bikingshearer 

You and I share the same fondness for classic lugged steel frames mated to Campy 10sp triple finery. You are obviously a man of taste and refinement.

noglider 

I haven't done much riding or wrenching. The only noteworthy C&V thing I can remember is that I went with my daughter to visit a craigslist seller. There, she picked up an old Cannondale MTB to bring to Burning Man. I helped fix it up and taught her a few things about wrenching. Sorry, no pictures but it really did happen.

styggno1

THE highlight of 2022 - for me - was being able to locally (Sweden) buy an original Bianchi X4 in super condition - at a great price.
Link to my happy find thread:
Major Bianchi X4 score!

This is before cleaning and detailing.



A minor and C&V dubious highlight was building and riding a 20 year old De Rosa. A aluminum and plastic one! It was a nice build up and it surprised me when it turned out to be a pleasant ride! It might be the carbon front and rear or maybe De Rosa knew what they were doing. It feels wrong as a "steel guy" to say this... But it felt good on the road. Blasphemy!

gesta

I dunno how deeply C/V these actually are, but if I’m the judge…

From riding perspective, two highlights would be my first +1000km ride on July and then the completion of Randonneurs Finland Ruska 2022 in September. Both big ones were ridden with this 1982 Peugeot PVN-10 650b conversion:


Peugeot PVN-10 in front of old closed gas station pumps.

Project / tinkeringwise the biggest success was to complete my 1975 Peugeot PX-50L ”gravelificazion” frame mods. Components will probably still take some time to settle, but the big idea is already more or less visible:


1975 Peugeot PX-50L

AdventureManCO 

Thank you for your reply! Looks like those bars are pretty much found in Europe only (please someone correct me!), so the hunt will continue on for some nice modern profile short reach bars in 25.4. I'm just happy to know that someone is making some.

obrentharris 

@gesta some very interesting modifications to the PX-50L. I like it a lot!
I'd like to see a larger photo of the PVN-10. I can't quite make out the details with that photo resolution.
Nice work.
Brent

gesta

Basically PVN has all the bits which were removed from PX (mudguards, front rack, brakes) plus 650b tubeless dynamo wheelset and diy set of bags.


Peugeot PVN-10

PX has been cut and pasted several times: headtube is changed, rear triangle is 3cm shorter and about 1cm wider than it used to be, bottle bosses & disc brake tab were added and rear brake cable guides are relocated from the side to the top of top tube.

merziac

Wow, these are fantastic, great work, I have now turned a corner on my gravel path (with no $$$ or resources to follow it. ).

Oh, these are C+V all day long in the best way being brought straight to the forefront to carry on what they started so long ago.

And we need more details on the who and how.

Steel Charlie

I picked up another Masi Nuova Strada and a. Moser Super Prestige - both pretty scabby. I'm sure that they will occupy much of my copious free time in the coming year. And I may yet score a Bianchi before this year is gone.
Cheers
Charlie

embankmentlb

Wonderful bike! It fully captures the essence of what a French touring bike should be.

rgvg

Did two populaires on my 1983 Centurion Pro Tour.

Pacific Populaire in April. Lots of cancellations due to weather forecast. Turns out they were the smart ones as it rained sideways halfway through the ride. They had to bring down the canopy they had set up at the checkpoint because the wind was so strong.

First part was okay. And then I ran out of steam halfway through the ride. This was the first post covid Populaire that was run, and I'd forgotten I was supposed to eat while riding.

Anyway I stopped and ate, then carried on. I was still outdone by a couple of people on vintage mountain bikes with knobby tires leaving me thinking what a horrible engine I've got.

CanPop 100 + 50

The Canada day Populaire started in Langley, which was 40km away from home. So I thought I'd ride to the start, and do the 100km route. If I did well I thought I'd try a brevet the next week. I finished but dead last so no brevet for me.

