My Gran Sport and I did a new personal longest today, 76.1 miles.

If they ain't for ridin' , what good are they?

I came to the same epifany earlier this year.

I have a bad back - last three years, I grit my teeth past 45 minutes on the bike. Not enjoyable. Still enjoy other aspects of the hobby, though. Two cortisone shots in the last month and no relief so far. Many ways to enjoy vintage bikes - lucky for me.

I will be following that advice as soon as the Professional and Italvega are done.

Then, everyone is getting ridden some....then I have to make a painful decision...or two

Riding instead of wrenching, or getting two cortisone shots? I hope it's the former, and the painful decisions are about which bikes to keep!

(My ride today makes me wonder why I was considering a new Mercian. The Gran Sport, while carrying patina, is far more attractive than every other bike I saw today, and seemed like it wanted to run forever.)

105 miles this three day weekend - and two bikes finished in the shop.

I prefer the wrenching to the riding, slightly.

The former....but the painful decision will be which one or two to part company with.

Sorry to hear about the back.

Very, very difficult.

I rode a lot today and wrenched a little... just tweaking things as I went along.

My goal for the year is a tune-up in the winter. Then a monthly-ish lube and filling the tires before every ride. Knock-on-wood, the wrenching ends there.

As for the back, my sympathies. I had an L5-S1 laminectomy 9 years ago and, knock-on-wood again, everything has been great since.

I enjoy both riding and wrenching equally well, but each also has its season: in the winter I like to spend time in my basement wrenching on my next big project and making tweaks to my existing fleet. During riding season (which for me is April-November) I spend very little time wrenching and as much free time as possible riding.

And indeed, Jim, your Gran Sport is one sweet bike.

I spent more time grilling than riding this weekend, but I won't complain about that...

well it was too cold when I lived in denver this past winter, and now its too hot! but riding soon I hope

I rode 40 on the road yesterday morning with friends, and took off early from the shop for Labor Day today and did 26 fun-filled miles of singletrack on the mountain bike this afternoon, alone.

Back to wrenching tomorrow.

I actually got to do a little of both this long weekend. Did a nice little 14 miler on my Pinarello Saturday and stripped all the parts off the Nishiki frameset I got for my wife today. Life is good!

Sympathies, Picchio. Glad you can find some enjoyment. Nothing works right with a bad back.

J

Sorry to hear about the back, Picchio Special. keep your ride under 40 minutes and enjoy while you can. Then wrench all you want!

Chris_in_Miami, I envy you the grilling. I hope it was followed by some eating.

Wrench to ride, ride to wrench

I had to rebuild a front hub and replace a shift wire but ended up clocking 95 miles over the three days.

Frank & Jim,

Did it not rain cats and dogs in your neck of New England yesterday? While nothing like Irene, we have been soaked the past 36 hours.

I did ride Friday and Sunday. With Mrs. PB and a Corgi on Friday evening. And MTBs with my buddy Glenn Sunday evening. The only wrenching would have been air to the tires!

Frank clocked those 95 miles mountanbiking through his workshop.

-Kurt

I Rode 25+ Sunday, Wrenched on the Mondia Monday, and Kurt came by and visited a bit. I like riding more than wrenching. I wrench all day long on Chrysler Corps best.

i like wrenching - but not for wrenching's sake - its more a means to an end for me - i like riding and i like when my bikes are running well (or well enough )

There are as many answers to that question as there are people to answer it. We all do what we do for our own reasons. For me...

I love the anticipation of the hunt. I love the joy of a nice find. I love to study and research what I found. I love to get what I found on the road. I love to ride what I found and compare it to other good bikes I have owned. I love to look at an old bicycle. As you can see, riding is only a part of a much larger picture, in my case. To that add this...

If it is the ride that is important, does anyone else think as I do? The newer bikes, fitted with newer components are nicer to ride, easier to ride and more comfortable to ride. That is my opinion, but I still like my older bikes more.

So, the bikes, even unridden, are still of value to their owners, but in different ways. Keep in mind that this is all an opinion, just as the OP's is.

Noop, not here. It was partly cloudy, a bit humid but not overly hot.

It's been fun reading everyone's responses here. I love randyjawa's reply. Yes, one can take pleasure from one's bike(s) in many different ways. I love the wrenching, been wrenching bikes and small cars for decades. Yes, the hunt and reconstruction is a rewarding challenge.

But for me at least, the ride is a unique experience, ephemeral, in-the-moment, hard to capture. It's a physical enjoyment, including the hard uphills. My opportunities don't come around as often as I'd like, so they must be savored.