look forward to putting lots of miles on it in 2018.

A relatively recent, interesting eBay find was a RHS Cycles of Carlisle, PA, frameset, likely from the 70s. I built it as a 650B x 38mm conversion. A very nice rider, currently on the stand to install a different crankset, but I really like the 8-speed Shimergo setup (which was previously on the Landshark--that one's now 9-speed Shimergo).



Late in the summer I snagged on eBay a 1973 Raleigh Competition frameset. I've had several of these over the years and appreciate their versatility. This one's built as a city bike 10-speed w/ Huret mechs, upright bars, and thumb shifters:



Last bike purchase of the year was last week: an 80s Schwinn Collegiate 3-speed for small money from a CL seller. My intent is to rehab and ride this for the latest beater challenge, and then give it away to a needy grad student in the spring.

rccardr 

2017 Part Deux:


In early summer I finished this beautiful Prologue. A limited production frame with a one year only Shimano 1051 group on it. This pic is from a 53 mile ride down to the Potomac:



Then it August it was back out to Wisconsin with the Voyageur for the Dairyland Dare. Not as steep as last year but just as much fun, especially since Robbie arranged for a rental house for Chrome Molly, Crank Addict, Miguel and me. Beer! Cheese curds!:



Later in August rode the 35th Reston Century, a DC Area tradition, with friends Fabert and Bob:



And then at the end of August bought my first-ever carbon bike, a Canyon Endurace SL:



September was the Heart of Virginia century, in gorgeous farm country just north of Richmond, also ridden with local friend Bob:



Also in September, my Merckx Century came back home. I sold this off a couple of years ago and then bought it back, set it up with Tricolor and compact gearing with 28's:



In October, Mrs. Doc and I went to Italy for two weeks, including a stop in Gaiole in Chianti, home of the original L'Eroica ride. We'll be back in 2019 for that event!

rccardr 

2017 in Review, Part Trois:


Late in October, rode the Great Pumpkin Ride out of Warrenton, VA with local friend and frequent riding partner Gary. The final rest stop is at a local brewery:



Then scooted out to Tucson with the Merckx Century for El Tour. In case you didn't know it, Tucson is an amazingly bike friendly city (like Palm Springs). Met up with local residents and good friends Scott and John for the weekend:



End of the year brought a few new acquisitions, including this Bottecchia:



An Ironman in my favorite colorway, and this one is even my size:



As well as a purchase that was finalized just last night and should be here in a week or so. Pics to come of that in 2018!

tricky 

Thanks for that Dave. I am very happy that I connected with you more this year and look forward to continuing that path with you and other folks. To be honest, my 2017 was a rough one but there were definitely some silver linings. Having more time to build some closer friendships was a big one. I also was able to expand/upgrade the stable including adding my Raleigh RacingUSA Prestige and my disc all-road/cx Marin and that is obviously fun. Looking forward to 2018...