When the ride started I thought I could use navigation on Ride With GPS. I've never used that before. I hit navigate and to my surprise and horror, nothing. No cues, no nothing. I'm cheap and I don't have data on my phone but I thought, that's fine, I had offline maps of Vancouver on my phone. And then I realized, wait, I'm in Langley going to Abbottsford, so no, I have no offline map.

I had the cuesheet, but then I had no cue sheet holder. So I ended up following another guy. Then I vaguely heard him talking to another guy about the 150km route and I start thinking, is this guy on the 100 or the 150? Luckily he was on the 100 so I stuck with him.

Eventually he dropped me because I was slower and hungry, so I stopped to eat. I followed the cue sheet and it worked quite well, until a few kilometers from the checkpoint where I couldn't quite follow the instructions. It was frustrating but then I saw a bunch of riders coming back so I figured, well, I guess it must be that way so I went that way and luckily picked up the trail.

I got to the checkpoint and since I had started at the back I was a little pleased to see there were still people coming in. I thought maybe I wasn't doing as bad as I thought. Turns out those people coming in were on the longer 150 ride and the routes just happened to meet up at this checkpoint, my first and their 2nd or 3rd. Whoops.

I was tired by then and entertained thoughts of quitting but then I had no clue how to get home. So if I wanted to go home, I had to finish.

I stopped a lot on the way back. Like a lot. And I ran out of water. There was a coop listed on the cue sheet, but the distance didn't quite match. It should have been about .6 km away. But there were a couple of riders eyeing it and I asked them if that was the place and they said yes, so I went in.

I brought my bike inside because I had no lock and wandered around looking for the water. I found it, refilled my bottle and went back out to the road. I checked the distance and what do you know, it now matched with the figure on the cue sheet. So I guess the distance on there included walking into the coop to get water?

I was dead tired and slow by this point, but I figured it was only about 12ish km to go. Then the other riders who stopped at the coop told me it's 20km. What??? I looked at the route sheet and sure enough, the total distance wasn't 100kms like I thought. It was 108kms. So I grumbled and carried on.

I thought I could at least finish with a 15kph average as long as there weren't any more hills. So of course a few minutes later... a huge frigging hill. I was sure the people who designed this route were sadists. Come on, so close and yet... I couldn't do it. I just couldn't. So I walked up. That's when I thought, geez, my legs feel like lead. Why are my feet so heavy?

So out went any more thoughts of finishing with at least a 15kph average. And to make matters worse, about 10kms from the finish, by phone's battery conked out. So I couldn't tell the distance, and couldn't follow the cue sheet very well. I did the rest of the route back by guesstimation and looking at the road signs. Thankfully it was fairly straightforward.

Just a little bit more to the finish, some guy going the other way in a vehicle stopped and yelled "Good ride!" or something like that. He must have been a participant or a volunteer. Either way it was nice of him to shout out an encouragement.

Eventually I got back to the start/finish and it was a relief. Felt good to finish, even if I was very slow. Learned a lot, and came to a definite conclusion my bike needs an engine upgrade before attempting a brevet.

Unfortunately I wasn't able to do the upgrade before the year's end, but I'm hopeful 2023 will be better. I've changed my diet and am hoping to drop a few lbs in time for 2023's lower mainland 200kms, possibly in April, or July. So far my bike and me should be 9lbs lighter since the 2nd week of December. Another month and 8 lbs to go before I exit my mini Clyde-hood, if all goes well.

I regret I didn't take photos. I was fixated on trying to make a minimum 15kph. Next time I'll take some.

Pardon me if this is a long entry. I'm at the airport waiting for my 8:30AM flight. It was delayed due to bird strike and weather. It is now 6:53PM and we don't board till 8:30PM. At least, we hope to board at 8:30. We will see.

Happy Holidays to everybody!

Fredo76

Two trips to Tucson were my highlights.

May:


Tucson, Arizona, May 2022

And November:


Saguaro National Park, November 2022

P!N20

I get that a lot. Usually in a patronising tone.

ascherer 

It was a busy year! Gear highlights include getting Mrs. ascherer on a Grand Jubile that she loves, refinishing the Falcon San Remo, and building the Ted Williams for my son.

My only period-correct build. It's a looker.


It's on the stand right now to get a modern drivetrain and dynamo setup. New brakes too.


Thanks to @nlerner for the frame, and the Box O' Crap for many components and bits.

Part humblebrag, part gratitude: 2022 was my 50th consecutive season. I missed half of it for various reasons but still enjoyed many wonderful rides. A highlight was riding with @noglider or the first time since Covid hit.



Best wishes to all y'all for 2023, and thanks for encouraging my behavior!

ascherer 

It's very satisfying to support adult kids' cycling adventures.

noglider 

Thanks for the mention and picture, @ascherer. It means a lot as does your friendship. Others should know we met here on BF.

I haven't ridden much, and I've fallen into less strength and flexibility which I must do something about. Rather than building computers (which I did for a living for many years) or building bicycles, I've been building a new career in education so I can start building humans. I'm glad to be doing this, and now I'll resume bike commuting and building the miles.

This is outside our weekend house where we lived during the first two years of Pandemic.

botty kayer

It doesn't mean anything to anyone but me, but I've cycled over 10,000 miles this year, which is only the 2nd time I've managed that, and as I was 50 this year it gives me hope there's still life in this old dog yet. To be honest nearing the target in the last few months has helped motivate me to get out in our crap UK winter weather and chase it down.

Sadly nearly all of those 10,000 miles have been in London, and while I've cycled across all 31 boroughs and discovered new unchartered to me parts of the city and seem lots of interesting things, like Python's Norwegian Blue I'm pining for fyords I am. As it turns out I've only managed one cycle trip out of London all year, which considering my mileage is a shocking realization, but the ride was a good one, a brief but brilliant ride around deserted and beautiful Mid Wales. With some steep hills and wild camping, it was only a few 100 miles away from where I live in London but it felt a world away, so that is easily and by default my ride highlight of the year. And I wrote about took pics at the time, here: Where'd You Ride Today? (New & Improved)

Despite having nowhere near enough rural rides for my liking, on the bike front this year I've been very lucky to build up and ride 2 of my dream C & V steel rides, a MX Leader Eddy Merckx and a Columbus Max Somec, which definitely make it a year to remember.

Murray Missile 

OK this is going to sound pretty trivial but my C&V highlight of 2022 was getting my knees replaced and finding that I can once again ride my 25 inch frames comfortably and then finding an LBS that appreciated the old stuff as much as I do and getting the AWOL derailleur hanger replaced on my '73 Raleigh Competiton Mk II frameset.

Chuck M 

For the last ten years, I've ran an 8k road race every October through a wildlife preserve southwest of town. I've always thought it would be a great place to ride my bike through. This year, health problems caused me to miss running it, but to make lemonade out of lemons, I used my connections to give bike support for it. I chose my '84 Raleigh this year. If I don't have my late '70s/early '80s Carabela done by next fall, I will ride my '80 Takara. The other three riders rode modern stuff, I think I had the more interesting ride.

obrentharris 

Two knee replacements sounds a lot less trivial than anything I did this year. Congratulations!
Brent

merziac

No kidding.

Chuck M 

Hell... A single knee replacement eclipses anything I did this year..

Murray Missile 

Thanks. I've set a goal of riding a Metric Century next year on a mostly gravel tow path with a vintage MTB. It's pretty flat but if I can do that at my age I'll feel pretty good about it.

Murray Missile 

I have the '85 version and an '85 Prestige, both are on the 2023 schedule to finally get finished, both pics are "as found".. As you see one is a 23" and the other is a 25", my ideal size is a 24". I also have most of an '85 Grand Prix but it is REALLY rough.

georges1

great collection of bikes Chuckk thanks for sharing